Held at Ocean Bay Hotel, Cape Point, the project was being funded by the World Bank through its Central Project Coordination Unit (CPCU) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA).
The development of the SIP TVET Centers of excellence for Fisheries and Agribusiness is under the World Bank RISE project, in which a consultancy was launched to develop a comprehensive Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) for the TVET Centers of Excellence (CoEs), particularly focusing on Fisheries and Agribusiness.
The consultancy focuses on enhancing training programs, governance, infrastructure and professional development which also seeks to strengthen industries linkages, entrepreneurship, and community engagement through targeted strategies and resource planning.
At the validation forum, Prof. Pierre Gomez, Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, recalled that last year, they sent 16 to 20 young Gambians to Malawi and Turkey for training to Master's level to be trained in fisheries and marine science.
“In anticipation of what is going to unfold this year, hence our presence here today, that is to work on, now, the design and the different components of the specialized TVET centers, two centers of excellence, one on agribusiness and one on fisheries.” he said.
He spoke highly of the project and that when fully accomplish, the country will now move from food security to food sovereignty, saying the people of this country will not be waiting for 2025 and be blaming Ukraine and Russia because of whatever, and so to be able to feed themselves.
“Education must make sense to us. We did not go to school to come back and be waiting for Russia and Ukraine to have reconciliation, for peace to reign, for us to be able to feed ourselves. Science must be applied. We need to now buckle up,” he added.
He revealed that in four years’ time, MoHERST will establish two TVET Centers of Excellence in agribusiness and fisheries at Tujereng and Ndemban.
This, he said, will help make the country serves as a TVET Centers of Excellence for the rest of ECOWAS to come and get the quality education on TVET, especially on fisheries and agriculture.
In an interview with reporters, Fatou Janneh, Principal Tertiary Higher Education officer at MoHERST and TVET focal person, revealed that MoHERST has been embarking on structural transformation of TVET to make TVET more vibrant and impactful on the lives of Gambians.
The Strategic Improvement Plan intends, she said, will make TVET more accessible across the country by expanding skills development local communities.
She emphasized that the project aims to strengthen governance, infrastructure and capacity, among others to run centers of excellence.
