UNESCO-UN agency Country Programme for the Gambia
UNESCO is facilitating the implementation of the Education for All strategy and
plan of action in The Gambia. The Gambia was a signatory of the World
Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action which was adopted
at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand in March 1990.
The Gambia´s Education Policy (1988-2003) and Education Master Plan (1998-2006)
address areas common to the Jomtien Declaration, namely, meeting basic learning
needs through expanding and improving access, quality and relevance of
education. The Government of the Gambia has committed itself to providing basic
education (from Grade 1 to Grade 9), uninterrupted nine years of schooling to
all children.
The EFA objectives and targets in the present education policy in the Gambia
(for 2003) are: to increase access to basic education from 60% to 75% of
school-aged children; to increase transition from Grade 6 to 7 from 35% to 60%;
to lower the age of school entry from 8 to 7 years; to evaluate and revise the
Grade 1-6 curriculum and introduce a new Grade 7-9 curriculum to complete the
continuous basic education curriculum; to increase the output of trained
teachers in order to phase out the untrained educators in the system; to
increase functional literacy programmes and offer alternative educational
opportunities for young people outside the school system.
The EFA Dakar Framework for Action recently adopted at the World
Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, April 2000 and the Framework for Action in
Sub-Saharan Africa adopted at the Sub-Saharan Conference on Education for
All, in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 1999, request all countries to
set up broad based national forums and to develop and strengthen national EFA
plans before 2002. UNESCO is expected to take a lead in supporting countries in
this process bearing in mind that all plans must be fully integrated into
existing system- wide approaches and supported by the CCA, UNDAF, and PRSP
mechanisms. Particular attention is to be given to the development of education
polices that cater to excluded groups such as girls and women.
UNESCO will be assisting during 2000-2002 The Gambia in the preparation of
the national EFA Plan of Action. This involves setting up of a national
Education for All forum that will meet quarterly and forming Regional EFA
Committees (in the 6 Regions) to facilitate the dissemination of the EFA 2000
Assessment Report (of the Department of State for Education) and other education
polices. This process of grassroots information-sharing and consultation will
cover all schools in the 36 Districts of the country. Consultations with
schools, parents and communities are key to the strategy for effective policy
revision and formation in basic education. UNESCO will assist in the national
Education for All plan (covering up to 2003) and this will serve to guide
implementation activities in key areas such as girls’ education, improving
learning achievement and outcome, adult literacy, training in essential skills
and education for better living.
