Ebola and Education in Sierra Leone What does the future holds for the children of Sierra Leone? By: Hassan Sannoh As an amateur, freelance and Guest writer, I have over the past few months negated to write for writing sake. This is more so as my first published book (Examination Guide on How To Pass WASSCE for Senior Secondary Schools in West Africa) continue to bring in “the green paper” since its released. For this reason, I nowadays spend my leisure time on only doing writings that will bring in proceeds; even if it requires my personal opinion on national issues. At the moment, I devote my time-out as I travel back through history to 1906 to uncover the cradle of a 100% British Colonial Boys Boarding School (The Bo School) that was founded in Sierra Leone. This is how self-centered I have become; well if you are in my locus where your publishers have to remind you at the end of every month on revenues generated from the sales of your writings that have been deposited into your account, you will exactly fathom why I am sounding bigheaded. As an Education Advocate, many a times when I take upon myself to speak to the country especially those at the rudder on tantalizing issues affecting the country’s education system on electronic medias like the Star Radio – 103.5FM, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Cooperation (SLBC) – 100.0FM both radio and television amongst other local radio stations in the municipality and its protectorate, those who know me and listen to such talks have told me: I talk better than I write. Well, I will leave that to my spectators to evaluate, as we say in Sierra Leone “self-praise nor to recommendation”. However, as one whose ‘palm kernel is been cracked by benevolent spirit’, I mean not to trouble you with my personal attainments so far so good. Nevertheless, The Ebola situation that continue to ravage every sector of the country, for the most part its EDUCATION SYSTEM has made me change my mind to pick up my pen once small and do a theoretical writing that will be published in the print media on what the future holds for the children of our one and only beloved country – MAMA SALONE. In the precise words of the president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma “The Ebola Virus Disease continues to create an extra-ordinary challenge in our nation…” These challenges are apparent in not only the country’s economy, but also the country’s largest human capital manufacturer - the EDUCATION SECTOR. Like the Sierra Leone’s most destructive and bloody Civil War, Sierra Leone’s educational system has for a second time face and continue to face severe annihilation since the insurgency of the Ebola Virus Disease that emanated from its sister countries. It is apparent that even before the advent of the Ebola endemic in the country, Sierra Leone’s educational sector had so many challenges that it grasped with. These challenges ranging from the welfare of its teachers, enrolment and completion of school with particular attention on the massive failure of students in examinations, to that of the quality of learning at all levels from kinderten to primary, secondary and tertiary institutions (university and colleges). This is further excavated by the county’s failure from accomplishing the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on education by 2015 with only few days left. The Ebola virus has and still carry on to Rec havoc on the country’s educational system in geometrical proportion: ranging from the shortening of the school academic year, the huge gap loss of school administrators especially teachers, the indefinite adjournment of public examinations that were to be conducted months before now e.g. the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE); the West Africa Senior School Certificate Private Examination (WASSCE); students in particularly the Eastern and Northern regions of the country who passed the 2013 public examinations for enrolment into universities in the country were unable to continue with their admission process into universities, particularly the country’s two main universities –Njala University and Fourah Bay College (FBC), University of Sierra Leone, due to the quarantine method that was instituted on districts and regions who were earlier on affected by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). So even if schools are to be open, those students are going to miss the academic year and the universities have no plan of creating medium for such a high percentage of students in the country. With the country’s education in emergency, one would think that the universities will make their admission secretarial mobile thereby taking their admission secretariat into those regions and districts to have students pursue their admission processes (education in emergency). This is more so when one take into account the percentage of working class folks the country has and still continues to loss even as I write. But with the universities having no plan of such, have left some of us who are education minded to ask the question of whether the phrase ‘education in emergency situation’ is actually a reality in the Ebola context the country is faced with. But I promise as far as life goes on, I will leave to fight this to the latter. All I need is you trust and not doubt; as doubt is the greatest weakness of man. Education in Emergencies in the Sierra Leonean context Education in Emergencies itself as a phrase was coined to provide children with education in emergency situations and its recovery process, but it seem this have being misguided by many, notwithstanding both governments and its international partners. It is true that Children need education even in emergencies. But since emergency situations differs, it will be prudent to design and implement educational projects from the type of emergency situation, with a special emphasis on the mechanisms required to improve the quality of education during and after the crises. But for it to be meaningful, it will be judicious to pay particular attention to the context where the Phrase ‘Education in Emergencies’ should be implement (contextual use of words in English Language). Because of the variations of Emergency situations in the world today, ranging from Natural disasters like flooding, earthquake, tsunami, the present Ebola virus (global health emergency) in the Three Mano River Union (MRU) sister countries, to that of conflicts like inter-state conflict and civil wars e.g. the Sierra Leone civil war etc, clearly tell us that implementing programs in ensuring children receive education in emergency situations should be given an open eye and mind. For instance: a program designed to ensure the Syrian or Haitian children who were and have been displaced to ensure they get education, such a program should not be used for children in the West African countries affected by Ebola, this is because even though they are all emergency situations, yet they are completely different in context. For e.g. while displaced Syrian children can gather together; Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinean children perturb by Ebola cannot because of the no body contract pattern of preventing the Ebola Virus Disease. At this juncture, it is evident that many humanitarian individuals and organizations including myself are advocating for children in the West Africa Ebola affected countries to get back to school as soon as possible, nevertheless, this should be given a peculiar attention by taking a lot of things into account with the clear aim of not jeopardizing the lives of those children. As a parent, Pa Alimammy in Sierra Leone put it: I will prefer my child to stay at home for a whole academic year than risk the life of my child to go to school under this present deadly Ebola Virus Disease that yet have no future of subsiding in Sierra Leone. While many people and both national and International Organizations have focused on education being a human right, hitherto, it is also important for some of these humanitarian folks and organizations to know that the greatest of those human rights is the right to life. This right comes first and it encompasses all of the other rights in the human rights. Since countries like Sierra Leone still continues to grasp with the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), I will suggest to those humanitarian folks and organizations to join hands with the governments in the affected areas especially Sierra Leone who is still recording high cases in putting together blueprints with the aim of mitigating the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, Because until and unless the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is defeated in the country, will then a ‘safe school’ be a reality for the children of Sierra Leone. I myself have guttered Sierra Leone’s educational system from the moment of my birth (from Bandajuma sinnah in the Kailahun district to Kenema where I did my primary schooling, to Bo where I did my secondary schooling and to the capital city of Sierra Leone, Freetown, where I did my first degree and still continue to pursue for higher degrees; and I also continue to study development particularly in the Africa and Sierra Leone context and continue to advocate on educational rights not limited to enrolment and completion to that of improving the learning standards in Sierra Leone so much so that I think I know what I know about Sierra Leone’s educational system. For Christ sake, this is not Europe where classrooms are well ventilated with air conditioners. Having witness how deadly the Ebola Virus Disease is, I don’t think I need an outsider who was educated in a class room with less than 30 students and an air conditioner (AC) (with all due respect) to tell me how students in Sierra Leone are crowded (sardine) in less ventilated classrooms in about 98% of the country’s learning institutions including tertiary institutions that gives room for students to perspire and crisscross their body, to tell me we should allow these vulnerable children into schools under this present noxious Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) environments our country is in. Sierra Leone has lost more than 63 teachers since the Ebola virus erupted in the country, without wishful thinking, who knows what the total will become by the time the virus get to terminus in the country. This has happened even when schools are closed. I mean teachers who are heads of their institutions and that regulate the affairs of the students in schools; teachers whom we consider literate and ought to know better about the preventive methods in contracting the Ebola Virus Disease. Can we anticipate for once as the poisonous virus keeps intensifying in the country if the ministry of education hadn’t foreseen the future risks to close schools in the country as earlier as possible what would have become of these school going children in the country. This is more so when one cogitates their innocence and defenselessness. Oh! I wonder… What I want all and sundry to know is that, until the Ebola virus is put under control in all the four regions in the country, the phrase Safe School will only continue to be an innocent activism. Good health itself is an attribute to quality education. If children are to stay in school and receive a meaningful education, the school environment must be safe. Since the Ebola Virus showed up in the country, it is not uncommon for a single day without seeing the wearisome ambulance vehicle with a suspected Ebola case, positive Ebola patient or a dead body being taken for burial. All of these make it impossible for a safe school. On the other hand, there will be no safe school where the child who has being used to playing with his or her colleagues no longer does. There will be no safe school when a child seating in a classroom hears the sound of the monotonous Ebola ambulance vehicle every few hour. There will be no safe school when the road to and from school is not safe: a lot of students still walk miles to and from school and because of lack of school buses, many students onboard public transports to and from school. Onboarding these public transports sometimes take a bull fight to get a seat. Chlorine and thermometer are good for pre-testing and prevention from the Ebola virus, however they are not guaranteed. Hence they shouldn’t be used as armor for the opening of schools, this is especially so as the virus continues to take proprietorship in the country. It is true that many school going girls are getting pregnant since the Ebola virus warranted the closure of schools in the country. However that shouldn’t also give a meaningful council for the reopening of schools at this point in time in Sierra Leone. A better approach will be the strengthening of laws for boys who get girls pregnant to help savage this present high rate of pregnancy in the country’s dilemma. As Queen Rania comments at the 2013 Education Cannot Wait event. “Our message today is not that children need education even in emergencies, it’s that children need education especially in emergencies”. My clarion call is to those calling for the reviving of schools to give their unflinching support to the innovative Radio and Television teaching program instituted by a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) call HEAL SIERRA LEONE with support from its partners in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to help the children of sierra Leone get access to education in this present global health emergency situation. It is true that the unusual Radio and Television teaching program implemented is met with a lot of encounters e.g. the program is unfamiliar to the students who have been used to the face to face classroom teaching. The 21st century students centered teaching approach is absent. It cannot replace the normal classroom action that those students have been used to. It is limited to only few subjects offered by students, limited time, and the level of speediness use to conduct the teaching make it unmanageable for students to get meaningful outcome from it. Also the radio teaching program does not cover students in higher institutions (universities and colleges) in the country. Radio and television penetration in the country is about 25% and not all homes can afford to buy radio or continue to buy the daily battery required for the radio considering the imperfect electricity supply in the country not to talk about television which is seldom at homes in the country, students gallivanting the streets of the country hocking goods on their head while the teaching program is going on and all the rest makes the radio and television teaching program futile for the bulk of the country’s children. Conclusion: Safe school will only be a reality and meaningful when the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) subside in the country; will only then a safe environment for learning will be possible for Children. Hence all hands should be put on deck with the aim of combating the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in out of our beloved Mama Sierra Leone. By Hassan Sannoh (Hassan Sannoh is an amateur and freelance writer. He is the Founder of Advocates for Quality Education in Sierra Leone and he is also the Author of the book titled: Examination Guide on How to Pass WASSCE for Senior Secondary schools in West Africa. Contact: 076488182)
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 11:11:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015