By: Mohamed M. Sesay
On Friday the 19th of August 2022, the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education (MBSSE), has celebrated four years of success stories of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) Programme since it was launched by President Bio on the 20th of August 2018.
Addressing journalists at the Press Conference, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education Dr. David Sengeh, acknowledged the laudable work done by the Programme Coordinator Amara Sowa over the years. He expressed that such collective effort from staff at the Ministry for such tremendous successes in the Free Quality Education over the last four years. He added that the five (Cs) he introduced which are; Critical thinking, Creativity, Computation of thinking, comprehension and civics, are the guiding principles that define his ministry.
David Sengeh also disclosed that the above-mentioned frameworks are designed due to the kind of curriculum the ministry has developed. He reiterated that they have established the curriculum research unit of which the Chief Education Officer has been assiduously working in harmonizing teachers’ training coupled with learning assessment across the country.
During Covid-19 when learning was brought to a standstill, Minister Sengeh revealed that Sierra Leone was the few countries where learning was maintained and in some instances, learning was improved drastically.
“Sierra Leone is one of the Few Countries where more people came back to school after Covid-19 than before Covid-19. You go to Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda this is not the norm and the reason for this has to do with the type of engagement we have been doing through the Radio Teaching Programmes, work done by the Teaching Service Commission, the printing of learning materials for kids, and the new curriculum developed for Pre-Primary, Primary, Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools”, he said.
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education also commended staff at the Ministry for their selfless effort in promoting Free Quality School Education. He acknowledged that nobody can get quality Education overnight adding that, the roots of quality are what they have been working on to change the narrative of education in Sierra Leone. He expressed that the major component of quality is the curriculum which has been developed. Since the Free Quality School Education Programme was launched in 2018, the minister also assured that there is a visible and transformational pace in the education system of the country.
In his presentation, the National Coordinator of the Free Quality School Education Amara Sowa recalled that On the 20th of August 2018, His Excellency the President Brigadier Rtd. Julius Maada Bio officially launched the Free Quality School Education Programme at the Miatta Conference Centre in Freetown. He added that the FQSE is predicated on the need to reverse the slump in the standard of education that had riddled the country over the past decade and to pre-position the country to attain Sustainable Development Goal 4.
He intimated that the FQSE Programme seeks to increase access to quality education by providing a positive and conducive learning environment for school-going children under the supervision of trained and qualified teachers with adequate teaching and learning resources.
Amara Sowa also disclosed that the packages for the first five years include, payment of school and admission fees from Pre-school to Senior Secondary School for pupils in Government and Government-assisted schools; Payment of examination fees for pupils taking public exams (NPSE, BECE and WASSCE ); Provision of textbooks in core subjects; Provision of teaching and learning materials including exercise books; and Provision of School Feeding to deprived communities across the country.
The Programme Coordinator also revealed that the government is currently providing Paying tuition fees for pupils in Government and Government-assisted schools across the country. He added that since the program was launched, Government has paid tuitions to the tune of Le.516, 048,912,600. (Five hundred and sixteen billion and forty-eight million, nine hundred and twelve thousand, six hundred Leones)
Since 2018/2019, he said the government has paid public examination fees (NPSE, BECE, WASSCE) Government in the tune of Le. 276,131,565,000 (Two hundred and seventy-six billion, one hundred and thirty-one million, five hundred and sixty-Five thousand Leones.
The government has procured Civic Books totaling Le 33,624,547,819 (Thirty-three billion, six hundred and twenty-four million, five hundred and forty-seven thousand, eight hundred and nineteen Leones); the government has also procured and distributed textbooks in the Core Subject areas worth Le. 163,628,722,094 (One hundred and sixty-three billion, six hundred and twenty-eight million, seven hundred and twenty-two thousand and ninety-four Leones) among others.
He concluded by highlighting challenges in the programme which include, inadequate furnished classrooms to meet the demands of the increase in enrolment; inadequately trained teachers in the classrooms (in 2018 we had more UU teachers in the classrooms than trained teachers); Foundational learning (early childhood development/education is still weak across the country); School heads lack basic management skills and competencies; Low morale among teachers because of low remuneration; The two-shift system and WASH facility.