By Nelson Manneh
Madrasa schools in The Gambia, which have long served as pillars of traditional Islamic education, are now at the center of a national conversation about reform, integration, and equal opportunity. Educationists and community leaders are calling for urgent government intervention to modernize these institutions and expand their academic offerings, arguing that thousands of students in Arabic-based schools are being left behind in the national education framework.
Historically, madrasas have provided essential moral, spiritual, and intellectual guidance to generations of Gambians, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Long before the arrival of European missionaries and the establishment of Western-style schools, traditional Islamic schools—locally known as maglis—were already functioning in villages across the country. It is understood that the first modern madrasa focused on Qur’anic memorization was established in 1963 in Tallinding by the Gambian Islamic Union. Since then, the madrasa system has grown significantly, with over 400 schools now operating nationwide, including more than 160 under the Gambian Islamic Union.
While their contribution to religious and moral development is widely acknowledged, education advocates argue that madrasas remain structurally disconnected from the broader education system. Mr. Saikou Leigh, an educationist and proprietor of Growing Seeds School, said the time has come for stakeholders to pay serious attention to this often-overlooked segment of the student population. He cited statistics suggesting that nearly 20 percent of school-aged children in The Gambia attend madrasas.
“However, these students are largely confined to learning only Islamic studies, particularly the memorization and recitation of the Qur’an, without exposure to other essential academic disciplines,” Leigh said. He criticized the limited focus of the current curriculum in most madrasas, which he said fails to provide students with pathways into professions such as law, engineering, information technology, and trades critical to national development.
“In an era where science, technology, and innovation shape economies, this exclusion is not just unfortunate—it is a national concern. We are unintentionally exempting 20% of our children from becoming active contributors to the broader workforce,” Leigh stressed.
Though the government has introduced a unified curriculum intended to incorporate core academic subjects like mathematics, English, science, and life skills into madrasa education, implementation remains inconsistent. Many madrasa institutions still lack the infrastructure, resources, and trained personnel to deliver secular education alongside Islamic studies.
Sering Omar Mbye, an Islamic teacher, echoed these concerns and called for the modernization of madrasas to align them with the national education system. “Being a madrasa student should not limit you,” he said. “The government should come up with mechanisms that will lift these schools to another level. We want to see our students becoming lawyers, bankers, and electricians, among other professions.”
This lack of opportunity has left some parents questioning the value of limiting their children’s education to religious instruction alone. Naffie Camara, a mother of four, shared her personal struggle. “My husband forced me to enroll all our children in madrasa schools. Now they have memorized the Qur’an but are not doing any formal work. One of them is lucky to become a teacher, while the rest keep jumping from one madrasa school to another,” she lamented.
Camara added that most madrasa graduates end up becoming Qur’anic teachers or Imams, and very few gain access to opportunities available to students from conventional schools. “The system should be in such a way that the opportunities conventional students benefit from should also be available to madrasa students,” she said.
As Gambia’s education system evolves to meet the needs of a dynamic global economy, the call for madrasa reform is growing louder. Advocates insist that these institutions, while preserving their religious foundation, must also be equipped to provide holistic education that empowers students to contribute meaningfully to national development—both spiritually and professionally.
