Magburaka Secondary School for Boys, Tonkolili district, Wednesday 21 June 2023 – His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has turned the sod for the construction of six new buildings and the rehabilitation of 40 existing school buildings at the Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys in Magburaka, one of the oldest secondary schools in Sierra Leone.
The Education Sector Support Project, ESSP, is being implemented by the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. It is a $68 million project that has been funded by the Government of Sierra Leone, the African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Saudi Fund for Development, the Skills Development Fund Sierra Leone and is expected to be completed within twelve months.
The President thanked the founders and the administration of the great school for keeping their values, adding although a small number of Sierra Leoneans might not be happy about what his government had achieved in just five years, but under the circumstances, they should be happy for the level of commitment and the raw desire of his government and other committed citizens to want to change the narratives.
“As a government, we don’t have money, but we have done so much, from re-branding the image of an austerity-stricken Sierra Leone to an enviable country, including going back to the Security Council after over 50 years. This is demonstrating that we have an exceptional case because a total of 188 out of 192 countries voted for Sierra Leone.
“The biggest mistake we will make as a government and as a nation is when we fail to invest in our children. They are our future. They are going to be medical doctors, politicians, engineers, teachers, presidents, lawyers, judges, ministers and journalists. We need to change our thinking around colour and political parties. We need to teach them patriotism and not hate and bad politics,” the President advised.
President Bio said his focus was on developing the human capital of citizens, which, according to him, was the most important investment any nation could embark on. He added that his government was working toward ensuring that there was nothing like indiscriminate development, noting that Tonkolili did not vote for him that much in 2018, but assured them that he was the President of Sierra Leone, who believed that development should be reflected in all districts and regions.
Board Chairman for the Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys, Ahmed Wurie, said he started his schooling there, served as senior prefect and taught for a year before traveling out of the country. He said they were happy about President Bio’s Free Quality Education programme, which was producing positive results across the country.
“His Excellency, when we went around, I used to ask parents if their children were being asked out of school for non-payment of fees, but their answer had been quite refreshing because of your intervention. This is a very good achievement. We are assured that, with you as our President, education will forever continue to grow and will have a positive impact on our country.
“Magburaka Boys School will always remember you. This is the school where the former president attended, and the former minister of education attended this school too. But for the past eleven years, they have done nothing for our school. So, if you are doing such laudable development for us here at Magburaka Boys School in Tonkolili, which you could have taken to the great Bo School, your alma mater, we must thank you very much, sir,” he stated.
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