Many, many people trying to help the Gambia, do so by providing the funds for children to attend school.

This was certainly our initial approach, we were sure it was needed.

However it is rather a scatter gun approach, lacking direction and very open to abuse in lots of ways, so often isn't actually used directly for a childs education or even for the most needyor deserving causes.

Whilst visiting one of the many primary schools in Gambia, May and I were moved and impressed by the dedication of the teachers we met, but also totally despondant about how many are unqualified and struggling hard to deal with classes of 40 + with virtually no teaching aids or teaching materials. One school in particular, we know has regular visits from tourists, but there was no evidence of the inevitable donations that must have been left.

Nearly all the learning was done by rote, the whole class chanting letters, numbers or words led by a teacher or older child. The walls were bare, the teachers only aid was a blackboard, chalk and BIG stick.

We learnt that gifts or donations of materials are often sold to pay the school's rent or the teachers very small salary, so the condition of teaching hardly improves. - Classes and workshops for teachers are run, but are so expensive that none of the teachers we met could afford to attend.

FREE teacher sessions aimed at supporting their teaching and at providing much needed resources in the classrooms is desperately needed.

GTS is now focusing its resources (Membership money) on older children in their final exam years at Nusrat school and is now also working towards running teacher workshops and a support network.

There seems little point in paying for kids to attend classrooms where unprepared teachers with no resources struggle to keep control let alone impart knowledge and training.

Keith and Hillary, GTS members are embarking on a very ambitious project to provide a school for 200 pupils in Tanji, it will be well resourced and will aim at a level of excellence in education that we hope will be copied around the country. We hope that when built, we might use it as an evening centre to provide teacher workshops, but in the mean time we are looking at ways of encouraging the spread of good teaching practise.

If you are a primary or junior teacher and think you might be able to help in any way, either by helping with a workshop while on holiday in The Gambia or by sending ideas, old books, activities, wall charts etc. please do so.

Many thanks in advance - we know there are people already offering help GTS would like to co-ordinate this and make more of a difference.