President
of Armitage Ex- Students Association (ARMEXSA) have encouraged members to give
their time and resources to their Alma mater to rejuvenate its sensational
glories in education.
At a forum organised by the members on
Saturday, to remember the memories of the oldest senior school in The Gambia,
Sanaba Jawla said the school’s former students should not only be proud of
being products of Armitage, but should also help their junior ones to acquire
the needed knowledge within a better environment.
The
forum was held on the theme: Impacts of Armitage on the socio economic
development of The Gambia. It discussed the successes and challenges of the
school.
“We
should not only be proud of being products of Armitage, but we should also help
our Alma mater in creating a conducive learning environment for the students,”
Mr Jawla told members.
He
said ARMEXSA is facing lot of challenges in attaining its wishes because many
ex-students are not responding to the call as expected, especially when it
comes to providing funds to support the school.
Mr
Jawla also revealed that even though many Armitage products are today working
in different works of life in the country, it is sad that there is only few
funds in the ARMEXSA account, which he said cannot do much for the association
or the school.
Presenting
on the history of Armitage, Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of National Centre
for Artist and Culture (NCAC) and a historian, narrated that Armitage was
initially established for sons of traditional rulers but some chiefs were not
comfortable to enroll their children there.
He
said under the command of regional commissioners (now governors), influential
people within the districts were also allowed to enroll their children, saying
the first Gambian principal of Armitage was Symon Gomez, who administered the
school from January 1927 to December 1931.
