Enumerators and supervisors contracted by Stats SL have today taken to the field for the evaluation of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) Survey across the country.
The survey which is funded by the World Bank, will primarily focus on gauging the teaching and learning materials, teachers, welfare and school infrastructure and will cover all government and government assisted schools across the country.
Prior to the field staff taking to the field, Stats SL had concluded some 3 days training workshop on data collection using tablets for the Free Quality School Education survey for 106 field staff from 27th – 29th February 2023 in Freetown.
At that training, the Director of National Statistical System under whose division the survey sits said that the survey will be independent in order to assess how the Free Quality School Education had impacted the educational sector nationwide.
He concluded by assuring the general public that Stats SL will be collecting credible data that will be used in policy making and to clearly show how the FQSE has performed in the last 5 years.
Abdul S. Bakarr, a statistician at the Ministry of Basic Education who spoke on behalf of his ministry said that the government of Sierra Leone has made tremendous efforts towards improving education nationwide. He said the FQSE Programme seeks to increase access to quality education by providing a positive and conducive learning environment for school-going children under the supervision of trained and qualified teachers with adequate teaching and learning resources.
He also cited the packages in the scheme including the payment of school and admission fees from Pre-school to Senior Secondary School for pupils in Government and Government assisted schools, payment of examination fees for pupils taking public exams (NPSE, BECE and WASSCE), provision of textbooks in core subjects, provision of teaching and learning materials including exercise books, and provision of School Feeding to deprived communities across the country.
The Acting Statistician General, Lansana Kanneh, who served in the stead of the outgoing SG, Prof Osman Sankoh who had been out of country alongside the incoming SG Andrew Johnny, thanked all trainees.
He warned contracted staff that are in the habit of subcontracting survey work to other people to desist forthwith as the law will be applied to the letter. He concluded by admonishing all enumerators to take the FQSE survey seriously since it the flagship programme of the government of Sierra Leone which lots of resources have gone into.
The Free Quality School Education (FQSE) program in Sierra Leone was launched in August 2018 as a strategy for human capital development, as described under the SDG4 “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The government of Sierra Leone, having prioritized education, increased an initially allocated amount of 15% of the country’s annual budget to 21% in 2018 in support of the FQSE program. This was meant to address educational challenges in government and government assisted schools across the country
