In a Bargain, All Sides Must be Kept

An educated society can be said to be a society on the road to progress and enlightenment. Education, they say, is the highway to success and there is no gainsaying in this.

At this time, when efforts continue to be employed to make education not only available and accessible but affordable to all, the decision by Lamin Institute for Professional Studies (LIPS) to grant 100 scholarships to needy and deserving students can only be said to be laudable and welcome.

LIPS' idea to award scholarship to students to pursue courses in many fields of study is timely, exemplary and worth emulation. Daniel Osagie, the Director of the institute, told The Point that, " The decision to award scholarships to needy and deserving students to sharpen their tools not only to power them but to enable them contribute meaningfully to positive national growth was borne out his institution's desire to empower people."

This is a true contribution to nation building. Often in this country we have heard from government of the need for the private sector to step up to the plate and contribute to socio-economic development. With their gesture, LIPS has done just that. Only through the empowerment of education can we move the country forward. An educated population is a powerful one. Nobody can take easy advantage of the educated person because their eyes have been open to the world and its ways. What must now be ensured is that those young people who qualify with a good education, like those who will benefit from the LIPS scholarships, can be brought to stay in The Gambia.

What good is an excellent qualification if one is still doomed to the ranks of the unemployed when one receives it? Our brightest minds can often have flight to Europe or America to the forefront in their minds as they leave the gates of the institute they studied in with their qualification in their hand. We must stop the brain drain. In collaborating with the government to ensure an educated population, LIPS has earned the respect of many. In fostering a climate where educated young people feel they can stay, the government will earn the respect of many more.