Education Committee Item 11
14 December 1998
Millennium project for schools in The Gambia
Report of the County Education Officer
Contact: Roger Mead, (Assistant Director - Professional Services) ext 7991
1. This report outlines the links being developed between Soma School in
The Gambia, Hampshire Venture Scouts, and more recently, the Bentley
Scout Group. The appendix is a brief report prepared by Councillor
Barron on developments since 1989/90. The Gambia has a population of
about 1.1 million, a community of a similar size to Hampshire.
2. The next stage in the development involves a proposal to develop a
Resource Centre at the Soma School. The Centre will help teachers to
prepare for lessons and will also benefit local village schools whose
staff work in very isolated conditions.
3. This report invites the Education Committee to encourage schools in
the county to consider this as a millennium project. There would be
benefit in using the education department's distribution system and
the Profs networks to communicate with schools in Hampshire
throughout the lifetime of the project. There will be a small
clerical support cost but otherwise there will be no financial cost.
4. Coincidentally, the County Council has been considering its
participation in the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice
Scheme which funds technical partnerships between local authorities
in Commonwealth countries. Under consideration with the Commonwealth
Local Government Forum is a proposal for Hampshire County Council to
work with The Gambia at national level to facilitate the development
of an education system based on current democratic processes in
Hampshire. A report on possible links between Hampshire and The
Gambia will be considered at the Economy and Europe Sub-Committee on
14 January 1999.
Recommendation
That the Committee support this project and welcome the proposed
links between schools in Hampshire and The Gambia.
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PS\REPORTS\RM\NOV552gg
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Appendix
Project Soma School, Republic of The Gambia
Hampshire Schools' Gift to the Third World - A New School for the Millennium
The Gambia is the oldest English-speaking country in West Africa and a member
of the Commonwealth. The Gambia gained independence from Britain in 1965 led
by Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, first President of The Republic of The Gambia.
In 1977 he opened the 250 acre Nature Reserve affirming with the Banjul
Declaration his intention to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of The
Gambia for future generations. In 1990 the country celebrated its 25th
anniversary of peace and stability. A bloodless coup took place in July 1994
and an interim government was installed. Elections have since returned The
Gambia to democracy and the country has remained calm and peaceful throughout.
The Gambia, however, remains one of the smallest and poorest of the African
nations. It has a population of approximately 1.1 million and the capital
city is Banjul. In December 1989 and January 1990 Hampshire Venture Scouts
joined forces with Action Aid on Project Gambia, the task of which was to
construct two extra classrooms for the schools of Soma town and Jiroff
village. This formed the first link with Soma School and the Scouts went on
to build a much bigger project which was a Scout Centre for the Scouts in The
Gambia which will be opened on 14 December 1998. This history and story of
this is available if anyone wishes it.
Soma School is a secondary school in the Republic of The Gambia. It has
approximately 1,450 children and 34 staff. The school was built by the people
of Soma town themselves as funding was not available from any other source at
the time. The quality of the building is very poor and major refurbishment is
needed. The school is overcrowded and the children attend either morning or
afternoon sessions. Even then, there are between 50 and 60 to a class.
Often the children walk several miles to school and women of the town provide
refreshments for the children but there is no kitchen or food store on the
site. There is only one water tap on the site and the toilet facilities are a
twelve-pit latrine for the children and a two-pit latrine for the staff.
There is no electricity on this site although there is electricity available
in Soma town.
Resources are very scarce with even the poorest of children having to rent
their books. Pens and paper are provided by Action Aid. A Resource Centre at
the Soma School would be extremely useful as the staff do not have anywhere to
prepare their lessons and very little in the way of books from which to
prepare them. It would also benefit local village schools whose staff often
work in very isolated conditions and those sub-standard to Soma town.
Most schools in The Gambia try to run a garden programme. As the main
industry is farming it is an essential part of the curriculum. Unfortunately
Soma School does not have a perimeter wall and the cattle and animals roam
around the school grounds freely eating the crops. The school has had to
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abandon the gardens. Following on from the successful Scout project the
contacts with Soma School have continued through the Bentley Scout Group and
its leaders who have, by approaching primary schools in the Alton area,
shipped over to Soma School a ton of books which were not required in this
country,. The books include complete maths and reading schemes, and the
schools are also fund-raising for the Resource Centre so that these books can
be made available to small village schools situated in very isolated areas.
The Scouts sponsored a visit to England in July 1998 for the headteacher of
Soma School, Mr Bakary Dampha, which was extremely successful. I met with
Bakary and he has visited a number of schools in the Alton area. These links
have already borne fruit as some of the schools in the area already fund-
raising for this project (for example Eggars £400, Bentley Primary £100, and
Chawton Primary £50 to date).
Soma School is very special. It was students and ex-students of Hampshire
schools who made up the Venture Scout expedition in 1989/90 which built a
much-needed extra classroom. The expedition leader was a local boy and
whereas schools in and around the capital, Banjul, benefit from gifts and
contacts with the West, this is the first time that a school in the provinces
has ever made such a link.
I believe this project is one which will capture the imagination of the pupils
in our schools as their gift to the Third World, a new school for the
millennium, and I would urge every school to become involved with this project
and to sign up for Project Soma.
It is really very simple. We have fully costed estimates for the works which
are required to start to bring Soma School up to a civilised standard.
Initially around about £50,000 is needed to start this process. That is only
£100 per Hampshire school. I am as aware as anyone of the constant demands on
staff, parents and pupils for projects and for funding but as one who has
worked in the Third World, seen the poverty, the deprivation and the need, I
believe that our pupils in our schools, when challenged or asked, would want
to support such a project as this. To those very few individuals who have
said to me "this is like pouring money into a black hole" I say "no". The
projects which the Scouts led in 1989 and 1990 were brought to a very
successful conclusion and a magnificent resource has been provided for the
Scouts in the Republic of The Gambia. Not one penny has gone adrift; auditing
procedures are in place and have been well used. I believe that this project
is a challenge to our pupils in our schools which, with the support of the
Education Committee and the staff in our service, we can bring to a fruitful
solution together.
Tony Barron
Member for Alton
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