As part of his official visit to The Gambia, undertaken within the framework of the “3rd Continental African Curriculum Conference”, H.E. Mr. Manssour Bin Mussallam, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Educational Cooperation (OEC), held a fruitful exchange on Monday with the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, Hon. Mr. Badara Alieu Joof.
As a starting point, it was discussed during the meeting the establishment of the OEC, by 27 countries from the Global South, and their commitment towards promoting balanced and inclusive education, as well as to demonstrate the community of interests around innovation and development in the field of education.
During the meeting, Bin Mussallam expressed his gratitude for the invitation extended to him by the government of The Gambia to carry out this official visit to Banjul, where the OEC simultaneously takes part as a co-organizing entity of the 3rd Contential African Curriculum Conference; while Vice-President H. E. Alieu Joof was optimistic about the attempt to explore joint solutions for current educational challenges.
Also present at the meeting was the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education of the Republic of The Gambia, H.E. Ms. Claudiana A. Cole, who had previously held fruitful discussions with Bin Mussallan, and heeded his request that the Republic of The Gambia become a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education (UDBIE).
In this context, a technical meeting is set to take place on 24 May between the OEC and specialists from the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Higher Education to set the scope for future cooperation and which would eventually lead to the signing of the UDBIE by The Gambia.
In the foregoing, both the Secretary-General of the OCE, as well as the distinguished representatives of the Gambian Government, see a starting point for this African country to become a member state of the Organisation.
