By Abass Jalloh
A visually impaired student from Saint Joseph’s Secondary School, Ann Marie Keita has drawn President Julius Maada Bio’s attention to children living with a disability that she said are in the street begging for alms.
The girl made the call during the president’s engagement with pupils from various backgrounds at State House on Wednesday.
She said such children should be given the opportunity to be educated, and also mentioned the problem of teachers not paying much attention to them due to their working conditions.
The engagement came as President Bio prepares to Co-chair the Education Summit in New York, United States of America, with the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, which is scheduled for this month.
The children raised concerns over the very poor reading culture of young people and the lack of libraries and suggested that institutions like the Library Board should create more structures and an enabling environment for students using their facilities.
President Bio carefully took down notes of the various concerns raised at the meeting bordering on recruitment of qualified teachers, construction of quality infrastructure especially for people living with disability, provision of libraries, better conditions for teachers, and protection of girls.
A representative of the Youth Advisory Group across the country, Emmanuel Tamba Momoh, noted that the radical inclusion policy of the government and the Free Quality Education Programme are laudable initiatives.
Momoh stated that they had engaged in high-profile conferences with stakeholders in a bid to improve quality education at district levels, and urged Bio and other authorities to continue the work of educating young people.
The President of the Children’s Forum Network, Mahmoud Barrie, highlighted the need for more school structures that are disability friendly.
Other issues highlighted include paying more attention to students, monitoring the duty of students and teachers, medical, transportation, and digitalization.
Responding, President Bio assured his visitors that he had taken into consideration all the points raised, noting that they as heads of state would be making important statements and decisions in education around the world in light of the challenges faced in the sector.
On what happens in the educational sector in the country he said: “When I am here, I don't know what's happening down there, That is why I called all of you from different schools, different levels so that I can understand because there is a problem with education around the world.”
The president also stated: “We believe that even though you are still going to school and learning, you have understood what the world is about and have something to tell us that we don't know. This is the essence of this conversation, so when we know these things we can also work them out to see that you are better educated.”
Bio stressed the importance of education and especially early learning saying kids should be introduced to early reading training.
inister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. David Sengeh led about 60 student representatives including pupils with special needs and adult literacy learners, youth advisory group members from all the districts, and the children's forum network, who participated in the discussions with the president.
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