Dear Editor,
I think the minister and her team have missed the point totally. The Gambia College now and then are completely different. What needs to be done is to equip the college and build the capacity of the lecturers. Some of the lecturers are not fit to enter the classroom and lecture as they don’t have the required teaching skills, knowledge and qualifications. How then do you expect them to train young teachers? The ministry has failed in that aspect.
The college lacks human resources and the salaries of its members of staff are low and no lecturer would want to go to The Gambia College and lecture and as a result they can’t recruit the right people. Quality is compromised. As we speak now, the college doesn’t have lecturers to replace those sent on studies and some of them have to resort to conducting lectures online. How can a student teach a student and you expect quality? These lecturers away studying need to focus on their studies. We have seen a lecturer driving and giving lectures to college students and the video was circulating. Too noisy background, which is rubbish and lacks regards to what she was doing. The college wanted to defend her instead of taking corrective measures. I’m not saying the online classes are bad but do the students and the college have the facilities in place to accommodate them. Some students do not even attend such classes for the entire term and still sit for exams in one of the campuses. The connection in the campus is terrible with students paying D1,000 each term. What are they getting in return?
About 95% of students can’t afford the data for a two-hour online class. Some students don’t even own a smart phone and you expect them to attend online classes. Some of these lecturers don’t fully understand how to operate and efficiently utilise online platforms. What will students learn, especially on practical subjects?
Worse is the part time lecturers who are very unpunctual. They are after the money as a side hustle. I must commend the full time lecturers who are struggling without motivation to get things right. It is a national sacrifice and they are champions in imparting knowledge.
To the minister, kindly note that your ministry hasn’t done anything for teachers and you can’t blame the teachers. I am disappointed that any minister that comes will play a blame game which isn’t the solution. Let’s be honest to each other. The expertise in the ministry is lacking. They only think of short-term solutions nothing sustainable at all. The ministry failed decades ago with all the funding. The Gambia College infrastructure is beautiful thanks to the MRC Holland Foundation. Government is not spending money where it is supposed to go, so don’t expect quality but quantity. Now you have quantity and can’t employ them but continue to frustrate them with a two-hour exam which is unrealistic. Address the root causes and get both quality and quantity.
Malick Ndimballand
Banjul
Re: Minister justifies employment exam for teachers
Dear Editor
This is indeed a significant milestone in ensuring sanity in our education system. But it again raises concerns about the delivery of tutors (both primary, secondary and even the college) since these layers form the foundations for quality.
One may also wish to enquire about the admission process for The Gambia College. I believe that would help us to understand the broader spectrum of this menace. Congratulations Hon Minister Dr Habibatou Drammeh. This is indeed timely and commendable.
Buba Saidy
Serekunda
Re: Minister justifies employment exam for teachers
Dear Editor
It is true that some college graduates struggle more especially at numeracy. What the minister was not told is that the number of teachers Gambia college trains are gradually becoming higher than the teachers needed in the country. Although new schools are being created, the student population is increasing and aging teachers are retiring yet the new teachers that qualify year in, year out are more than the number demanded. This exam is among strategies that they can use to control the number they employ.
The Gambia College is a very important institution in this country and the government should have full control of it and if possible let it be free as before and let them stop this “school visit” by the students, I will not call it teaching practice. Before, PTC students used to spend a full year at college plus the summer and then they would be sent to the schools for a year and they return for another face to face then spend another year of teaching practice before graduating. Can you compare those to the current system where students are sent to school for just a term? This is confusing.
Musa Ceesay
Serekunda
Re: Minister justifies employment exam for teachers
Dear Editor
To some degree, it could be a direct affront to the college. Sometimes, it’s unfathomable that after years of training comes another exam again. I think the minister will absolutely admit that her ministry’s direct collaboration with the college will go a long way towards achieving the overarching standards we all so expediently aspire to achieve. I know she has the foresight to lead, and perhaps it’s in that spirit, and maybe even after having toured some schools, that she thought it insightful to introduce this initiative. The admission standards and procedures at the college might have been greatly undermined, perhaps once again prompting her to launch this initiative. But this can be corrected with solid minimum admission requirements, continuous monitoring and rigorous assessments at the college.
Kebba Wally
Daru, Central River Region
