No yardstick has been established to gauge the performance of schools in the grade 9 exams in The Gambia. The indication is that assessment of the performance of schools depends entirely on weighing the performance of students from the respective schools.
This year ‘private schools’ which include mission schools that do not receive subvention from government appear to be on top of the list in performance. In short, the first ten in performance regarding the upper basic school leaving certificate exams are ‘private schools’. Seven of them are non-subvented mission schools and two private schools and one municipal school.
This is a cause for concern.
Further investigation is necessary in order to determine whether assessing the performance of the best student is the key to determine whether the schools not on top of the list are underperforming.
