President of Sierra Leone, Dr Julius Maada Bio has launched a new National Education Plan designed to span the next five years (2022-2026) in the country.
Recall that it is the fourth education plan developed in Sierra Leone since 2007.
In his presentation, Bio who themed the plan, “Transforming Education for All” said transforming education is not cheap but his government is making gains.
Speaking at the Freetown International Centre in Aberdeen, Freetown, Mr President said, “I am truly elated that we are gathered here to formally present a full-bodied plan of our vision for education in Sierra Leone over the next five years…This is the fourth education sector plan developed in Sierra Leone since 2007. But this one is firmly situated within the vision we established in the New Direction manifesto for transforming education in Sierra Leone and is anchored in the work of the last four years. This one is developed by us, for us, and our national development.”
Though Bio said his government has provided substantial funds to meet the needs of education he used the occasion to recognize other generous interventions from the Global Partnership for Education and other development partners, including ‘Leh Wi Lan’, the World Bank and the UN children’s fund (UNICEF).
“As I have argued, transforming education is not cheap. Providing accessible and equitable education with improved learning outcomes has not been cheap and will not get cheaper, given our aspirations. But we are confident that it is an investment worth making now to make the quality of education in Sierra Leone globally competitive.
“We already know the impact of education as a cross-cutting driver for inclusive and sustainable development. Nations that have achieved rapid and sustainable economic growth have done so by developing the most productive resource in any nation: human capital. That is why we have predicated our development agenda on delivering human capital development, free quality education, affordable and quality healthcare, and food security.”
