Education
Engine for the future
Basic needs are clean water and sufficient food, but education is equally essential to making a difference in the long term.
Cost and distance
There are schools, subsidized by the state, but they are not accessible to everyone. In the more remote areas there are no resources available and the population is too poor to pay for this themselves. The result: children who often have to walk a few hours a day (!) to get to a school or, in the worst case, do not go to school at all.
New school in Fuffor
We have just built a new school in remote Fuffor. Our focus is on the nursery schools (5 to 8 years). This is not subsidized, which seriously hampers the chances of success for children who do not have the means to prepare for primary education in private schools (if there are any in their area).
English
Basic requirement is teaching English, condition for further study later. English is the official language in Gambia, but in the remote villages mainly Mandingo, Wolof and the more regional languages are spoken.
Kostprijs en afstand
Quality
An equally big challenge is the quality of education. A teacher earns an average of 6,000 dalasi per month in Gambia, or 80 euros. Teachers in those remote areas earn even less. The quality of education depends very much on the motivation of the teacher. And often also on what the community can or cannot contribute.
In addition to building classrooms and ensuring that classroom materials are available, we also try to raise the level of education: working on curricula and tests, setting up a Gammol school community where teachers can learn from each other, introducing children to English every day, but also ensuring that the children have a meal at noon...
Trainees Thomas More
Every year, interns from the Thomas More Institute go to our school to support local teachers. The interns from the Thomas More Institute stay in the Gammol house in Sanyang for three months and also provide support to other schools in the area.
Are you interested in doing your internship at Gammol as a student:
Information about the progress of your internship: Stage.pdf
Sfeerbeelden van oud-studenten:
- Joke and Myrthe: onsgambiaansavontuur.weebly.com
- Elle, Fleure and Flore: gambia2023.weebly.com
- Eveline, Laura and Merel: avonturengambia2020.weebly.com