By Lemuella Tarawallie
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), in collaboration with UNICEF, has launched the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Network Sierra Leone, creating a national platform to strengthen coordination and ensure children receive quality, inclusive and integrated services from their earliest years.
The network was launched on Tuesday at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown under the distinguished patronage of First Lady Fatima Bio.
During the official launching ceremony the Chief Education Officer at MBSSE, Edward Kpakra, in his opening remarks described the ECD Network as “more than an initiative”, saying it “represents a movement to ensure that every child, regardless of where they are born, has the opportunity to grow, play, learn and dream”.
He stressed that early childhood development could not be achieved by one ministry or institution alone, but required collaboration among government, civil society, development partners, academia and communities.
“When we invest in children, we invest in the future,” Kpakra said, adding that the network would provide a platform for stakeholders to work together in addressing the needs of young children.
UNICEF’s Country Representative, Mariko Kagoshima, said the launch represented a shared commitment to give Sierra Leone’s youngest children the best possible start in life.
She noted that, “early childhood development goes beyond education, requiring attention to health, nutrition, protection, safety, responsive care giving, early stimulation and opportunities for learning”.
Kagoshima said quality and play-based early childhood education would help children develop confidence, curiosity and social skills while laying the foundation for their future education and development.
She also highlighted support from the Global Partnership for Education and the Government of Iceland, saying the partnership had helped expand early learning opportunities, reaching nearly 4,500 pre-primary teachers and more than 8,000 children and contributing to the construction of 68 ECD centres as these investments were helping to strengthen the foundations of early earning and expand opportunities for young children across Sierra Leone.
She maintained that UNICEF and its partners had a collective task that was both simple and urgent: “to ensure that every child, especially those from the most vulnerable and underserved communities, benefits from age appropriate support, from nurturing care and early stimulation in the first year of life to quality early learning and pre primary education in the year before entering primary school”.
The Deputy Minister of MBSSE, Emily Gogra, described the launch as a renewal of the national commitment to the wellbeing, protection and development of Sierra Leone’s children.
She stressed that early childhood development was too important and complex to be left to one ministry or organization, calling for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private sector actors, parents, caregivers and development partners.
Madam Gogra said the new network would serve as a platform for advocacy, knowledge sharing and coordinated action, while encouraging greater integration of play based learning, nutrition, child protection, gender considerations and family support.
The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Bio who formally declared the official Launch of the Early Childhood Development Network, said a nation’s progress should not be measured only by its buildings, roads, economy or natural resources, but also by “how it cares for its children”.
She emphasized the importance of investing in children from their earliest years, noting that the wellbeing, development and protection of children were fundamental to the future of Sierra Leone.