Education
Delivering an inclusive education system where the rights of all children, particularly out-of-school children and children in need of special protection, are guaranteed.
The challenge
The Gambia Education Policy aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 4, prioritizing accessible, equitable, and inclusive quality education. The Constitution affirms basic education as a right, emphasizing its free, compulsory, and universal availability. However, expanding the education sector annually challenges the government to meet growing funding needs for infrastructure, materials, and teachers.
Despite expansion, low learning outcomes persist, necessitating strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to create conducive learning environments. Quality education faces bottlenecks, from underdeveloped preschool programs to primary education struggles in meeting competency targets. Secondary education aims to prepare graduates for further studies and employment, yet learning outcomes reveal performance-related dropout challenges.
Inclusive education remains a priority, with children with disabilities facing limited access due to social norms and structural barriers. Gender disparities persist, with social norms often prioritizing marriage over girls' education. Boys may face pressure to seek employment abroad, disrupting their educational paths. Efforts to address these challenges require collaborative approaches and targeted interventions to ensure every child's right to education is realized.
The solution
UNICEF supports the Government of The Gambia, through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to achieve the education policy goals. Our support is guided by the UNICEF Country Programme Document 2024-2028, with the aim of achieving an inclusive education system that is equipped to provide comprehensive early childhood education to all children, in conjunction with health, nutrition and protection interventions, and to ensure the rights of all children to appropriate quality education.
Our education programme seeks to ensure that all children aged 0 to 6 years benefit from formal and informal quality early learning opportunities for enhanced school readiness. This is done through supporting policies and strategies on preschool education, sufficient evidence-based data and budgetary support; review and revision of existing early childhood development programmes; training of preschool facilitators and caregivers; parenting education and family support programmes; and the integration of preschool with interventions, including stimulation practices in health, nutrition and protection at the community level.
The health and social workforces require training to effectively detect early signs of physical or cognitive delays through the correct information on stages of child development and using opportunities, including immunization and birth registration campaigns, to include information and practical examples on child development.
Our education programme also focuses on marginalized and excluded children who could not benefit from education services. The exclusion may be due to disabilities, gender, access or social norms and values of the families. Our focus is to ensure that children excluded from mainstream education, including those affected by humanitarian situations, enjoy their right to appropriate quality and inclusive learning.