By Yankuba Jallow
Standing before citizens and education stakeholders at Mansakunda on Friday, Dr. Habibatou Drammeh, the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, laid out an ambitious vision for the future of schooling in The Gambia, one she described as grounded in constitutional guarantees and a five-pillar strategy.
“The education policy and the constitution of The Gambia [state] that every child without exception has access to inclusive quality education,” Drammeh said. “The Path to Progress agenda of the Minister [Government] is grounded on five strategic pillars, shaping every decision and driving every initiative across the sector.”
At the heart of her presentation was PillarOne, focused on expanding access to quality education. The Minister said enrolments had risen in recent years.
“Through targeted interventions we have successfully increased enrolments from 710,000 in 2020 to over 830,000 in 2025, marking a significant 17% growth that importantly includes a higher number of girls,” she said.
She credited much of that success to an early warning system designed to monitor children at risk of dropping out.
“Central to this achievement is our innovative early warning system built on DHIS2 platform which identifies children at risk of dropping out and enables timely life changing support,” she said. “This system continuously monitors student attendance and academic performances, categorises learners by risk level and facilitates interventions precisely when they are needed, reinforcing our commitment that no child in this country should be left behind.”
Plans, she added, were underway to link the platform with health data.
“Moreover, plans are on the way to enhance this system by integrating it with the health data system which will support early enrolment efforts and reduce exclusions,” she said. “This pioneering initiative has gained international recognition through the zero out of school children, 2.0 programme highlighting The Gambia’s leadership in inclusive education.”
Partnerships, she noted, had been crucial. “Since 2018 partners such as the Child Fund, Check Bikes and Caritas have supported this effort by providing over 10,000 bicycles to students that need this equipment or services across the country to help in transporting and removing transportation barriers that subsequently improve their access to education.”
She described large-scale infrastructure projects as transformative. “In 2025 alone 387,000 new classrooms, averaging 11 classrooms weekly have been constructed, providing thousands of students with safer, more conducive learning spaces,” she said. “Complementing this we have supplied over 115,000 pieces of essential furniture including combined desks, tables, chairs and cupboards to new and existing schools.”
Drammeh said these investments were particularly vital in rural areas. “Providing quality furniture is more than a comfort, it is a key step in ensuring equitable learning environments. Equally important is the provision of teacher quarters, vital for attracting and retaining qualified educators especially in rural communities,” she said.
With partner support, she added, the Ministry had built new housing. “With the generous support of our partners, 330 schools across all eight regional offices or educational regions have received a total of over 2,000 teacher quarters. This distribution prioritises regions with the greatest need with Upper River Region receiving over 21% of the quarters, followed by the North Bank Region and other strategy can be placed to mitigate housing and transportation challenges. Through this we ensure motivated teachers deliver consistent high quality education nationwide.”
Dr. Drammeh anchored her speech in decade-long progress, offering numbers to demonstrate growth across education levels. “Looking at our comprehensive progress from 2015 to 2025, the gains are robust and inspiring in terms of access to quality education,” she said. “For example, if you look at early childhood education or development, early childhood centres with permanent structures have increased over 50% from 2015 to 2025… enrolments in this centre soared by 52%, reflecting growing participation at the foundational levels of education.”
She cited similar strides at the basic and secondary levels. “At upper basic schools, we expanded the permanent structures by 79%, furniture by 56% and enrolment by over 60%. Again, the quality teacher workforce doubled, greatly aiding improved retention and early learning outcomes,” she said. “At the level of senior secondary schools, we experienced the highest growth in permanent classrooms of over 84%, with total seats of furniture increased by 65% and enrolment by 85%. Qualified teachers grew by 100%, reflecting a strengthened senior secondary educational system.”
The Minister said curriculum reforms were underway. “As part of these reforms, a competency-based curriculum has been developed and will be piloted this year through 2026,” she said. “This new curricula emphasises practical skills and critical competencies, ensuring that students are better prepared to meet the demands of the modern world and contribute meaningfully to national development.”
She also highlighted the school feeding programme, which has expanded significantly under the Barrow administration. “Starting from $30 million in 2019, government funding grew to $90 million in 2020 and $90.5 million in 2021, subsequently and subsequent allocations also rose to $120 million in 2022, $162 million in 2023-2024 academic year and they have now reached $166 million in 2024-2025 academic year,” she said. “These funds have been dedicated to supporting schools under the Community Procurement and Caterer Model for meal provisions, particularly in government supported regions.”
The programme, she added, now reached over 118,000 students in 211 schools. “These targeted government expenditures have enabled the expansion and operational sustainability of school feeding services, contributing significantly to improved student attendance, enhanced learning outcomes and the provision of essential nutrition to vulnerable children.”
Other pillars of her agenda, Drammeh said, focused on teachers, innovation, partnerships and accountability. “Teachers are the foundation of our education system and investing in their professional development remains a top priority,” she said. “A landmark development is the inauguration of the first professional standard board for teachers, entrusted with the critical responsibility of creating a teacher service commission dedicated to upholding the highest teaching standards and maintaining professional integrity in the sector.”
On data, she pointed to the Integrated Management Information System. “Reliable data and efficient systems are the bedrock of sound education, policy and resource allocations. We are expanding the education management information system called IMIS to improve data integrity and transparency.”
She underscored the importance of collaboration. “Collaboration is the foundation for our progress, with partners such as the World Bank, MRC Holland Foundation, Equity Fund for Arab Economic Development, Global Partnership for Education, UNICEF, Child Fund, CRS, Caritas, FIOH, World Food Programme, Lottery Crop and many others,” she said. “Together we are transforming infrastructure, furnishing schools and equipping laboratories nationwide.”
The Minister closed her remarks by emphasizing accountability and inclusivity. “Commitments without accountability is empty,” she said. “The path to progress agenda is not simply an initiative or an agenda, it is a promise. A promise that every Gambian child is seen, valued and provided a foundation to thrive. A promise that teachers are supported and respected as the architects of our future.”
Looking ahead, she appealed for unity. “Today, as we stand united at this critical Mansakunda, let us renew our dedication that is to all our stakeholders to this important path. Let us envision a Gambia where basic and secondary education is a beacon of hope and a catalyst for sustainable development,” she said. “The journey ahead requires our unity, our collaboration, working together, our innovation and our relentless pursuit for excellence.”
