REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA MINISTRY OF BASIC AND SECONDARY EDUCATION CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR BASIC EDUCATION [2011] CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................3 FOREWORD.............................................................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................................6 CURRICULUM .........................................................................................................................................................................7 CHAPT E R 1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................8 1.1 CONTEXTUAL SCAN ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 NATIONAL PRIORITIES AND INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS ..........................................................................................10 1.2.1 Government’s vis ion .............................................................................................................................................................10 1.2.2 Millennium Development Goals ......................................................................................................................................10 1.2.3 EDUCATION FOR ALL.............................................................................................................................................................10 1.2.4 ECOWAS PROTOCOL ...........................................................................................................................................................11 CHAPT E R 2. STRUCTURE AND AIMS OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE GAMBIA................................. 12 2.1 STRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM..............................................................................................................................12 2.2 AIMS OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE GAMBIA.............................................................................................................12 2.2.1 Early childhood care and education.............................................................................................................................13 2.2 .2 Basic Education (Grades 1 ­ 9)........................................................................................................................................13 2.2.3 Secondary education (Grades 10 ­ 12) ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.3 AIMS OF THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR BASIC EDUCATION IN THE GAMBIA ‐ ECCE GRADE 9 OR GRADES 1 ‐ 9 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................14 CHAPT E R 3. STRUCTURE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT AND LEARNING AREAS ....................................... 16 3.1 LEARNING AREAS AND SUGGESTIVE TIME WEIGHTING .......................................................................................................16 3.1.1 Lower primary level (Grades 1 ­ 3) ..............................................................................................................................16 3.1.2 Upper primary level (Grades 4 ­ 6)...............................................................................................................................16 3.1.3 Upper basic (Grades 7 ­ 9).................................................................................................................................................16 3.2 DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING AREAS ........................................................................................................................................17 3.2.1 Langua ges.................................................................................................................................................................................17 3.2.2 Mathematics ............................................................................................................................................................................19 3.2.3 Integrated Studies.................................................................................................................................................................20 3.2.4 Science ........................................................................................................................................................................................20 3.2.5 Social and Environmental Studies.................................................................................................................................21 3.2.6 Agricult ure................................................................................................................................................................................22 3.2.7 Home Economics....................................................................................................................................................................24 3.2.8 Physical Education................................................................................................................................................................24 3.2.9 Life Skills....................................................................................................................................................................................25 3.2.10 Religious Education...........................................................................................................................................................26 3.2.11 Creative and Performing Arts and Handicraft......................................................................................................26 3.2.12 Technical Drawing.............................................................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 4. STATEMENT OF BROAD LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES/STANDARDS FOR EACH LEVEL OR CYCLE....... ........ ... ................... ................ ............................................................................................... 28 4.1 AT THE END OF THE PRIMARY CYCLE (G1 ‐G6)...................................................................................................................28 4.2 AT THE END OF THE UPPER BASIC CYCLE (G7 ‐ G9)..........................................................................................................28 4.3 SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES ....................................................................................................................................................29 4.4 KEY COMPETENCIES PER SUBJECTS (CORE SUBJECTS) ........................................................................................................29 4.5 LANGUAGES ................................................................................................................................................................................29 1 4.5.1 National Languages.............................................................................................................................................................29 4.5.2 English Language..................................................................................................................................................................30 4.5.3 French .........................................................................................................................................................................................30 4.5.4 Arabic..........................................................................................................................................................................................31 4.6 MATHEMATIC S .............................. .............. ...................................................................................................................................31 4.7 SCEIENC ...........................................................................................................................................................................................31 4.8 SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ...................................................................................................................................32 4.9 CROSS‐CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES.........................................................................................................................................32 CHAPT E R 5. TEACHING METHODS AND STRATEGIES ..................................................................................... 34 5.1 LEARNER‐CENTRED METHOD................ ..................................................................................................................................34 5.2 TEACHING AND LEARNING