By Nelson Manneh
Mr. Louie Moses Mendy, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education said MoBSE’s free education policy for 2016-2030, covers all students attending public schools from elementary to grade 12.
But this does not mean that each student will be provided with all the textbooks and other learning materials they need. The government will meet them half way and the parents who can afford it will do the rest.
“Public schools in the Gambia are not limited to Schools built by the government but it includes government-subvented and grant-aided Schools. These are Schools that receive subventions and grants from government coffers,” he said.
When asked by Foroyaa whether the government has prescribed textbooks and other learning materials for state-sponsored Schools at all levels, PS Mendy said some textbooks are provided to Schools, but they do not stop parents from buying any other learning material that they think will contribute immensely to the education of their children.
“We are not saying that the government has provided or is providing all learning materials to all students,” he said.
His emphasis is that it is strictly prohibited for anybody to collect or ask students to pay any form of fees in public Schools.
“We all know that government provides textbooks for children but even with that, we are not saying that parents should not buy learning materials for their children if they wish to do so,” he said.
For the information of the reader, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE), on Tuesday, 20 August 2024, issued a press release prohibiting all forms of fees and levies in public Schools, further stating that the Ministry prohibits the collection and levying of any form of fees in government-subvented, grant-aided and recognized Schools and Madarasas in The Gambia
The press release reminded the public that the Basic and Secondary Education policy strictly prohibits the levying and collection of such fees in government-subvented,grant-aided, and recognized Schools and Madarasas in The Gambia.
An anonymous head teacher in one of the public Schools within the Kanifing Municipality who spoke to Foroyaa about the government’s prohibition of levies and any form of fees in government-subvented Schools and Madrasas, said some parents are conflicting summer study fees that parents are asked to pay.
“Every year during the summer holidays, almost all public Schools conduct summer studies and parents are asked to pay a certain amount of money as their children’s study fees. However, many are now aligning this free education policy to that,” he said.
This anonymous headteacher said the free education policy that the government is emphasizing does not reflect what it means in reality.
“I have headed a School for some years now and the textbooks the government is providing to schools are not always enough for students. That is why sometimes teachers will encourage their students to buy them from outside,” he said.
“Currently I am registering students in my School and when they come with their parents, I ask them to pay a certain amount of money to cover the school badge and a T-shirt. Some parents find this very difficult to understand and they take it as a levy,” he said.
He said government subvention does not cover School badges and T-shirts, calling on the government to list out all the learning materials covered by the subvention so that the parents will be fully informed.
