Transition from primary to secondary in The Gambia: the impact of the Common Entrance Examination on teaching, learning and the curriculum in the upper primary school

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the impact of Gambia's secondary school selection examination on the process and content of upper primary school education. Using research perspectives provided from such empirical traditions as the "Diploma Disease" (Dore, 1976) and orientations to learning (Marton et al., 1976; Entwistle et al., 1983), opinions were sought from respondent groups in The Gambia in order to illuminate more fully the various issues. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and written exercises from six samples: primary school heads; parents (of the Primary Six children); CEE class teachers; Form One pupils (CEE passes); Primary Six pupils (CEE preparation class) and educational administrators. Each group (except the last) was sampled separately from the rural and urban regions of the country, so as to seek any differences there may be in the effects of the examination in the two areas.

Major topics studied were the influences of primary leavers' employment prospects on examination; attitudes towards the CEE and primary schooling in general; and distortions in the process and content of upper primary education, as a consequence of these pressures.

It is concluded that:

#1 Employment prospects for primary leavers are seen to be much poorer than prospects for those passing the CEE.

#2 People hold unfavourable perceptions of the level of education achieved at the end of primary schooling.

#3 The CEE is approached in a wholly instrumental way.

#4 Orientations to primary schooling outcomes are more instrumental than intrinsic.

#5 There are distortions of recommended teaching and learning processes and of the content of the primary curriculum.

#6 Finally, these effects hold fairly equally in both rural and urban regions of the country.

These conclusions are broadly in line with those of other researchers, although the similarity of perceptions from rural and urban samples, and the results concerning teachers' selective attention to different sub-groups of children were not as anticipated.

The conclusions appear to have implications for the practice and content of primary schooling in The Gambia. In this regard, issues such as poor employment prospects for primary leavers and instrumental orientation to the CEE and primary schooling generally seem to influence parents, primary school heads, teachers and pupils to have more regard for the CEE than for teaching and learning related to the recommended primary curriculum. This practice distorts the aims, processes and content of the primary curriculum. These distortions could have social and economic implications as well. In particular, failure in the final classes of primary to cover the recommended range of subjects means that the government's plan to provide, for all the regions, education deemed 'relevant' may be difficult to achieve at the end of the primary course.