Op-Ed By British High Commissioner Simon Mustard
Today marks the 100 days countdown to the Global Education Summit which will take place in London from 28-29 July 2021.
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has long championed girls’ education and has put it at the heart of our G7 presidency, allowing the transformative power of girls’ education to get the profile it deserves. In July, the UK, alongside Kenya, is co-hosting the Global Education Summit to urge world leaders to invest in getting children into school, and increasing access to quality education for girls.
Here in Sierra Leone, President Bio has been pivotal in placing human capital at the centre of the Government’s agenda, spreading a vision of inclusive national development through education. I am pleased that President Bio and Minister Sengeh will be attending the summit and Cabinet has recently approved the Radical Inclusion policy for schools. This policy will help remove the barriers that have prevented the most disadvantaged children from going to school, and support girls and children with disabilities to not only access learning, but to complete their education. Education can transform the fortunes of not just individual women and girls, but whole societies and nations.
A child whose mother can read is 50 per cent more likely to live past the age of five, twice as likely to attend school themselves, and 50 per cent more likely to get vital childhood vaccinations. If every girl in the world went to secondary school, infant mortality could be cut in half, saving three million lives every year.
Girls’ education enables women to choose if, when and how many children they want. If all girls had a secondary education, globally teenage pregnancy could fall by 60 per cent.
Girls with no education are three times as likely to marry by 18 as those with a secondary or higher education. With just one additional school year, a woman’s earnings can increase by a fifth.
We have been working in partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone to ensure success of the Government’s flagship programme of Free Quality School Education (FQSE), dedicated to increasing access to quality pre-primary, primary and secondary schooling so that all children can complete a basic education. The British High Commission supports this ambition through our national education programme, Leh Wi Lan, which supports secondary school students across Sierra Leone to be safe and learning in school.
With 100 days to go before the Global Education Summit. I am raising my hand for education because every girl deserves to decide her own future, and education is key to achieving that.
Minister for Basic and Senior Secondary Education David Sengeh:
I raise my hand for education. I raise my hand for inclusive education. I raise my hand so that every child – and in particular girls – can access, stay in, and complete their education in a safe and enabling environment.
As a Board Member of the Global Partnership for Education, Sierra Leone has been playing an important role in the build-up to the Girls Education Summit co-hosted by the UK and Kenya. We have led and participated in global discussions on girl’s education; and advocated for the need of continuous learning in the face of COVID-19 school closures and the ultimate safe school reopening. We do this because the country’s National Development Plan titled “Education for Development” places human capital development at its heart, central to which are the Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 5 (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment).
We call on donor member countries to contribute generously in this GPE financing campaign. Sierra Leone is a country that leads by example – we have expanded our education budget and financing every year over the last three years. The increased financing targets expanding enrolment through our policy of universal and accessible education. Furthermore, we have invested in hiring more qualified and trained teachers, constructing safer classrooms and schools, are implementing school feeding programs, and are developing new curricular materials relevant for the 21st century.
Investments in non-formal and adult education have also expanded learning and literacy centers right across Sierra Leone. We believe that an investment in education now is our only guaranteed hope of addressing our most intractable global problems including climate change, terrorism, illegal migration, world poverty, and pandemics.
My Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has also championed several transformational policies. The recent Policy on Radical Inclusion in Schools guarantees education for all children specifically targeting four groups: i. girls, pregnant school girls and parent learners; ii. children from poor and vulnerable backgrounds; iii. children from rural and remote areas; and iv. children with disabilities. The Early Childhood Education and Development policy for the first time adds at least one year of formal preschool to the educational system in Sierra Leone.
Globally, Sierra Leone recently became the first country to start the implementation of the UN-led Education Plus Initiative, and is a member of the World Bank’s ‘Accelerator Program’ to improve global foundational learning. In addition, I Chair the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report who’s 2020 report focused on inclusion (#AllMeansAll).
These efforts are all part of our commitment to champion His Excellency President Bio’s flagship program of Free Quality School Education for all children in Sierra Leone. We believe more can always be done to support global education and as we start accelerating towards the SDG 4 goals. We can only reimagine education through better and effective global partnerships. This is our commitment to the Global Partnership for Education.
