Prof. Wurie Admonishes USL Graduands to Be Drivers of National Transformation

The Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie, has urged graduands of the University of Sierra Leone-USL (Class of 2021) to uphold a sense of creative thinking and innovation upon graduation in a bid to enhance national transformation. The graduation ceremony occurred on the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th of April 2022 for the three constituent campuses of USL, vis-à-vis College of Medicine and Allied Health Science (CoMAHS), Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), and FBC respectively at FBC's Amphitheatre.

Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie urged the graduands to be in a position to change the educational landscape for the overriding benefit of the country, adding that they should be creative enough to come out with problem-solving techniques along with communication and innovation. He encouraged the graduands to fully participate in the activities of the University Alumni Association, especially in creating an endowment fund for the University. He mentioned the rapid growth in the number of students accessing university education on a yearly basis, which according to him precipitated the establishment of more public universities in the country. "There is a larger number of students passing the WASSCE every year; this indicates that if we had stayed with just the three public universities that we had in the past, Sierra Leone would not be able to serve you all," he said. He expressed Government's commitment to ensuring that tertiary education is effectively managed. Prof. Wurie entreated the graduands to serve as role models of the University. "Without you we have no Sierra Leone. It is the human capital that we can build up in Sierra Leone to make us do well as a country. You are the privileged one percent that has acquired higher education in this country," he said. He congratulated Dr. Sampha Koroma for attaining the height of Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, and further commended H.E President Bio for giving a substantial bump in the emolument of academic staff in the University of Sierra Leone.

The Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Mr. Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara, assured the graduands that their dreams and aspirations will soon come to reality, given that the University of Sierra Leone has adequately prepared them to face the challenges ahead. He urged them to serve exemplarily as Ambassadors of the University and do it with distinction, adding that they should be patriotic enough to serve Sierra Leone with integrity, commitment, self-discipline and the zest to deliver substance. "It is great to be right, but also okay to be wrong and be open to new learning opportunities and innovation; this way you can enrich your knowledge and maximize your potential to contribute to the good of society," he said. He further commended H.E President Julius Maada Bio for prioritizing human capital development (particularly education) and striving with sound vision to ensure Sierra Leone becomes a middle-income country by 2039. He acknowledged Ing. Tunde Cole for constructing and donating a multi-purpose building from his personal funds as well as ensuring that Fourah Bay College (FBC) Alumni is allocated with one floor to run its affairs. Mr. Aziz-Kamara commended parents, guardians, sponsors and well-wishers for their support to the fine crop of Sierra Leoneans through university, helping them fulfill their dreams. He finally thanked Dr. Sampha Koroma for accepting to serve as Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, following President Bio's relinquishment of the role of Chancellor as per the Universities Act 2021.

The Chancellor of University of Sierra Leone (USL), Dr. Sampha Koroma, captioned his address to the house of congregation as "the immediate concerns of USL," vis-à-vis:

• Lack of a deep and sustainable source of independent funding
• Academic integrity
• Corporate governance
• And public perception and legitimacy of the university

According to Dr. Sampha Koroma, USL being a public university is primarily funded by the Government, and the Universities Act 2021 creates provision regarding the sources of funding for all public universities. However, he noted that such does not preclude universities from sourcing funding in other organizations or developing other funding models that could assist the universities in their operations. Dr. Koroma mentioned that one such sustainable funding is through the establishment of an "endowment fund," which is a vehicle used by most universities in the developed world to fund universities. He implored the alumni members to put forth the idea of a USL endowment fund whereby all graduands of the constituent colleges of USL can contribute a certain amount, which will allow the university to become financially buoyant to effectively fund its programmes and activities. With regards academic integrity, he noted that robust methods must be maintained for lecturers to fulfill their teaching appointments, adding that the University must augment a system in place to upgrade its courses to reach global trends in university education. He also admonished that University Administration to make efforts in ensuring that the number of students admitted is proportionate to the available resources of the institution.

USL's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Foday Sahr, said that his administration has embarked on a plethora transformational interventions and operational innovations geared towards addressing the university's needs and responding to it challenges. With regards quality management and strategic planning, he disclosed that his administration in 2019 decided to transform the University Recycle and Development Center to a Quality Assurance and Strategic Planning Directorate, which ensures that quality assurance is embedded in all of the universities' practices and processes through its learning framework. He also mentioned that USL is in partnership with several institutions for its staff to pursue PhD programmes, and positive responses have been received from a number of them in the sub region and beyond, adding that the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education in addition is regularly providing the University with available resources for postgraduate training to complement the University's efforts in building the capacity of its staff. The Vice Chancellor also intimated the congregation that the University has embarked on a number of infrastructural developments with internally generated funds and some through the goodwill of well-meaning Sierra Leoneans, ranging from the renovation of the Adult Education Building, the extension of the existing College Hospital, the construction of the Disability Friendly Centre, to the rehabilitation of the FBC Rehabilitation Center. Prof. Foday Sahr noted that the USL ICT portal has also been launched to handle students' information and activities from application to graduation.