Government Hands Over More Than 780,000 Locally Printed Secondary School Textbooks

By Ndey Sowe

The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has received more than 780,000 textbooks for senior secondary school students under a government-funded programme aimed at improving access to learning materials across The Gambia.

The textbooks, covering 34 subjects for Grades 10 to 12, were printed locally by the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC) and will be distributed to senior secondary schools across the country’s six educational regions.

The ministry said the textbooks would be provided to students free of charge, meaning learners and their parents would not be required to pay for the materials.

At the handover ceremony, the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Habibatou Drammeh, said the delivery represented more than the arrival of textbooks, describing it as an expansion of learning opportunities for students and teaching resources for educators.

She said the lack of textbooks had previously forced some learners to share books or prepare for examinations without having their own copies.

According to the minister, the new textbooks are intended to support the national curriculum and the ministry’s move towards competency-based teaching and learning.

Dr Drammeh said the books would be distributed across all six educational regions without delay.

She directed regional education officials and school principals to maintain proper records of the textbooks from central stores to individual schools and ensure that the materials reach the intended students.

The minister also urged students to take care of the books and return them in good condition at the end of the school year so that they could be reused by other learners.

She called on parents and communities to support schools in protecting the materials.

Dr Drammeh praised the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation for producing the textbooks locally, saying the initiative would support employment and help develop national expertise in educational printing.

She encouraged the corporation to continue improving its equipment, skills and production standards to enable it to meet more of the country’s printing needs.

Wura Bah, Director of the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation, said the corporation had deployed significant resources to fulfil its contract with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

Bah said more than 750,000 textbooks covering 34 subjects had been printed under the programme.

He described the collaboration between the corporation, the ministry and the Association of Gambian Authors for Schools as an important step towards improving access to educational materials.

According to Bah, the textbook project forms part of a wider effort to strengthen educational quality, accessibility and sustainability in The Gambia.

He said the production process required extensive planning and coordination and thanked the partners involved in implementing the programme.

The ministry said the textbooks are intended to give senior secondary students greater access to the materials needed for classroom learning and examination preparation.

With the books covering Grades 10 to 12 and 34 subjects, the ministry said the distribution would support learners across the country’s six educational regions.

The government-funded initiative also places emphasis on proper management of the textbooks, with education officials and school authorities expected to keep records of the materials and ensure they reach students.

The ministry’s call for students to return the books at the end of the school year is intended to allow the materials to be reused by other learners.