By Septimus Senessie in Kono
An international non-governmental microfinance organisation, BRAC, has launched its first girl primary school in the Koeyor community in Koidu to support early girl-child education in the district.
Launching the school, the inspector of schools in Kono district, Soman Kemoh Kabba, thanked BRAC for complementing the effort of government in promoting girl-child education in the country. He said the project title, “Girls’ Education Challenge” was appropriate, noting that the education of the girl-child was challenging, due to several reasons including cultural factors.
Kabba said any country that wanted to develop would have to invest in the education of its women, especially in Sierra Leone where women constituted “about 52% of the country’s population”.
BRAC’s area manager of the programme in Kono District, Mohammad Kabiruzzaman, said early girl-child education was key to the development of any nation. He said 10 of such schools would be established in 10 other communities in the district, adding that the project would target over 300 girls in the district, especially those between the ages of 8 and 12 who had never been to school.
Kabiruzzaman said that they would give the children “rapid response education” from classes one to three and that they would be incorporated into the nearest community schools to continue their education with supervision from their organisation.
He encouraged the parents to support them to educate their children for a better and brighter future.
The social development officer in the ministry of gender and children’s affairs in Kono district, Mabinty Mansaray, encouraged mothers to make good use of the opportunity by encouraging their children to be in school regularly and on time.
The senior section chief of Moindekor section in Gbense chiefdom, Chief Alhaji Mohamed Manchende, assured that the chiefdom would enact by-laws to discourage the involvement of girls in street trading during school hours.
The BRAC project was sponsored by DfID, International Rescue Committee, Handicap International and Plan Sierra Leone.
(C) Politico 03/04/14
