By Abdou Mbye
The officials of the Curriculum Research and Evaluation Development Directorate (CREDD) under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), together with other stakeholders converged at Mansakonko in the Lower River Region for a ten-day forum to develop new instructional materials and teachers’ guide, meant to transform the curriculum into a Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). The CBC seeks to address the needs and aspirations of the people by building skill-based knowledge of prospective young Gambians to enhance the professional human resource needs of the country.
Susan Iannuzzi, a U.S. international education consultant to the CREDD explained that the CBC gives learners the skills they need in order to be successful academically and professionally as well as think critically.
“I have worked in other parts of Africa like Rwanda and Eretria; in the Middle East in Egypt and Jordan; and in parts of Asia including Bangladesh and Pakistan; and all of these countries are now moving towards competency-based education system. We are working with the team here to produce the textbooks from grades 1 to 9 in a competency-based way and change the approach to acquire the skills,” she stated.
Mr. Michael Amadi Secka, an English Language Curriculum Desk Officer, alluded that there are indicators of curriculum development that show whether it is progressing or not. He admitted that in the previous curriculum the public did not have trust in the assessment process “because when a learner has series of As and cannot write a letter, it means the examination is not valid”.
He went on: “The competency Based Curriculum is about attitude, skills, and knowledge. In the former curriculum, you have retention of knowledge but in the CBC you have application of knowledge. Once you have competency, you apply it. Therefore, we are going to move from the former curriculum to the present one but we are not discarding everything”.
The process, Mr Secka revealed involved engaging international experts who interviewed teachers, students, parents and stakeholders and realised that the curriculum did not align with what is being taught in the school and the job market.
Fatou Bittaye, the Principal Education Officer and Mathematics Desk Officer revealed that the curriculum review process was backed by the 2003 and 2008 research reports in which parents demanded for professional and skilled-based education system - the basis for the Competency Based Curriculum.
“As the education system is changing globally, we should also change so that our children will perform equally like others around the world.We are here to develop the English and Mathematics text books while Science and S.E.S will follow suit,” she informed.
