By Oumie Mendy
The Minister of Higher Education Professor Pierre Gomez has urged the Gambia Government to invest more in the higher education system to better enhance the sector. The Minister said the higher education system needs more robust investment to help it met its demands which are enormous.
“We cannot sit at our corners and say standards are going down and our education is not fit for purpose when we all know the sector is underfunded. As a country, what model are we taking to improve our higher education? We need to have a system of containment,” he added.
“Everything cannot be concentrated in the Greater Banjul Area. The rural area is also part of the Gambia and the process of decentralization has started for TVET,” he added.
The PS, Ministry of Higher Education Mod Secka, said: “There are so many things that need to be done if we want to positively develop this country. We can not underestimate the importance of building human capacity of this country.
“The only missing link in our education system has always been the issue of skills. We need to invest in making education relevant…to help us address the needs in our society.We should not be look for missions from outside when we can develop missions who can fix those gaps and take up those responsibilities,” PS Secka said.
The National Assembly member for Brikama North, Honorable Alagie S Darboe said the country cannot develop when it doesn’t invest in its higher education. “There is a need to break away from the old model of financing the ministry and take up a new approach towards innovation and to enhance our higher education is paramount. I urge the ministry of finance to consider financing the initiatives of the higher education,” he added.
