Page 53 - UN Gambia 2020 CCA stakeholder consultations report

EDUCATION
• Generally, participants have cited the recent developments in education to have significantly increased the literacy rate in the communities.

Buttressing that point, most participants pointed to the increase in the number of schools from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to

Senior Secondary School. This they stated has enabled people to transit to different levels of education with much ease. Majority of
households have more than one member completing Secondary education or above. “If a school is not located in your own community
there will be one in the next community which is usually not far”. Nonetheless, many expressed concerns that the quality of education has

drastically dropped. Few participants also expressed concern with the relevance of the curriculum, to them what is been taught in schools

should reflect the needs of the people.
• The poor quality of education to most participants, is as a result of inadequate teaching and learning materials and unmotivated teachers.

Few mentioned the lack of consultation during curriculum development process. The discussions highlighted the need for more attention
and resources to be devoted to the quality of education delivery by providing teaching and learning materials, ensuring the motivation of

teachers (this to include review of the salary scale, provide teachers with what they require during their service, for example teachers
quarters) and more pedagogical training for teachers.

AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY

• All indicated that the COVID-19 restrictions have led to nutrition and food insecurity especially amongst farmers. Though the challenges

faced by the agricultural sector are not new; COVID-19 has seriously exaggerated these challenges as a result of inadequate storage facilities
to store the perishable produce that are not sold on a daily base due to the limited hours the markets operated.

• The health protocols on physical distancing discouraged the norm of group farming. Many farmers ended up not going to the farm, and the
curfews limited the time spent on farms.

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