By Mama A Touray
Amadou Gaye, one of the Gambian finest history teachers has advised school going students and pupils to embrace the culture of reading books to help them widen their scope of vocabulary and knowledge in various fields of studies.
He dilated on the new history reference and resource material which is in form of an e-book, titled WASSCE History Textbook, which covers the part one of the West African Senior Secondary History Exams syllabus called History of West Africa, developed by historians from The Gambia, Ghana, UK, USA, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
Mr Gaye advised students to read the e-book which is very much accessible and free without any price tag. He added that reading it they should always be with their notebook wherever they are reading to write additional information they might come across during the period of their reading. “Especially information that are not in their textbooks or some circulating pamphlets in the markets,” he added.
“We live in a digital era one of the areas or branches of history is digital history which lays more emphasis on the application of information technology,” he said, adding that history teachers and students must not be ignorant in ICT and must not be ICT dead.
He urged students to abreast themselves with information communication technology saying “they should develop that appetite for ICT because it is the future and it is going to help a lot in the teaching and learning of history.”
“The e-book was written as part of efforts to support history teachers as well as history students especially with source of materials with teaching aid, proper tools especially when it comes to West Africa and the wider world,” he stated.
He praised Hassoum Ceesay as “one of the greatest and most prolific historians of the 21st century in this country.”
Among other contributors to the e-book, he said, is Professor Toby Green from King’s College, United Kingdom.