By Olimatou Coker
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Education, the World Bank, and UNICEF, launched its first ever ‘one laptop per school initiative’ to address data management gaps in schools.
The initiative will help school managers effectively manage data.
Held at MoBSE’s conference hall with the theme “data-driven schools transforming education through information management,” the “one laptop per school” initiative is designed to enhance and equip each school administrator with a laptop to help improve their data management capabilities and digital literacy skills.
According to the ministry, the initiative is in line with the recovery focused of the National Development Plan 2023-2027 dubbed “Yiriwaa” and the Education Sector Policy objectives 2016-2030 that seek to support the digital transformation of the education sector.
The minister of higher education, Professor Pierre Gomez, said the successful implementation of the initiative depends on the availability of energy as a critical infrastructure.
“Fortunately, the launch of this initiative coincides with the expansion of rural electrification and the on-going schools’ solarisation project,” he said.
The project, Minister Gomes added, will enhance data communication in the ministry, regional education directorates, and schools and ensure timely and accurate processing and reporting of data. “Ultimately, the goal is to create a more efficient and responsive education system that meets the needs of both students and educators,” he stated.
He added that the initiative also provides the basis for integrating education and health data to support individual child tracking systems and cross-sectoral data sharing.
“To achieve this transformative agenda, the Gambia government aims to develop digitised information systems, increase the digitisation processes of public services, which include the management of school information, and expand the usage of the Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) across the public service,” he said.
Sohna Foon, the director of planning at MoBSE, highlighted the significance of the initiative, especially in terms of data-driven decision-making.
“The initiative will help to improve attendance, retention, and performance and enhance data management at the school level,” she added.
Louise Moses Mendy, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the significance of the initiative cannot be overemphasised.
“It aims to better learning outcomes for every child in the country, which also aligns with the government’s broader national effort to zero out-of-school children initiative,” he added.
PS Mendy called for greater collaboration between school leaders, communities, and partners.
