In their attempt to complement their line ministry’s effort in providing quality teaching, the English Teachers Association of The Gambia, recently organized a two day training for English Language teachers from selected Upper Basic Schools in Region One on the theme, ‘How to ensure quality education through quality teaching’.
The two-day synergy held at St. Therese’s Lower Basic School provided participants the platform to learn and share experiences on professional matters on how to enhance the effective use of the English language in classrooms.
Speaking at the occasion, a veteran teacher, Omar Ndure who is also the Chairperson of the Association and coordinator of the Early Grade Reading Assessment program at MoBSE, spoke at length on the importance of English teachers coming together to address issues pertinent to their profession. He noted that the training is to remind English teachers the importance of teaching pedagogy in English related topics.
According to him, the association has been existing since 2010 but it has been encountering problems due to its membership; that is, English teachers have not been fully participatory in it, thus calling on English teachers to join the association as it is there to improve standards. He said the association has been working with Jolly Phonics Training Team to train Lower Basic School teachers.
“It is the plan of the association to extend such training to all English teachers in this country irrespective of levels or institution,” he said.
The training was facilitated by three veteran English language teachers drawn from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in the persons of Joseph Mendy, Amie Kah and Muntu Mboob, both of whom made presentation on topics relevant to steering better results.
by Samba Jawo