By George M.O. Williams

The British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney on Thursday, March 16, 2023, announced an additional £25 million UK government support for ‘Leh Wi Lan’ Programme in the next five years.

This announcement was made in Freetown following the completion of the first phase of ‘Leh Wi Lan’ Programme which is funded by the UK Aid under the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom.

‘Leh Wi Lan’ was launched in 2016, in a bid to improve learning outcomes, school safety, teaching quality, increase transition and retention of pupils especially girls and children with disabilities. Over the six years period, the programme has being managed by the Cambridge Education and has helped the Government of Sierra Leone to implement policies on Radical Inclusion and Free Quality Education.

In his Keynotes address, Chesney said the new support will improve on the Government’s secondary schools programme in the areas of system strengthening, policy development, learning and consolidating the fantastic achievements of the first phase of the programme.

She added that during implementation of the second phase of the project they will ensure that they build on the lessons learnt across all the focused areas of the project.

Chesney highlighted that the programmes has seen a 354% rise in pupils taking the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Education (WASSCE) in 2021 when compared to 2018; doubled the number of girls enrolled in Secondary School and persons with disabilities since 2017, and many girls completed their secondary school education.

The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Dr. David Sengeh said that the first phase of the ‘Leh Wi Lan’ project is one that the country is proud of because of its impacts and outcomes, which are fundamental on education.

He added that the 22 percent of the government budget on education is not just random but has seen an increase in pass rate, enrollment in schools and universities among other improvements. He said that the implementation of the Free Quality Education programme serves as a yardstick for other countries to emulate.  

The Managing Director of Cambridge Education, Andy Bock said that the closing of the first phase of the programme gives an opportunity for them to learn lessons in the past six years from the program, and then use that as a platform to move into the next programme for the next five years.

He added that they are impressed with the commitment that the ministry and partners has shown towards the programme.