By: Kemo Kanyi
President Adama Barrow on Friday presided over the ceremony for the disbursement of over D396 million in scholarships to various tertiary institutions to support employability and job creation among Gambian youth.
The disbursement was done through the Skills Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SIE) Fund, a component of the World Bank-funded Resilience, Inclusion, Skills, and Equity Project (RISE) currently being implemented by MoHERST.
The President stated that the fund, in part, seeks to fulfil one of the targets in the higher education sector’s Strategic Plan (2021–2025) and the Recovery Focussed National Development Plan (2023 – 2027), adding that the project is in line with his government’s decentralisation and social inclusion drive. He stated that the awards will give much prominence to submissions into programmes that target widening access to TVET within the regions and by doing so, enrolment will increase for the physically-challenged and other disadvantaged persons.
The institutional award process included a public invitation for proposals, a pre-evaluation stage of the submissions by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Fund, verification visits to all the institutions that applied, and a final technical evaluation. The criteria for qualifications are broadly aimed at guaranteeing employability and job creation; all awarded institutions are in compliance with the set quality and competency standards of the Gambia National Qualifications Framework.
“I am proud to announce that my government will disburse about three hundred and ninety-six million, seven hundred and sixty-one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one Dalasi (GMD396,761,321.00) of the SIE Fund to empower our youth. An initial distribution of thirty-one million Dalasi (GMD 31 million) will be done today. Altogether, the Government will award one thousand and eighty-seven (1087) scholarships across twenty-five (25) public and private TVET institutions,” stated President Barrow at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre on Friday.
“Each scholarship involves paying four hundred Dollars ($400) per student for tuition and stipends, with additional support for regional TVET centre students to cover transportation and accommodation expenses. This investment represents our commitment to nurturing the potential of our youth and supporting their educational journeys,” the Gambian leader outlined.
He explained that these grants cover clear-cut accredited programmes at certificate and diploma levels in agriculture, engineering, tourism and hospitality, business, and creative and performing Arts.
The President stated that his Government, through the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, will institute a rigorous monitoring mechanism to make sure there is an 80% employability rate among the student beneficiaries, emphasizing that this will ensure the project’s targets are met, and that the intervention contributes to a genuine reduction of the unemployment rate among the youth and women in the country.