By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Sierra Leone Teaching Service Commission (SLTSC) has validated a new Code of Conduct for teachers which is expected to come into force next academic year.
Officials at the Commission said the new code, which is a revised version of the existing Code, is geared towards increasing efficiency and promoting professionalism in the teaching profession.
Director, Teacher –Employee Relations, SLTSC, Princess Mattia, told Politico that the reviewed Code was designed to match with current laws and regulations of the country.
“The existing code is almost ten years [old], which means some of the policies or principles within the code are obsolete. There is a need for us to review it so that we can match up to the current laws and regulations that govern labour in Sierra Leone, including our teachers,” she said.
Ms Mattia added that the revised Code also takes into consideration laws like the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, Child Rights Act, Persons with Disability Act, Sexual Offences Act and the Education Act.
SLTSC was established by an Act of Parliament in 2011 to manage the affairs of teachers in order to improve their professional status and economic well-being. The review of the Code is one of its numerous functions.
This review process started since the inception of the Free Quality Education programme, entailing a wide range of consultation among education stakeholders. The validation exercise on October 31st marked the end of the process.
The new Code will be reviewed every three years, according to the Commission. And officials say they are hoping to finalize some details in it before the end of the year, before they embark on popularizing it in 2020 and subsequently enforcing it the same year.
The previous Code had five principles, while the new Code adds two more to the count.
Some of these principles are - Effective and Efficient Service Delivery, Commitment to the Profession, Effective and Efficient Management of School Resources. School Environment and Work Ethics were previously combined as one principle, but in the new Code they are separated.
Reporting Channel for Unethical Conducts and Enforcement Procedures of the Code of Conduct are the two new principles that have been added.
The new Code, for the first time, also contains provisions for teachers in pre-school.
Ibrahim Sheriff, Communication Specialist in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, explained that the review process formed part of the requirement in enhancing the Free Quality School Education (FQE) scheme.
“As a ministry, we have to ensure that we fulfill that requirement and the requirement falls within the confines of the component of the FQE. We have four components which are access, equity and completion, quality and relevance, component of integrity and system strengthening. We have to ensure that all of these core components are respected, implemented and observed according to the education policy,” Sherriff said in an interview.
He went on: “From the ministry’s perspective we are telling the teachers about this Code because we believe that it is important to uphold that quality component in the FQE.”
For school authorities like Jande A. Kenneh, it is important that provisions for a reporting channel against teachers have been established in the new code.
Ms Kanneh, who is the Head Teacher at the Forum for Africa Women Educationalist (FAWE) school in Freetown, said with the inclusion of reporting channel, the relevant authorities must ensure action is taken where and whenever necessary.
“If we have somewhere to report now, I am happy. But again when someone report, action should be taken because if somebody report and no action is taken he or she will not report again. At the end if there is no action taken against teachers they will continue to sexually harass children and keep them out of school,” she told Politico.
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