In a meeting held on 30th March, 2021, at the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education's Conference Room, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Gilbert Cooper, officially received Final Project Reports and all relevant documents pertaining to the Science Curriculum Project and the Teacher Licensure Examination.
The presentations and handing over of the documents came as a result of robust commitment of both National and International Consultants to the development of the project.
With a clear focus of enhancing Sierra Leone's teaching profession, these two projects started after the Ministry's contact with PROMAN in February 2020 to provide technical assistance in the process of Teacher Licensure Examination and in the development of a Science Curriculum.
In his opening statement, the Chief Technical and Higher Education Officer, Mr. Josephus Brima, expressed his gratitude to PROMAN and the National and International Consultants for their relentless commitment to the enhancement of the work. He assured all of MTHE's complete dedication to working with all relevant stakeholders in driving quality into the level of the country's teaching profession. "The quality of teachers determines the level at which we develop; no nation develops above the quality of its teachers," he noted.
Coordination and Liaison Team Leader of PROMAN, Mr. Batilloi Warritay, mentioned several essential outcomes that were anticipated at the inception of the project, key among which were the development and adaptation of Teacher Licensure Examination which will reflect course content for the new teachers, and the development of a work that would produce an operational version of a Teacher Quality Examination to ensure test security and validity. He expressed his satisfaction that through close collaboration, the outcomes have not only been attained but actually surpassed. He envisaged the presentation to provide the platform for more intense discussions on how each of the key stakeholders will navigate the implementation of their respective mandates. "...this is just the beginning of a major new journey of improving and maintaining professional standards not only in the competencies of the average teacher, but in licensing and testing of same," he envisioned. One concern, he however noted, is the absence of a Referential Framework in the educational system, urging the Tertiary Education Commission to work towards its implementation.
In his keynote statement, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Gilbert Cooper, thanked key players for the development of these documents and the identification of gaps where professional teaching is concerned. He confessed his conviction that the teaching profession in the country will surely be enhanced, registering his appreciation over the collaborative spirit exhibited by the key stakeholders in the project (Teaching Service Commission, Tertiary Education Commission, National Council for Technical Vocational and other Academic Awards, Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, and Teacher Training Institutions).
Presentations and handing over of the Report on Science Curriculum as well as the Teacher Licensure Examination were done by the National Consultant for Science Curriculum, Dr. Samba Moriba, and the International Consultant for the Teacher Licensure Project, Prof. Steve Nwokeocha respectively.