By Dadson A Musa
The Bo Government Secondary School, an elite government secondary school in Bo has had a two- day training to equip teachers with mentorship and ICT skills. The training took place on the 3rd. and 4th. March 2022 in one of the lecture halls in the school compound in BO district.
This is the second capacity- building workshop that the school has embarked on this academic year. Under the leadership of Edward Kpakra, the school has come back from sliding downwards to a more competitive one. The school is on the verge of reclaiming its lost glory.
Principal Kpakra is carrying on with these reforms because of the support he is getting from the President and other well- meaning old boys. Just recently, a basket fundraising was launched to construct modern quarters for teachers. And the administration has not stopped at that but to capacitate the staff.
This mentorship training is not only meant to make kids pass their exams but to better position them for their career path but to live as responsible adults in future. A form has been drafted referred to as the Bo School Mentorship Program which can be applied for with the consent of parents.
For the ICT training, an expert was contacted from Orange Sierra Leone Bo office, Titus Nabieu to introduce teachers to computer literacy, and another colleague to help out with the ICT training. The principal himself, Edward Kpakra, lectured at length on mentoring.
The workshop opened with a statement from the principal who reminded the teachers that “they are doing it in the best interest of the children”. Those children leave their parents to be camped in the school for a whole term which is why teachers must play the role of parents in their lives. He went on that mentoring is geared towards preparing the children for a world “that is competitive and full of uncertainties”.
Bo school , he went on, needs to be given “an international look”, so that students can be attracted from other countries in west Africa and beyond. Other schools which took part were Christ The King College and YWCA. Going further, he stressed that children must be treated based on the fact that they come from diversified background so teachers must show patience and understanding in their upbringing.
Principal Kpakra reaffirmed his determination to transform the school to an institution of “excellence”. The ICT training covered both hardware and software.
Speaking to this medium after the training the Junior Secondary school principal of CKC, Michaela Michaels was delighted about it and said that “it is a novelty for teachers to be on mentorship”. Four of her teachers came along to benefit from the workshop.
Also a teacher , Cynthia Kpakra expressed how delighted she was to have benefitted from this two-day training. And repeated that this has been made possible due to “good leadership in the school”. She looks forward to receiving more of this in-service training to make her a “better teacher”.