Sackey Accepts Responsibility for Fixing Sierra Leone’s Education System Challenges
Alex Fefegula Harding Education Minister Conrad Sackey has pledged to address challenges in Sierra Leone’s education system, saying his priority is to reduce existing problems to manageable levels.
Sackey committed during an interview with Echo Media on the 4th of November 2026, acknowledging shortcomings in the education sector and promising to work to fix them.
The minister said his more than 37 years of experience in education had given him an understanding of the difficulties facing the sector. He maintained that no education system is entirely free of problems, including those in developed countries.
However, he stressed that acknowledging these challenges should not prevent authorities from taking responsibility and pursuing meaningful improvements.
His remarks come amid growing public scrutiny of Sierra Leone’s education sector, particularly following concerns surrounding the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, including widespread failure in English Language and thousands of withheld results.
Parliament has summoned Sackey to appear before its Committee on Basic and Senior Secondary Education on Nov. 5 to address concerns over the examination results. Reports indicate that 47,454 candidates had their results withheld over suspected examination malpractice.
The minister’s commitment to address systemic problems comes against this backdrop of public concern about education standards, examination performance and accountability.
However, during the interview, Sackey did not specify the individual problems he intended to address or provide a detailed action plan, implementation timeline or measurable targets for his proposed reforms.