“They Cannot Be Anywhere Else,” Prof. Gomez Warns Custodians of New Textbooks Meant For Senior Secondary Schools

By Landing Ceesay

The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology (MoHERST), Prof. Pierre Gomez, who is overseeing the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), has issued a stern warning to the custodians of the Gambia’s first-ever locally produced textbooks for Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) across the country.

“We expect these books to be used for the purpose they are meant for. We don’t want these books to go anywhere, and that’s the message we are sending. We know our books, we are the only ones producing them. They cannot be anywhere else. So we don’t want them to be seen somewhere else apart from where they are supposed to be. I want to believe that the message is understood. So that they are not diverted by other people. So we want the students to have access to these books. Because it is going to improve quality. That’s going to improve the performance. You cannot be studying when you don’t have the books, so those days are over,” Prof. Gomez told the Journalists.

Prof. Gomez made these remarks while inspecting the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC), where he oversaw the transportation of the newly produced textbooks to schools nationwide.

As part of the government’s initiative to enhance education, MoBSE, with government funding, will supply these textbooks to Senior Secondary Schools this year. This follows MoBSE’s partnership with GPPC and the Gambia Writers Association to author and print textbooks on core subjects tailored for Gambian students.

“It could be recalled that the Ministry, some time ago, engaged the Gambian Writers Association to come together and write books for use in our school system to encourage homegrown writers, some of whom themselves are teachers teaching these subjects in different schools. Therefore, changing from the approach since 1965, after independence, depending on books written by others outside the Gambia and given out to our students in our school system.

“This time around, history is made. Gambians writing their own stories; Gambians writing books for Gambians, for Gambian Schools; printed by the Gambian Government, or Printing Corporation. So this is unprecedented, and the initiative led to the collaboration of key stakeholders, such as the Conference of Principals, Writers Association, Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC), and the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, to work together to ensure that the books to be distributed are of high quality both in terms of content and the physical materials to enhance quality education and accessibility at the same time,” Prof. Gomez said.

Professor Gomez highlighted that these textbooks undergo thorough review at every stage—from the Directorate of Curriculum to the Conference of Principals—to ensure their relevance, quality, and alignment with the school syllabus.

He also informed journalists that all the textbooks handed over to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) have been approved by the Ministry’s Curriculum Directorate.

In addition, Professor Gomez explained that the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC) was responsible for publishing the textbooks, ensuring they met the necessary publishing standards, which included proper proofreading, editing, and plagiarism checks.

He further emphasized the significance of locally produced textbooks for the nation’s education system, stressing that after nearly 60 years of independence, The Gambia cannot continue to depend on foreign textbooks.

“GPPC, on its part, in a bid to fulfill this requirement, engaged subject matter specialists from the University of the Gambia and different colleges who had looked at these books to ensure that they are of the right quality, and within the syllabus as provided for by the Curriculum Directorate. All of these are to make sure that the books are fit for the purposes of helping the children to access good quality materials for proper education.

“The Ministry is very pleased to witness the Distribution of these books to all the public senior secondary schools. Next year, it will be 60 years since the Gambia gained independence. After 60 years of vacuum, that lacuna needs to be fixed before we celebrate 60 years of Independence. It must be meaningful; it must be useful; we cannot continue to have senior secondary schools using books that are not produced by our people. What is the essence of our Independence if we cannot write our own stories? If we cannot explain and teach our people,” Prof. Gomez stated.

The textbooks, created by Gambian authors, were produced through a collaboration between the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Gambia Writers Association.

These resources are tailored to the Gambian context, capturing the country’s social, political, educational, and economic realities.

Subjects covered in these textbooks include Geography, Economics, Chemistry, Government, and Visual Arts, among others.