By:- Jesmed F. Suma
Dear Fellow Sierra Leoneans,
Our beloved country Sierra Leone, struck by long periods of political mis-rule, a decade long war and an 18 month long Ebola Virus Disease epidemic; is faced with many challenges requiring a radical shift from our old patterns of development, to one that allows for a serious redefinition and restructuring of our system of governance particularly our educational system.
Such a step will require bold action that gives priority to major investments in education at varied levels.
Below is a link to a draft of the “Guidelines for a New National Education Policy for Sierra Leone” as the first phase to developing a more comprehensive education policy. The reason I am sharing this, is for you to please take a moment to review this draft and share your comments about its content.
Tell me what you think, be the devil’s advocate and help me refine it by sending me your insightful comments, observations or thoughts.
In this document I have a set of recommendations ranging from changes to the entire governance of education service delivery in favour of a decentralized system, creating an opportunity for communities to be directly involved in shaping a better education system.
It also includes recommendations for the development of new sets of infrastructures and how these ambitious efforts could be funded.
Towards the final pages, I came up with additional sources of funding to supplement our unsustainable traditional reliance on govt. as the sole source of funds for education.
I’ll also like to remind readers that this is not the actual education policy, but the terms of reference with key elements/features that should guide the process in formulating a very comprehensive transformational and realistic education policy for Sierra Leone.
At about two weeks from now on the 25th of January at 1:00 PM Eastern Time US, I plan to organize a public conference call on the subject, for us to discuss the key elements of this draft.
If you are interested in participating in the discussion please inbox me on facebook or send me an email to JesmedSuma@slpw.org or text me your email address via 908-759-4332 I shall send you the conference call No. and code.
I thank all those who took time out of their busy schedule to review this first draft and shared their comments.
Please feel free to ask questions, add your comments or share your thoughts.