The former Banjul parliamentarian and now the Secretary General of the Sub-Saharan Africa Skills and Apprenticeship Stakeholders Network (SASASNET) and also the Chairperson of Crab Island TVET Foundation made this remark during the speech and prize giving of Campama Lower Basic School in Banjul.
According to him, the life of the human being is in phases starting from when you are born as the childhood stage and progressing into adulthood and then aged, adding: “Every stage of this growth process of the human being has its own peculiar needs or requirements that needs to be fully understood and addressed.”
“When the child is of school-going age, he or she has no other place to go to or things to do in this world other than the school and education,” he said.
Hon. Sillah added: “What the child needs during childhood is nothing but to be provided with the necessary care and education that prepares him or her to become a focused, conscientious and responsible person and that prepares him or her for the tasks and expectations of the next phase as a teenager.”
“Every given stage should prepare the person for the next successive phase in terms of fulfilling the attendant tasks and expectations. Therefore, teenagers or young people have no place to go or nothing to do at this peculiar phase of life other than continue with his or her secondary or tertiary education or training to acquire the necessary livelihood skills or quality apprenticeship,” he asserted.
He maintained that “there are four key caregivers who have a critical role to play in the various phases of our lives as human beings.”
These caregivers as duty bearers, he went on, have a very important role in our lives.
“These four caregivers and key duty bearers which are our parents and among others, have the responsibility for conception, childbearing and child care; the society represented by members of communities, neighbourhoods who serve as an extension of the parents with the responsibility of child care.”
Sillah further added: “Our educational and training institutions and teachers also have responsibility of imparting knowledge and skills and the government as the leading duty bearer entrusted with the task of committing the resources of the country to promote the welfare of the citizenry and development of the country.”
He urged caregivers and duty bearers to rise up to the occasion and fulfill their responsibilities adequately in order to enable the children and young people to become fully prepared to assume and discharge their rightful roles and responsibilities in the task of nation building.
“Failure of any of these duty bearers in discharging their responsibilities at any of the stages of the development of the person will have a negative impact,” he claimed.
He hailed the teachers and school administrators in The Gambia for their noteworthy efforts and sacrifices in ensuring that the children and students are given all the attention and support they need to acquire education and skills.
Mrs. Ya Fatou Bah, Headmistress of Campama Lower Basic School, thanked the guest speaker and other guests for responding positively to their invitation to grace the event.
The enrollment of young people in the school, she went on, is on the increase with the aid of the school feeding programme.
She urged the graduating students to desist from all social vices and all forms of substance or drug abuse in order for them to secure a promising and better future. “You have to be respectful and be disciplined. You have to desist from all issues that will hinder your development and growth.”
Insufficient textbooks, school furniture ranging from chairs and desks, she continued, is among the challenges the school encounters. Those, she added, are making teaching and learning very difficult.
The school headmistress also lamented on the flooding that the school grapples with during the rainy season as a challenge, saying: “The flooding that we experience every year exposes both pupils and teachers to the danger posed by reptiles such as snakes entering the classrooms.”
The convergence attended by representatives from the ministry of education, parents, and SMC members also witnessed the presentation of prizes to deserving students.
