“Julius Maada Bio Is A Pathological Liar” Parents, Principals Bemoan
Sierra Leoneans in the country and across the world were shocked, amazed and angry with His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio for what they described as telling a pathological lie to the world on Wednesday 27th September 2018 when he held a maiden meeting with the computer guru, Bill Gates in the United States of America (USA). (Photo: Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone President)
During that meeting, President Bio told world leaders that his Government doesn’t only provide free quality education but it’s also distributed text and exercise books, uniforms and actualized the school feeding programs across all Government and Government assisted primary and secondary schools in the country.
But many Principals, Headmasters, teachers, parents and school children who were interviewed about the effectiveness of Bios free education expressed anger that nothing is free in the free education because according to parents, they spent more than they used to spend this year due to the fact that it cost them more money to buy uniforms, text books and other essential school materials because prizes of commodities are sky rocketing by the minute.
Parents in angry mood stressed that they preferred the expenditures they were undergoing in the previous Government because they never pronounce free education but school materials were cheaper, now that free education has been officially declared, things are getting tougher than before.
On the issue of the school feeding program, pupils cried that the Government is mocking them because no food has ever been provided for them since the reopening of schools adding that they wished the Government would have acted upon their promises embedded in the free education package.
Principals, Headmasters and teachers advanced similar sentiment that no changes has taken place in the educational sector being that they are still under-paid adding that many teachers are offering free teaching services because they remained unapproved and their names are not in the government payroll, how such teachers would be prevented for taking money from parents, they asked rhetorically and called on the Government to do the right thing by increasing wages of teachers.
When he was talking, President Bio accepted the truth that Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations in the world with poor educational system wherein children find it extremely difficult to access quality and free education and parents are so poor in a way that they cannot afford to send their children to school.
In that regard, Sierra Leoneans are sending this strong message to both their past and present leaders to stop telling the world that the country is leading to prosperity while her people are dying of hunger as a result of the failure of government to prioritize local food production, children are clustering in classrooms as a result of insufficient and improper school structures across the length and breadth of the country.
In one of the Government press briefing, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the Ministry of Basic Primary and Secondary Schools, Brima Michael Turay said the school feeding program would target only schools in deprived community while the President pronounced that the scheme will cover all schools across the country. Who are we to listen between HE and the PRO? Irate citizens queried?
By Abdulai Mento Kamara
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