Article

Gambian youth aware of World Heritage: 300 students participate in learning sessions at the Stone Circles of Senegambia

5 November 2021

Last update: 21 April 2022

Now I can see that knowing more about the Stone Circles can indeed help me in my history, geography, arts and crafts and science lessons. I found the exercise very exciting and I did not want it to end

Grade 11 student of Niani Senior Secondary School after a training session last June

From June to October 2021, over Gambian 300 secondary school students have attended at least one discovery and training session at one of the two Stone Circles of Senegambia World Heritage sites in the country (two more are located in Senegal). Wassu and Kerr Batch sites have been visited under the guidance of trained tour guides and teachers as well as staff from the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC). These educational visits are part of the roadmap of the International Assistance project Strengthening the Valorization of the Stone Circles of the Senegambia, supported by UNESCO through its World Heritage Fund.

With the support of the World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Dakar Office, the NCAC has developed information and exercise kits for the sessions, which take place on-site. Following these visits, students are encouraged to create and perform theatre plays on conservation issues affecting World Heritage sites in The Gambia.

Our aim is to use the knowledge about the Stone Circles to support the educational attainment of students and to contribute to the quest for quality education in the country. These activities will help students know more about this unique heritage and will build their awareness on the significance and value of the sites and encourage their conservation.

Mamat Sallah, Assistant Director for Museums and Monuments, NCAC

Teaching session at Wassu site ©NCAC

The teaching materials developed will be used as well at the primary school of Sine Ngayène, close to one of the two Stone Circles sites in Senegal, which bears the same name. This cross-country effort led by the NCAC and the Department of Cultural Heritage (DPC) of Senegal is a successful example of south-south cooperation to draw on the potential of African heritage as a force for social cohesion and a driver of sustainable development and innovation.

Teachers and communities are also key actors of these activities: 17 teachers from 7 schools close to the sites have been engaged, and a series of dialogues with 22 village chiefs, imams, elders and 2 district chiefs have been organized.

In addition to working with schools, the Gambian NCAC and the DPC of Senegal have trained 16 Gambian and 5 Senegalese nationals on tour guiding for the Stone Circles of Senegambia sites. The 6-day training workshop held on 9 to 17 February enabled trainees to become future tour guides of the sites and give comprehensive and reliable insights to researchers and tourists. Some of them have already participated in the school activities.

Since 2006, when the Stone Circles of Senegambia were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the two countries have worked together with the support of UNESCO to strengthen the conservation, preservation and the interpretation of the monuments.

Hassoum Ceesay, Director-General, NCAC

Guide training at Wassu site © NCAC

The project Strengthening the Valorization of the Stone Circles of the Senegambia started in October 2020. Since then, it has allowed for the development of signage and exhibition panels at Wassu and Kerr Batch sites, the refurbishment of exhibition halls of the sites’ museums and the above-mentioned capacity building activities.