The Sare Chikam Youth Association (SCYA), in Sare Chikam Village, Upper Niumi District has over the weekend donated learning materials to school-going children and awarded the best-performing students for the 2023 / 2024 academic year.
This gesture, according to the association, is geared towards complementing the efforts of the parents in ensuring that their children get all the necessary materials and serve as a motivation to all the students. The donation, which is the second edition, was lauded by community members, parents, and women as they all said it would reduce the burden on parents, considering their economic status.
Representing the Village Development Committee (VDC), Mr Tamsir Bah, commended the association for the initiative saying many associations had been previously formed in the village but had only received such support from the SCYA. He urged the members of the village to support them in developing the village.
He urged parents to always look after their children's education because its importance cannot be compared with any other thing. "Always push your children on education. If you know that your child can no longer go to school try to take him or her to learn a skill (technical education).
"Do not leave your children to be idle because it can lead them to venture into things that might never be beneficial to them," he advised.
While speaking on the importance of education, he used the opportunity to advise the youth against venturing into the 'back way' journey and the use of drugs, saying drugs would derail their lives and careers. He also urged awardees students to maintain their performance and challenged all students to compete with their counterparts to be awarded in the next edition.
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"To me, the back way journey is not the solution, even though some people have used it and succeed, let us be patient and learn."
While commending the association for complementing the efforts of the parents, Ajaratou Jumo Jallow asked other community members to emulate the efforts of the association and develop the village. All other speakers commended the association for its unwavering commitment to developing the village.
On his part, the Chairperson of the Sare Chikam Youth Association, Assan Bah, highlighted some of the aims and objectives of the association and said its main objective is to contribute to the development of the village.
He said despite the association's limited financial resources, it has added this in its annual activity plans to motivate school going children to improve the performance of the students by opening the room for competition among them.
He called on parents to always monitor their children's education and challenged students to maximise the opportunity provided by the association. He assured that the association will continue its commitment in empowering students in their education careers thereby complementing their parent's efforts in ensuring that their children receive all the necessary learning materials.
Outstanding students were donated exercise books, pencils, pens, school bags, and school uniforms for the 2023/2024 academic year.
