According to a letter published in this edition a student at Muslim Senior Secondary School is calling for the reintroduction of the common entrance in order to improve standards. The letter is worth publishing because of the concern expressed by the student. It is therefore important for this medium to engage the student prior to other responses that may emanate from educationists.
Examination has a purpose in education. Promotion from one level to another has a purpose in education. There can be two types of educational systems in a country. There can be free, universal and compulsory education or a cost-recovery, limited non-compulsory education. A country has to choose whether to see education as a right of a citizen or a privilege. Section 30 of the Constitution of The Gambia states:
“All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realisation of that right- (a) basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all;”
This means that basic education should be free, universal and compulsory. This simply means that all children must go up to grade 9.
Hence grade 6, where Common Entrance used to be introduced to determine who should go to high school or junior secondary school is no longer linked to the secondary phase of education. Instead of a six-year basic cycle for education, there is a nine-year basic cycle. Examination therefore should serve the purpose of testing how far each student has gone in attaining the knowledge, skills and values established for each level of the educational ladder. This can be done without sacrificing quality.
However, the debate is open to what should constitute basic education. Should it stop at grade 9 or go up to grade 12. That is the question.
