The Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Mrs Fatou Lamin Faye, on Wednesday presided at the award ceremony for the eleventh edition of the Trust Bank Gambia Limited Excellence in The Millennium Award.
Ten outstanding students in the Grade Nine examination of 2010 received awards at the Laico Atlantic Hotel in
Delivering her statement at the occasion, Minister Faye registered her sincere gratitude to Trust Bank Ltd for the mobilization of resources aimed at complementing the efforts of the
She noted that Education being a critical resource for development and is an indispensable means for effective social and economic participation, contributing to human development and poverty reduction.
She stated that the 2004-2015 Education Policy of the Gambia focuses on ensuring that the right to quality education for all is upheld, and that Education for All targets together with education-related MDGs are achieved.
The Education minister also pointed out that Secondary Education is at the center of the education system, adding that the goal of the sector is not only to help more children go to school or on to alternative educational programmes, but rather ensure once there, they learn more as a result of being taught by better trained teachers, using better methods and creating child-friendly and gender-sensitive environments.
It is important to note that government undertakes the core responsibility of providing education to the school-age population, she went on, adding that an essential component of the bank's Corporate Social Responsibilityis to make a positive contribution to national development by supporting a wide range of educational initiatives such as encouraging entrepreneurship in Schools, through Business Clubs for School Projects, donationsto speech and prize giving ceremonies, including the University of The Gambia Convocations and promotion of local talents in schools.
Minister Fatou Lamin Faye thanked Trust Bank for its immense contribution towards the country's education sector.
Deputising for the Managing Director of Trust Bank at the ceremony was the General Manager of the Bank, Mr Oreme Joiner.
He said the Excellence in the Millennium Award was conceived for the following reasons: to recognize and award outstanding students, to reinforce their commitment to the education sector and to recognize the achievement of the school's responsibility for these results to showcasethe students, with the aim of providing future GradeNine students with role models to emulate.
Mr Joiner noted that the Excellence in the Millennium Award is a show of the bank's commitment and continued resolve to strengthen the enduring partnership with the Ministry in a bid to provide quality education.
He said it is in line with this commitment that, a few months ago, the education sector was assisted with a D250,000 donation to the
Mr joiner also seized the opportunity to thank Dr Sainey Fofana, Mrs Fofana and one of their daughters Miss Fanta Fofana, who along with her sister, Kadijatou Fofana, are the only two previous winners of the Trust Bank Excellence in the Millennium Award to have come from the same family.
He pointed out that, in recognition of the outstanding achievement of the winners, Trust Bank will award a Trust Bank Certificate of Excellence and D6,000 paid into a saving accounts for each of the ten winners.
Also, D15,000 was awarded to
Other speakers at the ceremony included Modou Grant of the West African Examination Council and Kadijatou Fofana.
The occasion was chaired by Trust Bank Marketing Manager Dodou Nyang.
