By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
With schools reopening on the 4th of September 2023, parents have expressed concern over what they referred to as teachers’ exploitation through illicit monetary demands.
The parents expressed their views in an interview with Politico on the 12th of September, 2023 to know how far they have planned for the forth-coming school reopening date.
According to Mariama Sankoh a parent of two primary school kids, it is a routine for schools to re-open in the month of September but was quick to voice her displeasure at what she claimed is the habit of teachers demanding money from them irrespective of the Free Quality Education provided by President Julius Maada Bio in his first five years term.
She said teachers always demand examination fees, payment for extra classes, and other charges, in complete disregard of the government’s ban on such practices.
She added that the government has helped them a lot by omitting school fees but urged for monitoring of schools that are sabotaging the process by not doing the right thing.
Nancy Thomas is another parent who corroborated Mariama’s claim and urged the government to put a stop to the practice exhibited by teachers. She said single parents suffer the most when teachers request huge amounts of money from them, as they don’t have anyone to help with their children’s schooling.
A father called Aruna Sankoh explained the difficulties parents encounter in addressing the needs of their children at the start of the new school year in the face of the challenging economic situation in the country. He said the government in its Free Quality education promised to offer pupils feeding but said is not visible in the Western Urban.
He noted that had the government indicated earlier that it was limited to just rural schools, parents would have shown understanding but pronouncing it was for all schools, when it isn’t the case has been very disappointing and frustrating.
He recalled during the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba’s reign when children were fed in schools, saying it encouraged pupils to be always punctual. He said the school feeding programme minimizes the cost involved in providing lunch for their children.
Emmanuel Gassama a primary school teacher explained that they are always ready for the reopening of schools but are concerned that the majority of them are not on pay roll. He urged the government to fast-track their pin code issue which he said was promised before the next reopening of schools.
He said teachers will only be happy to work well when they are on payroll. On accusation by parents that teachers always demand money from school children, he said not all teachers are culprits.
Gassama however admitted that those collecting money from parents is a result of them not on salary and having transportation and family feeding commitments to contend with. He urged the government to look at teachers’ welfare if they want to tackle the issues raised by parents.
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) in its latest school calendar has slated September 4th, 2023 as the date for the reopening of pre and primary schools for the 2023-2024 Academic Year and 15th December 2023 as the closing date.
It noted that the 1st Term Mid-Term Break will commence on the 20th and end on the 23rd of October, 2023, adding that the Soccer, Volleyball, and Tennis Competitions will be held from October to December of 2023. It stated that schools will henceforth close for Christmas Break from 18th December 2023 to 5th January 2024, saying the first term school session will run for a period of fifteen weeks.
For the second term period, teaching according to the Ministry will hold from the 8th of January to the 28th of March, 2024 and the Mid-Term break will take place from the 23rd to the 26th of February 2024. The Inter and Intra primary schools Track and Field Athletics Competition will be played from February to March 2024. The Easter Break for the second term will commence from the 28th of March to the 12th of April, 2024 and the term is to run for a period of eleven weeks.
The Basic Education Ministry statement also indicated that the 3rd Term of teaching will commence from 15th April to 19th July 2024 and its Mid Term Break from 7th to 10th June 2024. It also stated that the End of Year Break will commence from 19th June to 6th September 2024 with the whole school year lasting for a period of 40 weeks.
It concluded that the date for National Primary School Examination (NPSE) will be determined by the Ministry and the West African Examinations Council.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (14/07/23)
