By Yunus S Saliu
The Curriculum Research Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD) under Ministry of Basic Senior Education (MoBSE) last Wednesday commenced a ten-day Comprehensive Health Education (CHE) manual development process for the school curriculum.
Manual development process underway at Educational Regional Directorate, Region 1 office in New Jewshwang, Kanifing Municipal Council brought together competent curriculum developers from relevant institutions, which include officials of Curriculum Research Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD); Gambia College; CPA; MoH; Standard and Quality Assurance Directorate (SQAD); UBS teachers; Science and Technology Education Directorate (STED), communication Unit of MoBSE; CBC, UTG, ECIED, Project Coordination Unit (PCU)among others.
Speaking at the opening of the development processes, Momodou Jeng, Director of Curriculum Research Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD) at Ministry of Basic Senior Education (MoBSE), expressed that research on Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education in The Gambia was conducted and the findings were shared with important stakeholders through the schools and community based committees.
The findings, he said, “are important for us as a sector and directorate because we have attempted to incorporate comprehensive health education in the curriculum through the use of several means such as career subjects,” while there is still need for more additional activities.
Director Jeng disclosed that in the findings from the conducted research, they found it important to look at what the curriculum contains already as relate to CHE materials and also the gaps.
Society is dynamic and there is always emerging issues whereby they can look back at the curriculum to see how it can best address through such kind of revision, he explained.
“About two, three weeks ago we convened to audit those materials (auditing of Curricula Framework exercise for the inclusion of Comprehensive Health Education topics in some of the career subjects) and the auditing exercise was very useful,” he disclosed.
He added further that the auditing exercise helped greatly as regarding how the career subjects such as Biology; Home Science; English Language; Mathematics; Social Studies; and others can contain some of the important messages.
“Among important areas looking at include issues of sexuality; reproductive health; drug abuse; and the auditing exercise has led to this important manual development activity,” he disclosed.
While expressing delights over the developers taking part in the ongoing exercise, he urged them to do what will make them proud in future as part of those that participate in the inclusion of the materials.
Phebian Ina Grant-Sagnia, Principal Investigator for Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education for in-and-out of School Adolescents in The Gambia dilated on the importance of the manual development exercise.
Thanked the selected participants for the development process of the manual for honoring the CHE call.
Also, she acknowledged the efforts of CREDD at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education saying Comprehensive Health Education (CHE) under the project – Strengthening Access to Quality Comprehensive Health Education in The Gambia is an implementation research project done by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) with funding from International Development Research Center (IDRC). And it is meant to enlighten and educate in and out-of-school students on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH).