The attention of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has been drawn to a front-page story on the Daily News Newspaper on 16th October which depicted a false picture of what the paper describes as “learning conditions” in Gambian schools.
The front-page story woefully failed to paint a true and accurate picture of the condition of Sare Bojo Basic Circle School.
The pictures which accompanied the story were also clearly taken out of context. There are two blocks at the school in very good condition which house 6 functioning classrooms.
However, the author of the story continently chose to take pictures of those classrooms that were destroyed by the windstorms as part of a deliberate attempt to misinform the public.
The editors of the paper would have also done a good job by contacting the relevant ministry for a reaction to verify the story.
For the purpose of setting the records straight, it is worth noting that wind storms this raining season have affected a good number of schools, particularly in Regions 5 and 6.
The repairs and refurbishment of all of these windstorm affected schools are on the way – some of these repairs were even completed in time for the new academic year.
The Honourable Minister of Basic and Secondary Education recently visited some of these repaired schools in Regions 5 and 6.
The visit to the repaired school structures was featured on all TV stations in The Gambia. Sare Bojo Basic Cycle School being one of the schools affected by windstorms is earmarked for similar repairs and refurbishment.
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education wishes to seize this opportunity to highlight that in 2018 alone, over 1,036 classrooms were either built or rehabilitated. For 2019, we are on track to build or rehabilitate over 1,500 classrooms. We have also built and continue to build hundreds of toilet blocks, water points, and teacher quarters.
Again, over 20,000 new furniture was provided in 2018 for schools. From the beginning of this year, So far more than 2,000 damaged furniture has also been fully repaired by the TVET unit of the ministry, as part of a massive exercise of repairing and refurbishing broken furniture in schools in all regions. All of the above mentioned are very clear indications of MoBSE’s focus in making the learning conditions for children in The Gambia very conducive.
Additionally, with almost 800 students, Sare Bojo Basic Circle School like many in the upper regions are bursting at the seams due to the significant increase in student intake. More and more children are now attending school.
This is indeed an encouraging result of MoBSE’s drive towards an all-inclusive and equitable education system for all children in The Gambia. Every child has a right to access to education.
We, therefore, have a policy of not turning away any child from school. For this new academic year alone, there has been an increase of 120,000 (one hundred and twenty thousand) more children joining our education system.
This is a great achievement worth celebrating. More children in The Gambia are going to school, and we at MoBSE will not rest until every child in The Gambia is given the access and opp
