By Oumie Bojang
Institute of Travel & Tourism of The Gambia (ITTOG), last Saturday graduated 192 students comprising mainly girls.
The students underwent cabin crew training, event planning, amadeus bookings, and travel and tourism courses.
Parents and guardians, including representatives of the tourism, finance, and children welfare ministries.
The guest speaker, Fatou Jagne Senghore said she was delighted that majority of the graduates are women.
She stressed the need for women’s empowerment without which, she said, the “world cannot grow.”
Shiekh Tijan Nyang, head of the school, said the past year has been difficult for his institution due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that the school managed to triumph in the end.
He said: “We are graduating 192 students.
We have been able to survive this year due to sponsorship programmes [given] by partners. YEP sponsored 50 students for the event planning course, the Spanish partners Ethnic Association with funding from the Catalan Agency Cooperation and Development (No Woman Left Behind) sponsored 30 vulnerable women.”
Adama Bah, chairman of the board, said the question of youth education goes beyond the classroom. “Outside classroom learning is an ingredient of experimental education. This allows students to develop both knowledge and skills from their active participation in educational activities.”
Mr Bah also noted that part of ITTOG’s responsibility is to educate students on a type of tourism that seeks widespread and fair distribution of economic and social benefits throughout communities, including improving local prosperity, quality of life and social equity.
“Tourism should be a positive and beneficial experience for travelers and hosts alike in order to act as a force for mutual understanding and respect,” Mr Bah said, adding that this will ensure a “responsible resource management and address negative impacts and respect environmental and cultural capacities.”
