By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Services Secondary School has completed a major infrastructural project at their school grounds in Juba, Freetown. The construction work involved the extension of the stage area and the erection of a brand new 500-seater pavilion for the school.
The project which was sponsored by Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh of Constituency 132 costs up to Le300 million. Conteh, a Member of Parliament for the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), is a former pupil of the school. He told Politico in an interview before the formal opening of the facility that he was motivated to take on the project because of the need to support the government’s Free Quality Education in his locality, to restore the wearied infrastructure of the school and to develop one of the few government schools in the constituency.
Conteh said: "The pavilion will certainly encourage the kids especially during launch to sit, take their books, talk and discuss what they have learnt in class. They can share knowledge that will foster education and it will transform the minds of the kids into paying more attention to education rather than other issues."
He further explained that the construction of the pavilion and stage was part of a move to ensure a constant flow of revenue for the school. School authorities say they can rent the facility and use the cash flow to support other projects like upgrading the library, building more benches, maintenance of black boards and improvement on classroom structures.
Joseph Fayia, the Principal at the Junior Secondary School, explained to Politico that in addition to the pavilion and stage, there were plans to start the construction of a perimeter fence for the school.
"We have a fencing project which will start after the rains. We have already discussed that at board meeting. We have received funds,” Fayia said.
“Once the fencing project is done the school will be safe," he added
On Monday, President Julius Maada Bio was at the school to formally open the facility. In his speech, the President said his government would continue to invest in education, noting its importance to the future of the country.
He said the future of the nation depended on good quality education and that the country would need the best medical personnel, the best engineers to build the roads and hospitals, to mine the enormous natural resources, to provide infrastructural solutions and would need the best scientists, ICT engineers to take full advantage of advances in communications technology for development.
“My Government believes that education is a critical enabler of national development. We shall, therefore, spare no expense because we knowthe cost of ignorance and we know the cost of lagging behind in development. Our new Sierra Leone refuses to languish in backwardness. This is our new pathway and we will succeed as a nation because we are investing in young people,” he said.
Despite the major boost to Services Secondary School, its feeder school, Juba Army Municipal School, is in a dilapidated state. Parts of the roof on some of the buildings are leaky during the rains. Battered windows and doors are just another constraint that are complicated by an existing furniture crisis in the school.
Most of the pupils attending both schools are children of army personnel who are either based in Juba Barracks or the 7th Battalion Barracks, Goderich. The school is the biggest government school in the constituency with over a thousand pupils attending it. They come from areas like Goderich, Lumley, Gbendembu, Babadorie and beyond.
© 2019 Politico Online
