By: Thaimu Bai Sesay
sesaythaimu97@gmail.com
Funded by the European Union, the National Partnership for Social Accountability (NPSA), a civil society consortium involving IGR has together with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Schools Education prepared and launched the first ‘State of Education Report in Sierra Leone for the year 2023, aiming at tracking concerns and improvements in the basic education sector.
The report was officially launched by the Minister of Basic and Secondary School Education Conard Sackey on Friday 1st March 2024 at the conference room of MBSSE at the presence of IGR team, EU delegation, MBSSE team and Members of the Forth Estate.
After the presentation of the report, the Minister of Basic and Secondary Schools Education Conard Sackey started his speech with a quote from Shakespeare in relation to the nature of such report, as he affirmed that the report was a reflection of the work they do and assured to take it very seriously. He said the report would provide them the opportunity to engage with the beneficiaries of their services and become co-producers of the services. The Education Minister said the findings of the report would be used to inform and improve the services they do offer.
He expressed that the through the Government Free Quality School Education program, they had been recording some significant improvements. He revealed that they now have one mullion pupils in addition to where they started up. Minister Sackey said they had been seeing successes in all public exams. “Our Pupils and the communities they come from can now access free tuition, exams, teaching and learning materials, new classrooms blocks and Science equipment in our labs through EU funding. Whilst all of those things are necessary they are not sufficient to give you the quality that you need and therefore we have subscribed to the concept of total quality management which says continuous improvement,” he intimated.
The MBSSE Minster continued that if they have the intention to improve their services continuously, they would be needing feedback from the beneficiaries and therefore affirmed that the State of Education report would be a useful tool. He confirmed that they are aware of some of the findings of the report and revealed that they had in some cases already started putting mechanisms in place to address those challenges. “We have invested through funding from World Bank for the new program called ‘We Dae Ya’ which is a tablet that we would give out to schools where registers of teachers will be done digitally using bio-data and GPS.
The Minister of Basic and Secondary School Education Conard Sackey commended EU for funding the project and also registered his thanks and appreciations to the organizations involved in the consortium that did the report. “At this juncture, it rests on my small shoulders to launch this report and by the powers vested in me this report is now launched,” the MBSSE Minister Conard Sackey officially launched the report.
In his statement at the launching of the report, the Executive Director of the Institute for Government Reforms (IGR), Andrew Lavali confirmed that they were part of the network of civil society organizations monitoring service delivery known as ‘The National Partnership for Social Accountability’ that prepared the State of Education Report 2023. “So we are here today together with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education to launch the State of Education Report 2023.
IGR Andrew Lavali intimated that the State of Education Report was a feedback of 2,400 citizens from across the country, adding that they canvassed opinions from 400 schools from all over the country. He furthered that they also utilised secondary information largely drawn from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education date in the form of annual schools census to form the body of report called ‘The State of education Report 2023’. “So it actually encompasses primary feedback from parents and guardians of pupils and the same time the teachers themselves from the classrooms,” Lavali stated.
Showing the signature of Conard Sackey the Education Minister on the report, IGR Andrew Lavali expressed that it showed a stronger commitment of the desire of the Ministry of Education to actually take on-board and act on the feedback of parents and users of education services. He further expressed that it was incredible and said it was consistent with their tradition of providing direct feedback to boardrooms.
Briefly explaining the findings of the report, Lavali revealed that the report was a mixed of many things as it shows highs and lows; that is areas where parents were satisfied and where they need improvement. “For example with the introduction of ‘Radical Inclusion Policy’ few years ago, lots of parents confirmed that there is some inclusivity in the schools. The way people with disability, pregnant women and girl mothers are being treated now is different from how it used to be. Even being allow to comfortably sit in class with other kids. There are also concerns from parents that teachers don’t arrive to schools on time.
Representing European Union, the Ambassador of the EU to Sierra Leone Manuel Muller expressed pleasures for being part of the launch of the first State of Education Report in Sierra Leone. He went on expressing the significance of education as he said education is the future of any country, adding that it also contributes to connectivity and helps to build up the Global Gateway. Ambassador Muller emphasized EU’s enweaving commitment to supporting the education sector using different aid modalities at all levels of education.
The EU Ambassador to Sierra Leone intimated that the EU had joined the Mul-donor Trust Fund managed by the World Bank with an allocation of 13 million Euros to support the Free Quality Education flagship programme of the government. “To complement efforts of Government on education around the world, we feel that the implication of the Civil Society in the definition and follow up of the implementation of the sector policies is an important factor to ensure proper public service delivery,” he said.
Ambassador Manuel Muller therefore commended the National Partnership for Social Accountability network particularly IGR and AVSI for putting out such a report. He said the report contained highly relevant analytical findings as well as interesting outcomes in terms of the citizens’ perceptions on schools performances. Ambassador Muller expressed hope that such report would provide valuable feedback for policy makers and as well as support the Government’s aim to improve the governance and accountability in the education sector.
Key recommendations in the 2023 State of Education Report were to address the limited availability of school supplies, maintain and improve radical inclusion service delivery, establish and enhance water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools, expand equitable access to education, increased awareness of school level governance and some others.
