Schools in Bansang

    There are several schools in Bansang, covering education from nursery level to senior secondary level: 1 senior secondary; 2 upper basic schools; 4 lower basic schools, which also include nursery classes; and 2 nursery schools. There has been a Senior Secondary School in Bansang since 2004. The school moved in October 2008 to a newly built site in Bantanto village about 1 mile from Bansang.  Before this the school occupied the same building as the Bansang Upper Basic School.  The Upper Basic School has 4 feeder schools, the Bansang Lower Basic, Sololo Basic Cycle, Jahanka Lower Basic and Mabali Kuta Lower Basic School. These also have nursery classes. At nursery level there is Agape Nursery School and the Catholic Nursery School which meets in or near the local church.

   This has 216 pupils across the 3 years. There are 3 teachers, one for each class. One is a trained teacher and the other two are untrained. The teachers earn D1500/month. The vast majority of the pupils are Muslim. School starts at 8.30am and finishes at 1pm. Lunch of rice and sauce is provided.  

     This is now the largest school in Bansang. There are 1500 students and 37 teachers. The head teacher is Mr Tambedou. The school day is divided into 2 shifts due to the large number of pupils. Some teachers have the Primary Teaching Certificate whilst others are untrained.  As in the UK, primary teachers teach all subjects. 

     Security is poor at this school. Many classrooms do not have lockable doors, a result of which is that several classrooms lack the basics of benches and tables. The wall surrounding the school has fallen into disrepair, and so both animals and towns people are free to roam in and around the school.

     This school is a few miles away from the main road close to the senior school. The headmistress is Jabou Kongira who recently won the Best Teacher Award in the Central River Region. The school has 200 pupils, 83 boys and 117 girls. Many of the children have permission  to attend without uniform as their parents are unable to afford the material and sewing costs (250 D (about £6)). Classrooms are basic but each has a blackboard and there are benches and tables for everyone. Children do not pay fees at this level of education but the Government is unable to provide more than teacher salaries, so teaching aids, exercise books, pencils and chalk are in short supply. There is a hand water pump within the school so children can get drinking water and they also have a small garden where vegetables are grown to supplement rice cooked in the school kitchen. Teachers have a mixed education, with some holding the Primary Teacher's qualification and some being untrained.

     Jahanka Lower Basic School is a another school in the Bansang area. This one is about 10 km off the main road into the bush. there are 330 students at this school. From this school students continue their education at Sololo or Bansang Lower Basic Schools.

    This school is located in Bansang Town and used to be the site of both the Senior Secondary and Upper Basic Schools until November 2008. The day is divided into 2 shifts, morning from 7.30-1.15pm and 1.45-6.30pm. Teachers work both the morning and afternoon shifts. Grades 7-9 attend this school and take the exam at the end of grade 9. The Head-teacher moved to the school in November 2008 and is Anthony Mendy.

     Pupils pay termly fees of D100 or D125. They also must provide uniform, shoes, exercise books, and buy text books from the school. Girls' education is free, but they still need uniform, exercise books and textbooks which can be difficult for some families to finance. At the end of Grade 9 students take the Gambia Basic Education Certificate Exam.

   This school opened in 2004 on the same site as the BUBS and moved to its new site in the village of Bantanto in November 2008. Ismaila Ceesay has been Headmaster since the school opened. Grades 10-12 attend this school and take the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Exam. If students get good marks in this they may be able to go on to tertiary education if affordable. Students' ages range from 15-24. Subjects are divided into streams: arts, science and commerce. The arts stream covers humanities subjects, commerce covers economics and accounting, science covers physics, chemistry and biology. Maths, English, French and Islamic studies are core subjects. There are 21 teachers in the school, 5 have degrees, 15 have the Advanced Teachers Certificate (ATC) and 1 is untrained. Finding and retaining teachers in the provinces can be difficult and the school is currently short of home science and physics/chemistry teachers. On the government civil servant salary scales an ATC teacher earns about D2400/month (£64/month). BSSS divides its day into 2 shifts with grade 10  and half of grade 12 attending afternoon school and grade 11 and the other half of grade 12 attending in the morning. There are 706 pupils in the in school.