At LabXchange, we celebrate the tremendous potential of Africa's youth and the outstanding dedication of teachers across the continent. Located in West Africa and with a population of 2.1 million, The Gambia is one of the most densely populated nations on the continent. Although its constitution affirms basic education as a right, expanding the education sector challenges the government to meet growing funding needs for infrastructure, materials, and teachers.
While attending the e-Learning Africa Conference in Senegal in 2023, the LabXchange team connected with Dr. Babou Joof, principal education officer of The Gambia’s Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. Dr. Joof was instrumental in the successful implementation of LabXchange’s first Teacher Ambassador Program in The Gambia, which empowered 18 Gambian science educators with the tools to craft interactive lessons on LabXchange and utilize the platform’s virtual lab simulations.
Held between November 2023 and March 2024, the rigorous program focused on hands-on teacher training. Under the guidance of master teachers Dr. Babou Joof and Abdou L. J. Jammeh, ambassadors deployed their expertise to create robust lesson plans for biology, chemistry, physics, and other STEM subjects, enriched with virtual content from the LabXchange library. They also worked tirelessly to share LabXchange with other educators in their communities and networks, as well as their own students.
“The virtual labs help to address inadequate basic science materials. The content is rich and helpful. Additionally, it is free. All these make LabXchange an outstanding tool that promises to metamorphose the teaching and learning of science in The Gambia.”
—Dr. Babou Joof, LabXchange master teacher and principal education officer, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (The Gambia)
With our shared mission of making high-quality science education accessible to learners and educators everywhere, we were grateful to work with the 2023 Gambian Teacher Ambassador Cohort and look forward to continuing to support science educators in The Gambia!
Below are a handful of the fantastic learning pathways created by the teacher ambassadors in this cohort. See them all here!
Thank you to all of the teacher ambassadors who took part in this inaugural cohort in The Gambia!
LabXchange is built on global collaboration, and educators give our efforts purpose. Help us make high-quality STEM resources available to everyone, everywhere, by getting involved!
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