By Newman Anthony Levey in Bo.
A lot of challenges were reported from the just concluded National Primary School Examination (NPSE), mostly in the rural areas, of which Koyeima Secondary School in Valunia Chiefdom in Bo district is not an exception.
Koyeima Secondary School was one of the centres for the NPSE, but unlike other centres where examination commenced at 9:00 am, things actually started here some two hours later. The long delay was caused largely by lack of desks and chairs to accommodate the 560 pupils from 23 schools in the four chiefdoms within the district.
Built in 1928, Koyeima SS is one of many schools established during colonial rule, but maintaining the facility, which is 100 percent boarding for boys, has been a major challenge over the years.
Speaking to Politico, the Acting Principal of the school, Emmanuel Ansumana, explained that since he took up office, he had done all that was possible to get the school back on its feet but with very little success.
“I am not comfortable. This school lack so many things. I have gone to the Ministry several times. I have written letters. We have been facing these challenges since the last government unto this (present) government. We are still on it," he lamented.
Ansumana is however encouraged by the fact that despite the difficulties they experience, enrolment figures have shot up from 100 in 2018 to 323 by 2019, following the introduction of the Free Quality Education Programme.
“We get subsidy from government, and we provide three meals per day for our pupils,” Ansumana said.
The school falls within Constituency 084, which is being represented in the house of parliament by honourable Joseph Bash Kamara, who was present at the school to witness the examination process. He told Politico that he was embarrassed at the sight of teachers and pupils carrying benches and desks from neighboring villages to the centre.
“I feel terribly embarrassed. I have cried for Koyeima many times and I have continued crying to the government and descendants of the chiefdom to help. Today is the worst day for me,” he said.
“I am with a heavy heart, because it is only at Koyeima centre that the NPSE did not start until past 11:00, for the simple reason that Koyeima lacks enough benches and desks," he said.
The parliament had to hire a vehicle to bring benches and desks from schools in the nearby villages and also provide some refreshment for the pupils.
Parents whose children took the examination at Koyeima expressed frustration over the status of the school to Politico.
“I am not happy, the exam was supposed to have started at 8:00am, but we're going to 12:00 and the exam has not started. We want government to solve this problem, Koyeima was not like this before,” Mary John Damballa, a parent from Selenga chiefdom, lamented during the long wait for the commencement of the examination.
Senior prefect of Koyeima Secondary School, Monrovia Mattia, narrated to Politico the challenges they face: “We are short of beds and there are so many bed bugs in the dormitories. All the dormitories are dirty. We need qualified teachers in the school. The food is not enough and is not tasty," Mattia said.
Koyeima Secondary School, according to residents of the chiefdom, has produced prominent people who are today well placed in society but have not been seen giving back to the school.
Ibrahim Sheriff, Communication Expert at the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Schools, told Politico that they were not expecting such news from any school, especially in relation to accommodation, noting that Principals were expected to use from the subsidy they get from the government to take care of their furniture needs.
“The Ministry of Basic and Senior School made the decision to reopen schools for candidates of the three examinations together with the national stakeholders in Examinations, the Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, the National Council of Head Teachers, the Teaching Service Commission, and NACOVERC. And before the reopening of schools, government had paid Le42 billion as subsidy to heads of schools to help the schools run smoothly,” he said.
He added: “And so if schools have received such monies, it is our expectations that as them being part of the decision for school reopening, to use the subsidies they have received, to be able to provide the basic amenities especially when schools were not reopened for all the pupils but for candidates of the exams. So it is our expectation that they should have enough infrastructure and enough furniture,” Sheriff affirmed.
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