By: Saidu Jalloh
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Conrad Sackey, announced on Tuesday, 9th September 2025, during the government’s weekly press briefing, that subsidies for the second and third terms of the last academic year were paid on Monday, 8th September 2025.
Speaking at the briefing, Minister Sackey disclosed that over 100 million Leones had been disbursed to commercial banks for the distribution of school subsidies. He further confirmed that some teachers had reached out to him, verifying that their respective schools had already received the funds.
The Minister emphasized that the government had fulfilled 100% of its subsidy obligations, debunking claims that it had been making partial payments. He reaffirmed that, under his leadership, the government has been paying full subsidies.
Minister Sackey also addressed the delay in the payment of first term subsidies for the current academic year. He stated that the Ministry had requested additional time from the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union (SLTU) to make these payments. One of the main reasons for the delay, he said, was that August had been an exceptionally busy month, during which the Ministry also prioritized the payment of retirement benefits to teachers, to avoid undue delays for retirees.
The Minister highlighted that not all delays were the government’s fault, noting that some community banks had used the subsidy funds for other business transactions before disbursing them to the intended schools.
“When government pays subsidies, some community banks use that money for business purposes. I am being proactive this year and will ensure this does not happen again,” Sackey said.
He also addressed the ongoing issue of teacher suspensions, revealing that 4,900 teachers had been suspended from the government payroll, prompting concerns from the SLTU that some genuine teachers may have been mistakenly affected.
To address this, Minister Sackey said he had set up a joint committee with the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) to investigate the matter. So far, the investigation has resulted in the reinstatement of 1,802 teachers.
Although the teachers have been reinstated, Sackey mentioned that there are delays in processing their back pay, which he attributed to the banks. However, he assured the public that the Ministry has already released the funds, and the Financial Secretary has promised that payments to the affected teachers will be completed soon.
He acknowledged that the SLTU maintains there are still more genuine teachers who have not been reinstated, and both parties have agreed to conduct another round of inquiries to resolve the remaining cases.
Minister Sackey concluded by saying that the Ministry and the Teachers’ Union are still in negotiations concerning the reopening of schools, but he assured the public that schools would reopen soon.