By Aisha Tamba
The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) has said that the country is running out of science teachers.
Louis Moses Mendy was speaking recently at a press conference on the announcement of the Q-Group Foundation and MoBSE scholarship funding programme for the basic education cycle (upper basic and senior secondary schools) aimed to encourage young Gambians to venture into mathematics, science, and ICT-related programmes at the University of The Gambia.
“As a country, we are running out of science teachers in physics, chemistry, the sciences, data analysis, and others. This is a group that is technology-based and led,” he said adding that the country does not want to continue importing labour.
“The reason for this scholarship is that we will begin to train young people in this country so that they can take over the leadership in years to come. We are very pleased as a ministry that the Q-group Foundation is offering these 10 scholarships as a start to look at these critical areas such that by the time the four years of the study programme would have rolled out, we would have at least 40 students on scholarship and continuously if are able to produce 10 science-related professionals in this country, I am sure within a short range of 10 years, we would be able to supply the market with demand that is needed.”
He thanked the Q-group Foundation for the continuous support stating that it is critical as a country to be able to produce our own scientists in all areas of the science discipline. “If not we will be limited in scope and limited in operation.”
He said it was gratifying to the ministry that the Q-group did not hesitate to respond to a collective national interest call.
The executive director of the Q-Group Foundation Isatou Jah, said the main objective of the programme is to identify high-achieving students from low socio-economic backgrounds and provide them with funding to study at the UTG in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related fields.
She added that annually, 10 deserving students will be awarded scholarships and the awards will be distributed equitably across the seven regional education directorates. “Tuition fees and free Internet access for the entire duration of the study programme will be provided to successful candidates,” she unveiled.
