The Big Sister reality TV show, Sierra Leone’s total mood enhancer is back with its nerve-wracking drama. ZedZee Multimedia Consul and Orange SL are pleased to present to you Big Sister Season 2, with the theme No Woman! No Cry. The all-female show registered a huge success in 2018 with a viewership of over 7 million within and beyond the boundaries of Sierra Leone.
The women got endorsement from celebrities across the globe, adding spice to a show that is known to be the first of its kind in the continent. The show brought out typically Sierra Leonean behavior patterns and provided an opportunity for Sierra Leoneans and outsiders to weigh in on them. The theme Ella Koblo Gulama Drama was meant to provide an eloquent reminder of the virtues of an empowered Sierra Leonean woman like Madam Ella Koblo herself.
Big Sister Season 2 is taking the race farther afield, with seven countries, namely Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone providing scouting platforms. 25 women from any part of the globe will be selected in these scouting countries to compete for the cash prize, $50,000.
The show will last for seven weeks, during which every week will see the crowning of a new Mammy Na Power after a leadership struggle called the Madam Yoko Drama. The setting will depict an African ambience, in a way that glosses the continent’s rich heritage. Women of all nationalities may apply, only they would have to audition in person in one of the scouting countries.
Applications and auditions can also be made online and on our Mobile App, especially for applicants from outside the scouting countries.
A host of local and international partners have joined ZedZee and Orange to bring this show to your home screens, radios as well as computers and phones through the Big Sister website and Mobile App. Forms will be sold at Le100,000 or $10 at various locations across the country.
Empowering young women for self-advancement is the impulse behind the Big Sister empowerment show, and Season 2 is meant to propel that energy a little further. The show gives the aspiring women the platform to be seen and be heard, in a way that entertains and educate as much as it empowers.
It inspires the notion that women should stay in the loop despite their material circumstances. No woman should remain condemned to the oppressive conditions of modern day society, hence the theme: No Woman! No Cry.
Big Sister Season 2 will be launched at the Bintumani Conference Centre on 25th October, 2019.
In a special interview with Chinese Ambassador Hu Zhangliang at his Wilberforce Loop office on Monday 30th September 2019, on his country’s 70 National Day celebration told Awoko that it’s a miracle for China to have achieved all what they have in just 70 years, whilst many Western Countries too centuries to reach where they are.
Below is the full interview done by Austin Thomas with Ambassador Hu Zhangliang.
Question: Your Excellency sir, thank you for accepting the interview. October 1st, 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over the past 70 years, China has made remarkable achievements and it can be called a miracle in the history of human development. Your Excellency, could you brief us on some of China’s major achievements?
Answer: China’s achievements over the past 70 years belong to the world and mankind. Over the past 70 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have worked hard to make an unprecedented development miracle happen in human history. China has always been working together with the rest of the world and shouldering its global responsibility. China’s achievements are not only its own; they also belong to the world and mankind.
There are stories of ‘Made-in-China,’ poverty alleviation, national unity, ecological civilization, peaceful development, win-win cooperation, and a community with a shared future for mankind. China will continue to seek happiness for its people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, and strengthen its cooperation with countries worldwide, no matter how the international situation changes.
China will be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order.
Over the past seven decades, the Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups (58) to forge ahead and work tenaciously, promoting the economic progress of the country by leaps and bounds.
Question: You have introduced some of the greatest achievements China has scored. We know that China’s great achievements in the past 70 years cannot be enumerated in just a few minutes. Your Excellency, could you elaborate on the secrets behind China’s great achievements?
Answer: Many people at home and abroad have marveled at China’s industrialization, which took place in the space of just a few decades. They attributed this success to the hard work of China’s people above all else. At the 40th anniversary of the start of China’s reform and opening up policy in December, President Xi said that the achievements made by China over the past four decades “comes from the hard work, wisdom, and courage of all members of the Party and people from all of China’s ethnic groups.”
And in his 2019 New Year message, he summed up China’s progress in developing its economy, protecting its natural environment, improving the people’s livelihood, advancing innovation, and advancing reform and opening up, and stressed once again that China’s successes were due to the hard work of people from all China’s ethnic groups.
We approached our development with steadfast determination, and the world has seen China’s accelerating reform and opening up, and its determination to carry it forward. The struggle of China’s people is aimed at realizing their aspirations for a better life.
In 2018, another 10 million rural residents were raised out of poverty. China reduced the prices of 17 cancer-fighting drugs, and included them on the country’s medical insurance list. Thirteen million people found jobs. Construction began on 5.8 million new homes for people living in dilapidated houses. Many people from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan have resident permits for the mainland, and Hong Kong has been integrated into China’s high-speed railway network.
All of these achievements that President Xi mentioned in his New Year message are vivid examples of the simple truth that “Happiness comes from hard work”, and all are good reasons for China’s people to be proud. China’s achievements over the past four decades are the result of the diligence, wisdom, and courage of innumerable people.
Over the past 70 years, the policy of reform and opening up has combined with the spirit of self-reliance and hard work to achieve something extraordinary. China is ready to run for another 70 years towards its dream of national rejuvenation, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Question: I know that while pursuing its own development, China has also actively supported the development of African countries and other developing countries, including Sierra Leone. Could you brief us on China’s cooperation with Africa and Sierra Leone? How can African countries like Sierra Leone share China’s success better?
Answer: China has a reputation among African countries for being an actor that respects other cultures and states. This view is widely held by many African heads of state.
China’s unconditional cooperation has allowed African governments to enjoy access to finance, expertise and development aid. In 2016, the trade between China and Africa reached $128bn, a drastic surge from$1bn in 1980. At FOCAC in Beijing last year, China offered $60bn for development financing until 2021. While the financial crises in the US and EU limited their investments in Africa, China committed to investing more in the continent.
China has aided African governments to meet their people’s rapidly growing demands for services and infrastructure more quickly. Many people in Africa are now used to quick delivery of services – such as transportation, education, health and telecommunication – by Chinese companies. This has created, and will continue to create, more appetite for Chinese business in Africa.
China is now also engaged in peace and security projects in Africa. Chinese troops participated in eight UN peacekeeping missions of which five are in Africa. Moreover, China is the second largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and it also contributed funding to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the IGAD South Sudan mediation.
China’s history of fast and successful economic growth is a model from which many lessons could be learned in Africa. China’s capacity to ensure policy sovereignty remains relevant, and highly attractive to African leaders and scholars. According to the World Bank, in about 40 years, China has lifted about 800 million people out of poverty through its untraditional path of development. Notably, in 2015, it achieved all the Millennium Development Goals.
Austin Thomas and AmbassadorHu Zhangliang
Question: Over the 70 years of success of China, definitely there must have been challenges, could you explained how you overcame these challenges to make China what it is today?
Answer: China has succeeded in building a peaceful and stable country. But it did not come on a platter of gold but it came with challenges that we had to overcome.
China indeed overcame three significant challenges. It moved from rapid growth to high-quality growth. That will require dealing with the bad loans that helped fuel double-digit growth. The country also found a way to double the size of its middle income population from 400m to 800m to generate domestic demand.
China’s second challenge was to complete its reforms and make state assets, amounting to 200 per cent of gross domestic product, compatible with a market economy. The return on state assets rose by as little as 0.5 per cent, the country was be able to eliminate all personal income tax. The third challenge is most imminent. Beijing learns to lead at a time when the US is confused and paranoid.
The CPC has much to celebrate. In the past few centuries the country has never looked as strong as it does today, a consequence of the four-decade economic boom ushered in by the late leader Deng Xiaoping’s free market reforms and opening-up policy.
In those 40 years, China has witnessed something of an economic miracle Growing annually at an average of 9.5 per cent, its GDP went from 367.9 billion yuan in 1978 to 90 trillion yuan (US$13.18 trillion) last year. Meanwhile, per capita GDP rose from just US$200 in 1979 – when 80 per cent of Chinese lived in absolute poverty in rural areas – to around US$10,000 last year, firmly in middle-income territory.
I would like to express warm congratulations on behalf of the Sierra Leonean media and television audience.
China’s government has stressed that reform and opening up will never stop, and that it will always adhere to a people-oriented approach to development that provides a better life for China’s people.
China is at the crux of reforming, professionalizing, and internationalizing its cultural and creative industries. These industries are at the forefront of China’s move towards the status of a developed country.
China development is still incomplete with risk in the finance sector. Protectionism is a challenge for China. 22 years ago China took over Hong Kong and still certain Western countries are behind the protest as a way of causing problem for China.
Also weather conditions have been a challenge for us, SARS also was a challenge that we had to overcome.
China’s successes have been achieved through hard work, a large country with a nearly 1.4 billion population, China cannot achieve prosperity by asking for assistance and waiting. The only option is hard work.
China relied on the solid and unremitting efforts of generations of Chinese people, and on fulfilling its own responsibility in good times and in adversity, without exporting or shifting problems elsewhere, and without seeking development by trading under coercion or exploiting other countries.
The Awoko family and the media landscape want to extend their felicitation to the Ambassador and peoples of China for celebrating its 70 years celebration.
On Saturday 28th September 2019 the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) officially launched the Roots and Shoots program at its Regent sanctuary outside Freetown.
The aim of the project, founded by the world’s renowned primatologist, Dr. Jane Goodall, who visited Sierra Leone early this year, is to catch pupils young so that they can be interested in the environment as well as protect the country’s National Animal, the chimpanzee.
The first set of beneficiaries of the project is the 38 pupils from the Mountain Rural Secondary School who were taken on a conducted tour of the sanctuary. Two videos on climate change, the environment and protection of the National Animal, the chimpanzee, were screened after which the pupils asked questions that were responded to.
The pupils also staged two plays-boys and girls, on how they plan to initiate action programs in their school and community to protect the environment and in the process mitigate climate change as well as protect the chimps.
The girls won the competition.
Most of the pupils interviewed welcomed the initiative that has given them an insight into the operations of the sanctuary that not only rescues and takes care of chimps but also undertakes research, supports communities with alternative sources of income to prevent them destroying trees and other conservation programs.
The pupils also appealed to the sanctuary to continue the project for the benefit of others.
The project will continue with pupils from other schools who will benefit from visiting the sanctuary to learn more about nature and chimps.
The world renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall created Roots & Shoots 25 years ago with 12 Tanzanian high school students who wanted to tackle urgent environmental issues in their community.
Roots & Shoots groups are now making a positive difference for people, other animals and the environment all around the world. Dr. Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is the youth engagement program of the Jane Goodall Institute and is active in 87 countries. The program inspires and empowers young people to become compassionate leaders who are globally mindful and locally active by guiding them through youth-led, community environment –related projects that help people, other animals and the environment.
On February 2019, Dr. Jane Goodall visited Tacugama and Roots & Shoots programme was official launched in Sierra Leone.
The mission of Roots and Shoots is to empower young people to affect positive change for the environment in their communities: Every individual matters, every individual has a role to play, every individual can help make a difference.
The goal of the Roots and Shoots programme aims to promote in the youth compassion and empathy, leadership skills, inquiry and research skills, critical thinking skills, systems thinking skills, global mindfulness, confidence, respect for diverse perspectives, awareness of local sustainability issues and their root causes, understanding of the interconnectedness of people, other animals and the environment.
The objective of the Roots and Shoots programme is to bring students together from Secondary schools and Universities, and create youth-lead groups to work on understanding and giving possible solutions to environmental and conservation issues by engaging them in proposing fun activities and projects that can help to improve their surroundings and ecosystems.
A lot of young people in schools especially those in high school are believed to spend much of their time in front of screens and on cell phones; they have become disconnected from nature. Engaging students will allow them to connect with nature and learn more on conservation while gaining practical skills that will help them solve the alarming environmental problems in their communities.
Some examples of the possible activities are community mapping, establishing school gardens and further tree planting. Community day (Environmental awareness using posters, movies, community clean up), organizing field trips to National Parks, forest hikes, botanical identification, community beautification, waste management/personal hygiene presentation, school to school sensitization, recycling techniques, cultural activities, movies/painting/music/writing etc), conservation football tournaments and advocacy media approach.
For the implementation of Roots and Shoots projects in schools and communities, a voluntary service from participants is the key. The spirit of Roots and Shoots is volunteering for a better world! Participants are encouraged to assist to make the project a success and school partners are encouraged to support the groups in whatever possible in order to reach the goals. This support can be such as providing material, transport, snacks and access to school grounds or classrooms to the Roots and Shoots School group.
The activities are flexible and can change depending on the new ideas brought by the Roots and Shoots groups.
Tacugama Kids Environmental Programme – (TKEEP) -Tacugama Chimpanzees Sanctuary (TCS) since its inception in 1995 has been working with school children within the Regent community creating a platform for children to learn about nature and wildlife.
The aim of TKEEP is to support environmental education in urban and rural schools. In this regard TCS is a successful model that combines chimpanzee’s protection and environmental education. TKEEP has been successful in both rural and urban schools delivering environmental education using a comprehensive 13 lesson workbook on the environment, wildlife conservation and waste management.
Environmental Days: Each academic term, students participate in tree planting and other hands-on activities to demonstrate their understanding of conservation through dramas, cultural dances and poem recitation.
Wildlife Ambassadors: Wildlife Ambassadors promote leadership amongst students involved in the education programme to go above and beyond conservation in their schools/communities. Two students are voted by their classmates as Wildlife Ambassadors to represent their schools and to implement environmental projects ranging from school gardens, organizing community cleanups, tree nursery establishment, football, drama, and cultural performances.
During 2018-19 school year, TKEEP schools expanded to 14 rural schools and 12 urban primary schools with over 1000 students.
The erudite Honorable Sidie Mohamed Tunis, Leader of Government Business in the Sierra Leone House of Parliament on Monday 30th September 2019 delivered an impressive speech at the Commonwealth ICT and Telecommunications Forum 2019, which took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from Monday 30th September and will end today Wednesday 1st October 2019.
The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Forum is the premier ICT conference of the Commonwealth, senior policymakers, regulators and industry leaders from across the Commonwealth as they gather to examine the most topical issues in the ICT sectors. The discussions focus on policy, regulation, technologies, operations, investment and multilateral cooperation.
Honourable Tunis, who spoke extensively at the first (1st) session of the programme on the theme: “Toward a digital Commonwealth for all” was joined on the panel discussion by several eminent government officials from around the world. These included: Honourable Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service and Communications, Republic of Fiji and Chair of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation; Honourable Mustafa Jabbar, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Division, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Honourable Norah Lute Munsu, Member of Parliament Republic of Namibia; and Peter Blaker, Head of Global Internet Governance, Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sports, United Kingdom.
Dilating on the strives made so far by Sierra Leone towards the enhancement of digitalization in the Commonwealth region, Honourable Tunis said as a nation, Sierra Leone over a year ago launched the Free Quality Education (FQE) Programme with the aim of providing education to all pupils in public schools across the country. He said, therefore, building on that, we are trying to ensure that our learning institutions get free internet facilities. He commended SALCAB for the launching of internet installation in schools across the country.
He said, the FQE Programme resonates perfectly with the theme of digitalization in Commonwealth as that can only be achieved if internet facilities are accessible in schools. He said, Sierra Leone is already along that path and the country must use it.
Furthermore, Mr Tunis spoke about the issue of data protection. He said, Commonwealth is saying that data of citizens must be protected, but forget the fact that not all members of the Commonwealth has the same capacity and capability to protect data. He said for instance, one cannot compare data protection plans in Sierra Leone to that of UK. However, he said for all nations to achieve this, we must first of all work together with the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation which can then capacitate our national regulatory body, the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM).
Meanwhile, Commonwealth ICT and Telecommunications Forum 2019, is geared towards discussions on topics like broadband planning for digital transformation, the changing nature of universal service funds, over-the-top operators, the impact of net neutrality regulations, cyber security, general data protection regulation, blockchain and global opportunities.
The conference focuses on the network with international stakeholders, policymakers, regulators and the private sector, discuss the future of mobile technologies and applications, assess the latest funding and investment opportunities in ICTs across the commonwealth, learn how to implement effective regulatory tools and policies.
Representing Sierra Leone at the Commonwealth ICT and Telecommunications Forum 2019 were the NATCOM Chairman, Mohamed Sheriff; Deputy Director General NATCOM, Daniel B. Kaitibi and the Opposition Whip in the House of Parliament, Hon. Hassan Sesay.
Mr. Ade Adebiyi, CEO and Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Sierra Leone.
By Amin Kef Sesay
The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Sierra Leone Branch, Mr. Ade Adebiyi, has intimated this medium that the Bank is a subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria.
Dilating on the humble beginning of Guaranty Trust Bank he revealed how it started with an initial 42 shareholders and an initial capital of $2 million. “The first two of those shareholders was the pioneer Managing Director and the second was the pioneer Deputy Managing Director. One member of the team that started is the current Group Managing Director, Mr. Segun Agbaje,” he further said.
He noted that the idea of Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria was to create a truly professional organization, kind of like an oasis in a country where things were not being done properly.
The CEO/MD said from the onset, Guaranty Trust Bank Group was set up with the foundation and core values to be based on integrity also disclosing how in 1996, six years after they were listed by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, subsequently after then, because of the business model of the bank, two prominent business schools—one in the UK here, Cranfield Business School, and the other in the United States, Harvard—did several case studies on Guaranty Trust Bank.
He said between 1990 and 2000, things worked very well. “In 2001, we did our initial public offering and also got our universal banking license. Subsequently, without claiming to really say they have understood Nigeria, they started our regional banking expansion,” he added.
The CEO pointed out that at that juncture they thought they were young and could take risks. “But even though we are going to do that, we are going to start with a small English speaking country in order to easier know our mistakes,” he explained saying they decided to settle for The Gambia with a population of 1.2 million population at the time.
According to him the Bank worked very well and subsequently, shortly after, in 2002, they started operations in Sierra Leone to actually take advantage of the economic development in the country.
In 2004, he said they raised additional capital after which they went to Ghana and expanded there.
“We came to UK in 2008. Now, the idea of coming to UK, which was the first subsidiary outside of Africa, was not really to come here to compete with the High Street banks but rather to take advantage of the connectivity between West Africa and the UK. And, so, GTBank (UK) was a mono-branch bank, where they were doing things like trade, correspondent banking and personal banking for the group’s customers that actually commute between Africa and the UK,” he further disclosed.
Mr. Ade Adebiyi said things went pretty well as in 2007 they did their first Euro bond, where they raised $350 million. ‘It was quite successful. Later that year, August 2007, we listed on the London Stock Exchange ,”he also revealed.
He said in 2009, they expanded into Liberia and in 2012 they started with their first francophone country in Cote d’Ivoire. In 2014, subsequently, after completing Anglophone West Africa and one country in Francophone, they started their East African expansion by acquiring a franchise called Fina Bank that had a presence in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
“In 2017, two years ago, we expanded into Tanzania. And so, over the years, that has been the footprint of the group in Africa, with today over 300 offices in Nigeria, Africa, other African countries and in the UK. And I guess the African footprint still continues,” he expressed optimism..
Dilating on the corporate side, the CEO said what they do is that the relationship-management structure is along industry lines. They have a typical structure of telecommunications, aviation, airlines, shipping, and commodities, commercial. He said what happens over time is that a corporate Manager is able to understand the markets deeply because they deal with the same customers in the same industry on a day-to-day basis.
In furtherance of its mandate, the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) through its Social Safety Net Programme has commenced the payment of Cash Transfer to 28,538 households headed by vulnerable women in 506 communities across the country.
With funding from the Government of Sierra Leone and the World Bank, payment commenced on Wednesday, 25th September 2019 in the Western Rural District, targeting 2,666 households with a total of 1.5 billion Leones.
Representing the Commissioner at the Amputee Camp in Grafton, the NaCSA Deputy Commissioner who doubles as the Head of Programmes in the Commission, Dr. Sao-Kpato Hannah Isata Max-Kyne registered her appreciation to the President, His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio for his support to the programme as demonstrated in his engagement with the World Bank for additional funding early this year in Washington.
Dr. Max-Kyne reiterated the importance of this particular payment, noting that the event marks the payment of the final Cash Transfer to exiting beneficiary households while setting the stage for the re-targeting of new beneficiaries within the communities or districts for the next phase of the programme. She congratulated the outgoing beneficiary households, whom she noted were able to utilize the support provided to them during their tenure in the programme.
Dr. Max-Kyne pointed out at instances where some beneficiaries have used their monies to build dwelling houses and in other cases to startup businesses from petty trading ‘falamakit’ to well established ventures. While this payment marks the end for their direct benefit in the cash transfer, she assured them of other NaCSA programmes which if they find themselves eligible will coop them.
Representing the World Bank, Dr. Abu Kargbo affirmed the goals of the Bank, which he noted are to reduce poverty in the world and to support government in promoting the wellbeing of its citizens. “It is the belief of the Bank that every citizen has the right to decent living. To ensure that no one goes to bed hungry, the Bank works with the Government to provide these monies for vulnerable households, which without these supports could not have been able to put food on their tables. These monies are meant to provide for food, basic healthcare services as well as to support in the education of the offspring”, he stressed.
The Rokel Commercial Bank Limited Sierra Leone is the new Payment Service Provider charged with the responsibility to do the cash transfer exercise countrywide. Performing the symbolic payment in one of the pay points, the Managing Director of the Bank, Dr. Crispin Williams expressed delight over the trust bestowed upon his institution and assured all of his staff commitment in following the due process. He further emphasized the need for financial inclusion, which he noted could be of advantage to both the customers and the Bank. “As a bank, we do not only believe in receiving monies and keeping them but to grow the capacity of our customers in order to expand their business horizon”, he assured.
Being the final payment means the money should be used for a remarkable purpose. Madam Fatu Mansaray, a grandma in her late sixties from Grafton Community in the Western Rural has her own plan for this money. As one of the few beneficiaries who could now boast of a reasonable dwelling house and a petty business as a result of the programme, spending the final payment to add on her business as well as on the education of the grandchildren should not be considered wrong.
“I am very grateful to NaCSA for their support so far. This has been my only source of getting money, as no family member could afford to help. Although I am exiting the programme today, I am not leaving without something to point at. For instance, the first One Million Leones I got from this programme was used to change the roof of my house from tarpaulin to iron sheets.
Not only that, I started a petty business which I have managed. So with this final cash of One Million Leones as you could see in my hand, I am going to use part of it on my business while the remaining will go to the education of the grandchildren,” she explained. Like gramma Fatu, every beneficiary has its own individual plan for this money.
The Social Safety Net Programme is one of the biggest projects in NaCSA, aiming at providing unconditional cash transfer to the extreme poor. The Programme, which has already provided unconditional cash transfer to 28,538 beneficiary households in ten districts is expected with the additional funding of USD30, 000,000 (Thirty Million United States Dollars) from the World Bank, to extend to the other outstanding five districts and will target an additional 35,000 new households; making it over 70,000 beneficiary households in the entire country by the end of the Programme.
The founder of Foray Football club in Alikalia Town popularly known as Kuranko London, Alhaji Foray Amara Thoronka, has disclosed that he is willing to support his community’s football club.
He revealed this after coming back from Mecca this year. While many was thinking that after coming from Mecca the young man will not be involved in Soccer anymore, he says that being an Alhaji cannot kill his dream for soccer. Alhaji Foray noted that his aim of founding the football club in 2018 is to promote the young talents in Alikalia Town and Koinadugu district at large.
“I have signed two new players for the team on my arrival, Musa Yanka from Bumbumna and Laurence Kanu from Alikalia Town,” he revealed further noting that if only the players are serious and focus on the game he is ready to finance the team at all times.
He disclosed plans to register the team at the district level going further to encourage the players to pay more attention to football as that might be their career in life.
The team manager of the team, Foray Messi Thoronka, thanked and appreciated the founder for his good initiative saying such is going to help the boys to develop their careers in football. He added that since the establishment of the club they have been participating in several competitions in both Alikalia and outside Alikalia town. He assured the Management of Foray Football Club, the team captain, Sulaiman Koroma, of good performances and victories at all times. He also appealed to others to start promoting sports in the district.
The President of Alikalia Streams United for Social Action [ASUSA] Kallie Kekura Jalloh endorsed the idea of Alhaji Foray Amara Thoronka, maintaining that he has helped in bringing the youths together in the name of sports as that is also one of the aims and objectives of the ASUSA organization in Alikalia Town. He concluded by encouraging the sons of the soil to help develop and promote the town and the district as a whole.
Poor quality teachers have held back Sierra Leone’s educational advancement, many say, since the 1980s when untrained, unqualified so-called teachers looking for fast easy money started to fill our classrooms.
This time of year is filled with reflection for the tens of thousands of learners who have completed WASSCE and woefully failed the exams – this year 96% of them that took the Government sponsored exams.
We have a “vicious” rather than “virtuous” schooling cycle. From analysis of the WASSCE, it is time to properly professionalize the teaching industry, just as it is with lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, nurses, etc.
Look at it this way. 90% and more that took the WASSCE did not pass math or English.
The cause – more than half of the teachers in unregulated schools do not attend school regularly and do not teach the students well when they do because their knowledge levels are far below the level they are supposed to teach.
Given that teacher quality is one of the biggest factors determining the learning outcomes of students, what will it take to improve teacher quality and professionalism in the country?
Numerous suggestions have been floated. But one idea has recently generated particular interest among education departments, statutory bodies, and academia – the introduction of “teacher professional standards”.
These can be broadly defined as a set of common standards that include the professional knowledge, skills and conduct that characterize good teaching.
This is based on the fact that higher expectations for student learning could be accomplished only by higher expectations of teaching quality.
Poor teacher standards are a response to a lack of teacher accountability. This has been identified as a cause of the poor quality of our education.
The basic premise of teacher standards is that if you expect more from teachers, don’t allow them into the classroom until they’ve met a basic set of criteria, and hold them to account if they fall short, then the quality of teachers will improve.
There are standards that professionalize teaching and standards that manage teachers, while standards which professionalize create cultures of collegiality, expertise and pride among teachers.
Yet management standards are often mistaken for professional standards. When this happens, teacher morale drops.
The quality of a nation’s teachers cannot be divorced from the quality of its learners exiting schools.
This is because successive cohorts of learners’ progress through school, enter university as student teachers, and graduate as teachers where they nurture the next cohort through the cycle. The end of school is therefore the beginning of higher education.
In a virtuous schooling cycle, such as Finland, education is a desirable career choice for top graduates. This allows for competitive entry requirements for teacher education programs, which in turn allows for rigorous and challenging courses. This, in turn, produces high quality teachers who improve learner outcomes. The quality and professionalism of the teachers nurtures the next generation of high-quality teacher trainees.
In a virtuous cycle the system can afford to set standards that reflect the best professional knowledge internationally. Initial teacher education is intensive and teachers exit the programs with high levels of subject and pedagogical knowledge. As a result, their learners perform well and the school system enjoys a high level of public esteem.
Consequently teaching is a prestigious and attractive profession which recruits the brightest and most motivated school graduates, who don’t require continual monitoring and oversight. Teachers instead enjoy professional autonomy; they are trusted in key decisions about their teaching and professional development.
On the part of the teachers, they maintain that inferior salary, late payment of salaries, no allowances, very few incentives and motivation to stay loyal to the profession, many unpaid, untrained, unqualified community teachers, unprofessional school heads that are only interested in the monies they receive or collect are some of the key reasons why teachers fail to deliver quality education.
In New York City, US on 30th September 2019 the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and Sherbro Alliance Partners announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership for the development of a new charter city, Sherbro Island City, located on Sherbro Island on the southern coast of Sierra Leone.
It has been estimated that Sherbro Island City will serve as an engine of economic growth for Sierra Leone and the surrounding West Africa region. Operated under an investment and legal regime designed to attract and protect long-term investment, Sherbro Island City will develop a diversified services and manufacturing economy that creates job opportunities for Sierra Leoneans and attract new capabilities to the region. The project will integrate efficient infrastructure with transparent and effective governance, supported by the intelligent application of smart technology.
Leveraging the natural beauty, Sherbro Island City’s economy is expected to be initially driven by tourism, with projects developed and constructed with respect for the island’s biodiversity. Early pilot projects for agricultural products and services and aquaculture farms are also under consideration.
The Sherbro Island City project is structured as a public private partnership between the GoSL and Sherbro Alliance Partners, a company resulting from the vision of Idris Elba and Siaka Stevens. Mr. Elba and Mr. Stevens are supported in this effort by a deeply experienced international team.
The GoSL has entered into this partnership not only to accelerate economic development of the country but also to give confidence to foreign investors that Sierra Leone is a premier investment destination. Commenting on the project, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio, who witnessed the signing ceremony, said: “We believe that Sherbro Island City will be an economic engine for our country and neighbors. It will also demonstrate our ability to partner in a large-scale project with transparency, integrity and support us in rebranding our country.”
Mr. Elba is well known by many as a global actor, producer, musician, and humanitarian and has long harbored the intent to support the creation of a vehicle with the potential to have a transformative impact in his father’s homeland of Sierra Leone. “My commitment to Sherbro Island City is driven by a desire to make a difference, but to do so in a fashion which produces tangible benefits for West Africans that may be sustained over the long-term,” Mr. Elba said. Mr. Stevens is the co-founder of the Sherbro Island City project and from a long established Sierra Leone family.
During the signing ceremony, GoSL was represented by Honourable Nabeel Farida Tunis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Sherbro Alliance Partners was represented by Idris Elba and Siaka Stevens.
A civil society organization, Health Network on Health and Human Rights, which is championing advocacy against alcohol abuse on Friday 27th September 2019 convened a press conference to discuss issues relating to ‘World No Alcohol Day’ celebrated on 2nd October 2019. The event took place at 89 Fort Street in Freetown.
Robert Kondema Kargbo, Head of the CSO said most deaths in the country are related to alcohol intake citing drunk driving as an instance further pointing out that some of the accidents that occurred as a result of alcohol intake led to maiming of limbs.
He further dilated on the negative economic implications of accidents resulting from drinking on the families and the country as a whole. Kondema disclosed that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 2.5 million deaths are alcohol related and 320,000 of these are people between the ages of 15 – 29 years.
He informed how alcohol is the third leading cause of poor health around the world.
“Health Network Sierra Leone is on a campaign to reinforce the social norms that people below 18 years are not allowed to drink alcohol and further raise awareness over the negative results of drinking,” he underscored.
According to him the institution notes that alcohol has psychological and physical effects on consumers and frequent drinking can lead to alcoholism.
“It is because of the threat posed to the health of nations that the World Health Organization (WHO) is advocating for the reduction of the abuse of alcohol across the world,” he stated pointing out how in 2008, during the World Health Assembly (WHA) held in Geneva, Switzerland, a proposal was made by India for a global alcohol-free-day to draw attention to the health risks associated with alcohol abuse.
Though this day was not officially declared by member states, they have been observing that day ever since, he said.
In respect of their campaign against abuse of alcohol, the HN-SL proposed several recommendations for action by the Government as follows: * Government to implement laws to prevent alcohol abuse and alcoholism, * To prohibit the sale of alcohol to anyone under the age of 18,
* Review of the licensing act and other regulations on alcohol use,
* Preventing harmful alcohol consumption,
* Preventing young people from becoming psychologically or physically dependent on alcohol.
* The contents of the alcoholic products produced needs to be assessed and maintain standards that will not affect the health of the population and this is where the Standards Bureau will actively come in to provide technical support.
* To discourage the advertisement of alcohol on media and public places.
* To authorize and reinforce harmful pictures on the bottles and containers of alcohol.
According to Kondema they are of the strongest conviction that if the following recommendations are implemented or adhered to there will be a marked reduction in the harmful use of alcohol, crime rate, and domestic violence and traffic accidents culminating in resultant better health conditions for citizens.
Representatives of other relevant stakeholders made salient contributions during the media engagement.
A question and answer session climaxed the press conference.
