The Directorate of Non-formal Education in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA) has trained 1,000 Level-II Adult Learners on Entrepreneurship Skills.
Director of Non-formal Education at the MBSSE, Dr. Olive Musa said the training is targeting 1,000 adult learners from the nineteen Accelerated Learning Centres (ALC) in all districts, noting that the training will last for one month with three days for each centre.
“After the learners have attained level two which means they can now read and write, we thought it fit to empower them with this kind of training because this is something they have been asking for. Most of them are business people and as they are going along with their businesses, record keeping is one of the biggest challenges they are faced with,” she said.
She said this training is as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed between MBSSE and SMEDA in 2021, noting that at the end of the training, SMEDA will provide micro credit to the 1,000 adult learners to help them improve on their businesses.
Madam Theresa Sundufu is an Adult Literacy Facilitator in Freetown, according to her, this is the first time such training is being organised, noting that the training is very important because it teaches them how to manage their business as most of them are entrepreneurs.
The mandate of the Non-Formal Education Directorate is to provide education for out-of-school illiterates, targeting children, adolescents, youth and adults in Sierra Leone.
The directorate facilitates and supports communities with the establishment of Community Learning Centres at Chiefdom level particularly in rural communities and hard-to-reach areas.
The mandate of SMEDA is for the agency to ‘Promote a conducive business environment, including an efficient and effective service delivery network, in order to empower and develop Small and Medium Enterprises for growth, productivity and competitiveness.
