By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Sierra Leone is said to have scored 92% in primary education expenditures for the 2022 Fiscal Year (FY) as compared to 27% the sector expended in FY 2017.
The percentage score was disclosed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which shows that Sierra Leone has passed 13 out of the 20 indicators upon which governments are independently assessed to determine their eligibility for multi-million dollar grants from the United States Government.
According to the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, the 2021 MCC scorecard also shows an increase in Girls Primary Education completion Rate from 41% in 2017 to 67 % in 2021.
He said the scores did not come as a surprise to them, saying it was due to the resources and efforts the government is putting towards primary education under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio.
“For us as a ministry, this landmark achievement means more work and we will continue to build on what we have achieved thus far,” he narrated.
He explained that the government primarily launched its flagship Free Quality School Education (FQSE) programme in August 2018, to allow every child to attend government and government-assisted schools tuition- free to families.
He went on to say that since the introduction of FQSE, the government is said to have increased its spending on national public examinations by over 400%.
Dr. Sengeh stated that the FQSE programme has resulted in a tremendous increase by almost 800,000 (eight hundred thousand) in student enrolment nationwide. He said the education sector data also revealed a significant increase in the number of schools approved for Government support.
He said 53.4% of pre-primary, 78.7% primary, 76.7% junior secondary, and 80.4% of senior secondary schools are now approved, noting that they can receive tuition subsidies, textbooks and other learning interventions from government.
“In 2018, less than half of the schools across Basic and Senior Secondary were approved to receive government support,” he said.
Minister Sengeh pointed out that the support they have got for education in the last couple of years is unprecedented. He boasted that, they have large government commitments, largest multi-donor trust fund ever at USD 72million (seventy two million United States Dollars) with five major development partners.
“Recently, we became eligible for up to a $40m GPE transformation grant because of the work we have done. Also, Sierra Leone is implementing the largest Education Outcomes Funds ever which is eighteen million United State Dollars,” said Dr. Sengeh.
He noted that the MCC’s results framework is designed to foster learning and accountability which he said has served as a model for global dialogue about development results and aid effectiveness for over a decade.
MCC’s Board assesses individual country commitment to ruling justly, investing in people, and economic freedom using policy indicators compiled into country scorecards. It is committed to delivering sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction throughout the entire lifecycle of its investments.
MCC’s comprehensive results framework seeks to measure collect and report on the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of its investments.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (28/10/22)
