MBSSE Build-up for Annual School Census 2021

The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education is currently training Heads of Schools, Coordinators of the Ministry’s Free Quality School Education Secretariat, and the recently recruited School Quality Assurance Officers/ Inspectors of Schools on the use of the Survey CTO, an android application used to collect data on the status of schools across the country for the Annual School Census.
The Annual School Census is expected to provide accurate data which helps the Ministry to make critical decisions on the management of schools and support to pupils nationwide. Therefore the Directorate of Policy and Planning provides refresher training for heads of schools who were supplied android tablets last year for the Annual School Census 2020.
According to the Director of Policy and Planning in the Ministry, Madam Adama Momoh, in this year’s Annual School Census, census personnel will include the recently recruited school quality assurance officers/ inspectors of schools and districts’ school feeding monitors.
Madam Momoh said the school quality assurance officials and district school feeding monitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the processes and tools for the Annual School Census. She further articulated that the move is a result of a decision reached by the Ministry this year, to utilize its internal structure, instead of hiring census numerators to conduct the Annual School Census, as has been the case for the past years.
The School Feeding Monitor for Tonkolili district, Mr. Mohamed Gibril Turay appreciated that the two days training has built his capacity on accurate data collection and management.
He said they had both theoretical and practical sessions on the use of the Survey CTO application, which has gotten them adequately prepared to deliver accurate data to the Ministry’s Headquarters on a number of pupils and teachers in schools including the general conditions of schools under his watch in his district of operation.
The Chairperson of the Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools in Tonkolili district, Mr. Francis Melvin Sankioh expressed that the ongoing training is important for them as heads of schools who will be providing data to the Ministry on behalf of their schools.
He revealed that they were trained last year on the use of the newly introduced technology in Makeni, and therefore he continued that the training would not only refresh their memories on the use of the Survey CTO, but will also help them to understand the use and application of the equipment better.
He said, even though they were trained last year on the use of the tablet, some principals encountered difficulties during the survey period. This he said caused some delays in the submission of data. However, Mr. Sankoh concluded that the refresher training would help principals to address those challenges and become more familiar with the tablet and software applications.• Completion of quality secondary education
• Universal access to comprehensive sexuality education
• Fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Freedom from gender-based and sexual violence
• Successful school-to-work transitions and young women’s economic empowerment.
Education Plus is a high-profile, high-level political advocacy drive to accelerate actions and investments to prevent HIV centered on the empowerment of adolescent girls and young women and the achievement of gender equality in Sub-Saharan Africa. COVID-19 impact on Sierra Leone and many other countries has been immense. To build back better societies to include everyone, as we focus on recovery, requires us to acknowledge the gendered impact of this health crisis on the lives of different people and communities and then deploy evidence-based responses. It is therefore reassuring to know that Sierra Leone is the first African country to commit to the Education Plus Initiative, which is a new game-changing drive to respond to the undeniable gender inequalities that put adolescent girls and young women in our countries at greater risk of acquiring HIV, impending school completion and school-to-work transitions.