Suntou, where do we begin?
 
1.Scholarships for Gambia students to study overseas has been mostly  
distributed as repayment for political loyalty. That phenomenon, I'm afraid to  say 
has gotten worse under Yahya. He has tried to make it merit-based in the  
beginning but that did not last long. The people become loyal to one party or  the 
other with such expectations so that Like Jawara, Yahya may never be able to  
stem the tide unless he de-emphasises the quid-pro-quo psychy in governance. 
To  be fair, it is like that in much of the world, only the rest of the world 
is not  so dependent on such gifts and grants as Gambia is. For anything to 
happen in  Gambia, a gift or grant has to be sought. I was hoping Yahya could 
make the  turnaround for he had so much promise and zeal. But then he created the 
conduit  of the Jammeh Foundation to consolidate the practice. It is still 
not too late.  Just because much of the world does something should not mean it 
is also good  for Gambia. We have so much opportunity to lead the world in so 
many areas  especially when Yahya came. He still has the opportunity to lead 
the world in  good governance. I hope I can be such an influence on him. I 
think we should  give him encouragement in that regard.
 
2. There is not a national master plan as to subject matter, profession, or  
training mostly because Gambia being the beggar, we cannot choose the subject  
area first and then allocate the number of scholarships according to national 
 need or desire. Most if not all the scholarships come pre-packaged. So I 
think  since we are not yielding close to ample return on those investments as 
you have  shared, it may be best for Yahya to advise his Education department to 
draw up a  plan and prioritize subject areas and universities and present 
that to our  regular donors in the education area to advise them of Gambia's need 
and desire  should an opportunity become available to afford us scholarships. 
I added  university because all matriculations are not equal. I would turn 
down a  scholarship to Ukraine if it were placed on my lap. Malaysia, Great 
Britain, US,  France, Ghana, Canada, Australia, Germany, Scandinavia, Turkey, New 
Zealand, and  The Netherlands are my favourites. Anyway the idea is to 
prioritize and allocate  scholarships accordingly. If no scholarships come because of 
our  priorities, then we'll just have to do with what we have.
 
3. There was a time when during Jawara's regime that scholarships used to  
carry some honour and I am always awed by the quality of these new graduates  
when they returned. There was actually a sense of national pride that was  
uncoerced even though we still had absconders and those who are too greedy to  stay 
serving the country longer than 5 years. However, the most popular route  for 
these scholars to leave is by way of International appointments mainly AU,  
United Nations and its various divisions and government was enthusiastic to  
recommend these honourable citizens to these multinational agencies. You would  
not believe how many Gambians work for the UN etc. They always look forward  
eagerly to return to Gambia on holidays and or to re-invest in the country.  
There is not much of that fervour and enthusiasm anymore. I hope Yahya can  
re-visit the scholarship regime and maintain the independence between  scholarship 
and politics. He can actually do better than the PPP did if the will  and 
encouragement is there.
 
4. But not least important. When stidents are exposed to the professional  
world and a more democratic world by way of scholarship, there is a certain  
sense of relief and peace of mind that overcomes you. When you are nearing  the 
end of your scholarship, the prospect of returning to Gambia is the last  thing 
on your mind because you are not even respected as a citizen much less a  
professional. I have been told that it is next to impossible to be a  
professional in Gambia where ethics are not highly regarded nor is effort as  significant 
as political loyalty. There is always a feeling that you owe yahya  because 
you are being reminded that he controls the ware of your life and  fortunes. 
That is a cancer that Yahya can mitigate with very little effort.  These 
citizens may not vote for him but he must understand that regard for him  is most 
sweet when earned and that regard cannot be bought or coerced in  the longterm. I 
think Yahya underestimates his own capacity to yield goodwill  for himself 
and APRC. He must have the fortitude to resist the charlatans around  him who 
keep instilling paranoea and fear in him. The flip side of the coin is  that he 
ought not set himself up for wholesale disappointment by insisting  he lead a 
people who are only led through fear, coercion, and force. He will  never be 
happy if he continues on that path. In other words, he must have enough  
strength to take what Allah has given him and what he yields from his efforts.  That 
is the mark of a great leader.
 
Thanx for sharing. I was going to include some of these aspects in my next  
conversation with Yahya but I'm glad we're thinking in unison in this  area.
 
Masoud. Haroun AL Khairawan. MQDT. Darbo. 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/30/2007 10:27:46 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

some Gambian  students are fortunate enough to gain scholarship into 
expensive overseas  universities.this is a big opportunity for every hard 
working  
son/daughter's of the gambia.but i have one major concern.the government  
spend thausands of dollars into this students .what policies do the  
government or regulators put in place to make sure the best is gain from  
this 
students ? again ,what measures are in place to make sure some of  this 
students return home after graduation ?

i have seen quite a  few government sponsored students who overstay or 
return home only to come  back to europe or america in a very short period.

i just heard of a  case recently of a gamtel sponsored students who spend 
over three years  doing his degree and then his masters .he return home four 
months ago . i  heard he got a job in u.s and he is planning to travel to 
america 
by next  month.what a waste of public fund.on average a sponsored student 
spend  20000 dollars par year .how many civil servants can get their wages 
paid  from that ? why are this people abandoning our country after the tax  
payers money has been spent on them ? 
who is to blame for this mess ?  many have gone  breifly to the government 
just to be seen and then  disappear into either non-government organistion or 
some other work  places. what sort of bond do this people have to sign ? i am 
not the least  jealous of any one who went through a government scholarship 
program ,i  only want appropraite repayment back to the gambian people.it 
doesn't make  any one wiser to cheat our system.i may not aggree with 
government in  place but if any one accept a scholarship from them ,then it 
only right  you fulfil the terms of the  aggrrement.

いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe  or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L 
Web interface
at:  http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the  Gambia-L archives, go to:  
http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the  List Management, please send an e-mail  to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい


 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

����������������������������������������������������������
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
����������������������������������������������������������