The Ministry of Higher Education on Tuesday launched a 5.9 million dalasi

online education project for students in public higher learning institutions. 

The online project, which will run for six months, is to support students education as social distancing measures are put in place to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus in the country. It will start on April 28.  

The beneficiary institutions include University of The Gambia, Gambia College, Gambia Technical Training Institute, and Medical Development Institute.

The Ministry of Higher Education said a portion of the funds will be used to purchase learning materials like laptops, data SIM cards, paying adjunct [assistant] lecturers for students of the Institutions.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, deputy permanent secretary at the ministry, Mrs Juldeh Ceesay, said the project was launched to support students in higher education continued with their studies during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

Mrs Ceesay said the government will be paying “70 dalasi per student every month to the GSM operators” to enable them access the internet. 

She said the government is planning to help Gambian students abroad with funding for their studies and feeding.

Professor Perre Gomez, chair of the task-force and senior lecturer at the University of Gambia, said the online class will be conducted via Google classroom and other online resources will be available unlimited to students for six good months.

“The details of all the registered students have already been sent to the GSM  providers so that they can have access to this Google class without any problem,” he said.

Since the coronavirus outbreak universities and colleges globally have moved teaching and assessments online. 

Reporting by Adama Makasuba