Professor Asha Kanwar, COL President & CEO welcomed The Honourable Ms Claudiana Ayo Cole, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), The Gambia to COL on 5 June 2019. Discussions focused on country priorities including curriculum development and review for both teacher education and the school system, where Minister Cole spoke of the need for more capacity to implement the curriculum changes.

Minister Cole, accompanied by Mr Abdoulie Sowe, Project Manager, MoBSE, shared on-going infrastructure improvements, including installation of solar power and Internet connectivity, that will enable e-learning to take place in institutions across the country.

Through its partnership with MoBSE, COL currently supports The Gambia College in offering a teacher professional development program that is technology-based, with a strong focus on learners and pedagogies. COL and the Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning at the National Open University of Nigeria (RETRIDOL/NOUN) collaborated recently with the University of the Gambia and MoBSE on a workshop to introduce participants to fundamental concepts in Open and Distance Learning.

In speaking about the potential for further work in The Gambia, Professor Kanwar said, “The meeting offered an opportunity to discuss some exciting future areas of collaboration, especially in curriculum development.”

Minister Cole remarked that she appreciated the positive experiences she has had with COL and looked forward to continuing to foster MoBSE’s collaborative working relationship with the organisation.