{{Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has declared that a free primary education programme be started next year.}}
Under the arrangement, parents have been promised that fees will be abolished for all pupils, with a bursary scheme taking care of uniforms and stationery for needy girls, especially those in the rural areas.
However, parents are wary because such promises have been made before.
In fact, the constitution adopted in 1997 says; “basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all”.
Progressive introduction of free secondary and higher education is also mentioned in the document.
What President Jammeh has been good at is disbursing huge amounts of money for school parties for students.
The President annually disburses millions of Gambian dalasis for distribution to schools to organise student parties.
To many parents, however, the priority would be getting enough cash to pay fees and keep their children in school.
A parent who pays school fees for six children captures the mood: “Is this not wasteful expenditure, regardless of the source? I am not an administrator, though, but I will not distribute money among poor students who will later be driven from school the next term for not paying school fees.”
A high school student residing in Kombo North region suggests that the Gambian leader should set up a proper educational welfare fund rather than just throw money for food and dance.
According to a teacher at St Therese’s Junior Secondary in Banjul, the country has been transformed into a land of school carnivals and parties while the cost of living skyrockets.
“What children need is not partying. Standards in schools are declining. This is a very delicate problem that must be addressed sooner rather than later,” said the teacher, who, like most others, preferred anonymity.
{wirestory}
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