Alpha Tejan Wurie Minister of Education, Science and Technology Dr. Alpha Tejan Wurie, who has been the Minister of Education since 1996. He was born in November 1955, at Gbinti, Port Loko District in Northern Sierra Leone. He attended the Bo Government Secondary School, the Fourah Bay College and the Brunel, University in West London. He has a PhD in Chemistry. He is an Associate member of various bodies in Chemistry and Laboratory Sciences in Africa, Europe and America.

Quality education for all young people: challenges, trends and priorities

Sierra Leone has a population of 5.3 million over 40% of which is school going age children. As at independence, tangible steps had been taken in western style education but access was low with a major deferential between urban and rural population. Great inequality in society created groups of ill-educated angry and disillusioned youth that culminated amongst other things into a ten-year war

CHALLENGES
Massive destruction of educational infrastructure and displacement of teachers internally and as refugees severely affected an educational system that already lacked most of the basic facilities, for example teaching and learning materials, science laboratories etc.

The major challenge is the realisation of an education system whilst addressing issues like trauma counselling and peace education as we consolidate Democratic governance and citizenship awareness.

TRENDS
To support the weakened socio-economic base of parents, government endeavoured to pay tuition fees for every child registered in a primary school and provide texts in four subject areas of Maths, English, Social Studies, and Science of an intended ratio of one book to two children. This intervention did not only slide off non-access to school, but has changed the enrolment from 367,000 in 1996 to 1,092,000 in 2003 in primary schools.

Further intervention of Government was to support parents by the payment of fees for the examinations that allow the child to progress from primary to secondary starting in the year 2000. All previous years never registered over 21,000 candidates attempting this exam, but are now registering a progressive increase since year 2000 to 62,312 in 2004.

These phenomenal changes were however not marched with the rate of training of Teachers such that presently 40% of all primary school teachers are not qualified or trained to teach.

Furthermore, the war left in its wake a large number of out of school youths. These have been addressed by several modes including the reduction of primary school teaching time from 6 to 3 years in a programme called Complementary Rapid Education (CREPS), Vocational and skills training of the young adults between 15 and 30 years.

However, it was observed that a large number of adolescent girls dropped off the formal system during the period of carnage mainly in the affected districts. In addition to the above intervention, government now supports every girl child that passes end of primary school exam from the affected districts with core text books, teaching /learning materials and payment of school fees at the Junior Secondary School level. This has stabilised the retention rate of girls in schools.

PRIORITIES
Pursuance of quality education, increased supply of school materials is required more so with the provision of core texts to achieve the intended ratio. The dearth of trained and qualified teachers demand that we modify the mode of teacher training to increase the turnover and maintain the quality of the teacher trained.

Plans are underway to open out primary education at Early Childhood Development, Kindergarten Education from Class 1 - 3 and upper primary from classes 4 - 6 each independently trained for under 18 months by Distance Education, with contacts during vacation. Such teachers would be followed up with continuous professional development.

Allowing for equity in the distribution of qualified teachers, teacher quarters are to be built as schools are rehabilitated and or reconstructed. Massive rehabilitation/reconstruction of school infrastructure is needed to address previous neglect, the damage as a consequence of the war and to address the increasing enrolment.

Those who have suffered most cannot be allowed to suffer the second time. Therefore, priority is given to skills, vocational and technical training such that they can also contribute meaningfully to the Development of Sierra Leone while we protect their health by the provision of adequate HIV/AIDs programme.