By Sariba Manneh
The National Assembly Select Committee on Education, Training, and ICT has recently visited private schools, Madrassas, GSM Operators SPS, and TVET Institutions in the Greater Banjul Area and West Coast Region.
The visit aimed was at gathering first-hand insight into the operations of private schools, the role of Madrasas in educational diversity, and the impact of mobile GSM and ISP companies on information dissemination and technological advancement.
It was also aimed at understanding the unique contributions of madrasas to the education landscape, exploring their cultural and religious roles and their integration into the broader educational framework, as well as explore the role of GSM and ISP companies in enhancing connectivity, digital literacy, and access to information, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
The visit was aimed at identifying challenges faced by private schools and madrasas, such as financial constraints, curriculum development and teacher training, scrutinize challenges within the telecom sector, including issues related to cost, network coverage, data accessibility, and regulatory compliance and service delivery, as well as assess the situation of Private schools and Madrasas concerning their successes, challenges, and the quality of teaching and learning and identify legislative and policy recommendations to address gaps and foster innovation within these critical sectors.
Hon. Alhagie Mbow, Chairperson of the Select Committee, said in the fulfillment of Section 109(2) of the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia and Standing Orders 97(1) and (2)(b) of the revised Standing Orders of the National Assembly, Committees are mandated to perform oversight on institutions under their purview.
“The Select Committee on Education, Training and ICT is mandated to conduct oversight on Educational Institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies that deal with education, Training and ICT. The reason for the oversight is to ensure that the Institutions conduct what they have been mandated to do by the state to enhance efficiency and transparency in their service delivery,” he said.
Adding that in response to the dynamic landscape of education, training, and the ICT sectors, the National Assembly has undertaken a comprehensive initiative through the Select Committee to visit various institutions both public and private, adding the initiative involved a strategic visit to private schools, madrasas, GSM Operators and Internet Service Providers among others in the Greater Banjul Area and West Coast Region.
According to Mbowe, the purpose of these visits were to conduct a thorough assessment of the current state of the critical sectors, their achievements, challenges and opportunities to make informed recommendations for legislative and policy enhancement.
“Oversight function gives an in-depth understanding to parliamentarians and serves as a guide in creating new laws or the amendment of existing ones or recommending policy changes,” he explained.
He said Education, Training, and ICT form the cornerstone of national development, influencing economic growth, societal progress, and technological innovations.
He said in recognition of the multifaceted importance of the sectors, the National Assembly, through its Select Committee on Education, Training and ICT, deemed it imperative to engage directly with stakeholders to have a better understanding of their operations. Evaluate the quality of education and training in private schools addressing aspects such as curriculum, infrastructure and teacher-student ratios.
The Committee recommended, among other things, for MOBSE to take a keen interest in the curriculum being taught in the private schools and ensure that the ministry approves all courses being taught in these schools to ensure consistency across the country.
“MOBSE must ensure that the following courses are mandatory to be taught in all private schools and school cluster monitors must ensure compliance: Social and Environmental Studies, History of The Gambia and Agriculture (Middle & Senior schools),” he said.
“MOBSE and MoHERST should review the tuition being charged by private schools to ensure that they are in line with any policy or regulation. Cluster Monitor should strengthen their visit to schools to ensure effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation.
“MOBSE should ensure that schools adhere to the students’ teacher ratio in public schools and if need be, build additional classrooms,” they recommended.
They advised that public schools, especially middle and senior secondary schools must be equipped with science and computer labs and given access to the internet for teaching and learning, as well as a standard library and staff rooms.
“MOBSE should do a policy review to ensure Madrassas are supported in terms of classroom construction, supporting the payment of qualified teachers. The Government should place a ban and sanction on Car Stunning by students or around school premises.
“MOBSE should review their relation with AMANAA, in particular the subvention given to them to ensure that they account for these monies by providing an yearly audited accounts. The Auditor General should be tasked by MOBSE to conduct an audit for the monies given to AMANAA for the past five years,” it added.
The committee says: “There should be a strong policy in place to guide the operations of the GSM companies in terms of their operations across the country and the infrastructure they provide. There is an urgent need to review the operations of GAMCEL in particular their strategic plan to ensure they are viable in the future.
“The Ministry of Digital Economy and Finance must work together with urgency to look at the billing issue and basic infrastructure of Gamcel to ensure they can operate efficiently in the short term and in the long term.
“The government must look at the operations and viability of both Gamtel and Gamcel to ensure they are viable in the future, and to provide investment in various forms like capital injection or private sector involvement so that they can generate enough revenues to pay dividends since they are profit-making entities.
“Gamtel must devise ways for the collection of their arrears and if need be engage the Ministry of Finance to effect a direct payment on all government institutions once the arrears are confirmed.”
The committee advises the Ministry of Digital Economy and Finance and Gambia Submarine Cable Ltd to work together to ensure additional submarine cables are installed to provide resilience to the country’s connectivity to the outside world as well as ensure all entities of the Gambia Submarine Cable Company Ltd pay their dues in full.
“The Navy should be equipped with the necessary materials by the Gambia Submarine Cable Ltd to conduct sea patrols to protect the submarine cables from being cut by fishing vessels,” the committee recommends.
