The Gambia

In The Gambia from 1999 to 2002, seminars were delivered to more than 5,500 teachers who then implemented the Study Technology in nearly all of the country's schools as an integral component of Gambian national education policy. As one of the teachers stated upon completing a course in Study Technology, “Today is the day that I really call myself a teacher. I was in the dark and you have brought me into the light — and this light will shine on me forever.”

Zimbabwean teachers travel from all parts of the country to study educational techniques at Applied Scholastics training programmes.

In her speech at the opening of Applied Scholastics International headquarters, Secretary of State for Education of The Gambia, Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, stated:

“I would like to express our deepest, most sincere and profound gratitude to Applied Scholastics International, for making available to the teachers and schools of our nation, the learning technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

“In 2001, we launched a two-stage programme to bring L. Ron Hubbard's Study Technology to all our schools. Six thousand of our lower and upper basic school teachers participated in a four-week national training programme on Study Technology. This was the biggest teacher training programme ever held in The Gambia. Results were unprecedented. We are flooded with teacher accolades.

“Many report that D students are becoming A students. Slow learners are learning quickly. And most important and crucial, our children are now experiencing the true joy of learning. We are proud to be the first country in Africa to have fully implemented Study Technology on a national scale.

“And so, where do we go from here? Today, more than ever before, Africa must rise to the challenge of liberating its people from illiteracy and poverty. This Study Technology can do just that. Our small children will be able to benefit more from schooling and be able to read, write and think better.

“As minister coordinating Africa's decade of education in West Africa, it is now my mission to bring this wonderful and vital technology to other nations. The process has already begun. Sierra Leone sent a delegation to learn the technology. Others will soon follow.”

Sierra Leone

“I have attended this Study Technology course and found it to be the best and most helpful course since I joined the teaching profession. My wish is that this technology should reach every schoolteacher in this whole country so that the entire approach to teaching changes for the better.” — A teacher after graduating a training course in Study Technology, Zimbabwe

Education officials in nearby Sierra Leone heard of the successes of Study Technology in The Gambia. So, in April 2002, educators from Sierra Leone travelled to The Gambia to be trained in this technology. This included a head teacher representing the Sierra Leone Teacher's Union, a top government official responsible for the quality of education in the country, and an official from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.