By Maimuna Sey-Jawo
Tbarrow administration is committed to improving the welfare of teachers, a deputy permanent secretary of the basic and secondary education ministry said.
Jarreh Sanyang underscored the significant role educators play in national building and said government recognises it.
“We will continue our effort towards improving teaching and learning particularly in rural Gambia.”
He said this Friday at a local hotel during celebrations marking World Teachers Day.
Speaking on the theme “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher”, Sanyang promised that his ministry will work to ensure that teachers’ recruitment, development and retention are high on the ministry’s development agenda.
He assured of the continuous professional development of teachers during their career.
The Gambia Teachers Union president, Martin Gomez, said Teachers Day was important not only for the educational community, but society at large.
Martin said the day was also an opportunity to celebrate the teaching profession and promote ILO/Unesco recommendations surrounding the status of teachers.
“This year’s theme has been chosen to remind the global community that the right to education cannot be achieved without the right to trained and qualified teachers. An education system is only as good as its teachers. Teachers are essential to universal and quality education for all,” the president stated.
The guest speaker at the event, Adelaide Sosseh, said lack of qualified teachers continues to be ‘a major deficiency’ in The Gambia’s educational system.
“How can one say there is equal educational opportunity or opportunities when some children are taught by a qualified teacher, and others by an unqualified teacher.
Marie Antoinette Corr, GTU general secretary, also called for “due consideration” into plight of teachers.
World Teachers’ Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is held annually on October 5. Established in 1994, it commemorates the signing of the 1966 Unesco/ILO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers, which is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
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