By Nelson Manneh
The American International University West Africa (AIUWA) graduated 291 students from 15 disciplines on Saturday, 31 May 2025. This marks the ninth edition of the school’s graduation ceremony since its establishment in The Gambia in 2010.
As a registered and approved institution of higher learning by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, AIUWA provides cost effective and world class education to qualified and motivated students from all over the globe, including the Gambia, with the sole aim of providing a high-quality education, and preparing students to become ethical, skilled and caring healthcare professionals. The vision of AIUWA is to foster outstanding clinicians and innovative leaders in medicine and science with excellence, integrity, collaboration, compassion and leadership, while promoting creativity and diversity at the same time.
Professor Makie A. Taal, the current Vice Chancellor of the AIUWA, said his institution continues to maintain standards when it comes to quality education.
“Today, we are graduating about two hundred and ninety-one students from this School and among them are both national and international students from countries within the sub-region and beyond. The institution currently enrolled a total of about one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-one students,” Mr. Taal said.
He said AIUWA has a modern library that helps students to conduct their research assignments and also carry out most of their learning activities, adding that as an International tertiary institution, their pride is to produce quality graduates who meet the labour requirement and deliver to expectations.
Dinesh Shukla, Chancellor and founding president of the American International University West Africa (AIUWA), said 86% of the total graduates from AIUWA are currently consumed in the labour market and are now working. He said as part of their institution’s support, the University will provide support to communities in terms of educating them on communicable diseases, among others. He told the graduating students that since they are now going into the wider world to face its realities, they should never forget where they come from and should always do their best for their country. He said the day is not just a farewell event but a day to reflect on the struggles that the students went through, and how they were able to properly manage the resources that were at their disposal.
“Today is a day for you to cherish your parents as they invested in you because they believed in you,” he told the graduating students.
Hon. Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof, the Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, said the day marks a defining moment for the students as they transition to another stage in their lives.
“Democracy, freedom, health and education are the four pillars for development. Since the establishment of AIUWA, the institution has supported the government of the Gambia in terms of providing quality education to students,” he said.
To the graduating students, Minister Joof advised them that as they leave the walls of AIUWA, they will be prompted with challenges, but that they should always persist and work hard to the best of their abilities.
