In Sierra Leone, Primary Schools Stranded… Two Terms No Subsidies

The Government of Sierra Leone has not paid school fee subsidies to primary schools for the first and second terms of this academic year, a situation which has left the schools financially stranded and consequently ineffective.

This ugly situation has been confirmed by aggrieved head teachers who have expressed their frustration over the problem during an interview with Sierra Express Media.

The disgruntled head teachers informed this medium that it is only very recently that the Ministry of Education is paying fee subsidies for the third term of the last academic year, with subsidies for the first and second terms of this academic year still in arrears. They complained that the persistently delayed payment of fee subsidies has been financially embarrassing them and adversely affecting their schools.

They confessed that they are compelled to go into debt or use their own salaries to run the schools, noting that the situation renders them incapable of properly accounting for the use of the subsidies.

“The Anti-Corruption Commission has no moral justification to investigate us for use of subsidies which are paid once in the blue moon,” they remarked.

The head teachers pointed out that the perpetually late payment of fees subsidies has been the root cause of poor quality primary school education in the country, a situation which, they said, has spilled over and deteriorated secondary and tertiary education, thereby messing up the nation’s entire educational system.

They called on government to do all in its power to address the chronic problem of delayed payment of fee subsidies if it is serious about achieving better quality education for Sierra Leone.

By Joseph Milton Lebbie

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