It is important for young people to understand how democracy works

Today, we had the opportunity to be present when representatives of the Future Starts Now Gambia school, which is looking for new premises, visited the rental market in a neighborhood that is home to several youth organizations.

One of them is National Youth Parliament - The Gambia. Local leaders tell us that since its inception in 2002, the National Youth Parliament has involved youth from across the country to build their capacity in the three arms of the state and parliamentary democracy procedures with the aim to prepare and enhance their knowledge on leadership, governance, administration, policy advocacy, debate etc. More than 50 percent of the global population are young people under 30, but according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, they constitute less than 2 percent of the world’s National Assembly Members.

Examining the Gambian Education Landscape

Today, we had the pleasure of having a good and thorough discussion about the current state of the education sector in The Gambia. Mr Musa O. Mendy, who has had a long career in Gambian education administration, and Lamin Keita, the principal of FSNG School, were present as guests of the GGG project representatives.

Mr Mendy is the director of EMMA School. He is very satisfied with the level of the computers that have already been delivered. The devices are expensive and a tempting target for theft in a poor country, so security aspects must be taken into account.

Future Starts Now Gambia School, on the other hand, is considering the challenges facing the school's new location and the rise in prices. The challenging global situation is also reflected in The Gambia.

Photo: From left Mr Jukka Ylipiha, Mr Lamin Keita, Mr Musa O. Mendy and Mr Janne Lepola

There are also positive signs for the future. FSNG School is involved in a project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Finnpartnership), which makes it possible to start occupational safety training in The Gambia. This would be a new step for the school and is possible now that the level of teacher competence has been able to be developed thanks to the Global Grant Gambia project.

Time to put the finishing touches on the project

 The final phase of the project has started. We are leaving Helsinki-Vantaa Airport for Gambia on Christmas Day. This time, we have Annette Johansson as a guest of the project group, so the size of the delegation is again four people.

During the year, a comprehensive material for basic IT studies has been compiled on a common learning platform. All materials will be available to teachers after the project has ended.

Obtaining funding for purchases in Gambia has been surprisingly challenging. However, once we arrived, we received confirmation that the money had arrived safely. In addition to the training program, we intend to collect feedback from the target group of the project during our visit. The information will be important for future projects too.

Photo: Annu Jokela-Ylipiha (teacher, pedagogical themes), Jukka Ylipiha (teacher, IT), Janne Lepola (project manager) and Annette Johansson as a guest.