By Sariba Manneh
Over thirty students recently graduated from SASS Cosmetology and Skills Training Academy with certificates in different disciplines.
The graduates were trained on hairdressing, beauty cosmetology, and make-up.
According to the School Management, this batch of graduates is the eighth batch of over 30 students since the establishment of the school.
They added that the school was established to train young Gambians in diverse cosmetology skills with a mission to promote excellence and self-employment.
Mrs. Adam Touray-Bah, the Director and the proprietress of the Institution, said vocational and skills training play a very important role in providing and preparing the youths, especially girls and young women, with life skills that will economically empower them thereby fulfilling the primary objective of increasing employment and earnings.
She added that undergoing such programmes of study can also indirectly bring about positive behavioral changes and provide spillover benefits for the families and communities of these young women.
“Not all of us are meant to sit in an office pushing paper, not all of us are meant to have university degrees. However, all of us have a very important role to play in national development. We are aware that young people between the ages of 15 and 29 years of age make up about a quarter of the world’s population, yet they constitute almost half of the world’s unemployed,” she pointed out.
However, Director Touray-Bah advised the graduates to prepare for the beginning of the rest of their lives, saying that everything is possible when they believe in Allah and also in their capabilities.
Mrs Beartrice Mboge, CEO of Gambia Women Chamber of Commerce, said SASS Cosmetology and Skills Training Academy is a gateway to growth and women empowerment in the country.
She added that the graduates are entering into a creative industry and urged them to foster their creativity.
“My final advice is don’t quit, never quit. If you have been blessed with such a creative skill, do not give up on it. It doesn’t matter how hard it is. The one way to guarantee you are not going to be successful at something is to give up on it. Yes, some dreams are harder to achieve than others,” she exhorted.
Mr. Anthony Mendy, Director of Tertiary and Higher Education (MOHERST), advised the graduates to make the best use of the skills they were taught at SASS.
He also discouraged them from embarking on the dangerous backway journey, saying that they could make it here in the country without imperiling their lives in the desert or sea.
Marie Gibba, a graduate, urged her fellow graduates to believe in themselves and to keep on learning more skills.
She encouraged them to be passionate in whatever they do to be successful in life.“You cannot be successful without working hard towards your success,” she hinted.
