The award ceremony was jointly done with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) at an official event held on Wednesday, 4 December 2024 at the USET Campus in Kanifing.
The Chinese Ambassador’s scholarship will afford the students the opportunity to further their higher education degrees in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and STEM.
Speaking at the award ceremony, His Excellency, Ambassador Liu Jin, revealed that the Chinese government attaches great importance to TVET, and views skilled workers as main forces underpinning China’s economic growth and innovation.
He explained that President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China has urged young people to carry forward craftsmanship and strive for excellence to serve the country.
Through decades of relentless efforts, Ambassador Liu Jin said, 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.
He revealed that annually, over 10 million TVET college graduates enter labour markets with the total number of skilled workers in China to have reached 200 million – 60 million of whom are high-skilled.
This year, he said, “President Xi Jinping presented 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 further 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.
Prof. Pierre Gomez, the minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, thanked Ambassador Liu Jin and the government for the steadfast support, generosity and for their commitment to advancing education and fostering innovation in The Gambia.
He took the opportunity to further request 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.
He pointed out that 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.
For his part, USET Deputy Vice Councillor, Prof Ado Yusuf Abdulfatah, recognised the long-time existence of the Chinese Ambassador scholarship which he said has been identified globally as a strategic initiative to foster international educational support to outstanding students in their home countries.
He said this also serves as international exchanges through which selected international students travel to China to further their studies.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Abbisatou Cham, a BSc Civil Engineering student applauded Ambassador Liu Jin and his government for their tireless support. She further extended their appreciations to MoHERST and USET.
