By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The British Council Office in Sierra Leone has in a notice stated it will be permanently closing down its ‘physical’ location in the country at 20A A.J Momoh Street, Tower Hill in Freetown from the 1st April 2022. The Council has been supporting Sierra Leoneans through connections from the United Kingdom (UK) and Sierra Leone in education and culture.
According to the notice, the Council suffered large financial losses due to the COVID pandemic which prompted them to close their operations in the country. The Institution’s vital income from English Language and Exams plunged during the pandemic, as the virus forced countries into lockdown and restrictions on in-person events.
The Guardian newspaper carried the story that confirmed the decision of the British Council Office in the UK. The statement said: “Due to the impact of COVID on our commercial income, which we previously used to subsidize our offices overseas, and an overall decline in our funding compared to pre-Covid, we face a significant funding gap.’’ The council said it will need to look at delivering its work in 20 countries remotely or digitally.
The Council thanked partners, programme beneficiaries, customers, and stakeholders who have supported and worked with them for over 80 years. ‘’We are proud of the impact we have collectively achieved through our work across sectors,’’ it reads.
They said they will continue to deliver exams in partner locations and support activities in Sierra Leone remotely from the West Africa cluster operations and continue to facilitate connections between the UK and S/Leone in education, noting their work in girls’ education and related opportunities where client funding is available.
The council is looking at making 20 percent of its staff redundant and has been required by the Foreign Office to come up with a five-year spending programme that will see an overall cut in spending of 185 million pounds. The closures not only affected Sierra Leone, but the world at large as countries such as Belgium, the United States, Australia, and Sudan are set to be affected. It is also stated from a publication from the Guardian that in other countries, cuts mean there will be no local staff, and all operations will be conducted remotely.
It was also noted that teaching revenues as late as July last year had only returned to about 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels, representing a loss of hundreds of millions of pounds over the course of the year. “It is predicted that income from commercial operations will not be back to pre-pandemic levels until 2023,’’ the notice states.
The closure of the British Council after over 80 years of existence in Sierra Leone will be emotional for many who got educational sponsorship from the facility or used it for resource provision, international exams, or studying.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (17/03/22)
