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Momodou
Denmark
11832 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Apr 2008 : 14:49:58
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On Free Education For Girls
By Abdoulie Dibba
In her response to a question raised by the National Assembly Member for Wuli West, Hon. Sidia Jatta, regarding the number of girls on scholarship and what the scholarship covers, the Secretary of State for Basic and Secondary Education, Fatou Lamin Fye, said that regardless of whether the school the girl attend is public or private, most of these studies receive some form of bursary. Sos Fye said that all female students the Upper Basic and Senior Secondary levels in the North Bank , Lower River, Central River and Upper River Regions benefit from the scholarship Trust fund for Girls. She told the Assembly that a total number of 14,222 girls benefit from this scholarship package and of which 10,543 are in Upper Basic Schools and 3,679 are in Senior Secondary Schools. She also said that the sponsorship covers tuition for girls in Grade 7,810 and 11 and both tuition and examination fees for female final year students at the Upper Basic and Senior Secondary levels and that it is Grades 9 and 12.
The Educatiobn SoS went further to state that within the Banjul and Kanifing Municipalities, 10,788 Upper Basic School students and 9,818 Senior Secondary School students currently receive sponsorship from the President’s Empowerment for Girl’s Education Project (PEGEP); that PEGEP pays school fees for the Upper Basic School students and contributes D375 per student at the Senior Secondary level.
For the current academic year 2007-2008, she said that in the Western Region, 800 girls from 12 Upper Basic Schools are being provided with uniforms, books, shoes and school bags from the Ambassador’s Girls’ scholarship project. This, she said, is coordinated by the Peace Corps office in The Gambia and disbursed by FaweGam; that apart from this, all the girls in Upper Basic and Senior Secondary Schools in the Western Region receive free text books, complementing the sponsorship packages outlined during the 2006-07 academic year. SoS Fye said that the Angels Trust Fund sponsored 276 girls in the upper basic schools in uniform, books rental fees and The Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE) fees. SoS Fye concuded by telling the Deputies that it is worth observing that the Book Rental scheme was abolished with effect from January 2008 in all public schools or government schools and government supported Upper Basic schools in the country.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues
Issue No. 39/2008, 4 – 6 April 2008
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