Given the monumental achievement the APRC regime has registered in bringing education to the doorstep of the Gambian child, it is high time that The Gambia embraced Accelerated Learning.  This will help in improving quality and prepare the country for the attainment of the MDGs, Vision 2020 and the Silicon Valley Project.

There is no iota of doubt that the APRC regime, under the dynamic and sagacious leadership of President Yahya Jammeh, has made great progress in ensuring access to education.  Over the last fourteen years schools of all levels have sprung up in every nook and cranny of the country.  

This has translated into increased enrolment of students, especially girls.  Above all The Gambia can now boast of a university offering courses in Science, Law, Medicine, Agriculture, the Humanities, Economics and Management.

The achievement of access has however led to a decline in quality.  This is one problem that stakeholders in education now need to address.  The best bet in addressing that problem lies in Accelerated Learning.  

It is the cutting edge in learning just as the cell phone and the internet are in communication.  It comes in different packaging: mental literacy, quantum learning, optimal learning or the new learning.  Whatever the packaging is, the contents are the same.  They focus on the learners knowing the nature and functioning of their brains and acquiring brain-friendly learning skills, which enable them to learn in an easy and fast manner.

Accelerated learning is predicated on the belief that almost every individual is endowed with immense mental potential.  According to Colin Rose, a British Psychologist "It is probably correct to say that almost every normal child is born a potential genius".  This mean what where students are provided appropriate and adequate tuition and proper home support they should be able to excel.

In the provision of tuition, care should be taken that the students learn according to the nature of their brains.  For instance the methods used by the teacher should appeal to both the left and right sides of the brain.  That means that the teacher should not only talk but should also give notes.  The notes themselves should involve the use of colour, images and lines.  Dramatising certain activities or events is also in place.  The left and right brain theory maintains that the brain is divided into two parts, each of which specialises in certain functions, the left side on academic functions and the right on creativity.  This theory was propounded by Prof. Roger Sperry of the California Institute of Technology.

The role of suggestion has also been considered important, thanks to the work of Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian medical doctor.  

He obtained his PhD for his work on the application of suggestion in the fields of education and medicine.  He worked with people who had extraordinary mental powers from a Russian who could multiply four figure numbers faster than a computer to Indian mystics who could remember 10,000 verses word-perfectly.  He observed that suggestion is always present in a teacher's  attitude, choice of words, and expectations about students.  Other students; parents and the overall classroom environment are, also influential.  Suggestion can be used positively and skillfully by teachers to enhance learning outcomes.

Related to suggestion is self-esteem, self-confidence and personal expectation.  They can greatly affect the motivation and achievement of learners.  Attitudes towards learning are acquired and reinforced in the home and at school and affect the outcome of one's entire life.

It is also important to note that learning takes place best in a stress-free fun-filled environment.  Stress and fear induce chemical changes in the brain that hinders the brain's ability to learn and remember new information or to recall previously learnt information. After learning about the brain and how it functions, the learner next focuses on acquiring skills that help him to access his immense mental potential.  

These learning-to-learn skills include speed reading, memory, mnemonics, note-taking, creative thinking and mind mapping.  The term learning-to-learn seems to have come from a British psychologist, H.F. Harlow.  As used today it means "learning how to learn for oneself, independent of the teacher".  J.W. Gardener went a step further:" the ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his own education.  We think of the mind as a store house to be filled when we should be thinking of it as an instrument to be used".

Thus in empowering the student to take control of his learning, he learns about how his brain and eyes connect and how he can read with comprehension.  In memory he learns how to register, retain and recall information.  He also learn and Mnemonics or memory skills which help him to remember complex information.  In note taking, the student is taught how to take notes that are easy-to review.

The combined effect of a brain friendly learning approach and the use of learning-to-learn skills is substantial.  The implications of that are obvious firstly it ensures that the syllabuses are covered well ahead of time thus enhancing examination success. Secondly, the students are prepared for life.  They will find it easy to cope with life after school.  If they want to embark on a course of study, they will be able to use the learning-to-learn skills they had acquired in schools.  

Thirdly the school will have more time to engage students in co-curricular activities to give them an all-round education.  Lastly there will be better cooperation and understanding between teachers and students.

In a nutshell, The Gambia needs to embrace accelerated learning to consolidate its educational gains.  This in turn will serve as a catalyst for the improvement and expansion of the health delivery system, the attainment of food self-sufficiency and the expansion of industrial productivity as contained in the MDGs, Vision 2020 and the Silicon Valley Project.