The event was attended by members of the public, ministers of state and permanent secretaries.
The initiative was brought to life by the Hon. Ousman Sillah, with support from the government of The Gambia, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), MRC Holland Foundation, Rotary Club of Fajara and Royden Revolve.
The partners such as MRC Holland renovated and plastered the dilapidated buildings and roofed the facility. They also provided electricity and water.
A second phase of the project is also intended, where storey buildings would be built for other courses. YEP also supported by offering three programmes to the facility; two of which are for the young people and the third for the security sector reform; to host security personnel and equip them with requisite skills; TIKA provides the tools and machines for the facility covering six of the 7 programmes intended to be introduced at Crab Island. MoBSE is also paying for the administrative staffs and teachers and this started since July. They also cover the running cost.
MOHERST provides scholarships for 25 beneficiaries who would be trained for nine months and awarded certificates, while the Ministry of Finance provides 75 scholarships for beneficiaries. This makes it a tuition free center.
“It all started in 2017 when I was vying for the mandate to serve the people of The Gambia through Banjul North Constituency. I passed through here and I saw the place. I have been seeing it, but when I passed by, I saw the place. It was an eyesore. The reason being is that I have been a beneficiary of the school in its hay days, Crab Island.”
“I had one year staying here before proceeding to high school and I knew what I am today. Crab Island contributed towards it. It stopped operating in 2012. And this was 2017; I said let me go and approach the ministry, because I knew that the premises are owned by the government of The Gambia and by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education,” said the Hon. Oousman Sillah, National Assembly member for Banjul North
Permanent secretary of MoBSE, Louie Moses Mendy, said that “in The Gambia, education policy is one. We all have one educational policy that crosses from along early childhood all the way to tertiary level. As a basic and secondary education, we are interested in ensuring that the issues of TVET are inculcated in children at a very early age.”
“The policy requires us to make sure that concepts and the principles of TVET education are brought to the student as early as grade 4. So, we are very interested in this and that is why we pushed in for this project. It would not only provide skills for the youths of Banjul or the people of Banjul or the adults, it is also intended to serve a purpose for a catchment area for our schools in Banjul.”
“Those schools around that do technical drawing, metalwork and woodwork amongst others could come here to use these premises for practical. It is not going to be only a one-off. It is going to serve multiple purposes.”
The facility is intended to train three categories of people, including those going to be admitted to acquire skills to be self-employed and those who are on transit to the technical high school to follow the academic route to the highest level.
All the partners ranging from TIKA, MRC Holland, Youth Empowerment project and others expressed satisfaction over the success of the project and expressed delight for their support of the project.
The historic day was wrapped up by ribbon cutting by the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education and a visit to the facility by participants and officials.
