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Momodou
Denmark
11832 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Oct 2009 : 13:35:37
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Girls’ Performance in Schools Worsen Despite Free Education scheme
By Saikou Jammeh
A scheme by The Gambia Government and her development partners to close the gap between boys and girls educational opportunities has seen a sharp drop interms of the performance of girls in the educational system, compared to their performance prior to the scheme, The Daily News gathered.
The project, which provides free education for girls at Basic and Senior Secondary levels is being piloted in rural Gambia, in Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6 which reportedly habours the country’s poorest people, predominantly farmers who cannot foot the bills of their children’s education as evidenced in the 1998 National Poverty Household Survey.
However, ten years into this widely hailed scholarship scheme, a study done under the auspices of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to assess the level of girls’ performances in these regions from the year 2003 to 2008 indicates that there has been no improvement in their performance.
Infact the findings of the assessment pointed out that the performance of girls in the beneficiary regions was better prior to the introduction of the scheme. Due to many reasons ranging from lack of finance to traditional beliefs, girls in most Gambian communities were/are usually denied equal learning opportunities compared to their male counterparts resulting in gender disparity interms of enrolment, retention and performance.
In an effort to correct this gender disparity, The Government of The Gambia, through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education introduced Girls’ Scholarship Trust Fund in 1999, aimed at promoting girls’ education. Accordingly, all that the scholarship scheme has achieved is considerable increment in the number female students’ enrolment in schools as well as their retention.
Assessments conducted on internal trials in all the regions show a performance that has been constantly declining after the introduction of the scheme, whilst before the scheme it got better than what obtains today. Although the overall performance has been within the Pass and Credit levels, there are all indications that if efforts are not put in place to reverse the constant decline, performances will drop below the Pass level despite the amount of resources being invested in promoting girls education.
The trend is even worse in terms of performance in external examinations as a graph in the Report depicts a generally appalling performance throughout, especially after the scheme: “It is evident that the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) performance before the scheme was far better than one after the scheme”.
The overall period after the scheme, according to the Report “is almost entirely unsatisfactory”.
As in the case of WASSCE, the average national Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination before the scheme is also better than after the scheme. Again just as it is in the WASSCE, level performance at the GABECE level after the scheme is “terribly poor” the report states, adding that a quick recovery cannot be forecast so soon.
Source: The Daily News
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 08 Oct 2009 : 17:13:31
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| This is a SERIOUS situation,especially as it has been recognised(at least by me) that WOMEN are likely to be the saviour of The Gambia in the future,they are without doubt (again in my mind )the dynamo that is likely to propel the country forward. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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