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Gambian students begin agriculture course in Pingtung

A course for Gambian students to acquire agriculture-related knowledge and skills began yesterday at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in Pingtung County.

It is the first agriculture course conducted in English, provided in Taiwan to students from the west African country — one of Taiwan’s allies — though there have previously been courses for Gambian students in the fields of fossil fuel, information and construction.

The four-year production and management course was established under the promotion of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who was impressed by the NPUST during a visit to the university in April, NPUST officials said.

The officials said the course is being attended by 25 students sent to Taiwan by the Gambian government, who are divided into four groups that will study plant production, agribusiness and management, and agricultural engineering and farm mechanization.

In addition, the students will have the opportunity to learn farm management and processing skills, as well as about distribution and marketing, said an NPUST executive in charge of the project.

A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the opening of classes, which was attended by Gambian Office of the President Secretary-General Abdoulie Sallah and Gambian Ambassador to Taiwan Mawdo Juwara, as well as Chen Shih-liang (陳士良), director-general in charge of African affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with Ministry of Education officials.

The university has enrolled some 100 foreign students from 22 Asian, African and Latin American countries for this academic year, including 20 from Vietnam who are enrolled as part of a cooperation agreement with Vietnam’s Nguyen University.

The university has prepared a variety of activities during the new semester to allow the foreign students to gain knowledge of Taiwanese culture and customs and meet local students, the NPUST officials said.
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