His Excellency President Adama Barrow has pledged to support the University of The Gambia Medical Students Association (UNIGAMSA) with more than three hundred chairs during a courtesy visit at the State House in Banjul.
The President also committed to assisting with logistics for this year’s UNIGAMSA Week.
During the visit, the President of UNIGAMSA, John George Johnson, highlighted several issues regarding students’ conditions, including the need for school buses to ease transportation for medical students from the Kombos. Other challenges mentioned were medical electives and dormitories. Mr. Johnson also expressed concern about the high cost of dormitory rentals.
He acknowledged the transformation of tertiary education and depicted the Barrow administration as action-oriented, proactive, and transparent. He further congratulated the President for assuming the Chairmanship of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
In his response, President Barrow stated that his administration is already taking action to mitigate these challenges by working on building higher standard dormitories for students. “The foundation stone will be laid soon,” he added.
The President revealed that the government will soon receive another batch of buses and promised to work with GTSC to ease transportation burdens on students. He reassured them of his continued support, describing UNIGAMSA as a vital sector in job creation and self-employment.
According to President Barrow, there is a need to better invest in and remodel tertiary institutions to achieve their intended purposes, especially in health and medical fields.
He urged students to embrace discipline for academic excellence, emphasizing its empowering effect on educational achievement.
The Minister for Higher Education, Honourable Pierre Gomez, said despite budget constraints, the President instructed the Ministry to mobilize resources for the school of medicine “not just structure but state-of-the-art laboratory and furniture costing millions of dollars for the school alone,” he noted.
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