Excerpt from the Education Sector Medium Term Plan  2008-2011– lessons to learn

Derived from the National Education Policy 2004-2015, it spells out the education sector’s priorities, goals, achievements and, further, outlines the strategies and activities that should be implemented to achieve the overall objectives of the education sector. The plan also identifies indicators and tracking mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the six programme areas; namely, basic education, secondary education, quality assurance, higher education, technical vocational education and training and sector management.

A key feature of the development of the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) was the participatory nature that marked the process. Relevant stakeholders and partners, including representatives of government institutions, the private sector, non-governmental and community-based organizations, international agencies and the general public participated in the entire process and contributed substantially to determining the final output. Thus, relevant stakeholders and partners in education can identify with the plan, and have been contributing to its implementation. However, this has not stopped the sensitization of the general public on the key elements of the plan through the media, especially on national television and radio.

Goals

The ESSP (2006-2015), from which this medium term plan has been developed, is tied to The Gambia’s VISION 2020, that is:

“to transform The Gambia into a financial centre, a tourist paradise, a trading, export-oriented, agricultural and manufacturing nation, thriving on free market policies and a vibrant private sector, sustained by a well-educated, trained, skilled, healthy, self-reliant and enterprising population, and guaranteeing a well-balanced eco-system and a decent standard of living for one and all, under a system of government based on the consent of the citizenry.”

 Thus, the ESSP is grounded in the overall goal of ensuring that ‘by 2015 universal access to relevant and high quality education has been achieved.’ Another guiding precept is the Mission Statement of the Department of State for Basic and Secondary Education (DOSBSE), which seeks to:

• Provide access to relevant and high quality basic education for all
• Provide high quality education services
• Ensure gender equity in education
• Provide relevant life skills
• Promote the principle of lifelong learning.

To situate education within the national context, the major goals pursued by the basic and secondary education sector are closely linked to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); hence, education provision in The Gambia aims at reducing poverty. It is understandable, therefore, that the sector is guided by the following motto: “Provision of Responsive, Relevant and Quality Education for All Gambians for Poverty Reduction.”

While the legal basis for education service delivery responds to upholding the right of everybody to quality basic education, as contained in the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, the Education for All (EFA) Goals and the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) continue to mark such service delivery. Therefore, these instruments have been fed into the current National Education Policy (2004-2015), which clearly articulates the basic aims and objectives of education.

Priorities

In pursuance of the education sector’s goals, aims and objectives, several key areas have been prioritised in the ESSP. These include access; quality education; teacher education, deployment and utilization; technical and vocational education and training; higher education and sector management. During the implementation phase of the MTP, within these components, the major areas of focus of DOSBSE are highlighted below.

While expansion of the upper segment of the basic and secondary levels will be pursued, the challenges associated with low intake rates will be addressed. This is intended to specifically prioritize lower basic education. This notwithstanding, increasing equitable access and outcomes, in respect of gender, at both the basic and senior secondary levels, will be paid due attention; hence, the pursuit of establishing and maintaining gender equity at all levels of the school system will result in appropriately targeted strategies. The official madrassa institutions will complement the conventional schools on equal terms. 

Convinced of the significant contribution of early childhood education (ECD) to the enhancement of access to education and to completion rates, focused efforts will be made to facilitate access to ECD centres in underprivileged communities. In particular, the annexation of centres to lower basic schools will be strengthened. Parallel to this will be adult and non-formal education programmes that particularly target under-served regions, girls, out-of-school youth, unlettered adults and other disadvantaged groups of the population. Key among these disadvantaged groups will be persons with disabilities. Therefore, the development of training programmes and instructional materials for special needs education (SNE) teachers and extending specially-designed facilities for SNE into the rural areas will be maintained during the next three years. This will be contained in the construction and rehabilitation programme of classrooms and facilities Linked to this, genuine strategies will be implemented to scale up the mainstreaming of pupils with disabilities.

The provision of quality education is essentially the main thrust of the mandate of DOSBSE. Therefore, in acknowledging the urgency of bettering student performance, the improvement of learning outcomes will continue to be prioritized through a combination of strategies that include:

• stepping up the training and supply of teachers
• curriculum review and reform
• introduction of a national language programme
• provision of relevant instructional materials
• better-suited assessment and examination procedures
• an integrated approach to ECD
• computer literacy and ICT education
• use of open and distance learning (ODL)strategies
• educational broadcasting

Furthermore, tagged to the curriculum will the intensification of life skills education, which embodies HIV/AIDS prevention, gender-related violence, peace building, tolerance, patriotism, environmental issues, etc. ICT education and other related areas will be grounded in a broader science and technology programme aimed at responding to national as well as learner needs.

Finally, capacity building, instituting a performance management system and establishing an effective monitoring and evaluation strategy will characterize strategies geared towards strengthening sector management and the governance of education.

The implementation of all of these requires the review of resourcing procedures and processes within the context of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Donor Coordination as well as the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) of the sector. Given that access to quality education is a right and that the provision of education should centre around the learner, strategies and programmes will be designed to reflect such rights.

Achievements

Based on both normative and summative evaluations of various interventions conducted with support from the Education for All/Fast Track Initiative (EFA/FTI) and other bilateral and multilateral donors, there is evidence to indicate that significant successes have been registered within the sector. These include expanded access to education across all levels of the school system, particularly by girls in the rural areas, where, in some instances, interventions led to the unintended decline of boys’ enrolment.

Whereas, for instance, the GER in 1998 was 85%, it rose to 92% in 2007. Concurrently, the GER at the upper basic level, which stood at 29% in 1998, has risen by over 30% to 65%. These achievements have ultimately contributed to the attainment of gender parity at the basic level (i.e., from Grades 1 to 9). Similarly, the GER at the senior secondary school level doubled from 15% in 1998 to 32% in 2007.

Generally, resources are more equitably distributed and better utilized for programme implementation. The reviews and updates of the curriculum have also resulted in a more relevant and, therefore, more responsive curriculum to stakeholder needs. The acute shortage of instructional materials for effective learning that was lamented in the past has been reversed through substantial investments in various items, including core textbooks and teachers’ guides, supplementary learning materials, especially of books written by Gambian authors. Added to these, the sector has registered the following achievements:

• The expanded vision of basic education, which comprises early childhood education, adult and non-formal education and formal schooling of nine years (i.e., from Grades 1 to 9) is now being implemented in full and stands out as a successful model in Africa.
• The partnership between DOSBSE and the madrassa proprietors, through the General Secretariat for Islamic/Arabic Education, continues to enhance access, whilst improving the quality of education provided. The teaching of the English language in the madrassas that are being granted-aided by DOSBSE and the harmonization of the various syllabuses of the madrassas and their synchronization with the curriculum of the conventional schools have contributed to this success.
• There is a more equitable distribution of qualified teachers, as shown by the impact reports from the REDs on the ‘hardship allowances’ currently paid to teachers.
• The textbook rental scheme has been abolished, and the student-textbook ratio is 1:1 for the core subjects at the lower basic level; that is, from Grades 1 to 6.
• While the transition from the lower basic (primary) level to the upper basic level increased from 72% in 1998 to 88% in 2005 as a result of phasing out the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination, the transition rate from the basic level (Grade 9) to the senior secondary level (Grade 10) has exceeded the 50% target.
• The Primary Teachers’ Certificate (PTC) Extension Programme for unqualified teachers, being piloted in Region 5, promises to contribute to addressing teacher requirements in the school system, particularly with regard to the training of female teachers (The 2007 Gender Education Unit Evaluation Report).
• Interest and public involvement in education is broadening and deepening, as evidenced by participation in the weekly televised (Education Forum), and radio, programmes as well as other discussions on education. DOSBSE continues to hold monthly bantabas (town hall meetings) to discuss pertinent issues with stakeholders. ECD is no longer considered a luxury but an integral part of the basic education programme.
• As evidenced by the 2006 and 2007 results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and The Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE) respectively, the performance of students is steadily improving (Analyses of Examination Results by the Planning Directorate, DOSBSE, 2006 and 2007).
• Through the cluster monitors, a more effective and decentralized monitoring mechanism has been established with effect from 2007.
• The process has begun for instituting a performance management system (PMS). Thus, operational unit and individual plans have now been developed, leading to the profiling of the sector personnel for appraisal purposes.

Challenges

In spite of the achievements made over the years, critical challenges still remain with the sector. These embody matters of access, quality, resources and management.

• The disparity between boys and girls in enrolment, retention and performance.
• The three broad issues of providing quality education, training and retaining qualified teachers and other personnel
•  Mobilizing sufficient resources for both recurrent and development purposes is an issue that remains doggedly challenging.
• Within the framework of the ESSP, ‘quality’ is examined from three perspectives – teacher training and support, pedagogy and teaching/learning materials and leadership and school management including  parental and community participation.
• The curriculum gaps and shortcomings, especially of dovetailing the syllabuses to form a continuum from one segment of the school system to the other, also constitute another challenge that has to be addressed.
• At the upper basic level the pupil - textbook ratio is unacceptably high (3:1)      
• From the recently conducted Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and the National Assessment Test (NAT), the number of children able to read and acquire cognitive skills is disappointingly low.
• Weak capacity in collecting and analysing data as well as the timely reporting from schools and REDs on issues such as attendance/absenteeism, instructional time, etc.
•  Absence of clearly defined functions linked to specific job titles and directorates.