A delegation of unqualified Quaranic teachers who claimed to be executive members of their association have appealed to President Jammeh for help to address their problems regarding upgrading their skills.
They said they have appealed to the president after exhausting all other diplomatic avenues to cause a change in their condition of work.
Speaking to The Independent Monday the spokesperson of the group said they have been teaching since 1995 without any sign of improvement on their side. According to him, they have been teaching on contract basis, which is subjected to renewals but since then they had not been privileged to upgrade their skills. According to him they are annually constrained to reapply for a contract renewal after the expiry of their July to September contracts.
"All Quranic teachers are fed up with this frustrating situation, which is discouraging us. Those unnecessary examinations and interviews are not meant for training to better improve our competence but are geared towards victimizing us, by making us redundant. As a result we are forced or made intellectually stagnant" he protested.
Appealing on behalf of the teachers, he urged the president to intervene and end their plight, since they play an essential role in raising the spiritual and moral awareness of Gambian children.
"There cannot be any meaningful development without religion and its ramification to create a conducive environment where Quranic teachers could develop their potentials," he remarked.
The other members of the delegation also expressed similar outrage and called for the timely intervention of the president, before matters would deteriorate. They said putting them on permanent enrolment and providing them with training facilities could better address the situation.