By Mohamed Macarthy
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) has on the 1st February 2022 introduced Sierra Leone Learning Passport at the ministry’s conference hall New England Ville in Freetown, a platform that allows pupils of the three external examinations to access past questions for review and help them understand the nature of questions posed in those examinations.
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh said the Learning Passport initiative itself is a global collaboration between UNICEF and the Government of Sierra Leone. He added that UNICE-SL, MBSSE, and the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) help in bringing learning materials to pupils, students, teachers, and parents at their fingertips. He added that the app uses hybrid technologies and mobile-based platforms from the National Innovation and Digital Strategy.
The minister noted that they will work with ST Foundation and UNICEF to support the deployment of the platform over four weeks to ensure more testing; adding that the government will be building these digital solutions and making them available to the citizens.
He said that the platform has all past examination papers for NPSE, BECE, and WASSCE across subjects; adding that it contains books for early learners and has other contents for various skills.
UNICEF Chief of Education, Celeste Staley said that many children globally have been forced out of school because of COVID-19 and that childhood was disrupted and cases of child labor, early pregnancies, child marriage, and mental health issues have taken a hold on many communities. She noted that the lasting solution to those threats was to have a distinctive rise of digital learning, whereby teaching can be undertaken remotely and on digital platforms including mobile phones and digital learning opportunities.
She said it is for this reason that Learning Passport (LP) has been established as a digital education platform to facilitate continuity of learning for all children, whether they are online or offline, or have no mobile phone devices.
A representative from the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation who is also a state counsel, Salima Bah said what they have launched goes in line with the core mandate of DSTI to support the government in achieving national development plans. Salima said the Free Quality Education Programme is a flagship project of the human capital development agenda.
She noted that they are very much excited about the possibility of LP; adding that they have the human capital development incubator to test different ideas to support the education sector. Bah added that they also have the education innovation channel which is looking at improving numeracy education in the primary sector.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Bani Foster gave an overview of the Learning Passport App. He said that it can be accessed through the online version android app which is the desktop both online and offline, saying it is available only on android phones on the play store. He added that Learning Passport MBSSE is the logo on the app and it can be downloaded and installed on the phone both online and offline for onward usage.
Speaking on behalf of all school authorities across the country, the Principal of Saint Joseph’s Secondary School, Alberta Demby commended MBSSE and other implementing partners for the Sierra Leone Learning Passport which is very timely in the current educational system that the country is having, in terms of digitalizing the education sector for the current generation. She noted that she will help immensely in cascading the relevance of the platform to pupils and heads of schools in order to ensure that every pupil benefits from the opportunity.
The Principal noted that if it is used for its rightful purposes, it will help to ease some of the challenges pupils and teachers faced in the past.
Copyright © 2022 Politico (04/02/22)
