 Education
in The Gambia is costly experience for most citizens. Girls are
assisted by the government in paying
their school fees. In the past, boys were far more likely to be
sent to school if their parents had a bit of money, while girls
had very little chance to succeed unless they came from a rich
family. Before the 1988 –
2003 Education Policy was formulated, less than 50% of Gambian
children went to school.
The educational curriculum for grade schools is uniform nationwide,
designed by educators who work at Gambia
College. The system of grade-school education is as follows
in the chart below. Some students begin their education in the
privately owned nursery
schools; entering children are about four or five years old.
Government-directed education begins
at grade one, which students enter at age seven. Lessons in schools
are taught in the English language.
|
Name of institution |
Old Name |
Time spent |
| Nursery |
- |
2-3 years |
| Lower Basic |
Primary |
5 |
| Upper Basic |
Junior Secondary |
3 |
| Secondary |
|
4 |
 At
the end of Upper Basic school, a standardized exam will dictate
whether a student is qualified to continue their education with
Senior Secondary
School. Unfortunately, many students are forced to terminate
their education at the end of the Upper Basic cycle, due either
to monetary difficulties, failure to pass the exam, or disillusions
about the value of education—engendered by the lack of jobs even
for Gambians who have passed grade twelve. If parents of Upper
Basic graduates have the money, they are just as likely to send
their offspring to a trade school or skills
centre as to send them on to the next grade school level.
After passing another exam at the end of Senior Secondary School
and provided they have the money, students can elect to attend
either a tertiary institution or a university. Tertiary institutions
include the Gambia Technical Training Institute,
Management Development Institute (MDI),
Rural Development Institute (RDI), and Gambia
College.
Gambia Technical Training Institute trains students in technology,
accounting, marketing and technical work. At the MDI, students
can acquire middle-level training management, marketing and accounting,
as well as take computer-training courses.
The RDI, located in the Lower River Division at Mansa Konko, trains
workers for community development.
The Gambia College, a two- to three-year institution in Brikama,
is mostly skill-based, training students to be teachers, nurses,
public health officers and agricultural extension workers. Almost
all teachers in The Gambia earn their qualifications at Gambia
College, either the Primary Teacher Certificate (PTC) or the Higher
Teacher Certificate (HTC).
University can be entered straight from Senior Secondary School,
or after completing one or more years at Gambia College. The University
of The Gambia (UTG) is the nation's only university. Unfortunately,
few students have the monetary or educational opportunity to attend
this institution, let alone the resources to study abroad.
 |
Literacy
Rate in 2005: |
| |
69.4% (between 15 to 24
years old)
59.2% (all people above 15 years) |
| |
Educational
Enrolment in 2005 (net): |
| |
Primary 97%
Secondary 33%
Tertiary 5% |
| |
School
life expectancy ISCED 1-6 (years) |
| |
7.4 |
| |
Percentage
of repeaters, primary (%) |
| |
(1999) 12
|
| |
Primary
to secondary transition rate (%) |
| |
(**,1999) 82 |
| |
Pupil
/ teacher ratio (primary) |
| |
(2004) 35 |
| |
Public
expenditure on education: |
| |
as % of GDP
|
| |
(**,2004) 2.0 |
| |
as % of total government
expenditure |
| |
(2002) 8.9 |
| |
Distribution
of public expenditure per level (%) - 1991 : |
| |
pre-primary
... |
| |
primary
42 |
| |
secondary
21 |
| |
tertiary
18 |
| |
unknown
19 |
| |
Other: |
| |
Pupil teacher ratio: 1
to 35 students (2004) |
| |
2.8% of GDP spent on education |
| |
|
| |
SOURCE: UNICEF stats 2005 |
Types of Schools:
Early Childhood Education Development Centres
Lower Basic Schools
Upper Basic Schools
Senior
Secondary Schools
Tertiary Institutions
Special
Needs Schools
Technical and Vocational Centres
Enrolment (1999/200 to 2005/2006):
Nationally, during the period, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006 enrolment
in the Lower Basic Schools (primary), increased from 154,664 to
182,627 registering an increase of 18.08%. In Regional Education
Directorate 1 (Banjul and Kanifing Municipal Council) the enrolment
continued to increase except in 2001/02 when it slightly declined.
In Regional Education Directorates 4, 5 and 6 (Lower River, Central
River and Upper River Regions) respectively enrolment remained
constant. There was a decline in the enrolment of boys in Lower
River Region from 5,816 to 5,288. This represented 528 decline
in enrolment or 9.08% whilst during the same period enrolment
of girls increased from 4661 to 5310 or 13.92%.
During the period under review, the enrolments of both boys and
girls have increased. The increase in girls’ enrolment was more
pronounced.
On overall the average annual enrolment growth rates for boys
and girls during the six-year period were 1.2% and 4.5% respectively.
This implies that the average annual enrolment growth rate for
girls was three times faster than boys.
The enrolment trends for Boys and Girls met around 2003/04 indicating
the enrolments for boys and girls were equal. The subsequent years
witnessed enrolment gap between the two sexes in favour of girls.
Source of enrolment: Dept.
of Education - Gambia
|
|
|
|
Dept.
of Education
Education & Training Institutions
Universities 
