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| MoBSE Minister |
The Minister of
Basic and Secondary Education has made clarification that taskforce
created to look into the situation of private schools in the country do
not have the mandate to close any school and as such they should not be
blamed for any wrongdoing.
Education
Minister Faye added that the establishment of the taskforce came about
when the Ministry realised there are some private schools operating in
region one and two without authorization and good facilities.
The minister was speaking on Saturday at a meeting to discuss on private schools verification exercise in region one and two.
The
meeting, held at the KMC Multipurpose Hall in Kanifing, brought senior
officials from the Ministry of Education, parents and proprietors of
certain private schools.
The aim
of the forum known as ‘Bantaba’ was to sensitize parents and the general
public about the verification exercise as well as address raised
concerns.
The education minister
told the gathering that those schools that have been pronounced closed
are not permanently closed unless they failed to meet the criteria.
She
said the closure of schools rests on the Ministry of Education and not
on the members of the taskforce. “We don’t want people to blame the
taskforce for the closure of schools; they don’t have the mandate,” she
said.
The Minister added that it is
difficult to locate some of the schools that are operating in a
compound while urging the support of the community in such a situation.
Babucarr
Bouy, permanent secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education,
said closing of schools is not the intention of the ministry.
When
there are schools operating illegally in the country and some are not
meeting the criteria, they need to be closed, Mr Bouy said.
“We
have so many international schools that do not even meet the local
standard, so the ministry has to look at all those things,” he added.
According
to him, during the course of the exercise, over 386 schools were
visited, out of which 242 schools are allowed to operate and 84 are
closed.
Written by Njie Baldeh (The Point)
