The President, Dr. Alhaji Yahya Jammeh, in his agenda to educate the Gambian child to the highest level has tasked a high level committee to spearhead and organize an annual scholarship pageant for Gambian female students, says a press release.

According to the release issued by the Department of State for Communications and Information Technology, the pageant would be all-inclusive and competitions will be held in all the regions at the level of Upper Basic, Senior Secondary and tertiary institutions, including the UTG.

“The approved outfits for the competitions will be African designs and sports wear,” the release adds.

The release went on to reveal that winners at the Upper Basic level will enjoy full scholarships up to undergraduate level and the package will cover books, tuition fees, uniforms where applicable and stipend.

“Winners of the Secondary School level will be fully sponsored up to Master’s level and winners at the tertiary level will enjoy the same up to Master’s and PhD levels. Winners in this category will also be given the opportunity to choose their preferred university, if those programmes are not available locally,” the release states.

In addition to providing scholarships for the various winners of the pageant, the release continues, the July 22nd scholarship pageant will create a platform for young Gambian female students to challenge themselves in academic performance, communication skills and general knowledge.

“It will also give them a platform to take up social responsibilities at community level. The preliminaries will be done in the various regions and the final competitions are scheduled to take place in Banjul on Friday, 2 November 2007, for the Upper Basic level. Saturday, 3 November 2007, for the Senior Secondary level and Friday, 9 November 2007, for tertiary level,” says the release.

Meanwhile, a fund-raising initiative for the scholarship pageant is now in place. To support this cause, just send an SMS (July 22) to 1700 using a Gamcel line.