Society has an obligation to the girl child to guide and nurture her academically and socially. The welfare of the child is concerned with everything that goes on in society. Education is a necessary ingredient in national development and is a right for every individual.

The world is changing so much and so fast and all these changes have implications for education. The demand for education at all levels in The Gambia surpasses available places and correspondingly, available government resources much less than the required resources; in spite of the 22% share of government recurrent expenditure. Notwithstanding, education is increasingly becoming more socially oriented to address society's needs in such a fast-changing world. The education of the girl child has gained prominence both in national and global education policies. The reason for this lie in the social rates of return of educating a female as against a male as aptly stated in the adage "educate a man and you educate an individual, educate a woman and you educate a generation".

Since the Jomtien Declaration on Education for All, the campaign for girls education has intensified and the increased enrolment for girls attest to this. Enrolment at the primary level rose from 37,164 (41% of total enrolment) in 1991 to 63,748 (45% of total enrolment) in 1997. The proportion of girls have increased by 4 percentage points while the overall enrolment of girls increased by 71.5% over the period. At the middle school level, enrolment of girls rose from 5,611 in 1991 to 10,995 in 1997 representing an increase of 85.3 %. Enrolment at the senior secondary level rose by 45% from 2,123 in 1991 to 3,170 in 1997 while the proportion of girls increased from 29% to 33% respectively over the period.

In spite of these impressive increases, there is much room for improvement as we try to tackle the problem of retention of the girl child in school especially beyond grade 5, and in particular at higher levels. The impediments are many and include the high cost burden on parents particularly the lowest income quintile which incidentally have the largest house hold sizes and school age going children. When parents know they cannot afford the cost burden at middle and senior secondary levels, they see no reason for enrolling their children at primary school.

The Revised Education Policy has three basic pillars; access, quality and relevance. Conscious of government's financial constraints and the increasing demand for education at all levels, the policy is predicated on a tripartite partnership between individuals and donors. There is increasing awareness of the fact that government cannot go it alone. The increasing number of school alumni geared mainly towards supporting their former schools, is testimony of this reality. There are, however , many without such alumni that equally need support, and more importantly, the less unfortunate and vulnerable groups in society also need assistance.

Primary education is tuition free in The Gambia. This, however, does not exclude or prevent parents from incurring a lot other pecuniary costs on education uniforms, exercise books, pens, pencils, shoes, school bags, school lunches, among others. Combined, these costs account for 2.4% of the per capita income of the poorest household quintile. Anecdotal evidence and some research (1993/94 community Education Survey Report The Gambia) indicate that parents opt to withdraw the girl child from school under circumstances where the cost cannot be borne especially at higher levels. Fees are currently pegged at D100 and D200 per term in the middle and senior secondary schools respectively. The need to keep or even purchase a complete set of textbooks is an important input at these levels. There are constraints for many rural parents and urban poor parents to meet the book rental fees, which is the cheapest possible cost option for government at the moment in junior secondary schools. Many students rely on old second hand copies from friends and relatives. It is not uncommon to see students in tartar uniform and worn out shoes. Examination charges/fees are paid at all levels. Students have had their results withheld by W A EC due to none payment of exam fees, to the extent that they fail to secure places at their schools of choice or in some cases face the option of seeking admission in private schools thereby increasing the cost burden on households. There are incidences of huge arrears levels for such none payment both for schools and W A EC. This implies that the institutions do not only loose much needed finances but affected students could dropout or graduate without a school certificate. In the latter, opportunities in the job market become very slim. It is against this background that the Department of State for Education proposes the establishment of a Trust Fund for Girls. The source of finance for the fund would be monthly subscription from all employees; government (including men-of-arms), NGOs, the parastatal and private sector. It would be deductions from source from source for everybody employed. It is socially, morally and religiously justified, and places little or no financial burden on even the lowest paid worker. The current number of government civil servants in established positions (captured in the estimates of recurrent expenditure) is 10, 386. Assuming that the parastatals and the private sector employs 40% of this whiles the combined forces engages 80% , the table below shows a conservative estimate of total potential subscribers to the Fund.

The Assistant of World Bank will therefore increase the mandate and scope of the fund in terms of the umber of beneficiaries and the extent of national coverage.

The table shows the minimum private expenditure per student at various levels. These are official and parents incur other transfer costs like transport and school lunches which vary from household to household and are not captured in this analysis as the abilities to meet these expenditures differ. These expenditures place a heavy burden on poor households but are equally found to be an influential factor in the retention of girls in school.

To sponsor a student, including some pecuniary costs would amount to D230, D925 and D2750 per year in the primary, junior and senior secondary schools With a subscriber list of 22,848 people at a rate of D5 per month, a respectively total annual collection of Dl, 370,880 is made. This can provide fully sponsorship for a substantial number of girls. To ensure equity in the distribution of awards at various proportional distribution among the three levels is worked out in the table below.

From a monthly contribution of D5, society would be providing full scholarship for 357 girls in the primary school, 355 at junior secondary and 348 at senior secondary level to students who would otherwise dropout of school because of their family’s inability to pay for them. The financial difficulties borne by many households ink maintaining their children in school strongly mitigates against the girl especially when the opportunity cost is taken into account. Society owes it to posterity to ensure that it provides equal opportunities to all its members particularly the most vulnerable groups, namely the poor and women.

In sum the rationale for the establishment of a Girls’ Trust fund is to encourage more girls to acquire education up to senior secondary school level. The cost burden would otherwise force these girls to dropout or would not have even tasted formal education, as parents are increasingly becoming more aware of the opportunity cost of educating eventual dropouts. This is a moral crusade that is socially justified given the high social rates of return of girls’ education in national development.

Be counted as one of the pioneers of this noble scheme.