By Septimus Senessie in Kono
A local philanthropist has called on parents in the Fiama Chiefdom in Kono District to invest on their children as this could serve as investment on their [parents’] own future.
Sahr Edward Alpha, a civil servant based in Bo, was speaking as he presented scholarship and learning material to six pupils in fulfilment of a promise he’d made.
Mr Alpha made the donation through his self-sponsored family charitable organisation, the Alpha Development Foundation (ADeF).
The beneficiaries are the six best performing pupils in the 2016 National Primary School Examinations (NPSE) in the chiefdom and the scholarship will last for a year.
The package totals Le 2 million with each beneficiary receiving Le 200, 000 as school fees, a school bag, one dozen exercise books, pens, pencils and sharpeners.
The benefactor had promised to find the pupils as the school prepared for the 2016 NPSE, during which time he presented his maiden donation in the form of geometry sets.
He said at the presentation ceremony held at the Njagbwema Town Court Barry in Fiama that he was grateful to have delivered on his promise to the children.
"One doesn't have to be rich to do charity as many will think I am,” said the Development Planning Officer for the Bo District Council.
“It's good to give back to the less privileged the little you have especially when you think of your own past, so as to contribute to the development of your community," he added.
He expressed optimism that the little seed he had sewn on the children would multiply into “great future leaders” who would help develop the chiefdom.
Describing education as a wheel of development, Alpha promised to provide similar a support to would-be candidates for the 2017 NPSE and encouraged his benefactors to utilise the gesture judiciously.
Alpha hopes to use his scholarship scheme to promote education thereby triggering "educational competitions among pupils in the various schools in the chiefdom."
Fiama Chiefdom has six government sponsored or assisted primary schools and over 15 more unapproved community primarily schools and a secondary school named.
The Songu Mbriwa Memorial Secondary School (SMMSS), named after the first Paramount chief of the chiefdom, has been in existence for over four decades but continues to struggle with a huge number of untrained and unqualified teachers.
According to an official, almost 95% of the teachers in the school are untrained and unqualified and are not on government payroll.
"This has contributed to the poor enrolment of pupils into the school with almost all the parents in the chiefdom who can afford it, preferring to send their children to schools in the district headquarter town of Koidu for education," lamented Sahr Torgba, Acting Principal of the school.
He told Politico that the rate of dropout is worst among girls who are often victims of teenage pregnancy.
"After they get impregnated, their parents will bring them back to the chiefdom to stay with them on their farms until they put to bed. A good number of them will not return to school and their burden is completely shouldered by the community," he added.
Due to the strategic position of Fiama Chiefdom, in 2011, while she was campaigning for the chairmanship of the Kono District Council, the current Minister of Lands and Country Planning, Finda Diana Konomanyi, promised to construct a boarding home in the chiefdom to host girls from the five chiefdoms in the northeast of the district. This promise, according to the Mammy Queen of Fiama, Finda Fawor Gborie, is yet to be fulfilled five years on after Diana won the by-election.
One of the beneficiaries of the scholarship, 13-year-old Aiah Bockarie, delivered the vote of thanks. He topped his school, UMC Primary School in Yekeyor Town, and came third position in the entire chiefdom rankings with an aggregate of 301.
The youngster broke into tears while delivering his short speech, apparently filled with joy. He thanked the donor for ensuring that he returned to school. He narrated that after his father fell seriously ill for over two months, he had been told that he wouldn’t be going back to school this year because all the money had been spent on dad’s treatment.
Bockarie, who wants to become a medical doctor, promised to make good use of the scholarship to accomplish his dream.
Sahr Edward Lebbie, Senior Section Chief Speaker of the five sections of Fiama Chiefdom, who served as chairman of the presentation ceremony, spoke on the importance of education. He described it as "the building block of every nation and the key that opens the door to the world."
Lebbie therefore challenged other descendants of the chiefdom to copy the footsteps of Mr. Alpha and payback back to their communities.
"There are a good number of well-to-do descendants from Fiama who have not been thinking of such for their chiefdom," said Lebbie who is also a teacher in the chiefdom. He sought to discourage parents from taking their children from schools in the chiefdom to urban areas, only for them to turn to “clique boys” and the girls becoming pregnant and dropping out of school.
Copyright (C) Politico 2016
