{"id":93308,"date":"2026-02-04T19:18:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:52:20","slug":"barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education","title":{"rendered":"Barrow Inaugurates Al Hikma University Boosting Islamic Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>President Adama Barrow of The Gambia, who also chairs the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Monday, inaugurated Al Hikma University, describing the institution as a source of national pride and a significant milestone in the country\u2019s higher education landscape.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Barrow said the university would open new educational pathways for Gambians and reinforce national efforts to expand access to quality higher education.<\/p>\n<p>The President welcomed the guests to the inauguration, which he described as a historic event while congratulating the Gambia Islamic Union on what he called a \u201cremarkable achievement\u201d in advancing education.<\/p>\n<p>The president expressed gratitude to the Islamic Solidarity Fund of the OIC for sponsoring and supporting the project, and paid tribute to the OIC Secretariat and its member states for their moral, financial, and technical contributions.<\/p>\n<p>President Barrow said the establishment of Al Hikma University reflects the enduring values of unity, knowledge, and progress within the Islamic Ummah.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the institution is expected to serve as a centre of academic excellence grounded in Islamic values, ethics, and culture.<\/p>\n<p>He stressed that education remains central to societal development, noting that the alignment between the university\u2019s mission, the OIC\u2019s objectives, and The Gambia\u2019s national vision would empower young people, promote intellectual leadership, and drive socio-economic transformation across OIC member states.<\/p>\n<p>Reaffirming his government\u2019s commitment to the Education Sector Policy 2016\u20132030, President Barrow said the policy prioritises access, quality, and relevance through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), research, and digital learning.<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted the National Madrassah Integration Strategy (GMIS) 2025\u20132029 as a key component of the policy, aimed at harmonising traditional Islamic education with the conventional system by integrating TVET, STEM, and digital literacy programmes into madrassahs.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, these reforms are aligned with The Gambia\u2019s National Development Plan (Yiriwa 2023\u20132027), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the African Union\u2019s Agenda 2063.<\/p>\n<p>President Barrow said linking Arabic and Islamic religious education with secular subjects would ease the transition of madrassah students into higher institutions, describing Al Hikma University as a major step towards realising the National Madrassah Integration Strategy.<\/p>\n<p>While underscoring the university\u2019s role in preserving Islamic knowledge and values, he urged the institution to also promote entrepreneurship, scientific innovation, and leadership to enable young people to address global challenges.<\/p>\n<p>The president disclosed that Al Hikma University is the fourth Islamic university established with OIC support, following similar institutions in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Niger.<\/p>\n<p>He, therefore, appealed to the OIC to continue supporting the university to help it reach its full potential.<\/p>\n<p>He also commended The Gambia Islamic Union for six decades of service in education, advocacy, and guidance, noting his long-standing association with the organisation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. President Adama Barrow of The Gambia, who also chairs the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Monday, inaugurated Al Hikma University, describing the institution as a source of national pride and a significant milestone in the country\u2019s higher education landscape. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Barrow said the university would open [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12,2366],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-93308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Barrow Inaugurates Al Hikma University Boosting Islamic Education - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Adama Barrow of The Gambia, who also chairs the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Monday, inaug ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barrow Inaugurates Al Hikma University Boosting Islamic Education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Adama Barrow of The Gambia, who also chairs the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Monday, inaug ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T19:18:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T19:52:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1770222059.739279.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Barrow Inaugurates Al Hikma University Boosting Islamic Education\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T19:18:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-04T19:52:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1770222059.739279.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/barrow-inaugurates-al-hikma-university-boosting-islamic-education\",\"name\":\"Barrow Inaugurates Al Hikma University Boosting Islamic Education - 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