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University
I T
 Education
in The Gambia is costly experience for most Gambians. 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. 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 skill 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
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