By: Adama Jallow
The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez, has disclosed plans by the government to upgrade the Gambia College to teachers training University, bringing the number of public universities in the country to two.
Prof. Gomez told the Alkamba Times that three schools would be moved from the Gambia College, which means the School of Agriculture will be transferred to the University of the Gambia School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
He noted that his Ministry is taking all possible measures to ensure that all recommendations are effectively implemented as a responsible Ministry to the best interest of the citizenry through the provision of concrete infrastructural development with quality education.
The higher education minister said that the Gambia College School of Nursing and the School of public health would be moved to the University of the Gambia School of Medicine and health sciences and that the college would be left with only one school, which is the school of education.
This, he remarked, is in line with the fulfillment of the recommendations put forward by the late former Vice President, Dr. Alieu Badara Joof, who gave all ministries a timeline to implement all recommendations and report to the executive.
He said as the Minister overseeing the Ministry of Education in the country; he strives to ensure all targeted goals are effectively accomplished to the best of his abilities in the interest of the whole nation as far as quality education is a priority.
The Minister noted that they would move the University of the Gambia School of Education into Gambia College, which indicates that there will be only one teacher training institution, from nursery school to Ph.D. levels.
“We cannot spend money in different institutions; everything needs to be concentrated in one institution because we do not have enough. So, we need strategies,” he noted.
