By Sariba Manneh
The Ministry for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), on Friday 23 August 2024, received a ministerial delegation from the People’s Republic of China.
The purpose of the visit was to cement the existing bilateral ties between the two countries and to sign a draft Memorandum of Understanding between China and the Gambia’s Higher Education Ministry, which was high on their agenda. The signing, done at the MoHERST Conference Hall, was between the Permanent Secretary of MoHERST and LiuGong Machinery of China. The other MoU was between the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) of the Gambia, and the Guangxi Polytechnic of Construction, for capacity building. LiuGong Machinery led by the general manager, also donated two boreholes to two of the TVET Centers.
His Excellency Liu Jin, the Chinese Ambassador to The Gambia, led the team headed by Mr. Wang Weiping, a member of the Standing Committee and head of organisation at the Department of the CPC, Cuangxi Committee of China. The visit was also aimed at signing a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in vocational education that is designed to strengthen the existing partnership in skills development between the People’s Republic of China, and The Gambia.
Speaking on the occasion, Professor Pierre Gomez, the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) said Guangxi and the standing committee of the CPC came to work with his Ministry to enhance collaboration between the two countries, and on the TVET programs.
“Also, it is to see how we can develop educational cooperation and then later, we will come up with an MoU between my Ministry and Guangxi province to promote education, specifically on TVET and other STEM programs,” he said.
He further disclosed that among the objectives of the visit was to come up with a Gambia-Guangxi Alliance on TVET, saying: “We will set up an alliance to see how we can promote TVET in the Gambia and to create opportunities for our students and staff to have access to high-quality education in China.” He pointed out that the education sectors of the two countries realised the need for the partnership as they moved ahead to sign the MoU, adding that the gathering was a clear indication of the progress they have made under the memorandum of understanding with high optimism on the future of their collaboration.
“The Gambia government has realised the need to emphasise the welfare of our youth, and the education sector has launched a reform to focus on their training,” he said, adding that “while building these quality issues at the University of the Gambia, we decided to take TVET and technical and engineering education to a higher level, and build a structure that will ensure sustainability.”
“We want to follow the People’s Republic of China on this path and we have no doubt that it will be a prosperous and worthwhile journey,” he concluded.
Mr. Wang Weiping acknowledged the steady progress in educational cooperation between the two countries under the strategic guidance of their two presidents. He said China is willing to work with The Gambia to deepen collaboration on technical and vocational education, language teaching, and digital studies, as a way to benefit her population, especially the youth.
