By Mohamed Vandi in Kenema
The Deputy Director of Education in Kenema District, Claudius Wilson says there are many illegal schools operating in every part of the country.
Speaking to Politico, he described the situation as an “ugly development” that had impeded quality education in the country. He said the Ministry of Education in the District was prepared to close down all schools operating without the knowledge and approval of the Ministry.
He said that before a school was established his Ministry would first look into all the processes of legality before giving approval to operate and pointed out that during the normal inspection tour in the district he had observed that there were more than two schools in some tiny villages. He said most of those schools did not have trained and qualified teachers and that the entire school population did not exceed 30 pupils.
The Deputy Director of Education said that in Hanga Town, Nongowa Chiefdom, he recorded a total of 32 pupils in Jackson Methodist Junior Secondary School and 25 pupils in Al-Qudus Junior Secondary School in the same town. He said those two schools lacked trained and qualified teachers and there was need therefore to merge the two schools.
There have been concerns from varied quarters over what they say is the declining standard of education. Following a probe into the poor performance in public examinations, a fourth year was added to secondary education which started this year.
