Press release
On August 18th, 2022, The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) project in The Gambia funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) with the support of UNESCO, successfully completed three components of the Youth Empowerment project which includes (i) a TVET policy, (ii) The University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) and its outreach centres, and (iii) the USET Educational Management Information System (EMIS).
The Permanent Secretary of MoHERST, Dr. Yusupha Touray, chaired the ceremony, during which he gave a throwback on when MoHERST came up with an agenda back in 2017. The agenda includes transforming GTTI to USET, MDI to offer degree programs, Gambia College School of Education into an Education University, and transferring the Gambia College Schools of Public Health, Nursing and Agriculture to the school of Medicine and Allied sciences, Public and Environmental Health Sciences of the University of The Gambia. He went further to state the importance of the event for the entire TVET fraternity.
The Hon. Minister of MoHERST, Professor Pierre Gomez, in his remarks, encouraged all the stakeholders of the education system in The Gambia to introduce mind education to change the perceptions of the people on TVET. He further stated that education institutions of all levels especially TVET should develop highly qualified intellectual capital. Moving forward, he said that state-of-the-art infrastructures, standard data management system and appropriate human and material resources are significant for every institution to deliver to expectation.
In her statement, Hon. Minister of Ministry of Basic and Secondary education, Claudiana Cole, said that technical education starts from a basic level, which is why they are an important stakeholder in this project. She also mentioned that they are aware of the concerns on TVET in the education sector, which is why they are busy redesigning their curriculum and policy.
The Deputy Representative of KOICA, Dongrib Kim said in his statement that several projects are being implemented in The Gambia as a result of The Gambia government being one of the important partners to KOICA and the republic of Korea. He went further to encourage Gambian youths to work harder in the acquisition of professional skills and reminded them that the future of The Gambia depends solely on them.
The UNESCO Representative, Pieume Calice Olivier in his statement said that the main objective of the TVET project is to create a conducive environment for young people especially girls to find decent employment opportunities as recommended by SDGs 4, 5 and 8. That is why UNESCO, KOICA, MoHERST and other stakeholders have been working hard to improve the TVET sector.
Later during the handover ceremony, the participants were guided through a tour by MoHERST to observe the new laboratories in the GTTI campus, followed by demonstrations of the laboratory machines by students, and then a presentation on the use of the newly developed EMIS. Finally, the official symbolic handover of the TVET policy took place.
The ceremony was closed with a vote of thanks by a USET student, Cecilia Jaw, who thanked MoHERST and all the stakeholders for providing the computers and laboratory equipment, and assured them that the equipment will be utilized effectively.
