The Education for All Campaign Network (EFA-NET) The Gambia, in collaboration with the Africa Network Campaign on Education for All (ANCEFA), yesterday began a five-day budget-tracking workshop at the Paradise Suite Hotel in Kololi.

This training aims to enable these coalitions to acquire appropriate skills in budget research, credible data required for effective advocacy campaign and constructive engagement with government and donor partners for the full implementation of Education for All (EFA) Goals between now and 2015.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Babucarr Boye, Permanent Secretary, Department of State for Education who deputised the Secretary of State for Basic Education Fatou Lamin Faye, said that the year 2000 was a landmark year for education, as it did not only usher in the new Millennium, but also saw two significant developments that radically changed the delivery of education services, noting that these were the adoption of six major EFA goals for education and the two millennium Development Goals, namely: completion of universal primary education by 2015 and achieving gender parity by 2005 and gender equality in primary and secondary schools by 2015. The educational landscape has therefore, been changing since this world event.

According to him, National Plans and Budgets spelt out the key policy statements that reflect the highest level of political commitment and the social economic development agenda of government, national budget identify sources of revenue and allocate expenditures to the various sectors of the economy. 

“This training workshop is, therefore timely in so many ways, it is meant to build the capacity of Gambians and non-Gambians alike to carry out budget tracking activities in their various countries, it is also about consensus building as it will enable the national education coalitions strategies on how to develop on advocacy strategy to influence decision-making in the education sector,” he said.

In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Adelaide Sosseh said “a wind of change started to blow across the world in the year 2000 and as it blew, it gained momentum and become a forceful storm that has changed education service delivery world wide”.  She added that, “the call for inclusion of CSOs in the education policy process calls for a major shift in policy at all levels and this required a change in the way of doing business not only for CSOs but the leading agencies involved in education for the latter had to create the space for CSO participation and CSOs had to change from being bystanders and onlookers. This is what essentially observer status means to being active participants at decision-making bodies, such as the high level group on education and the conference of African Ministers of Education, to name a few”.

Mrs. Felicia Onibon, of ANCEFA also spoke at length on the importance of the workshop.