By Sirrah Touray
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education held a validation workshop Tuesday for a new job description manual covering 135 positions, a move aimed at ending ambiguity in roles and strengthening accountability across the ministry.
The manual, developed under the World Bank-funded Public Administration Modernisation Project, spells out duties, reporting lines, qualifications, competencies, and Key Performance Indicators for every role. MoBSE officials, Ministry of Public Service representatives, consultants, and partners reviewed the draft to ensure it reflects actual work on the ground.
Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Habibatou Drammeh said clarity of roles is non-negotiable for a functioning institution.
“A well-functioning public institution is built on clarity of roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Without this clarity, even good policies cannot produce the intended outcomes,” Drammeh said.
She said the manual will guide recruitment and must be used by the Personnel Management Office when advertising vacancies.
“If you want to appoint a person for a certain role, these are the qualifications you will require, and these are the duties that come with the job,” she said. Terms of reference will follow the manual to set specific performance expectations, with KPIs expanded at the role level.
Drammeh also stressed that the manual integrates gender considerations and is designed to stand the test of time. She noted that the draft initially included qualifications for the Minister’s position, but removed them.
“The Minister’s position is a political appointment. That privilege rests only with the Executive, as mandated by the Constitution,” she said.
Lamin Jawara, Permanent Secretary at the Personnel Management Office, said staff must own the document since they are the ones who will be assessed against it.
“The staff, the very users of the document, are the ones that have been called upon to validate it. There is a need for ownership. You don’t do a job description for somebody that he doesn’t agree with,” Jawara said.
He said the manual will form the basis for performance appraisal and the upcoming performance management system. Consultant Dr Ibrahima Jembe, a former MoBSE staff member, developed the document.
Jawara added that the process will be replicated across all ministries and departments.
“Every ministry’s job description will be different, but all contribute to the overall mandate. For MoBSE, that mandate is making education accessible to every Gambian,” he said.
MoBSE said the manual’s success will depend on its use in recruitment, appraisal, and day-to-day management, not on its publication alone.
