Introduction - UNDP The Gambia

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recently resulted in serious staff attrition at
the Project Management Unit of DOSE. The
unit lost the services of key trained personnel
like the deputy project manager, procurement
officer and construction manager. These
senior staff received extensive professional
training, and their immediate replacement has
not been easy and has had adverse effects on
project management in the sector. Currently,
there are too few teachers especially in the
rural areas, and because of hostile conditions,
many teachers are often reluctant to serve in
these areas.
The success of any education policy largely
depends on the effectiveness of the
management and organisational structures
that are in place. The decentralisation
programme is not fully resourced and the
regional directorates are not fully
functional. The high attrition rates of welltrained
staff both at management and school
levels undermine the degree of
professionalism and efficiency of the
management of the education system,
resulting in low implementation rates, poor
supervision of activities (especially the
management of teacher supply) and issues of
quality in the schools. Other weaknesses in
the management of the sector include regional
disparities in resources, staffing,
implementation rate and supervision and
monitoring. These challenges affect
performance, especially at the school levels.
The low disbursement rate of project funds
has often resulted in the under-utilisation of
allocated resources.
Decline in Budgeted Expenditure:
Expenditures on education relative to the
GDP declined from 4.3 per cent of the GDP
to less than 3 per cent. Because of rising debt
commitments, the share of the budget for
education as a percentage of total recurrent
funds has fallen from 17.1 per cent in 1999 to
10.5 per cent in 2004.
Thus education appears to have fallen as a
government priority, meaning that the
ambitious policy priorities set out in the
National Policy for Education are unlikely to
be achieved. Similarly, the PRSP objectives
to improve the quality of education, increase
the transition rate from upper basic to senior
secondary school to 50 per cent, and increase
the supply of teaching and learning materials
are not likely to be met with falling budgetary
resources.
The Public Expenditure Report for the health
sector (June 2004) reveals that the health
system suffers from three major problems:
lack of funding, severe shortage of health
personnel and problems of access to
services. The emergence of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic further complicates the situation, as
it requires additional resources and attention.
The May 2002 Report on “Health and
Poverty in The Gambia” established that
although significant progress has been
achieved in the development of the sector,
considerable challenges need to be addressed
to meet the MDG targets. Malnutrition,
maternal and reproductive health, family
planning, HIV/AIDS and malaria remain key
priority areas for action.
Also, access to quality services should be
drastically improved in the rural areas for the
benefit of the poor.
Human resource management presents major
challenges. Limited pay, and an inadequate
management framework have undermined
staff motivation, leading to acute human
resource shortages in the rural areas.
Furthermore, inter-sectoral public spending is
not aligned with stated policy priorities, and
the efficiency of spending in the sector leaves
a lot to be desired. Intra-sectoral allocations
of recurrent expenditures, mainly funded
from domestic resources, reflect uneven
efforts to implement the stated priority that is
supposed to be accorded to primary health
care. Between 1998 and 2002 the share of the
sector’s resources spent on primary health
care fell from about 40 per cent to
approximately 30 per cent as a substantial
portion of the department’s resource
allocation was spent on tertiary services.
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Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia National Human Development Report 2005
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