Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko took advantage of his working visit to Gambia to visit the Senegalese high school in Banjul, which he described as a “symbol of tolerance and openness”.
The Head of Government took this opportunity for dialogue and communion with the students to advise them to have a spirit of openness to the world, but especially to the African continent.
The students and all the staff of the Senegalese high school in Banjul welcomed, this Thursday, a distinguished guest: the Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal. Ousmane Sonko, who has been in Gambia since Wednesday December 18, visited them to find out about the conditions in which they are living. The moment was both festive and solemn. Faced with the Head of the Senegalese government, the students of this high school, located in Kanifing, did not fail to raise some difficulties. Like other establishments in Senegal, this high school suffers from a glaring lack of modern laboratories. In addition to the laboratories, the president of the school government of the Senegalese high school in Banjul, Mame Diarra Sène, informed the Prime Minister that they do not have a well-equipped library, nor sanitary blocks, let alone rooms dedicated to studies .
Speaking after the young student and the high school principal, the Prime Minister assured that the State of Senegal would respond to the problems raised. “We have a priority for education, and we will provide solutions to the problems you listed. I have already told the Minister of the Armed Forces, Birame Diop, that the renovation of the library is his responsibility. I also asked the Minister in charge of Infrastructure, Yankhoba Diémé, to rehabilitate and especially equip the laboratory that we visited. As for me, after seeing the computer room, I committed to helping the high school equip itself with computers, because I was told that these machines date from 2011,” reassured Ousmane Sonko.
The Senegalese high school in Banjul, an emblematic establishment in the heart of the Gambia, has more than ten nationalities among its students. According to Ousmane Sonko, this establishment is a “symbol of tolerance and openness”. Standing and addressing the students, the Prime Minister, as a good teacher, asked them to “never succumb to the call of intolerance, because there are English speakers, Arabic speakers, etc., in this school “. In addition, he recommended that they “remain open to the world but especially to Africa”. The Senegalese high school in Banjul stands out every year for its good academic performance, revealed the principal during the Prime Minister's visit. In 2024, the establishment obtained a success rate of 98.78% for the Brevet de fin d'études supérieur (BFEM) and 78.63% for the Baccalaureate.
From our special correspondent in Banjul, Gaustin DIATTA
