The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Dr. Yusupha Touray, spoke on the significance of the use technology in the education system and the importance of access to quality education by the citizenry.
He stated that it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that this is available to the citizens. But it is equally the citizens’ responsibility to respond to this provision and make the best of it. “Only through education can we develop our country; however, this requires sacrifices from everyone”, he said.
He further encouraged the participants to create a policy landscape to help deconstruct the education curriculum and make it more labour market-friendly, “TVET is the solution. A type of TVET that places emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship”, he assured.
The UNICEF Country Representative, Ms Nafisa Binte Shafique, highlighted the importance of the event and said she was very impressed with the education statistic that she has seen in the country. Adding that having quality teachers and lecturers in our education will only improve the education system and push us forward to achieve the agenda.
“Investing in education is not only the right thing to do, but the smartest thing to do,” she added.
Representing the World Bank, Mr. Alieu Bah stated that his organization is honoured to be associated in the review of this midterm policy and called for more investments on teachers to ensure that quality is achieved in Gambian education.
