November 16, 2021
By: Dadson A. Musa
At an ECOWAS -sponsored event in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Fasso, Edward M. Kpakra, principal of the Bo Government Secondary School was the only candidate from Sierra Leone. It was a maiden regional conference attended by educationists from countries across West Africa. It was a two-day event which happened on the 28th and 29th of October, 2021.
The workshop took place against the backdrop of populations in towns and villages living increasingly in a rather difficult social environment at the international, sub –regional and national levels.
The terrorists acts are straining peace and transnational security. These crisis have been deeply felt in the Sahel countries through a questioning of the governance system, serious violations of human rights, a rise in insecurity and religious fundamentalism. It affects the education system where in schools are closed, pupils are displaced and presents challenges to students in higher institutions of learning. This therefore calls for a reform in the ministry that handles issues of education across the region. The theme of the workshop was: “Education systems facing security and health challenges. What contribution from education actors in the ECOWAS region for building resilience and the integration process of peoples.”
The general objectives of the conference on the one hand was to provide education stakeholders in the ECOWAS region a discussion forum on the urgent need for the integration of peoples as an answer to the drawbacks of insecurity and on the other hand, to foster exchanges and make proposals for a resilient school despite both the terrorist and the and the covid-19 pandemics context. There were challenges as it was the first time that such a conference was held. And participants have learnt how to go about it next time. Language barrier was one of the challenges as not all participants could speak French and English at the same time. Groups were formed to discuss issues of , terrorism , civic education, exam malpractice among others. And there were proposals to advance e-learning opportunities and distant education opportunities in the face of security threats in the Sahel region.
Edward M. Kpakra, the current principal of the Bo Government Secondary School present a position paper based on his long years of work in the education sector. He has worked in Sierra Leone, Gambia, and England and at other senior educational institutions across the globe. Those experiences put him in a good stead to present a position paper which resonated with the theme of the conference and which got delegates applauding him. It won him accolade, award and a gift. His presentation stood out as one of the best at the conference. Principal Kpakra has vowed first to cascade it to his staff at his school and then spread it to other schools if called upon. “It was meant to ensure that standards do not drop due to covid-19 and conflicts across West Africa”, Mr. Kpakra reiterated. He has vowed to hold terminal refresher workshops instead of annually and intends to bring in specialists to make his staff better at their job. The next sub-regional conference will be held in two years’ time and it is expected to be different.