Delight Heritage, a US based education consultancy firm, last  Saturday May 24,  organised  a one day  forum on education and development in the Gambia, at a ceremony  held in the conference hall of the Gambia YMCA, along the MDI road in Kanifing.

The forum, attended by some visiting students and lecturers from the colleges of Washington & Jefferson, Juniata and Bloommsburg University of Pennsylvania, was also graced by students and lecturers from the University of the Gambia (UTG),The Gambia College, and other tertiary institutions as well as a cross section of the community, was characterised by presentations of educative and development oriented papers on a number of tropical issues.

Mrs Isatou Ndow, director of education at the Gambia College, touched on the role of the College as a teacher training institute, while Mr Joseph T. Peacock of the National Council of the Gambia YMCA, delivered a paper  on life skills & enterprise development. Dr Buba Misawa from Washington & Jefferson College dwelt on the future of higher education in African political development, while his Juniata College counterpart, Dr Emil Nagengast, spoke on the role of education in promoting good Governance. The role of ICT in the school curriculum as well as policy recommendations for girl child education and teacher training in the Gambia were other topics treated at the conference.

A question and answer session featured an extensive and interactive discussion on the need for Africans in the diaspora to invest back in the development of the continent as well as the need to reverse the current trend of brain drain and replace it with brain circulation.

Other speakers at the conference included Dr Saidou Jallow, permanent Secretary, who deputised for his SoS, Department of State for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Crispin-Grey Johnson,  and Alagie Jobe, a representative of the Department of State for Lower Basic and Secondary Education.

The occasion was co-chaired by Mr Cherno Barry, a lecturer at the University of the Gambia and Ebrima Jaw Manneh, Deputy-Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Observer.