The need to raise awareness regarding the essence of acquiring quality education and the need to embrace the governments’ education policy, organizations and individuals have made it a point of duty to sensitize their people and school pupils on the importance of the free education policy and the benefits they stand to derive from it.
The public lecture was organized by the Pujehun District Students Association (PUDSA) which brought together junior and senior secondary school pupils, members of parliament, paramount chiefs, heads of schools, civil society organizations and nongovernmental organizations operating in the district, at the Pujehun district council hall.
Addressing the audience regarding the purpose of the public lecture, the national president of the Pujehun District Students’ Association Mohamed Kallon disclosed that the lecture is organized to create and interactive session regarding the promoting education in the district between school pupils and various stakeholder, adding they as students from different institutions in the country are always ready to render education services to their younger ones through the conduct of summer school classes at the end of every academic.
He said their intervention in the new education policy is to assist the government in ensuring that the free education implementation yield dividend in the district.
Honourable Shaka Sama of Constituency 104 in the Pujehun district applauded the organizers for the public which brought together dignitaries from all walks of life to discuss on the promotion of education in the district which has drastically depreciated over the years.
Also, the secretary to the vice president Babar Fortune applauded the relentless efforts to bringing people together in the district to chart the way forward for education which the flag ship project of the ruling government.
Serving as Guest Speaker delivering his public lecture on the need to invest in quality education, BBC’s Umaru Fofanah underscored the essence of affording quality education and its availability. He said education is not the best gift for the child but rather the only gift to the child.
Umaru commended the free education policy of president Bio but highlighted foreseen challenges its implementation will likely face ranging from the availability of teaching and learning materials, adequate school structures, recruitment of trained and qualified teachers, the increasing number of school going pupils and teachers emoluments , citing that the schools in the cities perform excellent because they have trained and qualified teachers as compared to the teachers who opt to teach in the remote areas.
He disclosed that Pujehun ranked among the highest rates of child poverty districts in the country according to a UN child’s Agency report recently released, and went further to state that sexual offences are on in the increase in the district which is not good for the progress of the district.
The icon of journalism calls on the parents, children and stakeholders to do everything humanly possible in the monitoring of the free education implementation and keep their children in school.
He also called on them to prosecute those who keep abusing school girls resulting to their dropping out of school and as a way of support to the education of the children in the district, he pledged the sum of five million leones to the Pujehun district students Association for the conduct of summer school in August and also promised to pay half of the fees for first five best students who pass WASSCE to enter university.
The public lecture also captured discussions on the following topics: The role of Nongovernmental organization in the promotion of quality education in Pujehun district with which was moderated by Mr. Lansana Rogers- Lecturer Njala University and The role of district, traditional leaders and government on the promotion of quality education in Pujehun district which was moderated by Ibrahim Swaray- Chairman Civil Society organizations in Pujehun district.
