President Maada Bio, God Bless you
A release from the Office of the President has directed last evening that University students will no longer pay for application forms to access different higher learning institutions in the country, starting from the September 2018/2019 academic year.
It further states that the Government of Sierra Leone will pay for the application forms which, according to the release, are estimated at Le5.6 billion (five billion, six hundred million leones).
The targeted beneficiaries, the release went on, are 15,000 students who will be applying to all the different higher learning institutions across the country.
Government, the release further states, will provide refunds through the respective high learning institutions across the country, after a full verification of total number of applicants and amount paid by each applicant. On receipt of funds from Government, the institutions will refund the same amount to all those who bought application forms for the September 2018/2019 academic year.
The release concludes by noting that His Excellency the President believes that at a time like this, when he inherited an economy that is near collapse, the cost of application forms for university admission is a burden for many parents, guardians and relatives supporting young people to access higher education. Eliminating an estimated Le5.6 billion for the payment of university application fees will not only be huge savings for parents, guardians and relatives but it will also increase access to higher education for young people.