Speaking on Thursday at the graduation ceremony of 93 students at the school’s grounds in Kanifing, he said:
“In learning, there is what is called broken knowledge and beneficial knowledge, whether your knowledge is proper or is improper. Recognising knowledge of things in their proper creation as well as the proper place of Allah in the order of existence is fundamental. There is one thing we suffer in our system of thoughts. People move, work and think according to their world views. You are living in a world that is characterised by paradigm shifts. Paradigm shifts further to what we called man-centered world. Life encompasses of ‘dunya’ and ‘akhirah and life in this world is in preparation for the next world, so strive to live a life dictated by Islam especially how to distinguish between truths and false. Right and wrong in judgment and also bad and good choices in life.”
Delivering her remarks, the guest speaker, Isatou Secka Jah; chief information officer Q-Cell said: “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Whatever challenges come your way, you are unlikely to defeat them without hard work and discipline. Being disciplined is not only having respect for your parents and authority, but also having ‘assiduity’ –the ability to stick at things, through thick and thin, until the job is done. As the great Nelson Mandela once said, ‘the glory of life lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall’.
“It is inevitable that you will be faced with some challenges along the way. The key, however, to succeeding, is in not giving up. Life is about the choices we make when faced with challenges and opportunities. After today, you will all have choices to make. You have a choice to take this achievement and build a successful career. The important thing is you have already taken the initial steps needed to build a promising future. So I will urge you to seize the opportunity God has given you and make use of it to achieve your dreams. You have a rare opportunity. The University of the Gambia is right here on your doorsteps and is perhaps the next step for many of you. And remember that there are thousands of kids out there who do not have the opportunity you have today”.
Saihou Bah, the principal of the school in giving his report advised: “You must be disciplined in anything you do. And also you must be obedient to Allah and your parents in order to attain blessing. In 2011/12 academic year, we registered 100 candidates for the West African Senior Secondary certificate examination. And out of this number we had only 7% failures. In the 2012/2014 academic year, we again fielded 140 students for the WASSCE exams and all of them passed except 15 students. The enrolment both at the Arabic and English schools has fallen drastically in the recent past but we have noticed this to be partly due to the number of schools that have sprouted here and there.”
Other speakers included Dr Cherno Barry, permanent secretary Ministry of Higher Education and Alhaji Sheriff Bajan, vice president of the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council.
By Ousman Bojang
]]>
