Speaking at the meeting, Prof. Muhammadou M.O Kah, UTG Vice Chancellor, said they were honoured to have the Indonesian Ambassador to The Gambia, who resides in Senegal.
He said they have many faculties in the UTG, among them the medical school, law faculty, hospitality and tourism institute, and the Gambia College, where they train teachers.
He added that they would like their students to go to Indonesia to pursue their Masters and PhD degrees, upon completion at the UTG, adding that through such educational offers they would be able to forge a good partnership for their students, as well as open opportunities for Indonesian students to come to the UTG.
They would also need teachers from Indonesia to come to the UTG, especially in the field of sciences, he said, adding that the challenge they are faced is to having large numbers of qualified teachers in certain disciplines.
Prof. Kah disclosed that they are in the process of enhancing the engineering faculty, adding that they have some lecturers at the UTG who graduated from universities in Indonesia.
The UTG is a young university and the hope of the nation, he said. It would be appreciated if the Indonesian ambassador’s office helps the UTG to connect with the best universities in Indonesia, he added.
He said they have graduated over 115 medical doctors and want graduates from the medical school to go to Indonesia and pursue their Masters and PhD degrees.
The Indonesian Ambassador to The Gambia, who is based in Dakar, Andradjati, said he is familiar with The Gambia because he is regular in The Gambia.
All that the Vice Chancellor said are already in the bilateral cooperation framework and higher education is one of the sectors, Ambassador Andradjati said, adding that it would be much easier for the two countries to implement it, as mentioned in their MoU.
He said Gambian students have participated in their scholarship programmes and science, mathematics and engineering programmes are part of the problems that are captured in the MoU.
He said he is looking forward to more exchanges and inputs from Indonesia to The Gambia, adding that for lecturers from Indonesia to The Gambia, the UTG should make a request in written form and they would see how best they could make it happen.
The various heads of faculties at the UTG also gave brief background speeches on their various faculties and what they offer, their challenges, as well as the areas in which they would like Indonesia to help them.Â
