The Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) manifesto, the manifesto they called the people’s manifesto that talked about a lot of good things in the area of   development. The manifesto that un-seated the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party from power and brought in the current SLPP government to power.

Prominent among the things they took as a scale of preference was and still is education:

These are just a few extracts from the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), the peoples’ manifesto as they called it:

Promote development of child-friendly schools that will be provided with recreational facilities, toilet facilities and safe places in each district.

Provide sponsorship to students to access higher education through the effective management of the Grants-in-Aid policy and introduce student loan scheme.

Build and support at least one primary school in every administrative section in every district, at least a Junior secondary in every administrative chiefdom or electoral ward and at least a Senior secondary school equipped with a science laboratory in every electoral constituency.

Expand and improve school feeding programs in all pre-schools and primary schools.

Remove the double shift system within 3 years by constructing additional classrooms and schools in populated communities to reduce overcrowding in schools.

Establish functional district libraries equipped with computers and promote mobile library services.

Establish High schools of Excellence for science and Technology education in all regions.

Make French a Core subject in junior and senior secondary schools.

Establish at least one functional Adult Literacy Centre using existing school facility in every chiefdom

Build staff quarters and embark on long-term housing scheme for teachers

Provide free university education for three children of every school teacher with at least 10 years’ teaching experience

Review the status of Community Teachers nationwide

Establish teacher training campuses/colleges in all district capitals

This is part of the peoples’ Manifesto it is now left with the people to give Judgment if at all the manifesto did what it says on paper. On the area of providing free tertiary education for up to three children of every school teacher with a maximum of ten years teaching experience is big lie because we have not heard or seen any teacher that has benefitted from this promise made in the SLPP Manifesto.  There is still double shift system of education as the government did not meet the fulfillment of building additional classrooms to eradicate the two shift system of schooling.

The peoples’ manifesto is just a lip service to the people of this country they will just take it with a pinch of salt.

It is no secret that, manifestoes the world-over are meant to stupid the people and they are nothing to take very seriously, as they will never work as stated in the manifesto.

At a time like this when the economy is completely in shambles, water crises is the order of the day, light is nothing to write home about, the bread and butter issue the people have seen it all.

The manifesto speaks for itself. The Africa 24 newspaper will continue to look and examine every part of it.

This medium will continue to look in to the peoples manifesto without sentiment.