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The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey embarked on a symbolic tour at the Sierra Leone Peace Museum located at Special Court in Freetown alongside Senior Secondary school pupils.
The pupils will first be shown around the sixteen different war graves which represent the sixteen districts of the country, a statue showing a woman pleading with rebels not to kill her only son according to the man’s explanation, and some important events and people during the war.
According to a worker in the Museum, their mandate is to educate young people on the country’s civil war to serve as peace ambassadors and not to experience what they previously experienced during the war as their goal is to continuously tell stories of the rebel war.
In his statement to the pupils, the Minister said as the sixth International Day of Education will be celebrated on January 24th under the theme “Learning for Lasting Peace”, his ministry decided to embark on a peace tour with senior secondary school pupils.
He cited example to the ongoing violent conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war which he said are far from Sierra Leone but have a devastating impact on Sierra Leone’s economy.
According to him, these wars are normally fueled by racism, tribalism, regionalism, religion, xenophobia and hate speech adding that Sierra Leone is not exempt from this surge in violence.
He said despite the horrific 11 years of civil war experience in Sierra Leone, the country’s peace and tranquility have been broken in the last 5 years by a series of violent insurrections and lately, the events of 26th November 2023.
He said it is against this backdrop that the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education decided to start off the new academic year by making a symbolic tour of the Sierra Leone Peace Museum, accompanied by pupils from Senior Secondary schools to be ambassadors of peace.
