About GAMSOL
The Gambia School of Open Learning (GAMSOL) was established under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to extend quality basic and secondary education to learners who are unable to access conventional schooling. GAMSOL operates as an autonomous institution, with its head office in Banjul, working in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning.
Vision
An inclusive, flexible, and structured open learning system that reaches every Gambian — independent of where they live or where they are in life. A second-chance pathway that turns out-of-school children, youth, and adults into confident, certified learners.
Mission
To deliver quality basic and secondary education through open and distance learning methods to out-of-school children, youth, and adults across The Gambia. To design and offer academic and vocational education programmes up to pre-degree level, in collaboration with national, regional, and international partners.
Concept
Open schooling is a system of providing school-based education using multiple open learning methodologies to bridge the separation between the learner and the teacher. It mitigates and removes unnecessary barriers — distance, cost, time, prior schooling status — so that learning fits the constraints of a learner's life rather than the other way around.
By the numbers
The Gambia has high mobile reach but low conventional school completion — exactly the gap GAMSOL is built to close.
Connectivity
33
% of population
Internet users
ITU, 2023
100
per 100 inhabitants
Mobile-cellular subscriptions
ITU, 2023
50
per 100 inhabitants
Active mobile-broadband subscriptions
ITU, 2023
0.19
per 100 inhabitants
Fixed-broadband subscriptions
ITU, 2023
The gap GAMSOL fills
48.7 %
Lower secondary completion (Female)
UNESCO UIS, 2020
48.6 %
Lower secondary completion (Male)
UNESCO UIS, 2020
2.2 %
Tertiary enrolment (Female)
UNESCO UIS, 2012
3.2 %
Tertiary enrolment (Male)
UNESCO UIS, 2012
15.3 % of 15–64
Adult education participation (Female)
UNESCO UIS, 2018
17.4 % of 15–64
Adult education participation (Male)
UNESCO UIS, 2018
Sources: ITU, UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Curated from the Commonwealth of Learning country profile.
Outcomes
When out-of-school children, youth, and adults gain a flexible, accredited path to basic and secondary qualifications, communities see lower youth unemployment, stronger second-chance outcomes, and a more equitable labour market. GAMSOL is the vehicle that turns the National ODL Policy Framework into learner outcomes — measured, monitored, and continuously improved.
Governance
GAMSOL is overseen by a Board of Governors chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, with day-to-day operations led by the Director and Assistant Directors. Meet the people behind the school below — the full team is on the staff page.
Director — to be appointed
Director
Assistant Director — Curriculum
Assistant Director — Curriculum
Assistant Director — Operations
Assistant Director — Operations
Registrar
Registrar
Permanent Secretary, MoBSE
Board Chair
Board Member — Curriculum
Board Member