Education Committee probes heads of schools

The Parliamentary Committee on Basic and Senior School Education (MBSSE) has commenced
probing into the finances and expenditures of Government and Government Assistant Schools
across the Western Area in Freetown. According to the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Mohamed
Billoh Shaw, the probing was to look into the management of schools, especially schools that receive subsidies from the government. The probing was held on Friday 20 May in Committee Room One, Parliament Building in Freetown.

Addressing heads of schools, the Committee Chairman emphasized the needs of the probing,
stating that most times principals of schools complained of late disbursement of schools subsidies but however, as a Committee, they have realized that the management of school subsidies is most misappropriated. He reiterated that as a Committee, they have the responsibility to probe and investigate the activities of Government and Government Assistant Schools to know if they have been judicially spending the subsidies well.

“I am standing down some schools for not producing required documents requested by us. Because one time I have realized in all these investigations is that most of these schools have no locust standing to talk to us. We have also realized that there are so many vacancies of bursars at Government and Government Assistant Schools across the country” he said. Hon. Mohamed Billoh Shaw emphasized on the importance of engagement. He said the engagement was also to look at documents presented to them and listen to the concerns of the schools on their challenges, adding that after their findings, they would recommend to the Ministry of Education for actions to be taken.

Explaining their challenges, one of the principals, Mustapha Murray of the Ansural Islamic Secondary School, Devil Hole in Freetown, explained that most times they received school subsidies late, and added that their developmental activities in school are not achieved. He continued to explain that the disbursement of school subsidies were very challenging, informing that the issue of replacement of teachers is causing serious problems with the implementation of free quality education.

Mustapha Murray, therefore, called on the Committee to make it known to the Education Ministry of some of the challenges they faced as schools. He said if the free quality education is to succeed, teachers should be the drivers, stating that as it stands now, “there are a good number of schools that have challenges, conditions of service, replacement of teachers that have retired and recruitment of teachers” he said. In his statement, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Hon. Amara
Kaisamba, asked the Committee to make an unannounced visit to most of the schools to get first-hand information. According to the Finance Committee Chairman, most of the information given by heads of schools is not “correct” on how they have been spending monies given to them by the government.

He advised that the Chairman of the Committee on MBSSE should know that whenever they have engagement with heads of schools, they should involve the Education Ministry so that most of the revelation is done by the school authorities; they would be in a better place to respond. During the probing, one of the issues that came up was that, most of the schools do not have bursars in their schools and that they have retired the principals were playing the roles of bursars, who signed disbursement of school subsidies without the involvement of bursars.

By Mohamed Amara Gando