BY AMADU S BAH
232NEWS, FREETOWN
At the UN General Assembly in New York and in one of the sessions dedicated to discuss the importance of TVET, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education Min. Conrad Sackey told other participants from across the world that President Bio has committed to creating job for 500 thousand Sierra Leoneans.
Speaking on the theme, “Shaping the Future of Skills. Unleashing the Power of TVET,” Minister Sackey marked that Sierra Leone is relying on two reports which includes the report from World Bank and the Global Skills Academy-UNESCO Report.
Minister Sackey highlighted the government’s ongoing development of the Informal Skill Policy and a curriculum in terms of TVET for those in school.
Minister Sackey went on to explain that the involvement of the private sector is relevant to the development of TVET, noting that the strategy is not just to bring individual private sector members rather is to work with the Chamber of Commerce.
“Because it is through them we will know the demand side, they will tell us what the skill gaps are, so we will only fund those areas that we know there are jobs,” Minister Sackey Said.
Speaking on financing TVET, Minister Sackey suggested that financing TVET service providers should not only now be based on the facts that they are running but it should be measured by output and based on results. He explained that by doing so, service providers will be more focused on getting people into jobs or progress into higher level of skills.
Highlighting the sustainability of President Bio’s Free Quality Education for Sierra Leone, Minister Sackey stated that the government is aware of the fact that some policies could be put aside if there is a change of government; therefore the government has ensured that the Free Quality Education is an integral part of the country’s national constitution.
He said no government should think about stopping the funding of the FQSE project because it’s good the people, pointing out that, the government has enacted the Education Act 2023 and perhaps the government will have to look at something around TVET to strengthen the sector.
Minister Sackey concluded by stating that for the government to succeed, they need extra support from other partners, acknowledging the fact that Ivory Coast is doing well with TVET and stating that the Sierra Leone government is very ambitious and that the country is working assiduously to be at the top in West Africa and the world at large.
He called on the partners to support the government on the development of the various policies which will help improve the skills of the tutors as well as the young people.
