By Mama A. Touray
The Chinese government, represented by the Chinese Ambassador to The Gambia, Liu Jin, presented degree scholarship letters to ten students from the University of Applied Science and Technology (USET).
These scholarships will allow the students to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Engineering at USET in The Gambia.
This presentation was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) at the USET Campus in Kanifing on Wednesday.
The Chinese Ambassador’s scholarship opportunity will give the students the opportunity to further their higher education degrees in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and STEM in The Gambia.
USET Deputy Vice Councillor, Prof Ado Yusuf Abdulfatah, in his remarks highlighted that the awarding of the scholarship continues to foster international educational support to outstanding students in their home countries.
He added that the Ambassador Scholarship also serves as an international exchange through which selected international students travel to China to further their studies.
For his part, Ambassador Liu Jin said, “Through decades of relentless efforts, China has established the largest national TVET system in the world and that currently, over 3,000 TVET colleges are in operation and over 30 million students are receiving TVET education, covering 1300 disciplines and sectors”.
The ambassador added: “Annually, over 10 million TVET college graduates enter labour markets with a total amount of skilled workers in China to have reached 200 million, 60 million of whom are highly skilled”, adding that this year “President Xi Jinping presented the medal of national honour to the most excellent craftsman in China who is a 74-year-old port technician with 50 years of working experience of handling containers, pursuing efficiency and excellence during the whole career. He and his team set a world record of unloading 3400 standard containers from a ship and loading them on trucks in just 6 hours.”
Ambassador Liu Jin revealed that this year, the USET and Crab Island TVET Center have joined the China-Africa TVET Cooperation Consortium and formed partnerships with Chinese vocational colleges.
The Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof Pierre Gomez, highlighted the steadfast support, generosity and commitment of China to advancing education and fostering innovation in The Gambia.
Gomez, however, requested the support of the People’s Republic of China through its embassy in The Gambia in establishing a Luban Workshop at USET in The Gambia.
“The establishment of a Luban Workshop is an urgent necessity, as it would provide the youth of The Gambia with cutting-edge technical and vocational training aligned with global standards, enabling them to contribute more effectively to national development,” he said.
On behalf of the student beneficiaries, Abbisatou Cham, a BSC Civil Engineering student applauded the Ministry of High Education Research Science and Technology and Ambassador Liu Jin and his government for their tireless support.
