The Ministry of Higher Education, Research Science and Technology (MOHERST) in collaboration with the Council of Higher Education, Turkiye (YOK) last Monday convened a day's high level technical committee meeting at a ceremony held at Coco Ocean Hotel and Spa in Brusubi.
The inter-governmental technical committee meeting which marks the opening of a formal technical discussion on planning and implementation arrangements between The Government of The Gambia and the Republic of Turkiye on human capital formation, was highly hailed by officials in view of the country's march towards boosting tertiary and higher education, research, and science and technology in the country.
Speaking at the event, Tolga Bermek, Turkish ambassador to The Gambia, expressed gratitude to the Minister for the warn reception accorded the Turkish delegation in the country.
Ambassador Bermek noted that Turkey and The Gambia over the past years have enjoyed excellent bilateral relation in various fields including economic, commercial, agriculture, political and even cultural cooperation, acknowledging that investment in education is investment in the future of any country.
The Turkish diplomat underscored the importance of vocational and technical education in the development of any nation, observing that Minister Gomez attaches greater emphasis on the development of vocation education in The Gambia.
"It is very crucial area as it is a strategic area having direct impact on the economy and besides, the level of income of any country increases as the level of production increases."
He noted that vocational education plays a key part in economic growth, pointing out that many people in least developed countries emigrate to the Western countries despite the hard economic challenges in those countries.
But with high quality vocation education, people now have the chance to stay and work in their own countries with economic freedom.
Prof. Dr. Naci Gundogan, executive board member of YOK, thanked the Gambian officials for the warn reception accorded the visiting Turkish delegation.
The Turkish official noted that they've succeeded in the formation of the high-level technical committee meeting, revealing that that emanated from the visit to Turkiye last year of former vice president late Badara Alieu Joof.
The high-level, he added, also manifests the excellent bilateral relation that bind the two countries, affirming that the presidents of the two countries are jointly determined to further strengthen this bilateral ties as demonstrated during Barrow's state visit to Turkey in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
Prof. Dr. Gundogan revealed that his delegation includes Rectors from various Universities and other officials from Higher Education institutions in Turkey.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. Pierre Gomez, minister of Higher Education Research Science and Technology, explained that after this, they should have clear pathways in the country's human capital cooperation.
The visit by Turkiye counterparts, he added, was conceived during his visit to Turkiye, where both sides agreed on establishing a Technical Committee that will identify critical areas of intervention and develop a plan of action to implement those areas.
"Among the list of areas identified are scholarships, capacity development, scientific technology and innovation and establishing a TVET Centre under the direct sponsorship of the Government of Turkiye."
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This development, Minister Gomez noted, is timely, coming at a time when The Gambia urgently needs support to improve the quality of teaching and learning, especially in TVET, and enhance the promotion and utilisation of research, innovation and development activities by acquiring modern tools and competencies.
"Through this partnership, we envisage an improved number of scholarships in relevant national development areas; strengthen TVET and general education post-secondary institutions, and promote research and innovation activities such as entrepreneurship, industry collaboration and product development, thereby increasing employability and job creation, which will eventually lead to sound socio-economic development."
Meanwhile, the Turkish delegation during their stay will meet some key stakeholders in vocational training as well as visit some key institutions in the country.
