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Research Article
INTRODUCTION
Education is a dynamic tool for change. Universal access
to basic education by the worlds children is a
prerequisite in todays world. Education is vital for
combating poverty; empowering women; protecting
children from hazardous and exploitative labour and
sexual exploitation; promoting human rights and
democracy; protecting the environment; and influencing
population growth, (UNICEF, 2005). The objective of
basic education is to provide a common foundation of
knowledge, skills and values for all citizens. At the end of
basic education, it is expected that children would have
acquired the necessary cognitive, social, and prevocational skills that will allow them to live safe and
productive lives and to contribute to the development of
their communities and the nation. Without a sound basic
education, most of the opportunities presented by life
could be missed, and for a nation, quality basic education
for its people is the basis for development. Providing
basic education for all children is a human rights issue, a
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
Johnson AO
008
METHODOLOGY
This was a desk research that reviewed pertinent
documents on basic education in Sierra Leone.
The next section presents the findings of the research.
Presentation and Discussion of Findings
Policies on Basic Education
Apart from its international obligations, the Government
has since the end of the civil war, which lasted
throughout the 1990s, set itself national obligations for
the achievement of basic education through the
promulgation of policies. Lawal (1999) gives a definition
of an educational policy as a statement of intentions of
the government and the envisaged means of achieving
those aspects of its national objectives that have to rely
on the use of education. He further states that an
educational policy, can be interpreted, as, the
governments written statement on education which is
legally or constitutionally supported.
In consonance with the September 2000 United Nations
Millennium Summit which challenged 189 countries of the
world to provide basic education for all by 2015, the
Sierra Leone government implemented policies to
improve access to and quality of education in the country.
One such policy was the Education For All, Action Plan
(EFA). Under the EFA Action Plan (2001), the
government in September 2001 undertook the task of
providing Universal Primary Education. One of the major
provisions of the EFA Action Plan was the abolition of
primary school tuition fees which was replaced with a fee
subsidy for every pupil, for the three terms, to the heads
of educational institutions. The EFA-Action Plan included
the provision of teaching and learning materials. The
thrust of the policy was to ensure that all children from
Class 1 to JSS 3 should have unrestricted access to
quality education in spite of their gender, social, cultural
or economic backgrounds.
In 2004, the Education Act was passed by Parliament. In
the preamble of the Act, it is stated that it is an act
designed to reform the education system. Some of the
reforms made are that:
Every citizen of Sierra Leone shall have the right to basic
education which shall accordingly be compulsory.
A parent, including a guardian who neglects to send his
child to school for basic education commits an offence
and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
009
Key Indicators
Net
primary
school
attendance rate %
Gender parity index: ratio
of girls: boys (primary,
secondary)
Estimates
2010 (MICS 4) 2005(MICS 4)
74
69
2000
42
WEST/CENTRAL AFRICA
1996-2004
55
1.04
--
0.86;0.8
1.01:0.78
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
Johnson AO
010
Region
East
North
South
West
National
G/B Ratio
% at Level
Male
135,479
222,581
150,986
102,558
611, 604
74
Primary
Female
134, 342
200, 567
144, 795
103, 195
582, 899
0.95
77
Both
269, 821
423, 148
295, 781
205, 753
1,194,503
Male
28, 076
42, 764
25, 909
37, 347
134, 096
75
16
JSS
Female
22,057
31, 207
20, 283
36, 846
110, 393
Both
50, 133
73, 971
46, 192
` 74, 193
244, 489
15
15
0.82
Primary
East
North
South
West
National
JSS
100
100
100
100
100
11
14
12
30
15
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
011
2004
2008
2009
2010
2011
2.5%
2.8%
2.6%
3.1%
Growth
Rate Annual
2004-2011
Growth
Rate
5%
0.6%
29.1%
17%
2.2%
27.1%
-15%
-2.2%
of 31.7%
152 136
3.0%
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
Johnson AO
012
Tertiary
Tertiary, 2010, 18.9
% 3.2%
TVET, 2010,
NFE
SSS, 2010, 10.2%
JSS, 2010, 16.5% TVET
Pre and
Primary, 2004, 50.7
%
SSS
Pre and
Primary, 2010, 50.9
JSS
%
Pre and Primary
Figure 1. Distribution of Public Recurrent Expenditure by Education Level, 2004 & 2010
Percent
Source: CSR 2011; Ministries of Education and Finance
DISTRICTS
AVERAGE
TEACHER
65
57
64
71
54
70
Moyamba
Bonthe
Kenema
Kailahun
Port Loko
Bombali
NUMBER
OF
PUPILS
TO
ONE
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects
013
REFERENCES
Campaign for Good Governance (2006). Report on Basic
Education
in
Sierra
Leone.
www.campaignforgoodgovernance.com
Johnson AO (2010).Dynamics in the Participation of Girls
in Formal Basic Education in the Eastern Province of
Sierra Leone. Unpublished PhD thesis, Njala
University.
Lawal BO (1999).Comparative Education. Ibadan:
Stirling-Horden Publishers
Statistics Sierra Leone and UNICEF(2011). Sierra Leone
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS. Freetown:
Sierra Leone.
Statistics Sierra Leone and UNICEF (2006).Sierra Leone
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. MICS. Freetown:
Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Government (2012).New Education Policy.
Freetown: Sierra Leone Government Printers.
Sierra Leone Government (2011).Making ProgressSchools and Students in Sierra Leone. The 2010-11
School Census Report, vol. 1.Freetown: Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Government (2008). Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper II. Freetown: Sierra Leone Government
Printers.
Sierra
Leone
Government
(2005).
Millennium
Development Goals Report. Freetown: Sierra Leone
Government Printers.
Sierra
Leone
Government
(2004).Education
Act.Freetown; Sierra Leone Government Printers.
Sierra Leone Government (2001).Education for All Action
Plan.Freetown; Sierra Leone Government Printers.
UNICEF (2005).A Report Card on Gender Parity and
Primary Education. New York: Oxford University Press
UNICEF (2005). State of the Worlds Children. New York:
Oxford University Press
UNESCO (2004).Education for All Global Monitoring
Report. Paris: Oxford University Press
Accepted 09 June, 2015.
Citation: Johnson AO (2015). Achieving basic education
for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects.
World Journal of Educational Research and Reviews,
2(1): 008-013.
Achieving basic education for all in Sierra Leone: trends, issues and prospects