As part of the Ministry of Basic and Senior School Education (MBSSE) deliverables, the Ministry has embarked on phasing out double shift schooling in most schools in the country.
In this regard, The Annie Walsh Memorial School (AWMS), Methodist Girls high School (MGHS), St Joseph Convent School, Ansarul Islam Secondary School, St Francis Secondary School Makeni, among others, will revert to a single shift in this academic year commencing on the September 5, 2022, joining other schools like Freetown Secondary School for Girls (FSSG) that have returned to single shift before now.
According to the Director of School Quality Assurance and Resource Management (SQARM) Madam Francess Kamara, with the double shift students are not receiving the same education as their peers, adding that some double shift school students spend less time in class than their peers and that may lead to reduced knowledge gained.
“Because double shift schools keep students in the classroom for less than the average school day of five or six hours, as opposed to seven hours,” she said.
During a recent meeting with the press, the Minister of Basic and Senior School Education Dr. David Moinina Sengeh stated that many schools have gone to single shift and there are more going single shift.
“There are some schools currently that will take a long time to transition. Schools like United Methodist Church (UMC) School for Girls Circular Road, Government Model Secondary School, among others, are already overpopulated with a limited number of classrooms. Unfortunately, there are no lands to construct more classrooms for these schools,” he said.
He said for some of these schools to return to single shift they have to reduce their enrollment every year.
He stated that in many parts of the country, schools are on a single shift and there are only three districts that are having schools with double shifts with Freetown being the primary one, noting that the Ministry is working assiduously in ensuring that all schools return to single shift as soon as possible.
With funding from Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), construction/rehabilitation of four government schools – Prince of Wales, Government Secondary School Magburaka, Bo school, Government Secondary School Kenema is due to start in October 2022.
By Alimatu Jalloh