Students of the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) massively dominated a regional skills competition held recently in Mansakonko, Lower River Region, by the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology. The regional skills competition was staged for Gambian youth.

The competition is within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (UNESCO-KOICA) project dubbed: "Youth Empowerment through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in The Gambia."

The skills contest focused on 5 areas, which included floor and wall tiling, fashion design, refrigeration, electrical installation, and block laying.

Winners in various categories included 26-year-old Binta O. Bah from Soma on Fashion Design category; Momodou L. Jallow, 23, from Berending for electrical installation category; 27-year-old Barrow Ceesay from Farafenni for refrigerator and air-conditioning; Zakaria N. Fadera of Bundung, 25, for block laying and Mai Sanyang of Pakalinding, 27, for floor and wall tiling category.

Apart from Binta O. Bah, the winner for the category of fashion design, who came from an institution called Gaye Njoro, all other winners came from GTTI, some from Kanifing campus and others from the Mansakonko subdivision.

The winners will later be invited to attend a National Awards Ceremony, where they will be provided with prizes. It is anticipated that each winner will receive D30,000 and in-kind support.

The 3rd round of the competition will be held in Bakau in November 2022. The winners of the regional skills competition will further compete at the national competition which will be held at the University of Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) in Kanifing.