Activity under preparation EU Support to Improve Secondary Education for the Youth (EU-ISEY) While over the last decade there has been a progression in enrolments at Senior Secondary Education (SSE) level in The Gambia, indicators for access and quality outside of the Greater Banjul Area remain very low. In 2023 the SSE completion rate was 46%, with significant disparities among the 6 regions of the country: in the Upper River Region (Region 6) only 11% of students completed their course of studies. There are also issues with girls¿ transition into and out of this level, particularly in transitioning to tertiary education. The gender gap concerns not only students¿ completion rates but also entry into the teaching force, where only 16.7% of teachers are female. Increasing the ratio of female teachers is critical to fostering girls¿ attendance and in providing positive role-models, with a consequent increase in SSE completion rates and enhanced skills and youth employability contributing to the country¿s human and socio-economic development. The action (foreseen for a duration of 5 years) aims to support the Government of The Gambia, specifically the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) in addressing the challenges SSE system is facing by improving the completion rates of both boys and girls through strengthened inclusivity, quality and equity amongst students and teachers, with a focus on rural areas. The action specifically aims at: i) increasing completion for boys and girls in secondary education and preventing drop outs by providing targeted scholarships; and ii) improving the quality of SSE by improvements in teacher education, including building capacities to develop basic, green and digital competences of learners. This entails support to both in-service and pre-service teacher training with a focus on the transition of girls to tertiary education, to proceed with a teaching career. The action would assist in overcoming negative sociocultural norms and practices, such as child marriage, Gender Based Violence, masculinisation of the teaching force, and the inadequate number of female role models in secondary education, in line with the Gender Action Plan III (GAP III). The action will directly address the Government of the Gambia¿s priorities, as set out in the National Development Plan and the National Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2016¿2030) in provision of accessible, equitable, inclusive and quality education for the sustainable development of the country. Development of teacher training programmes and revisions to the SSE curriculum will allow integration of topics such as gender, the environment and climate change, science and technology, migration, nutrition and information technologies. Support for digitalization in teaching and learning underpins the overall logic of intervention in priority areas.The action will be complementary to Action 2 (Sustainable Value Chains): by educating and skilling youth, particularly women, their chances to benefit from green employment opportunities in the agricultural sector and successfully access to finance for agri-food systems development will be increased. In the same vein, it also complements the support to the Tourism (AAP 2023) and the job-creation agenda under the migration portfolio.