AYV News, September 8, 2025
Questions as to whether schools will be reopening in Sierra Leone this morning of Monday, September 8, 2025, remain unanswered.
Last week, the country’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), in a public notice, said consensus was reached for the reopening of schools today, while on the other hand, the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union (SLTU), in another press release dated Friday, 5th September 2025, has outrightly dismissed the ministry’s claim.
The Union stated that it acknowledged the high-level emergency meeting convened by the Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. However, it noted that there are still core issues raised by teachers that have yet to be resolved, pointing out outstanding school fee subsidies for 2024/2025 as one of the issues.
According to the SLTU press statement, the second and third term school fee subsidies for the 2024/2025 academic year were promised to be paid in the first week of September 2025. However, payments have not been effected, raising serious concerns.
Secondly, the government has promised that the first-term school fee subsidies for 2025/2026 will be paid during the course of the term. No specific date has been confirmed, raising uncertainty.
The SLTU further states, “Out of 4,662 teachers who were suspended from the payroll, 1,802 were to be reinstated in August 2025 with backlog salaries for July. However, many of these teachers report that neither the reinstatement nor the salaries have been reflected in their bank accounts, despite prior assurances from the Ministry of Finance. While the recruitment and reassessment of teachers is reportedly ongoing, progress is unclear, and no comprehensive update has been provided to the Union”.
The Union also noted several other outstanding issues as contained in the Union’s formal strike notice that remain unaddressed, describing the 4th September 2025 press release from the MBSSE as “misleading and incorrect”.
The Union said it is not only advocating for salary increases but is also deeply concerned about the quality and future of education in Sierra Leone, noting that a suspended strike action from 25th November 2024—based on these same unresolved issues—was intended to give the government ample time for redress.
The SLTU has called on all teachers across Sierra Leone to stay at home and not report to schools until the government satisfactorily addresses the issues outlined above.
The Union said, “Colleague teachers, the development of education in Sierra Leone should be our shared concern. We therefore urge every teacher to stay at home until further notice from the Union.”
