A Successful Digital Classroom in The Gambia

Mariama Bah: On behalf of the entire community of Nema Kuta Basic Cycle School, School Management Committee Chair person, Mothers Club President, Regional Education Directorate 4, teachers and students, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Gambia Teachers Union for identifying our School, and The Steve Sinnott Foundation for the financial support to provide these facilities.


This will help to improve performance, enrolment and retention of students in the school. The facilities will be greatly taken care of.


Let me take this opportunity to inform you that within a week a lot of students who were not coming to school have started coming. Some of them have never seen a Television set before. Even some of the parents came to the school to see for themselves when they were told about the news.


Please be informed that we got some recorded lessons from the Communication Unit of MoBSE for the teachers to use for teaching and learning.

 

(Mariama Bah, Principal NemaKuta Basic Cycle) 



Feedback on the Digital Classroom at Nema Kuta Basic Cycle School


The Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) and the Gambia’s Teachers’ Union (GTU) launched a digital classroom project in March 2021 in the Lower River Region (LRR) which is Rural Area number 4 of the administrative divisions in The Gambia.

 

During the monitoring visits to the school, teachers, members of the school management committee, the village alkalo, a member of the mother’s club and some students were interviewed and this is some of the feedback they gave:

 

The facility is the first of its kind in the whole region. In fact, apart from region one in the urban area, no other region has this. As such we consider ourselves very lucky and privileged. It has had a very positive impact on the learning for the students, and now they come to school regularly and want to stay in school, especially when they know the lesson is with the computer or TV.

Some of the students have never seen a television much more have access to it. Some of the parents have never seen a TV either; they encourage their children to come to school now, because of the TV lessons and that is having a positive impact on the learning outcome of the students.

Some of the students have never seen a television much more have access to it. Some of the parents have never seen a TV either; they encourage their children to come to school now, because of the TV lessons and that is having a positive impact on the learning outcome of the students.

The internet facility helps the teachers to conduct research and also go online to chat with their friends during their free time.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500sDesk tops and laptops help the teachers to type examinations and tests. Prior to having these teachers used to hand write the questions. One can imagine it used to be very tedious and time consuming.

The facility has boosted enrollment and retention, created learning opportunities for the educators and has transformed the lives of the students.

Impact on the learners and educators

 

Digital learning is far more engaging and interactive than voluminous textbooks, and offers more activities than traditional education methods. This allows the children to connect with the learning materials and fascinates the children beyond measure.

 

The advantages of the digital classroom at Nema Kuta Basic Cycle School is not limited to the students, but also helps teachers whilst researching the curriculum and provides ideas for planning lessons and offering better quality education.

 

The positive environmental impact is also recognised by the need for less paper for handouts and books. There is also time saved with fast access to information which makes research easier, maximizes the resources, and increases both reach and impact for students and educators alike.

 

In addition to all this the teachers now have the opportunity to charge their mobile phones at no cost. Before this facility a teacher would collect all the mobile phones and take them somewhere, then leave them for charging at a cost. Often it took a very long time to get them back.

 

 

 

The next developments:

 

Although a great improvement, there are still limited computers and laptops for the students to use. So students are waiting to access the facility because they have to take it in turns.

 

Therefore we are now looking to raise funds for more computers. Will you help us?

 


Related posts:

 

https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/working-in-partnership-with-brunel-university-to-bridge-the-digital-divide

 

https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/a-day-in-my-life-when-i-needed-access-to-technology

 

https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/improving-the-quality-and-access-to-education-in-the-gambia


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