Knowing that education is the space where the future of any Nation is to be build up, President Yahya Jammeh, the Chancellor of the University of The Gambia (UTG), has once again demonstrated his magnanimity towards the country’s university.
In a symbolic gesture, he donated, last Thursday, a sum of D260,000 and 49-seater school bus to the UTG with the view of making the Convocation Ceremony, that is to be held today, a complete success. The presentation of these gifts took place at State House in the presence Professor Andreas Steigen, Vice-Chancellor, Lamin Jaiteh, Registrar of the university respectively and Jenung Manneh, the Chairman of the Ceremonies.
Reacting to these generous donations, a press release issued by the UTG indicated that the Department of State for Education (DoSE) and the Department of State for Higher Education respectively have also joined the list of donors in offering D200, 000 and D100, 000.
The press release went on to emphasize that ‘‘the University of The Gambia (UTG) is a very young university founded in March 1999 amidst scarce resources. It was a triumph over much skepticism and indisputably a bold step to fullfil a long standing desire and need of the peoples of The Gambia.’’
Initially, after the Independence in 1965 the project of creating a university in The Gambia was seen as something unattainable. According to the release, ‘‘Gambians in search of higher education were forced to enroll in institutions of higher learning in other African countries that possessed these facilities. Commonwealth countries and other countries that would accept them.”
With the advent of the Second Republic in 1994 the situation changed. Under the leadership of President Yahya Jammeh the development of higher education became a reality. ‘‘Five compelling reasons’’ were put forward in order to chase the objectives: The demands and challenges of growth and development required investment in the peoples of The Gambia; reliance on sub-regional institutions was becoming unattractive due to the political instability in those areas; the dramatic rise of tuition and decline in scholarship funding at other institutions; reliance on the precarious services for foreign expertise was not sustainable and the new government was committed to ensure that university education should not be preserved for the elite, but should be available and affordable to the average Gambians.
One can expect that 171 students that will graduate from this year’s convocation will find their way in participating actively in The Gambia’s development process.