By: Ibrahim J. Conteh.
His Excellency the President, Dr. Julius Maada Bio was warmly welcomed home past Sunday after successfully participating in the Global Education Summit in London and a private visit to the Republic of Turkey.
The summit was aimed at raising funds to transform education for millions of vulnerable children in low income countries around the world. During the various engagements and lobby processes by world leaders, $4 billion was raised for the Global Partnership for Education as part of a $5 billion funding projected to contribute to the goal of ensuring quality education for millions of children around the world.
This funding is expected to enable 175 million children to go to school and help get 88 million more girls and boys in school by 2025.
It could be recalled that in August 2018, President Julius Maada Bio launched the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) which is a fulfillment of his manifesto promise that enhances the provision of free admission and tuition to all children in government-approved schools. This is to ensure that education is accessible by every Sierra Leonean child irrespective of background and in the process eliminate the then popular notion that education in Sierra Leone was a privilege and not a right.
This initiative of the President, the Free Quality Education policy has increased the number of pupils in schools to 2.6 million, provision of free text books in the core subjects, school buses and increasing the number of teachers on government payroll.
President Bio, being one of the four African Leaders at the Summit, shared his experiences with his colleagues and other delegates on the current education program in Sierra Leone and urged global leaders to invest more in education.
This action of President Bio has earned Sierra Leone respect at the international stage and the effectiveness and commitment have presented President Bio the opportunity to engage with democratic countries that are poised to ensure a literate world. The President extended his stay after the summit in London during which period he engaged British investors and companies as part of his sustained efforts to promote Serra Leone as an investment destination.
The President later set off from London to Turkey where he held fruitful engagements with His Excellency President Recap Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and potential private sector investors with business interests in Sierra Leone.
The purpose of the visit was to also strengthen the bilateral relations between Turkey and Sierra Leone and to further explore investment opportunities between the two countries.
Sierra Leoneans are of the strongest view that the President’s successful trip to both countries will bring about the much needed results in private sector investment geared towards addressing the menace of youth unemplment and other social vices in the country.
There are high expectations for Sierra Leoneans as President Bio keeps rebranding the country for investment purposes. President Bio’s legacy will stand the test of time and a model that future leaders would continue to emulate
The President received a rousing welcome home by a mammoth crowd of supporters and senior government officials after a successful trip to both countries.