Ghana and The Gambia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening education systems and public sector reforms through enhanced bilateral cooperation following a high-level engagement between the Ministry of Education of Ghana and a delegation from The Gambia’s Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
The Gambian delegation, led by the Minister for Basic and Secondary Education, Hon. Dr. Habibatou Drammeh, visited Ghana to learn from the country’s experiences in education governance, workforce management, digital transformation, accountability systems, and evidence-based policymaking.
Welcoming the delegation, Ghana’s Minister for Education, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, highlighted Ghana’s commitment to providing free education from kindergarten through tertiary level and outlined the country’s education governance structure, led by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES), which oversees basic and secondary education.
A major highlight of the Minister’s presentation was Ghana’s renewed focus on foundational education.
Honourable Iddrisu emphasized that strong literacy and numeracy skills at the basic level are critical to the success of the entire education system.
He noted that while significant investments have been made in secondary education in recent years, the government is now prioritizing early childhood and basic education to ensure a stronger foundation for learning.
He stressed that no education system can succeed if its foundation is weak, adding that Ghana is investing in improving learning outcomes, teacher quality, and access to quality basic education across the country.
The Minister also revealed that Ghana is reviewing its curriculum to respond to emerging global trends, with plans to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI), coding, robotics, financial literacy, and collaborative learning into schools.
During engagements with the Ghana Education Service, the Gambian delegation commended Ghana’s School Report Card initiative and digital data systems, which track teacher attendance, school performance, infrastructure conditions, and learning outcomes.
The delegation described these systems as powerful tools for improving accountability and informing policy decisions.
Dr. Drammeh noted that The Gambia is implementing a World Bank-supported Public Administration Modernization for Citizen-Centric Service Delivery Project and sees Ghana’s experience as highly relevant to its reform agenda.
She further proposed the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two ministries to facilitate continuous exchange of best practices, technical expertise, and policy innovations.
Both countries expressed optimism that the v
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