By Francis H. Murray
President Julius Maada Bio has reaffirmed his commitment to use science and innovation to transform the educational sector of Sierra Leone.
The president said that this drive was geared towards positioning the younger generation to match up with the expectations of a highly digital and interconnected world.
“Our children are going to be living in a highly digital and interconnected world. So, we have to set the foundation and empower them now with the required skills to be useful. I think we need to be transformational and innovative. We have to think now about how our children can be meaningful and can be able to contribute to national development,” President Bio said in a meeting with stakeholders from the education sector on Thursday at State House.
The President further noted that the dialogue he has been having with different stakeholders in the education sector was key to the attainment of his administration’s human capital development agenda, adding that if children should be prepared for the world’s technological strides, it should start with them getting the right education at a tender age.
On Tuesday last week, in a similar meeting, Bio also engaged university authorities on ways of mapping out new strategies geared towards improving the tertiary education and the need to depoliticize the tertiary institutions, as a way of fostering independence in their operations, for better result.
Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Dr. Moinina David Sengeh, commended the President’s move, noting that it had left them challenged to think outside the box. Dr. Sengeh is also the Chief Innovation Officer and head of the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation under the Office of the President.
Sengeh said they were exploring different measures to tackle the numerous challenges faced by the education sector. He said introduction of the free quality education in 2018 had set the “foundation for development” with parents now confident of sending their children to school.
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