By Africa24 analysts

Parents and guardians in Sierra Leone should now tight up the ‘purse strings’ to cover up such costs as schools will soon re-open September.

Sierra Leone’s government Free & Quality Education (FQE) for all public schools in is not going to get many students into classrooms this time around like in the past five years’ term of President Julius Maada Bio.

The past five years were sweet-bitter periods for most parents and guardians of schools going children in Sierra Leone.

Some parents and their children were happy when there was a free education in the country.

Other parents became happy only when they first heard that the new government of President Julius Maada Bio would offer a free & quality education for primary, junior and secondary pupils in Sierra Leone.

But these parents became annoyed and disappointed soon after the FQE was rolled out in schools in September 2018.

”We are asked to pay school charges; school administrators collect these money from us even though we heard that government is paying for everything: school charges and public exams and is supplying exercise and text books in all schools, but there are still teachers who ask us to give plenty money to get our children admitted” these are common reactions by parents in Sierra Leone within the past five years under the FQE.

Many parents have claimed to have paid millions of Leones to get their children admitted in schools after sitting public exams.

And government authorities have never put up robust measures to discourage teachers from exploiting the poor Sierra Leoneans.

The FQE, however, brought smiles to many school-goers, parents and guardians in 2018-23.

Most people appreciated the fact that they were no longer shouldering the costs of paying public examination fees for their children in the past.

The FQE brought by President Bio is paying for them.

They were also happy because they were not allowed to pay fees for their sons and daughters in most schools where authorities are scared to collect money from parents as school charges and as fees.

These schools especially those in urban towns impacted many students in Sierra Leone.

The government of Sierra Leone had been boasting that they were able to increase figures of students’ enrollments to about 3 million across the country.

And many NGOs and development partners agreed with government that the free education had helped many children to go to school.

The support by global education development partners was there for government.

Many worlds’ development partners like World Bank, Irish Aid, Ireland, UK, USA, etc., came in to help the Government of Sierra Leone to make successful their free & quality education project.

Government also was very committed then as it increased the budget on education to about 21% on basic and secondary school education system in the country.

As public exams’ fees are covered by the government, there have been many university students who are enrolled into colleges and universities from secondary schools as beneficiaries of government’s free & quality education project.

The FQE, however, was criticized by many Sierra Leoneans for not delivering ”quality” in the education system.

Most schools have remained crowded with schools running a two-shift, despite government initially promised to kick out the school-shift system in public schools all over the country.

Added to the lapses of FQE, schools have still remained to be in poor status especially with some schools’ science laboratories, and libraries in derelict conditions while there are also no computer labs and cafes being run up in schools in spite of claims of ”quality” in FQE.

Schools’ furniture, all over Sierra Leone, have never been improved by the government throughout the existence of free & quality education of SLPP’s flagship project.

The Sierra Leone People’s Party leadership failed in many aspects in implementing the free and quality education over the past years.

The number of people who have refused to commend FQE project surpasses those who are praising the initiative.

Exploitation of parents by schools authorities became dominant concerns by most poor Sierra Leoneans.

Most people could not suppress their frustrations over the poor delivery by SLPP educationists on the free & quality education to pupils in schools.

The frustrated Sierra Leoneans kept talking about these concerns during the periods of campaigns in May and June this year before June 24, 2023 Sierra Leone multi-tier elections.

They were complaining of the too much hardship that President Bio and his government had brought them.

And the hardship and suffering seem unending as inflation and foreign currency exchange keep going higher.

The US dollar is rising up lowering the domestic currency, the Leone.

This factor and the inflation on goods are contributing for prices on basic materials and on foodstuffs to increase almost on weekly basis.

Things are never at all the same like they were in the years of 2010-13.

Talk to Sierra Leoneans especially petty traders, they would tell you ‘everything in Sierra Leone is very dear now.’

Sierra Leone is not getting the usual support by international development partners owing to unresolved issues of rigging, vote tampering, ballot stuffing on June 24 elections in the country. Development partners have said they are stopping to support President Julius Maada Bio’s government until it is seen as credible after a special investigation is done on the conduct of the elections in June.

Currently, after the controversial June24 elections, parents and guardians in Sierra Leone are going through rough times to secure school materials for their children.

A duffel bag, for example, costs around Le 350,000 now.

The same school bag could be bought Le 80,000 around 2013.

As schools are sure to open September 4, 2023 for yet another academic year, there are deep worries by parents and guardians of students about the high costs on school materials, about the payment of school fees, about meeting school charges, and about the payment of fees for public exams.

The many poor parents in Sierra Leone will soon start to ‘‘feel the pinch” of free education in its absence especially in the areas of school fees and public exams fees.