Higher Teacher's Certificate  (HTC) and Primary Teacher's Certificate (PTC) programme students of the Gambia College are to sign a bond of agreement with the Department of Basic and Secondary Education, prior to the commencement of lectures, effective this year.  

The bond of agreement will bind them to the teaching field for at least two years after graduation.  

The new development came following the discovery that a large number of teachers quit the teaching field just after graduation.

Confirming this during an orientation for new intakes at the college campus, yesterday, Ebrima Saidy from the Human Resource Directorate, Department of Basic and Secondary Education said that the department does not have the required number of teachers it needs because many teachers quit the teaching field just after graduation.  

He revealed that because of this trend, foreign teachers are gradually dominating the teaching field. "You have to sign a bond with us, so that when you graduate, you will teach for a least two years.  The agreement has to be signed before you're fully admitted to the Gambia College," he said.  

He asserted the need for college students to work very hard so as to establish quality and quantity in the teaching field. He continued by saying that college students are paid with tax payers money and that they should therefore make good use of it.

He also called on the in-service students, who have completed the PTC programme and wish to pursue the Higher Teacher's Certificate, to apply for "study leave with salary" at the DoSBSE in order to be paid their salaries while pursuing their course.  He affirmed that without this application, they would not be confirmed as college students.