Dr S Raza, the administrative director of Stratford College of Management in the UK is currently in The Gambia and, according to officials of the school, his mission here is to meet with students of Stratford College of Management The Gambia, who are set to continue their studies in the UK, and also to help improve on the standard of service provision for students in the Gambian campus.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Observer, Dr Raza told these reporters that his mission to The Gambia was to make sure that they give equal education to their students in both the UK and The Gambia. He disclosed that The Gambia was the first African country in which Stratford College started operating. According to Dr Raza, they are aware of the fact that most Africans do not have the opportunity to study abroad. He said that that is why they intend to provide the best courses and education for their students in The Gambia.

"When our students finish their course of study in The Gambia, they do not have to pay admission fee, nor do they have to buy entry forms into Stratford College UK," he said. This, he said, is because the students are supposed to be part of the entire college family, which comprises Stratford Gambia and Stratford UK.

For his part, Abraham Olani, principal of Stratford College of Management in The Gambia, said that since they started operations in The Gambia, last year, they have always endeavoured to offer the best courses and the best education to their students, adding that they started with an enrolment of 500 students, and that they have now registered as much as 1500 students. 'It is not the price of our tuition fees that matter,' he noted, 'but the value we give to them.'  

Njaga Njie, registrar at the Stratford College of Management in the UK, who is also part of the visiting team, told the Daily Observer that most of the Gambian youth have been misled about life in the UK. This, he said, makes them think that life is easy there, and that everything is cheap. He said that is why they give their students the best advice, not only about the college but the way they live in the UK.