Fatou  L. Faye, Basic & Secondary Education Minister

The Department of State for Education has just released the final results of the 2007 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WESSCE). The results are catastrophic and a clear signal that the Gambian education system has been reduced to a dismal level of ineptitude by Yahya Jammeh and his cronies at the Department of Education.
 
Of the 7,383 who sat for the exams, only 48 ( 6.5 %) of the total received credit passes in 9 subjects.  This figure represents a reduction in the number of passes from last year.  In fact, there has been a progressive decline in the number of students receiving credit passes in 9 subjects over the past five years indicating a precipitous decline in the quality of education putting Gambian graduates at a disadvantageous position compared to students in the sub-region.
 
These result should serve as a wake up call for Jammeh and all those who continue to measure quality of Gambian education in terms of number of classroom blocks constructed otherwise referred to as the 'infrastructure crowd'.   It is evident that quantity has won over quality at the expense of the student who has suffered immeasurably and less prepared than ever before to compete in the international education and job markets.
 
With results like these, Gambia does not need more of the same. It is time that Gambians come to terms with the fact that Yahya Jammeh has failed Gambian youth and therefore has failed The Gambia.  Yahya Jammeh must go and Jammeh must go now. 
 
Movement for Democratic Change - Gambia