By Mahzouba Maya Faal
T |
he Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) Mr. Mod A.K Secka, led a delegation to the United Kingdom from the 21st to 30th May, 2022, to attend the Education World Forum 2022.
The Education World Forum is a statutory meeting primarily for education ministers around the world to address jointly, the challenges faced in developing education policy. This year’s Forum was held on the theme “Building forward together; stronger, bolder, better’’.
The Permanent Secretary was accompanied by Deputy Permanent Secretary (Finance and Admin), Mr. Madi O. Jatta; Deputy Permanent Secretary (Technical, Dr. Yusupha Touray, and Principal Science, Technology and Innovation Officer, Mr. Samba Sowe.
The visit afforded the delegation an opportunity to conduct bilateral meetings with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)/Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC); and officials of De’ Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester.
During the meetings, the ACU agreed to provide technical support by providing linkages with UK universities through blended learning programmes in STEM and Health in The Gambia, as part of a West Africa Project. Additionally, they have agreed to facilitate the linkages with USET and University of Aberdeen in setting up a Faculty of Petroleum and Gas in USET, as well as UTG and the University of Edinburgh on capacity development for the UTG School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, specifically in Livestock and Animal Husbandry.
The team thanked the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (UK) for the annual award of scholarships to The Gambia and the Permanent Secretary requested for an increase of slot for Gambians.He argued that due to the current transformation agenda of the public tertiary and higher education institutions, it is relevant for capacity of the staff of these institutions be developed to ensure they meet up the requirements of being lecturers and teaching staff. The Permanent Secretary further requested for the ACU to support The Gambia in capacity development for TVET teachers and trainers.
The Chair of the Commonwealth Scholarships indicated that they would share the list of all Gambian Commonwealth Scholarship beneficiaries since its inception in1962, as well consistently share information and updates with the Ministry regarding all successful candidates of the award. This, he said will help smoothen the process of bonding, and study leave arrangements for students. He however advised that MoHERST supports applicants in ensuring that their applications factor in ‘’development impact’’, as it is a key determinant to being successfully awarded. Additionally, the ACU will be part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali in June 2022, and they will use the forum to push for more scholarships and capacity building packages for member states.
The meeting with the University of De’ Montfort (DMU) gave the delegation the opportunity to meet with the Vice Chancellor and the team working on The Gambia project that is supporting the USET to embed entrepreneurship as part of its curriculum.
The team was taken through a presentation of the status of implementation of the project and some of the challenges that needed to be overcome for a smooth implementation.