The Ministry of Basic and Senior Senior Education (MBSSE) desires forty-four million seven hundred New Leones for the 2023 Fiscal Year, which is ten million and nineteen thousand New Leones over the Budget Ceiling, recurrent expenditure of thirty-four million seven hundred and eighteen New Leones.

The MBSSE Budget was presented on Thursday 22nd September 2022 during the ongoing budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance Conference Hall in Freetown.

The key deliverables for the 2023 FY are the review and update of the 2004 Education Act, develop a National Programme for post-birth support for pregnant girls construction of three hostels for girls in three districts, and the development and rolling out of the Senior Secondary Education Curriculum and Syllabuses, equip additional schools with science laboratories, phase out double shift system in schools, construction, and rehabilitation of Non-Formal Educational Learning Centers.

The 2022 FY key deliverables are the development and approval of the new Educational Act, operationalize the school fees utilization, and school approval policy, develop a new West Africa Examination Council Act, develop National Programmes for post-birth support to pregnant girls, construction of three hostels for girls in three districts, establish additional Learning Centers for Literacy Programs, develop and roll out the senior secondary education curriculum and syllabuses, equip additional schools with science laboratories and strengthen Education Service delivery through self capacity building and additional recruitment.

In implementing the FY 2022 deliveries, MBSSE highlighted challenges like the unavailability of funds from MoF to implement critical activities, problems with accessing funds from both the Government and donors and lack of office space and equipment for some Directorate and Mobility challenges.

The mandate of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) is to plan, oversee and implement educational policies and regularities in all education initiatives from pre-primary through Senior Secondary levels. This includes planning and implementing policies in the education sector and supervising other educational institutions and bodies, West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), Teaching Service Commission (TSC), District Education Officer, Education Development Partners Projects, etc.

The Ministry’s Performance Undertaking is established from the targets and deliverables in the Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) Chapter 1.1 Cluster 1- Human Capital and Sub Cluster 1.1.1- Free Basic and Senior Secondary Education and Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDG 4) – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all.