By: Binta Jaiteh
Professor Pierre Gomez, Minister of Higher Education, Research, and Technology has iterated that providing skills and investing significantly on education will prevent the youths from embarking on irregular migration route to the Mediterranean Sea.
Prof Gomez made this remark on Monday during the consultative meeting of the Ministry’s Financing Strategy held at Sir Dawda Kairaba International Conference Centre, Bijilo.
‘’You have seen the carnage out there is a message to all of us as policy makers, our response from the higher education fraternity after engaging everyone the general answer is higher and offering them the skills will encourage them to sit in the country to take charge and face destiny.
“60 to 66% of the country is youths and most of them complained that they don’t have hope in their village which forces them to visit Banjul because more opportunities are available, unfortunately the alternatives are not provided for them,” he stated.
However, he added that Gambians should talk to their fellow Gambians and be ready for the future that will be an anchored on education because education is the road to freedom and it will liberate individual to give the people sustainable development.
He concluded that “We task the University Directorate of Research and Consultancy to sit and reflect for the first time in history of the Gambia on the financing model of Higher Education.”