Caroline visited the Gambia at the end of 2016, the purpose of the trip was to help two colleges in the Gambia improve their existing AAT delivery. Whilst there, Caroline visited a school that we had heard of from friends who already support the Don McMath Foundation www.donmcmath.org
The school offers the chance of education to children who would otherwise not go to school, as their parents could not afford it. The school educates children from 5 through to 17.
As a training provider, we at Peak Accountancy Training understand the importance of a good education, and the thought of offering opportunities to these children to help improve their prospects for future life was one we could not ignore.
Peak Accountancy Training are proud to be sponsoring 5 children to give them the education they deserve. We will keep you posted on their progress.
We have received a certificate of appreciation for our continued sponsorship of students at the school. Click here to view the certificate.
School Update March 2022
Despite the lockdown of the school this year we have had some of the best results from our Grade 9 and Grade 12 at Senior School.
Grade 9 took the Gambia Basic Education Certificate Exam (GABECE similar to our GCSE’s) and these results determined if a student could obtain a place at Senior School. I am pleased to report that 80% of our students have qualified to go to Senior School.
The charity continues to pay the students’ fees for Senior School, where at Grade 12 they sit West Africa Senior School Certificate Exams (WASSCE similar to our “A” levels). These results determine if they qualify for a place at Gambia University. This year 6 of our students have applied for a place at University. Applications usually take place in October, but due to Covid the exam results were delayed until November and the application deadline was extended the 31st December 2021. So far 3 of the 6 applicants have been sent an offer of University admission, with the other 3 still pending.
School Update – April 2021
Our sponsorship is helping to fund the education of children at The Don McMath School in the Gambia. The school has 327 pupils on the register and in addition there are 33 students at Senior School and 3 attending University. The majority of these children would never have been able to go to school but for the help provided by international sponsors including Peak. We are just happy to be able to do just a little to give these children opportunities that most of us take for granted.
All the children are now back at school following closures due to Corona Virus, and everything is going reasonably smoothly, though the Nursery classes have had to be split into two shifts in order to try and maintain social distancing!
The curriculum has also been adjusted to help the students to catch up on missed learning time during lockdown but with the help of the teachers they are gradually managing to do that.
Due to covid, visits to the school by members of the foundation team have not been possible. Communication with the school is mainly done via email or WhatsApp, which can be a problem as the internet and electricity supply are often unreliable in the Gambia.
Over the past year the Don McMath foundation have continued to ship resources to the school and this has fortunately meant no disruption to classes.
We hope to provide more information on the pupils that we support in the near future. For more information on the school please follow this link
School Update – Sept 2021
We have received a lovely update from The Don McMath School regarding the end of school reports for those students that we sponsor. Overall great reports with them all progressing well throughout their studies and being promoted to the next grade!
