This latest move is part of a nationwide tour of University campuses across the country which the minister resumed months ago to interact with University administrators and obtain first hand experiences of the status of campuses across the country.
Minister Gbakima, accompanied by top management staff of the ministry including the Director of Research and Planning, Ms. Sia Fasuluku, were taken on a conducted tour of the facilities at the campuses led by the Vice Chancellor and Principal of EBKUST, Rev. Prof. J.J Momoh.
The Minister’s lecture in the Makeni campus was based on morals, discipline and leadership between and among students and University administrators.
The new direction governemnt, he said, is poised to return Sierra Leone to its enviable educational status.
He called on all stakeholders to put hands on deck in supporting the president’s agenda for Sierra Leone.
He spoke of financial challenges affecting project implementations across sectors, but urged the administrators to work hard towards achieving positive results in the interest of the students and Sierra Leone in general.
The government, he said, is serious about welfare concerns of lecturers and administrators, ‘which explains why the salaries and other allowances of lecturers will now be paid by governemnt’.
He called on the students to make good use of scholarship opportunities being offered by the government and other partners.
The Minister announced that his administration would never tolerate the menace of examination malapractice and that he will not hesitate to name and same perpetrators.
He said the ministry only recommends serious and competent students for international scholarship opportunities.
He said it is a shame that our universities continue to certify students that are unemployable, noting that such must stop.
The Vice Chancellor and Principal of EBKUST, Prof Momoh, whose administration was widely and unanimously hailed by students, lecturers and community stakeholders, expressed elation over the visit of the minister.
He used the forum as an opportunity to highlight impressive gains made by his adminstration over the last one year, which include digital migration and staff welfare.
EBKUST, he said, will continue to support the president’s agenda for quality education.
One of the senior administrators at the Makeni campus expressed excitement over the Minister’s visit, while claiming that it was the first time in thirteen years that an education minister was visiting the campus.
The Minister was happy to receive and answer questions from students, lecturers and administrators.
