Editorial,

Education is very crucial in the materialization of the development objectives of a country. It is considered basic to one's life. While food is for health and shelter for the body, education is for the mind. Education enhances one's knowledge and as the saying goes: Knowledge is Power. It is the ability to put one's potentials to maximum use. It tells a person how to think and how to make decisions. This explains why President Jammeh is sparing no efforts to educate Gambians. This is manifested by not only the vast increase in the number of schools built in a couple of years but also the president is making a lot of efforts to establish external relations that will boost our educational sector.
 
The most recent of such relations is that of Venezuela, which witnessed the mass award of scholarships to many deserving Gambians to study in that country. As we go to press, we are delighted to learn that some students are already on their way to Caracas for studies. President Jammeh's realization that Education is not only essential to the creation of democracies, but also essential to development, and in particular to what we today call sustainable development, which implies a balance between meeting immediate needs and looking to the future with a long-term vision is indeed paying dividend. The products of the University of The Gambia are a justification of that fact.

When speaking of development, it is important to underscore the active and essential role of women in these processes. It is not a coincidence that the countries with the highest levels of human development also come the closest to offering equal opportunity and gender equity in their societies. The President's Empowerment for Girls' Education is also an elucidation of his strong commitment to the promotion of equal opportunities. Not to talk of the number of women at the helm of state affairs.

For those who have been privileged to acquire the Venezuela scholarship, they must always remember that to whom much is given, much is expected. It is for education you are going to Venezuela and we hope that you will take your studies seriously and return back to the country to deliver. The ambition of the president is to make this country a city state. Producing a knowledge-based society is crucial to thus.