The vice chancellor of the University of The Gambia (UTG) has said that university education is not only a training to acquire knowledge and degrees but rather to prepare students for lifetime learning.

Professor Muhammadu Kah was speaking Wednesday at the FIFA Goal Project in Old Yundum where he presided over the opening of the UTG Students' Week. T

he Students' Week is an annual gathering in the UTG where the entire student body gathers for a week of education, interaction and fun. The gathering also seeks to instil community servicing into the students, which they believe has valuable effects on the lives of both the students and communities. He said: "Universities need great thinking students who are innovative and can effect change in a short period of time."

Professor Kah also told the gathering that the UTG is founded on the core conviction that knowledge is a strong tool forrapid socio-economic development. He expressed hope that the students will be well committed to understand their local communities and innovate new products and services for improvement. "Wherever you represent us, we expect that whatever word that comes out of your mouths is decent. I hope that you will all use your intellects and minds to tackle the rising concerns," he advised the students.

He described the UTG as the hope and pride of The Gambia, saying, "We are not a glamorous campus yet, but we have gone far". The vice chancellor also said that UTG would always be proud of students who acquire its knowledge and give back to their communities. "But generally, UTG does not presume to tell her community what individual students should become," he added.

He then told the students that what is expected of them is to excel and achieve their dreams, stressing that anyone who wants to persuade them to indulge in trivial matters is trying to rob their future.

Dr Saja Taal, a Political Science lecturer at the UTG, emphasised that students must be focused while learning in a university. He said university education has no shortcut and for them to build their academia, they should internationalise themselves.