By: MODOU SARR
Nusrat Senior Secondary School in Bundung over the weekend held its golden graduation ceremony since the establishment of the school fifty four years ago.
In his welcome remarks, Acting Principal Paul Graham Addae acknowledges that it is a sad moment to the school in bidding farewell to five hundred and fifty students after nurturing them three years of academic excellence coupled with high level of discipline. But as the saying goes, the old order changeth , yielding place to new ones or else the old custom will corrupt the world. The world, he said is a stage where everyone comes to play his/her role and leave the scene to be replaced or else society will become static and corrupt. But despite the sadness in seeing this batch off, we believe, we have adequately prepared you by providing you with the required solid foundation in the form of necessary academic knowledge and tools that you can use to build your future’s progress and prosperity.
The guest speaker at the ceremony was a young dynamic lady Dr Habibatou Drammeh minister of Basic and Secondary Education who graduated from the school few years ago. Today we gather to celebrate not only achievement but also your potential, the promise of what you will become, Dr Drammeh told the graduating students. The theme for this year’s celebration ‘ the future starts with us” is not just a slogan but a call to action. It is a reminder that the world you inherit today or tomorrow is shift by the choices we make today. When we say, the future starts with us today, we are claiming ownership of tomorrow. This, she said is not a passive statement a powerful declaration that each of you are poised to write your own story and collectively the story of our country and the world at large. The former UTG lecturer reminded that it is important to celebrate their achievement today but it is only the beginning, what truly matters is the potential within you, dreams yet to be realized, the challenges yet to be conquered and the contribution you have yet to make. Every decision you make today shapes the type of person you will become tomorrow and the world you are helping to build. Choose kindness over indifference, curiosity over contendment and courage over fear. This, Dr Habibatou Drammeh continued are the choices that defines leaders and change makers of tomorrow. Dream boldly and act with integrity wherever you finds yourselves, she concluded.
Vice President Muhammed BS Jallow another alumni of the school was the Chief Guest of Honour and he too poured some little advise to the graduating class. VP Jallow dilated on the theme ” the future starts with us” is a vivid reminder that we are not simply observers of the future but we are it’s architects. Therefore, each of you sitting here have a brick to lay towards the future. Nusrat Senior Secondary School, VP Jallow revealed has long stood as a pillar of academic excellence and moral discipline in the Gambia. When I walked these corridors as a student, I never imagined that, one day I would have the honor of serving my country at the highest level of public office. But that journey he said, began here, just like yours is beginning now. Therefore, I enjoined you to be steadfast as the future does not begin tomorrow, it begins today, and anchored on the choices you make , the effects you invest and the values you hold. Consequently, the future is not written in the stars, it is written in your notebooks, in your attitude and in your actions. The country’s number two finally urged graduants to dream big but not forgetting to work harder to fulfill those dreams to come to reality.
Other speakers includes Amir Baba F Trawally Chairman school board of governors and Ensa Njie chairperson of the parents teachers association. The ceremony was also graced by the National Assembly Member for Bundung Honorable Sulayman Jammeh, distinguished former students, parents, guardians and students.
