The Gambia - Education Sector Support Program

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The development objective of the Education Sector Support Program Project for Gambia is to increase access to early childhood development and basic education and improve quality of teaching and learning. It has three components. First component, enhancing access to ECD and basic education aim is to expand inclusive education for all, with an emphasis on geographic and economic disparities, gender, students with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups, through a blend of demand side and supply side interventions. This component constitutes a selection of carefully chosen interventions, based on previous pilot approaches and priority areas, to increase access to early and basic education. This component has two sub-component. (i) expanding the network of basic and ECD classrooms; and (ii) expanding opportunities and access for out-of-school children; Second component, improving quality of teaching and learning aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning through: (i) sequenced revision of the curriculum for ECD through Grade ; and (ii) the development of a coherent framework for teacher training and management to improve teacher effectiveness. The aim is to strengthen the curriculum with a focus on core subjects, while in parallel, developing a strategic teacher training and management policy as a means to improve classroom practices and ultimately learning outcomes.It has three sub-component. (i) curriculum revision and implementation; (ii) improved teacher training and professional development; and teacher recruitment and deployment; Third component, technical and institutional support will support capacity building for evidence based decision making in the sector. Activities include: (i) enhancing the system for monitoring of student outcomes through continuous implementation of assessment of learning outcomes; (ii) strengthening data systems; (iii) funding of a service delivery indicators (SDI) exercise to provide a regional benchmark of service delivery performance in the sector; and (iv) enhancing capacity to support data driven policies at the national level. A phased in approach to capacity building will accompany the interventions with specific provisions for capacity building at the ministerial level to translate the new teachers’ deployment and in-service training policy into operation. It has three sub-component, (i) strengthening capacity for data driven decision making; (ii) implementation of communication strategy; and (iii) project management and institutional support.