October 11, 2021
By Dadson A. Musa
The WASSCE which guarantees one’s entrance to university was sat to at the beginning of the 2021/2022 academic year in Sierra Leone.
The timing is unprecedented and strange. A good number of principals and senior teachers were busy invigilating and supervising. So their time in school has been limited. And for those other candidates who should get their preparation on a good start has been frustrating.
The other junior classes have been missing their classes. And worse still the buildings were occupied for a good part of the last month. The whole situation created a psychological turn off for ambitious pupils. We hope the Rasta minister do a rethink of the timing next year.
Government is spending so much money and that should not be wasted. Our children represent the future of this country and therefore need quality teaching time. Payment of salaries to teachers is now timely so there should be no reason for them missing their classes.
This wrong start to secondary schooling especially will have consequences which will be negative in future. Completing syllabus is going to be affected as inter- school games will start shortly. Early assessment of pupils is going to be delayed and the girls who are easily distracted are going to be affected the more. We only hope principals will ensure teachers cover ground to salvage the academic year for our children. And some of us suggest a reduction in extracurricular activities this academic year. As corona is on the want the world over and including here in Sierra Leone, next academic year, we hope will have a good start.