State education in The Gambia follows the same pattern that was established by Britain when The Gambia was a British colony. That is: primary, secondary, and tertiary stages. Primary education should, theoretically:
- Start at the age of 4.
- Be free education.
- Be available to all.
Due to the lack of government funds for education, there are few, if any, school places for the under 7s. Many schools operate 2 shifts: 1 group of children attending in the morning; the other group in the afternoon. Even then, many classes hold up to 100 students, sharing desks, books, and pens.
Only those children who pass their exams can go on to secondary education. In fact, it is often family income (and the gender of the child) that determines whether as child goes to school, what school they go to, and how far up the academic ladder they progress.
According the Unicef's latest statistics, youth literacy rates, for young people age 15 - 24, are:
To find out what we are doing to help the children of the Gambia, please click here.
 | 
