By Mohamed Vandi
The Minister of State, East, on Tuesday warned heads of schools not to involve pupils into politics.
Speaking to principals of secondary schools at his office in Kenema, William Juana Smith said schools were not meant for political discussion and that such a practice would divert the attention of the learners.
He said elections and political discussions were over, and that principals and headteachers should focus on effective teaching and leaning rather than continuing “unnecessary discussions”. He assured of the commitment of President Ernest Bia Koroma’s government to improve quality education at all levels in this country.
The Inspector of Schools in Kenema, Mustapha Kallon admitted that during the recent political campaigning school pupils were highly involved in politics. He said the school was a “delicate place” of teenagers who could be moved into an “unnecessary action” and therefore politics should not go be allowed to enter schools.
Kallon said that pupils, especially those above eighteen years, had their political right, but added that to take them into the schools was unacceptable.
“There is a lot the pupils have to cover in school and exams are at the corner” he said, adding that this was time for learning and not for “unnecessary talk”.
Principal of Luke’s Commercial Secondary School, Malikie Kamara said that during electioneering process he was able to maintain the pupils and his school continued effective learning throughout that time. He said that he had always warned his teachers not to talk about politicians and politics when they went to teach, an admonition he said they adhered to.
The presence of secondary school pupils at political rallies was glaring in Kenema. And at some point some of them carried placards damning the additional one year to senior secondary education.
One Senior Secondary School three pupil in Kenema, who cannot be named, told Politico that they did not favour the additional year in the school system. He said it was a waste of resources and time and that the government would have instead improved on the salary of teachers, school materials and infrastructure.
© Politico 07/12/2012
