Teachers for All: The Gambia
Building on Foundations: Strengthening teacher deployment for improved foundational learning
Highlights
The Gambia has made notable progress in expanding its supply of trained teachers and improving access to primary education. However, foundational learning remains low, and teacher deployment challenges persist, especially in remote and rural areas. Schools in the eastern regions of the country (Regions 5 and 6) continue to experience the highest pupil-teacher ratios, with class sizes nearly double those in urban areas.
Despite the use of hardship allowances and quota-based deployment, the most remote schools remain underserved. Teachers tend to cluster near accessible areas, and only 1 in 10 hardship schools achieves gender parity. Female teachers are significantly underrepresented in Regions 5 and 6, where fewer than one-third of teachers are women.
This report presents new evidence on teacher deployment in The Gambia and offers strategic recommendations to strengthen equitable allocation. It highlights the need for refined incentives, improved data use, and a formal teacher management policy to ensure all schools are staffed with qualified, well-supported teachers.
Suggested citation: Kabir, Mabruk, Building on Foundations: Strengthening teacher deployment for improved foundational learning, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Florence, June 2025.
