The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) has announced its intention to introduce teaching in seven national languages in public schools in The Gambia from this academic year. The programme seeks to improve children’s early reading, writing and numeracy skills.
The initiative, supported by the World Bank through the Resilience, Inclusion, Skills, and Equity (RISE) Project, forms part of a new Structured Pedagogy Foundational Learning Programme targeting children in early childhood development centres and pupils in Grades 1 to 3.
According to the ministry, using English as the primary language of instruction in the early years can create difficulties for children who have limited exposure to the language at home, affecting their ability to understand lessons and develop basic reading and writing skills.
To address this challenge, MoBSE is partnering with Learning Masterminds, a Ghana-based non-governmental organisation specialising in foundational literacy and numeracy, to implement the programme nationwide.
The seven languages selected for instruction are Mandinka, Pulaar, Wolof, Manjaku, Seereer, Jola and Soninke, the ministry said.
Under the programme, children will be taught in a language they understand best, with the aim of making classroom learning more accessible and helping pupils develop essential skills during their early years of education.
MoBSE said the initiative is expected to improve pupils’ abilities in letter recognition, phonics, blending sounds, reading, writing and basic numeracy by the end of Grade 3.
The planned nationwide rollout marks a shift in the approach to early-grade education, with greater emphasis on familiar languages as a foundation for literacy and wider learning.
