By Thomas Dixon
232news
The recent Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Scorecard endorsed President Bio Flagship Free Quality Education (FQE) programme which was launched by the President immediately after he won the 2018 elections.
In this year’s indicators Sierra Leone passed 11 out of the 20 indicators which is a reduction of last year’s scorecard in which the country passed 13 indicators.
Under the section of investing in People, Sierra Leone passed four out of the six indicators in the section more than it did in 2018 in which the country barely passed two indicators.
Sierra Leone scored 100 percent in Primary Education Expenditures in the Fiscal Year 2023 compared to 24% in 2018. The country also scored 90% in Girls Primary Education Completion Rate more than it did in 2018 with a score of 40%
“This didn’t come as a surprise to us considering 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,” according to the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Dr. David Moinina Sengeh.
The FQSE programme has resulted in a tremendous increase in student enrolment nationwide. The number of learners enrolled in schools increased by almost 800,000 due mainly to the commencement of the FQSE.
The education sector data also reveal a significant increase in the number of schools approved for Government support. 53.4% of pre-primary, 78.7% of primary, 76.7% of junior secondary, and 80.4% of senior secondary schools are now approved- meaning they can receive tuition subsidies, textbooks and other learning interventions. In 2018, less than half of the schools across basic and senior secondary were approved to receive government support.
“The support we’ve got for education in the last couple of years is unprecedented. We have large government commitments, have the largest multi-donor trust fund ever at USD 72million with five major development partners and now see some private sector contributions as well. 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. ,” Dr. David Moinina Sengeh said.
