Yallalba Lower Basic School in the North Bank Region, recently organised a one-day training for the school teachers on writing and reading.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the head teacher of the school, Kumba Kinteh, welcomed participants for the second time in the academic year.  She said as a teacher, one should acquire knowledge by all means and to impart it to the pupils.  She stated that although teachers need more motivation, that does not mean they (teachers) should not perform their duties as expected.  

She urged teachers to be committed at all times to ensure quality education. Delivering his note address, Samba Jeng, chairperson of the training, highlighted the importance of the training. He explained the model of the training, describing it as important,especially since writing and reading are the difficult problems teachers are facing in the lower basic schools. To overcome these problems, he urged teachers to teach pupils properly especially in the lower grades.

Ablie Kinteh, who was the resource person on writing skills, said pupils should  always be able to differentiate letters to enable them to write correctly. Lamin Jammeh, another resource person, dilated on other key problems that are very common in Lower Basic Schools such as pronunciation of words, blending of small and capital letters and so on. Momodou Bah, the head teacher of Medina Sabaeh L’ecole 2 in Senegal, said teaching methodologies are the same whether in French or English.  He said God assigned Muhammed (SAW) to be educated noting that education is therefore a continuous process in life.  

He thanked the school for organising such an important and educative gathering.  Adama Ceesay, a volunteer from L’ecole 2 also made similar remarks on the importance of reading and writing. Alpha Omar Jallow, head teacher of Farafenni Proper Lower Basic School, on behalf of the area cluster monitor and the regional director, called on the participants to make changes which will ensure quality education for all Gambian children.  He also called on participants to work hand in hand with their head teachers to accomplish the good plans of the school.