EDITORIAL
Just as the adage says, “the fight is won before you step into the ring”, which means a good fighter would have done his mathematics and preparations right which would earn him a comfortable win before even stepping into the ring. This adage is very apt in the circumstantial pathway for the re-election of President Julius Maada Bio.
The pointers that adequately justify his re-election are visible and audible across the territorial enclaves of Sierra Leone and even at the international stage.
President Bio remains the only indispensable and unmatched Presidential Aspirant for the June 24th 2023 multi-tier elections due to his avalanche of developmental achievements.
One can state without an atom of hesitation that President Bio has won the race before stepping into the ring on June 24th 2023.
President Bio remains the only President in modern history of Sierra Leone, who had ever delivered on his Manifesto promises.
For the edification of all, the 2018 New Direction Manifesto has thirty-eight clusters of which thirty-six if not, all of the clusters in the New Direction manifesto have been given the necessitated attention and redress. What else Sierra Leoneans need other than a President that promises and delivers (tok eh do)?
In this episodic editorial, the compelling factors why citizens must re-elect President Bio in order to continue his developmental strides will be provided bit by bit. This maiden episode would begin with the Human Capital Development as promised in the 2018 New Direction Manifesto which has been delivered and has gained national and international admiration.
The 2018 New Direction Manifesto identified Human Capital Development as both a means and an end in development as development is about people. It is an unarguable assertion that no meaningful development can take place in any nation without developing the human capital.
Human capital development is about improving the lives of people and giving them the freedom to choose the decisions that affect their lives. Indeed, human capital development covers improving education and developing skills, improving health care, protecting the poor and vulnerable population groups.
Nursing it as his flagship programme after identifying heinous lacunas in the Education Sector under President Koroma’s Administration, this prompted President Bio to introduce his widely celebrated Free Quality Education for school pupils. The Fee Quality School Education has indeed increased enrolment in schools beyond human imagination. And it has equally made colossal savings for parents in terms of school fees and other logistical supports including the school feeding programmes
Statistically, since 2018 according the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education, total enrolment in schools have increased by about 37%- 55% in pre-primary, 29% in primary, 48% in JSS and 55% in SSS with general improvement in enrolment gender equity- in pre-primary to JSS more girls than boys enroll whilst more girls enroll than boys in SSS.
Also, School completion rates have increased at all levels by more than 20% since 2018; completion rates in school are 84 % in primary, 74 %in JSS and 45 % in SSS. In 2018, it stood at 78%, 49%,19% respectively. Since 2018, the number of pupils passing the NPSE has increased by more than 30%. In 2022, the country had an unprecedented 81% pass at NPSE making the total number of pupils passing the BECE to increase by more than 60%; and total number of pupils obtaining 5 credits in one sitting has increased by about 28%.
This massive investment in the educational sector alone as promised in his New Direction Manifesto, has earned President Bio a tantalizing admiration nationally and internationally.
His selection as the Co-Chair with the United National Secretary General at the Transform Education Summit staged in New York, was a reassuring moment that President Bio is indeed a champion of Education in Africa. He still has the vim and vigor to do more in taking Sierra Leone back to its former glory of Athens of West Africa, when he would have been re-elected come June 24th 2023.