UN Resident Coordinator mobilises support for Higher Education

United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) in Sierra Leone, Babatunde Ahonsi, PhD, has elicited the support of development partners towards the prioritisation of technical and higher education in Sierra Leone as aligned to the Medium-Term National Development Plan.

Today, at the Milton Margai College of Education—Goderich Campus, Mr Ahonsi will be joined by the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation, the World Bank Country Manager, African Development Bank Country Director, the Second Secretary at the Embassy of Ireland, GiZ Country Director and representatives of USAID and the British Council to participate in the event to publicly present and launch the report of the Needs Assessment Survey of Higher Education Institutions in Sierra Leone. The event will afford key stakeholders the opportunity to discuss what needs to be done to reposition tertiary education as a driver of economic transformation and social progress in Sierra Leone.

Launching the report will be the Minister of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE), Professor Alpha Wurie. Mr Ahonsi, himself a former academic, will chair the first session of the event which will include a presentation of the four clusters of the report and an action plan.

In addition, Professors Jonas Redwood Sawyer, Abdullah Mansaray, and the deputy minister- MTHE, Mr Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara will each be moderating a panel on assuring quality in technical and higher education, building a resilient higher education ecosystem, and sustainable resource mobilisation for higher education institutions, respectively.

The event is organised by Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). TEC Chair Professor Aliyageen Mohamed Alghali stated that the recommendations in the Needs Assessment Report are in line with national and international benchmarks. It also serves as a strategic framework that aims to deliver on set goals for inclusive and sustainable development.

Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019-2023 places a premium on free quality school education programme, a strategic priority to provide a solid base to enhance human capital development and facilitate the transformation of the economy.

This priority is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all. According to the UN RC, “It is important to squarely place higher education on the public policy agenda”.

The report also gives a fair appraisal of the existing situation and what is needed for the transformation of the higher education institutions in Sierra Leone.