Sidi Sanneh is at it again. And by that we mean he is making erroneous claims about the country’s highest institute of learning, University of The Gambia (UTG).

The former minister and now a critic of the Jammeh government claimed on Sunday that UTG is unsustainable based on the number of graduates being churned out compared to present (and even future) demands of the Gambian economy.

Sidi wrote on Facebook: “A serious successor government must want to take a second look at the University of The Gambia as it is currently constituted with a view to converting it into a Science and Technology Institute or College or University with limited social science course offerings.”

He continued: “The UTG in its present form, in my view, is unsustainable, based on the number of graduates being churned out compared to present (and even future) demands of the Gambian economy. For example, 39 lawyers were graduated this year - a number that equals or exceeds the total number of lawyers currently in practice in The Gambia. The numbers are dangerously out of whack and out of sync, in my view.”

Responding to Sidi’s claims, a UTG insider who wants to remain anonymous said the US-based Jammeh critic got it all wrong. He said the university is graduating as much science students as needed.

“The problem here isn’t due to UTG policy. It’s called science-and-math phobia. Young people are generally afraid to venture into the sciences,” he said.

According to him, the university administration under former vice chancellor, Prof. Kah had taken steps to address this by giving free scholarships to any first fifteen applicants for core science majors.

He added: “Nonetheless, that doesn’t justify Sidi’s claims that UTG be converted into an STI college or university. We still need social scientists.”

When asked if UTG is graduating more lawyers than the country needs, the university insider said: “Not all of them are going to be employed by the government as magistrates and prosecutors and this is what many people don’t understand.”

Recently, the university oriented 565 students at the Faculty of Law along MDI Road. Registrar Momodou Tarro described them as the movers and shakers of the future.