Development Partners
Catholic Relief Services
CRS places its major focus on two programmes in the education sector, Adult Literacy and Early Childhood Care and Development. The literacy programme is an integral part of the agriculture programme where local language skills are taught to women farmers taking part in agricultural projects, . Project management is in the process of being handed over to the implementing partner, National Association of Women Farmers (NAWFA). The newest initiative of CRS in adult literacy is a pilot project Literacy for Self-Management, which focuses on developing numeracy skills and marketing techniques among women farmers.
The ECCD projects targets 13 ECCD centres, both Nursery Schools and Day Care Centres in the North Bank Division. The overall objective of this project is to provide a foundation for the social, psychological and physical growth and development of childhren from 3-7 years and to prepare them for the formal education system. ADWAC a local NGO is CRS's implementing partner.
Contact: Celeste Staley/Programme Manager, Education, Matar Baldeh, Programme Officer,, Education, CRS 60 OAU Boulevard, PO Box 568, Banjul Tel: (220 227120/227121) email: crsgm@gamtel.gm
Future in Our Hands
Future in our Hands is involved in education in the Gambia, through it's school building and refurbishment programme. To date ninety five Lower Basic Schools have been built, extended, or refurbished. Future In Our Hands on average refurbishes eight to nine schools per year, mainly rural schools. The schools are chosen to take part in the initiative by the Regional Education office who supply FIOH with a list of schools needing urgent attention. The criteria for selection of schools, is enrolment, whether it is increasing or not, and the condition of the school. The building programme takes place in co-operation with the School Committee, The World Food Programme provides food for work for the voluntary workers.
Future in our Hands are developing a new design of roof tiles which will be cool. The new tiles are of natural earth, look good and are very cool, compared to aluminum roofing, a pilot project using the roof tiles is taking place in five schools.
Contact: Director, Future in our Hands, Kotu
World Food Programme
The WFP is providing financial support to the Schools Feeding Programme by supplying two healthy nutrious meals to 60,000 school children every school day for five years. The long term objective of the programme is to support the efforts of the government of the Gambia through the Revised Education Policy and the Masterplan 1988-2003 to enhance access to education, improve quality of basic education especially to girls. The immediate objective is to:
- Increase Primary School enrolment of boys and girls in rural areas boys up to 70% and girls up to 60%
- Increased attendance and retention at school of girls, reducing drop out rate.
- Improve children's concentration and participation in the education process by relieving short term hunger.
- Increasing nutritional intake of children in food insecure areas.
The effect of school feeding programme is agreed by all stakeholders to be positive, programme operates enrolments are higher than other areas.. Day Care Centres for pre-school children are also given food support.
Each child gets 80gms of rice/30gms of beans or tinned fish/5gms of vegetable oil/50gm Corn Soya Blend 10gm sugar per day.
Contact: Sonia Turay Food Management Officer/ Grace Njie Programme OfficerSchool Feeding Programme, World Food Programme, UN House, Kofi Annan Street, Cape Point.