By Mohamed K. Turay
The National Youth Awareness Forum (NYAF), a local Non-Governmental Organization, will this Friday conclude a week-long training of teachers, head teachers and teacher coaches from 67 schools in Moyamba, Pujehun and Bonthe districts in southern Sierra Leone,
At the end of the training, the schools will receive school learning materials worth millions of dollars. The training is made possible with funds from the Education Outcome Funds (EOF) whose project is being implemented by NYAF in partnership with Kizazi, a global education non-profit organization whose focus is to bring international expertise across Africa under one room.
Informing participants at the training the Executive Director of NYAF, Victor Lansana Koroma, said this was the second phase of the project which would last for three years.
Victor Lansana Koroma told participants that five organisations were currently implementing the said project across the country and reported that his organisation was the only local one which was implementing the said project in the three districts whilst the remaining four were international organisations.
He informed participants that the Government of Sierra Leone was proud of their track record which was the reason why they had recently been asked by the Ministry of Education to provide data of pin code teachers. He added that the Teaching Service Commission also invited his organisation to a workshop in which they asked them to present their manual after which the TEC commended their manual as it was in line with the Ministry’s agenda.
The Ministry of Education’s deputy District Officer in Pujehun District, Alimamy Kamara, said the project was a pilot one and that more schools would be involved if the 26 selected in Pujehun met the expectations of NYAF and the Government of Sierra Leone.
He encouraged them to serve as ambassadors and role models in their respective schools and that the Ministry of Education wanted to see an improved and committed outcome before the project ends
Alimamy Kamara concluded that those present at the training should implement what they learnt so that we might be called again as the Athens of African”.
The Deputy District Director of the Teaching Service Commission in Pujehun, Lansana Rogers, said that “if a teacher goes contrary to the Code of Conduct of the Teaching Service Commission severe actions will be taken against that individual”.
He noted that, “You cannot be a teacher and you are contradicting the ethics covering the teaching profession. Be it a pin-coded teacher or not, culprits will be held responsible for any default in their schools”.
In his remarks the District Coordinator for the Free Quality Education in Moyamba District, Jonathan Cobba, said the training was in line with the Free Quality Education package which would help to equip teachers improve their learning outcomes.
“The government through the Ministry of Education has introduced a learning passport App for pupils to support the assessment of pupils”, he disclosed; stressing that the App contained past questions from 2010 to date. He encouraged all participants to take advantage of the training in order to replicate it in their respective schools.
A representative from the Pujehun District Council made similar sentiments and assured NYAF of the Council’s constant support.