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Background:
Approximately 80% of Sierra Leone’s population is
illiterate. After a 10 year civil war, a peace treaty was
signed in January 2003 between the government and the rebels,
and the process of demobilisation and disarmament took
place. Since then the country has become increasingly
stable politically, elections have been held and
displaced persons have returned to their homes.
The work of rebuilding this beautiful but ravaged
country is now slowly taking place, with the help of the
international community. One of the most important ways
to help rebuild and to plan for the future is to improve
basic education. Many schools were destroyed during the
civil war and some children have missed out on years of
primary education.
Education in Kambia
Kambia district is situated in the north west of
Sierra Leone, about 90 miles from the capital, Free
Town. Kambia town has had links with Cheltenham dating
back to 1992, when a link was set up between the hospital
in Kambia and the Cheltenham General Hospital. This resulted in
the Kambia Hospital Appeal being set up as a charity,
with the aim of improving the quality of health care in
the district. The link still exists and the charity is
currently raising funds to help equip the reconstructed
hospital and to improve maternal and child healthcare.
Kambia has five primary schools and two secondary
schools. Primary education begins at six years and
finishes at 12. Children must pass an end of school exam
in order to obtain a place at secondary school.
Unfortunately, not all children benefit from secondary
education even if they pass the exam, due to lack of
funds.
Kambia District Education Committee (KDEC) Primary
School provides an example of the kind of conditions
which teachers are working under. Unlike some other schools in
the district, the actual building was left untouched
during the war although books, records and other
resources were destroyed. In January 2004, there
were 987 children on roll,
with six classes and a recently established pre-school
of 60 children. Classrooms are built round three sides
of a rectangular playground and equipped with wooden
desks, benches and a blackboard. The ratio of teacher
per child can be as many as 1:75. Teaching is very much
‘talk and chalk’ and there is a dearth of text
books, writing materials and paper. Lessons are
conducted in English.
Establishing links with schools in
the UK:
In November 2003 I visited Kambia with members of the
Kambia Hospital Appeal. As a teacher, I was interested to
see some schools and met up with Mrs Fatu Bangura, who
works in the Kambia Inspectorate Office. As I understood
it, her role is similar to an LEA adviser in this county.
She took me round Kambia District Education Committee
Primary School and I was able to meet the headmaster, Mr
Swaray, and see conditions for myself. He told me about
some of the terrible things that had happened to the
occupants of the town during the war and how, as a result,
there were many orphaned children, now living with
relatives. He described how teachers are working for a
very small wage with limited resources and how the
school desperately needs basic materials such as English
grammar books, dictionaries and maths primers. He and
Mrs Bangura are very keen to set up a link with a
primary school in the UK. Links of this kind have
already been established in other areas and teachers
involved have reported that this has had benefits for
both parties. Whilst one cannot deny that Kambia schools
are in need of resources and would benefit from anything
that could be sent out, establishing a link would enable
children in both schools to gain an insight into how
others live and learn.
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