Education Sector Support Program

  • P Project/Program

I Inactive

Key Information

The development objective of the Education Sector Support Program Project for Gambia is to increase access to early childhood development and basic education and improve quality of teaching and learning. It has three components. First component, enhancing access to ECD and basic education aim is to expand inclusive education for all, with an emphasis on geographic and economic disparities, gender, students with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups, through a blend of demand side and supply side interventions. This component constitutes a selection of carefully chosen interventions, based on previous pilot approaches and priority areas, to increase access to early and basic education. This component has two sub-component. (i) expanding the network of basic and ECD classrooms; and (ii) expanding opportunities and access for out-of-school children; Second component, improving quality of teaching and learning aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning through: (i) sequenced revision of the curriculum for ECD through Grade ; and (ii) the development of a coherent framework for teacher training and management to improve teacher effectiveness. The aim is to strengthen the curriculum with a focus on core subjects, while in parallel, developing a strategic teacher training and management policy as a means to improve classroom practices and ultimately learning outcomes.It has three sub-component. (i) curriculum revision and implementation; (ii) improved teacher training and professional development; and teacher recruitment and deployment; Third component, technical and institutional support will support capacity building for evidence based decision making in the sector. Activities include: (i) enhancing the system for monitoring of student outcomes through continuous implementation of assessment of learning outcomes; (ii) strengthening data systems; (iii) funding of a service delivery indicators (SDI) exercise to provide a regional benchmark of service delivery performance in the sector; and (iv) enhancing capacity to support data driven policies at the national level. A phased in approach to capacity building will accompany the interventions with specific provisions for capacity building at the ministerial level to translate the new teachers’ deployment and in-service training policy into operation. It has three sub-component, (i) strengthening capacity for data driven decision making; (ii) implementation of communication strategy; and (iii) project management and institutional support.


Lead Implementing Government(s)

Gambia, The

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Gambia, The

Government Affiliation

Government-affiliated program

Years

2018 - 2023

Partner(s)

Not applicable or unknown

Ministry Affiliation

The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, and The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE)

Funder(s)

COVID-19 Response

Unknown

Geographic Scope

National

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Other

  • Early childhood development

Quality

  • Teacher training

Cross-cutting areas

  • Gender equality

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys in school, Girls in school, Teachers - female, Teachers - male, Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

All in school

School Level

  • Pre-school

Other populations reached

  • School administrators

Participants include

Not applicable or unknown

Program Approaches Back to Top

Community engagement/advocacy/sensitization

  • Technical assistance/capacity building to civil society organizations or governments

Teaching

  • Hiring more teachers (both men and women)
  • In-service teacher training – pedagogy general
  • Teaching materials (e.g. lesson plans, curricula)

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Increased school enrolment (general)

Cross-cutting goals

Not applicable or unknown