By Mahzouba Maya Faal
The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) has stressed the need for the Government, partners and stakeholders to invest heavily in higher education as it is the engine of national development.
Professor Pierre Gomez made this remarks during a recently held donor conference organised by MoHERST at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Bijilo.
He warned that the youth are largely de-motivated; hence the high prevalence of irregular migration. “What is our response from the higher education fraternity? It is Higher Education that should give the youth skills to take charge of their destiny and build their nation,” Hon. Prof Gomez challenged.
Currently, in The Gambia the tertiary and higher education sector is going through some transformation which requires human and institutional capacity development. At the policy level, the Ministry has finalised a Strategic Plan (2021 – 2025) that focuses on access and equity, quality and relevance, scientific research and technological development, and sector management as programmatic areas of intervention.
Alongside this policy document and in line with the decentralisation drive, the National TVET Policy has been developed to provide opportunities for skills acquisition and training for all walks of life in all administrative regions of the country. In enhancing the attainment of these policies, a higher Education Financing Strategy entitled, ‘Sustainable Financing of Higher Education in The Gambia’, has been developed to help address the financing challenges of the sector.
Also speaking at the forum, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Hon. Seedy Keita, described higher education as one of the key pillars to developing the country’s human capital. He assured that Government is already supporting the sector’s initiatives and will continue to do so, but reiterated that all partners need to come forward for this noble task.
“Given the centrality of financing higher education, this cannot be left to the public sector alone; that is why we should work together on how we can finance higher education,” Hon. Seedy Keita noted.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr YusuphaTouray gave a presentation on the MoHERST Sector Strategy and Financing Model, as well as an overview of the document on the Sustainable Financing of Higher Education in The Gambia.
Recommendations identified in the Sustainable Financing of Higher Education Strategy include: the need for Government to take care of the basic salaries of staff in public higher education institutions and the establishment of a trust fund. Also recommended is a mixed funding approach to finance student costs, using scholarships and student loans and the need for Government to mobilise more funding for research and technology development, through the establishment of a Research and Innovation Fund, among others.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Rep; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO; the Deputy Head of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in The Gambia; Madame Henrietta Sonko, the CEO of MRC Holland Foundation, all pledged their support to the sector and commended the leadership of MoHERST for the laudable initiative.
