By Haddy Jatta

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education: preserving human agency in an automated world” was the theme of this year’s celebration of International Day of Education at Starfish International Academy in Lamin, a suburb outside Banjul, West Coast Region of The Gambia.

The day, celebrated on 24 January 2025, had a special focus on the role of Al in shaping the future of learning. As a non-profit organization dedicated to serving humanity and providing quality education to young girls in The Gambia, Starfish observed this day with a  panel discussion, with guests speakers sharing their educational journey to help the students and reflect on how these experiences shaped their lives.

The session also highlights the impact AI has in students’ education and how best it can be utilized as a tool for learning.

Miss Georgiana Mabe, a UN environmental consultant argued that the use of AI in schools should be encouraged in order to help guide slow-learners and students with learning disabilities to understand their coursework and lessons provided by lecturers in school. “I think the use of AI should be encouraged in schools to help the students,” she explained.

Seray Sidibeh, a Public Health lecturer at the Gambia College and a student at the University of The Gambia reports that most educational institutions in The Gambia do not encourage or recommend students to utilize AI. For this reason, he said there are various programs that are mostly use by lecturers to detect the use of AI by students who get reprimanded for this. She further advice students to utilize AI in a positive way and not to rely fully on getting their information from AI without making personal efforts in their course works.

“The use of AI is not recommended in most institutions in The Gambia and students should know how to use AI effectively to guide them in learning and not depend fully on it,” the lecturer said.

Mass Jah, one of the panelists who is also a Starfish student, explained the numerous challenges he faced in school until he enrolled at Starfish. “But along the way, Starfish became a part of my life and that has helped transform my educational journey. From nursery school, I was doing great but later faced challenges as I went further, and I started having bad grades. Things changed when I joined Starfish and now, I’m doing well in terms of my academic journey,” said Mass Jah.

It was a deeply engaging and interactive session that leaves everyone with valuable takeaways.

The students were not only availed the opportunity to share their challenges and success stories with the guests, but they also had the opportunity to interact with the panelists pertaining to the theme of discussion.

The event highlights the power of education and how best people can utilize AI to improve their understanding of things and transform their lives in a better way over 15 years of the existence of Starfish International; an organization dedicated to empowering girls through education in The Gambia.