Partner since:
Total grant support: US$65,961,736
Grant eligibility:
Partnership compact
Priority: Make foundational learning more accessible, equitable, and inclusive.
Coordinating agency: UNICEF
GPE Team lead: Plamen Danchev
The Gambia has improved education access, equity and quality over the past several years, but the country is far from achieving its policy goal of 80% of children reaching minimum learning competencies.
While the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has improved enrollment at all levels of education, poor performance in literacy and numeracy shows that children are not thriving at school. Only 11% of children ages 7-14 demonstrate foundational reading skills and 9% for numeracy.
Failure to learn basic competencies has led to high rates of repetition and dropout: nearly 29% of Gambian children are out of school.
To unlock large-scale change, The Gambia is working with GPE and other partners to ensure accessible, equitable and inclusive foundational learning. The focus on basic literacy, numeracy and transferable skills, like independent learning and critical thinking capabilities, aims to equip students with the building blocks for a life of learning.
Expanding access to quality pre-primary education will better prepare children for foundational learning in primary education. And better teacher support through professional development, new teaching and learning materials, and assessment methods aligned with the foundational curriculum, will help ensure that all students in The Gambia achieve basic competencies by grade 4.
(data as of August 31, 2023)
Type: COVID-19
Years: 2020 - 2022
Allocation: US$3,500,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: WB
Type: Program development
Years: 2020 - 2021
Allocation: US$100,000
Utilization: US$98,111
Grant agent: WB
Type: Sector Plan Development
Years: 2020 - 2023
Allocation: US$600,000
Utilization: US$460,073
Grant agent: WB
Type: Program implementation and multiplier
Years: 2018 - 2023
Allocation: US$12,500,000
Utilization: US$12,457,576
Grant agent: WB
Increase access to early childhood development and basic education and improve quality of teaching and learning.
Type: Program development
Years: 2017 - 2018
Allocation: US$199,800
Utilization: US$199,611
Grant agent: WB
Type: Sector Plan Development
Years: 2016 - 2018
Allocation: US$320,732
Utilization: US$440,250
Grant agent: WB
Type: Program implementation
Years: 2014 - 2018
Allocation: US$6,897,233
Utilization: US$6,897,233
Grant agent: WB
Increase access to basic education, improve quality of teaching and learning in lower basic schools, and strengthen education systems.
Type: Program development
Years: 2013 - 2014
Allocation: US$195,341
Utilization: US$195,341
Grant agent: WB
Type: Sector Plan Development
Years: 2012 - 2014
Allocation: US$249,717
Utilization: US$249,717
Grant agent: WB
Type: Program implementation
Years: 2009 - 2013
Allocation: US$27,998,912
Utilization: US$27,998,912
Grant agent: WB
Improve teaching and learning conditions in basic education including early childhood development, in alignment with the overall objectives of the country’s 2006-2015 Education Sector Strategy Plan and 2008-2015 Medium-Term Plan.
Type: Program implementation
Years: 2006 - 2008
Allocation: US$9,400,000
Utilization: US$9,400,000
Grant agent: WB
Type: Program implementation
Years: 2004 - 2005
Allocation: US$4,000,000
Utilization: US$4,000,000
Grant agent: WB
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting the Education For All Campaign Network (EFANet) for the 2020-2023 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
