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Executive Summary
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full report
Information they say is knowledge and knowledge, wealth. But to be useful,
knowledge and information must be effectively communicated to people.
Education is the communication of information. As a source of knowledge,
access to and the spread of information, play an important role in the
promotion of change in an economy… whether economical, cultural, legal,
social political or technological. (IDRC: 1995) Given the crucial role of
education in development, and the expansion of Information and Communication
technology (ICT) in the global economy, the role of ICT in education cannot
be overemphasized. The adoption, use and expansion of ICT in tertiary
academic institutions in West Africa remain slow and inadequate. Thus the
area of focus presently is on ICT and Education in West Africa looking at
The Gambia. For the purpose of this research and in the bid to conduct a
needs assessment of the use of ICT in Gambia's tertiary institutions of
learning, for the WiderNet Project, I spent a total of 6 weeks in the Gambia
from the 27th of May 2002 till the 7th of July 2002. Work and research was
conducted during 5 out of these six weeks.
The Gambia is situated on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa. With a total
area of about 11,300 sq km ( land area 10000 sq km and water area 1300 sq
km),. The country extends eastward from the sea for some 300 miles (480
kilometers) along both banks of The River Gambia. The Gambia is almost
completely enclosed by Senegal sharing borders with Senegal on its landward
sides. The Gambia has 5 divisions and 1 city Banjul which is the Federal
Capital. The other divisions are: Lower River, Central River, North Bank,
Upper River and The Western Division.
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
The institution I primarily worked with in The Gambia was The Gambia
College “School of Public Health”. My intended goals during the period
spent in the Gambia were
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To help The School of Public health set up a small intranet comprising of
5 workstations and a server as well as a copy of The
WiderNet Project Digital Library, donated to the College by the
WiderNet Project,
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To consequently promote better communication for The University of
Iowa/Gambia Linkage project and
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To conduct a needs assessment of ICT and education in The Gambia with a
focus more on tertiary education
The Gambia College
The Gambia College is one of the main institutions of higher learning in
the country. With a population of over 1 million, the country’s major
tertiary educational institutions are The University of The Gambia, The
Gambia College and the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI). Gambia
College is made up of 4 schools; The School of Education, The School of
Agriculture, The School of Nursing and The School of Public Health. Though
I worked directly with The School of Public Health, my work
extended to the college as a whole as well as the other institutions
mentioned. This institution serves as a training ground for the majority
of the countries professionals and educationists. The use of ICT in the
college can be said to be at its initial stages. When I arrived at the
college, it had 15 stand alone computers in the computer lab of the
Brikama Campus used basically for the purpose of word processing. These 15
personal computers (pc's) are part of a 25 computer acquisition funded by
the World Bank. The World bank under a project called the "Third
Educations Sector" project has not only donated these computers, but
is also funding the construction of a new computer lab. Another project by
The African Development Bank (ADB) purchased 12 computers for the School
of Nursing and Midwifery located at the Banjul Campus. Similarly,
these computers are stand alone pc's and were not in use during the course
of my visit because of an inability to procure the required cables.
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A look at some of the computers
donated to the School of Nursing |
See full report on the situation of ICT in The Gambia College
The University of The Gambia
The University of The Gambia which is still a fairly new
institution was established by an Act of the National Assembly of the
Gambia in March 1999. It was established to provide the opportunity for
the attainment of higher degree studies in the country. A University
Council was constituted in May 1999 top see to the development of degree
programs in areas considered to be of critical need which had previously
identified in the country by various commissions and task forces. These
areas are:
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Health and allied sciences, including medicine, public and environmental
health, and nursing
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Agriculture and natural resources;
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Economics and management sciences;
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Construction management;
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Physical and natural sciences including computer science; and
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Humanities and social sciences, including education
Presently the faculties that have taken off are:
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Faculty of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences
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Faculty of Science and Agriculture
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Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
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The University of Gambia's server, hub and modem |
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The University of Gambia Computer lab |
The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI)
GTTI offers two year craft and
technician training programs. The courses offered include information
technology, mechanical, electrical and construction engineering. Students
earn either a certificate or a diploma, and some of these qualifications
are awarded or validated by British institutions such as City and Guilds
of London Institute, Pitman, and the Royal Society of Arts examining
board. The DOSE has ministerial purview over GTTI.
Management Development Institute
MDI is an in-service management
training, research and consultancy institution. Courses are
part-time and include accounting, economic management, general management,
information technology, and courses on gender. MDI, in collaboration
with the Personnel Management Office (PMO), also runs courses for middle
and top-level managers in the civil service. MDI is under the office
of the President.
An assessment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in The
Gambia
Like most African Countries, Gambia still
has a lot to do with regards to its Information and Communication
Technology Sector. The nation as a whole has made great strides to embrace
the use and spread of ICT. Thanks to the
UNDP
Internet Initiative for Africa (IIA) the ICT culture has already been
imbibed. However, like in most developing country limited finances, lack
of IT personnel and inadequate planning pose serious problems and
serve as major constraints to the sustenance of effective IT systems in
the country. Through numerous projects ( of International and National
nature) institutions and state departments have been able to procure
and set up computer labs. But over the years, lack of maintenance
due to various issues most often related directly or indirectly to
financial constraints has prevented the country from sustaining these
projects.
On the brighter side, the Gambia already
has an extremely impressive telecommunication infrastructure. Access to
Telephones is wide spread and extends to the rural areas. Along side the
National Telecommunications operator; GAMTEL, numerous private owned
Telecenters also exist. In any case the National Telecommunications
operator is the primary ISP and the country's gateway is a satellite
system from the GAMTEL Satellite Station in Abuko, The Gambia to
Teleglobe in Canada. All other ISPS make use of this gateway to provide
services to their users.
However, even with the impressive
telecommunication infrastructure within the country the widespread use of
computers and the Internet still remains a problem. There is a high level
of computer illiteracy and even though the desire to extend Internet
services to rural areas exists, other numerous problems exist including
the lack of or inconsistent power supply (electricity) as well as
high costs of setting up such systems. Because of the restrictions
within the country the use of satellite technology has not been adopted.
Thus, though the nation still has far to
go, it can not but be mentioned that they have made considerable progress.
It appears to be a recognized fact that the nation needs to not only
incorporate ICT into it's national policy but there is a need for the
public and private institutions (especially the educational institutions)
to develop strategic IT plans.
During this preliminary visit, we
concentrated on getting a small network set up i.e. an Intranet and local
area network comprising of 5 workstations and a server. This involved
setting up the network components donated by
The WiderNet Project,
in Iowa. We set up the 5 personal computers and connected them to an eight
port hub with network cables and ensured that the work stations could
access the
Digital Library, (information on health, literature, general facts,
etc) we had on the 60G hard drive of the server. We also conducted a needs
assessment research to enable us discover how
a linkage could be fostered by the WiderNet Project and academic
institutions in the Gambia
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The Intranet!!! |
The Internet!!! |
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Opening of The New Computer Lab
and WiderNet Field Library
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This work was compiled by Saweda Liverpool and
Cliff Missen |
