The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Conrad Sackey has said in Freetown that Sierra Leone will take over the Chairmanship of West African Examination Council (WAEC) this year, adding that it is a three year mandate.

Addressing members of the National Conference of Principals of Secondarily Schools on Thursday January 4th 2024, he said WAEC will be meeting in Sierra Leone in March this year noting that it it an opportunity for the country to make the changes they desired in the WAEC system.

He described 2024 as the year of education in Sierra Leone after highlighting three major activities that the country will be benefiting from globally.

Responding to concerns raised by Principals, the minister reiterates government commitment to meet the demands of teachers and school authorities, and informed the Principals that 99% of the Ministry’s budget is spent on recurrent expenditure which includes the payment of salaries, school fees subsidy, payment of public examination fees among others, noting that only 1% is available for capital expenditure.

He said the African Union has declared 2024 as the year of education in the continent which he said is in line with the Free Quality School Education (FQSE).

He calls on the leadership of NCPSS to join forces with the MBSSE to make the changes they want to see, adding that this is an opportunity to address the issue of scratch cards once and for all.

He disclosed that on January 24th Sierra Leone will join other nations in the world to celebrate International Day of Education under the theme “learning for lasting peace”. He described the theme as timely taking into consideration some of the challenges they have heard in the country around violence and conflict of the recent past.

He said this is an opportunity for us as Sierra Leoneans to reflect on where we have come from with the eleven years of civil war when our learning infrastructures were destroyed with teachers leaving Sierra Leone for The Gambia and never returning.