The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) has on the 10th June, 2024 completed an inter-ministerial collaboration with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Conrad Sackey, the Minister of Basic Education maintained that he hosted a team from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which included the Deputy Defence Minister, Col. (Rtd) Mauna Brima Massaquoi, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff for Training, Education, and Doctrine, Brigadier General Albert S. Bockarie; and Deputy Director of Studies of the Armed Forces Technical College, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mambu, alongside a team from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Permanent Secretary, Mr. Brima Kebbie; Deputy Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Adama Momoh; and Deputy Secretary ll, Mr. Michael Thomas.

He revealed that, the meeting aimed to explore areas of collaboration between the two ministries as in emergency situations and more. He said, the MBSSE has always called upon the MoD to provide logistical support to the Ministry, such as in transporting exam materials to remote and inaccessible parts of the country.

“We now seek to deepen this collaboration in other more strategic areas. The military has much expertise in areas that would benefit the ministry, including agriculture, technical and vocational education, logistics, and civil engineering. Officers are also deployed across the length and breadth of Sierra Leone so the army can reach the country’s most remote areas” he stated.

He added that, they used the initial meeting to discuss and review the current status of civilian-military schools nationwide whereas the Deputy Defence Minister took the opportunity to brief my team and me on the current and future developments at Wilberforce and Juba Barracks, both of which house schools.

He added that, they discussed and agreed on safeguards that would need to be part of their plan and they agreed to set up a Technical Working Group charged with the responsibility to develop a plan to implement the identified areas of collaboration.