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Momodou
Denmark
11765 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 11:51:21
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Foroyaa Editorial : EDUCATION UP TO EIGHTEEN YEARS SHOULD BE FREE AND CUMPULSORY
Advocacy For The Enforcement Of The Children’s Act
By Publisher on 09-08-10
The Child Protection Alliance should convene a National Conference to develop a National Action Plan to promote the enforcement of the Children’s Act. It is necessary to take every government of the Gambia to task, present and future so that they do not disregard the constitution and laws of the land.
Many parents approach Foroyaa to seek for sponsorship. Most of the students are girls. We are told that there is free education for girls. However, despite several attempts by this paper to get the Government to know that girls are being asked to pay up to 5000 dalasis for their schooling, little response has been received from the responsible government agents. The sad thing is that the propaganda still continues that education for girls is free.
Section 18 of the Children’s Act states “Every child has a right to free and compulsory basic education and it shall be the duty of Government to provide the education.”
The Children’s Act has transformed the ideals of the Constitution into a law that is enforceable. It is important for the Child Protection Alliance to transform itself into an effective lobby group that would link itself to the Select Committee On Education of the National Assembly, The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, The Parents/Teachers Associations of schools and Gambia Teachers’ Union to advocate for free and compulsory education.
Foroyaa will not be found wanting in publishing the plight of financially disadvantaged students. Those who want their cases and pictures published to show the scale of the problem and help to attract the support of people of conscience to assist them may approach Foroyaa.
Source: Foroyaa Online
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 12:08:09
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| Words are fine, but if there is no money, then what? |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Momodou
Denmark
11765 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 12:22:25
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Then you find the money |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 12:29:16
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| I think the money is actually there. They just need to reset their priorities. There is so much govt. waste in the Gambia. Convincing the First Lady to skip one of her Disneyland vacations could perhaps pay the national education budget for a whole year, for example . And there are more ways to find the money still. But the problem will be convincing her. Who is gonna say it first? |
Edited by - kayjatta on 11 Aug 2010 12:30:29 |
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:26:57
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| More I read about scholar like kayjatta (claims to have scientific approach rather than rhetoric) here more I lose I hope about Gambia. Money is there? No it is not there. Norway has 80,000 gdp per capita, Gambia has 400 nominal/1400 ppp. With 1400 dollars ain't enough to support compulsory and free education for a nation. Do the math. It is impossible. Yeah, it is good idea, but will not happen. |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
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Momodou
Denmark
11765 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:39:57
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It is only a matter of prioritising and enforcement since this has been already put into law. Why make a law then?
Turk, many prophets of doom like you have condemned The Gambia since before independence because of its size and lack of other natural resources. However, they have been proven wrong many times.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:45:05
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| Yeah, but it takes time. |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:45:29
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| OK, we all appear to realise that this is about money,how do we establish that the money is there or not that appears to be the question at this stage,Turk, I dont think that you can go by per capita income, thats low as you point out and will not be enough,KAY has a vaild point,where does the money for the administration come from taxation of the people, unlikly going on the recognised per capita income figures,so the answer is where does administration money come from, Are there any published government figures that can assist to solve this question? I have no idea,are there any published figures ? for instance aid from the UK, aid from the EU, aid from the IMF,aid from the UN,aid from friends in the Arab world,loans from others,is any of this information available and how was or is it spent? |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Momodou
Denmark
11765 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:47:24
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| Money for the free basic education is from the UNDP and not from Government. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 13:58:10
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Touby. GDP per capita is the indicator of the money nation has. This is a fact. Improving GDP per capita is the only way. The prioritizing is only temporary solution. You have only services you can afford. 12 years of education free and compulsory is something even more developed countries are not able to do it. The quality of education in Gambia is very low, first they need to accomplish the literacy rate before even they worry about 12 years compulsory education. For example, Turkey which has better GDP figures just made first 8 years of education compulsory a few years ago.
I have posted the link with some comments before.
quote:
Let us face it we are talking about Gambia that has a budget 5.474 Billion Dalasi it is about 150 Million Euro. A small town budget in Europe. That means government has to spend 100 Euro per a Gambian citizen per year. 8 euro per month. 2 euro per week.(1.5 Million population) That would include loan payment, health, education, security, infrastructure and tourism. It is difficult task.
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diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
Edited by - turk on 11 Aug 2010 14:00:11 |
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 14:01:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Momodou
Money for the free basic education is from the UNDP and not from Government.
UNDP donation ain't enough.... |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
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Momodou
Denmark
11765 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 14:11:01
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quote:
Originally posted by turk
UNDP donation ain't enough....
Thats part of the osusu
Turk Gambia is not Turkey and so no need for to compare them. Do not try to derail the topic. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 14:40:41
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Would Turk do such a thing ?   |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 11 Aug 2010 14:41:20 |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 14:57:36
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Turk, per capita means per head, in other words each person ,whilst it can be used as an econmic indicator,I dont think its that useful,I did some digging around and came up with these 2 links.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pop_und_1_a_day-economy-population-under-1-day
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/ga-gambia-the/eco-economy
Its all a bit confusing to me not being a financial expert,there is probably a poster here who can explain things to us simple folk.
quote:
Originally posted by turk
Touby. GDP per capita is the indicator of the money nation has. This is a fact. Improving GDP per capita is the only way. The prioritizing is only temporary solution. You have only services you can afford. 12 years of education free and compulsory is something even more developed countries are not able to do it. The quality of education in Gambia is very low, first they need to accomplish the literacy rate before even they worry about 12 years compulsory education. For example, Turkey which has better GDP figures just made first 8 years of education compulsory a few years ago.
I have posted the link with some comments before.
quote:
Let us face it we are talking about Gambia that has a budget 5.474 Billion Dalasi it is about 150 Million Euro. A small town budget in Europe. That means government has to spend 100 Euro per a Gambian citizen per year. 8 euro per month. 2 euro per week.(1.5 Million population) That would include loan payment, health, education, security, infrastructure and tourism. It is difficult task.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 15:18:37
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touby
Why is it not useful? There are other economic data to understand economic situation better but GDP per capita in general is useful indicator. Anyway, your first link is closely related to GDP per capita. Obviously other economic data for example, income distribution would provide good information to analyze the socio-economic situation in a country. |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2010 : 17:41:04
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| Turk, I can do that in very simple terms SOME Gambians have lots of money MOST Gambians have very little money. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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