The Gambia and Senegal have entered a new phase of educational cooperation to improve TVET following a high-level bilateral engagement led by The Gambia’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Honourable Professor Pierre Gomez.
The four-day official mission, held from December 7–10, 2025, concluded with the finalisation of a comprehensive 2025–2030 Action Plan with Senegal’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI).
The Action Plan transforms the long-standing fraternal relations between both countries into structured and results-driven programmes. Key outcomes include Senegal’s commitment to fund 50 scholarships annually for Gambian students across undergraduate, Master’s, PhD, and TVET diploma levels, with priority given to STEM, agriculture, and health-related disciplines. The two countries also agreed to establish formal faculty, researcher, and student mobility programmes to promote academic exchange and knowledge transfer.
In addition, both ministries will launch an annual Senegal–Gambia Innovation Challenge to stimulate entrepreneurship and applied problem-solving among young people.
Strong emphasis was placed on TVET collaboration, with Gambia’s Centres of Excellence set to partner directly with Senegal’s Instituts Supérieurs d’Enseignement Professionnel (ISEP) on curriculum development, staff capacity building, and equipment planning. Quality assurance cooperation will also be strengthened through closer operational collaboration between The Gambia’s National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) and Senegal’s ANAQ-SUP.
To ensure effective implementation, a Joint Technical Committee will be established within three months, with a mid-term review scheduled for 2028. Professor Gomez also extended an invitation to his Senegalese counterpart, Honourable Professor Daouda Ngom, for a reciprocal visit to The Gambia in March 2026, which was accepted.
The delegation further benefited from strategic site visits, including ISEP Diamniadio, where they observed a successful 70 percent practical and 30 percent theory training model closely aligned with labour market and industry needs—offering valuable lessons for TVET reform in The Gambia.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.
