By Politico staff writer
The Government of Sierra Leone is set to expand the school feeding programme to more Chiefdoms, through the 22 percent budget allocation to education from the Ministry of Finance.
This was disclosed during the reading of the Appropriation Act 2023 in Parliament last Friday.
The Minister of Finance, Dennis K. Vandi referred to the Appropriation Act 2023 bill as one to authorize expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the services of Sierra Leone for 2023. He noted that, Government has allocated a total of NLe2.1 billion (two billion, one hundred thousand New Leones) to the education sector which he said accounted for 22 percent of the total discretionary budget to support basic, secondary, higher and TVET education.
“This amount includes NLe887.7 million (eight hundred and eighty seven million, seven hundred thousand New Leones) as salaries for teachers and NLe347.3 million (three hundred and forty seven million, three hundred thousand New Leones) as salaries for employees of tertiary education institutions,” he said.
He reiterated that, an amount of NLe137.6 million (one hundred and thirty seven million, six hundred thousand New Leones) from the recurrent budget has been allocated to the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE) and NLe34.9 million (thirty four million, nine hundred thousand New Leones) to the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). He added that, they have also allocated an amount of NLE 3.5 million (three million, five hundred thousand New Leones) to the Teaching Service Commission and NLE 6.0 million (six million New Leones) to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC. He further said that, transfers to local councils for devolved education services will amount to NLe17.1 million (seventeen million, one hundred thousand New Leones.
The Finance Minister reaffirmed that an amount of NLE 476.7 million (four hundred and seventy six million, seven hundred thousand New Leones) from the domestic capital budget has been allocated to the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) Programme for the provision of teaching and learning materials, payment of school fee subsidies and other activities. He also said that, an additional NLE 32.3 million (thirty two million, three hundred thousand New Leones) from the domestic capital budget, has been transferred to local councils for NPSE and BECE examination fees.
“An amount of NLe42.2 million is also allocated to the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, of which NLe30.0 million is for the clearance of Grant-in-Aid arrears to Tertiary Education Institutions,” he stated.
He pointed out that, Development Partners will disburse NLe534.6 million (five hundred and thirty four million, six hundred thousand New Leones) to support the implementation of various basic and secondary education projects. He also said that, the sum of NLe526.3 million (five hundred and twenty six million, three hundred thousand New Leones) will also be provided by partners for the implementation of projects in higher and technical education.
M Vandi stated that government through its partners will continue other targeted investments in education infrastructure by equipping additional schools with science laboratories and libraries, connecting an initial pilot of about 136 schools to the internet through Project Giga.
He said, the government will continue its intentional efforts to support the education of the girl child and the implementation of the Radical Inclusion Policy; and continue to leverage science, technology and innovation in the education sector and implement Phase II of the Education Innovation Challenge (EIC).
“Government will continue to support the FQSE programme, strengthening technical and higher education, improving primary health care and expanding social safety nets to mitigate the impact of the crises on the vulnerable population,” he said.
According to the Minister, since 2018, Government has spent NLe4.1 billion (four billion, one hundred thousand New Leones) on basic education and mobilized more than US$140.0 million (one hundred and forty billion dollars) for the education sector. He noted that, the outcomes at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels are increased enrolment, transition and completion rates.
He said government has mobilized additional financing of US$12.0 million (twelve million dollars) from the World Bank for the Free Education Project to scale up interventions under the FQSE Programme, including the school feeding programme and hygiene pads for girls.
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