By Yankuba Jallow
Professor Pierre Gomez, the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MOHERST) said they will move the School of Medicine and Allied Sciences to the University of the Gambia Faraba Campus for lack of space to accommodate students.
Minister Gomez said the School is currently housed at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul. It is faced with space problem.
Professor Gomez said the concept note for the School has been done and they are now doing the feasibility studies. He stated that the project will cost about Forty-Three Million Dollars ($43,000,000).
“Right now, the School of Medicine and Allied Sciences is rejecting over 60 to 70 percent of qualified candidates. The reason is because of lack of space. So, you will have people applying at the UTG, but they will take only take 30 percent or maximum of 40 percent. The School is very competitive,” he said.
He said rejecting 60 to 70 percent of qualified candidates owing to space and related issues necessitated the idea of building a new School in the Faraba Campus.
“60 to 70 percent of qualified people are rejected. It is not that they are not qualified, but because they cannot take more than the number they can afford – because of space and other realities,” the Minister said.
He said the new School will have standard laboratories and have more space among other things. He added that the School of Nursing and Public Health of the Gambia College will be moved to the UTG to form part of the School of Medicine and Allied Sciences. The Gambia College will only be a school of education while the other courses will be moved to the University of the Gambia. The Minister disclosed that a team was constituted to look into this matter and they have a 4-month timeline.
He said Lot 1 of the University of the Gambia Faraba Campus has been delivered, adding that Lot 2 will be completed before the end of 2025, which is a 7 storey building, faculty of law, school of agricultural and environmental science. He stated that the dormitory of the Campus will be built by MRC Holland Foundation. He said they are currently working on the design of the dormitory after which the contract will be awarded.
Professor Gomez disclosed that the Organisation of Southern Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gambia Government to build a research center in the Gambia for Africa. He added that the organisation will also build another one in one of the countries in Latin America.
“It will serve as a hub for the rest of Africa as a research centre; so you will have scholars from other parts of Africa to work in the Gambia,” Gomez said.
He stated that the research centre will be built in the University of the Gambia (UTG). He said the UTG will house the research center, but it will be semi-autonomous.
He added the Gam-Ren Project is jointly being implemented by his ministry and the Ministry of Digital Economy. The project is geared towards digitisation of the systems within the higher and tertiary education ecosystems. It aims to create an opportunity linking educationists and researchers with their counterparts in the world.
“It is going to be a game-changer. It is going to address the issue of connectivity because it is going to give an opportunity to researchers and students high speed connectivity. Once it is rolled out, all our tertiary and higher education institutions will get Internet connectivity,” he said.
Prof Gomez, as he is known in academia, said from one institution, a student or researcher could access internet in another higher or tertiary institution without asking for passwords. He gave the example of a Gambia College student going to any of the tertiary institutions to access their internet by only logging in using his or her Gambia College login details.
“You can have access to the Internet without asking for the password. It is going to be a national network,” he said.
He said this will be available to all the tertiary education institutions. He added that this is what is happening in the West. He said this one is a regional project and it is something the government wants to bring to the Gambia.
