By Augustine Sankoh
The Non-Formal Education Directorate (NFED) in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) will be reintegrating six hundred (600) Out-of-School adolescent girls into the normal school system in the next academic year commencing in September.
According to the Director of Non-Formal Education Mrs. Olive Musa, the scheme will target eleven communities covering four districts (Kambia, Koinadugu, Moyamba and Pujehun)
She said United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with MBSSE will have to access and identify 600 Out-of-School Adolescent Girls with preference to pregnant girls and lactating mothers in communities where eleven Community Learning Centre (CLC) are located to be reintegrated into former schools in September 2022.
She said the communities will be visited soon for girls to be identified and registered.
“Statistics revealed that currently we have 9,000 of such cases in our operational areas throughout the country. With such a huge number of needy pupil’s, we can identify the pressing cases and enroll them in our community learning centres in the four districts mentioned earlier,” she said.
The mandate of the Non-Formal Education Directorate is to provide education for out-of-school illiterates, targeting children, adolescents, youth and adults in Sierra Leone. The directorate facilitates and supports communities with the establishment of Community Learning Centres at Chiefdom level particularly in rural communities and hard-to reach areas.
