President Bio who also doubles as the Chancellor of the various Universities in the country has once more reiterated his commitment to depoliticize all public owned Universities in the country.
He made this commitment at a meeting with various educational stakeholders at State House on Tuesday, 29th January, 2020.
The President was very confident that the only way to achieve sanity and revitalize the higher education sector was to ensure that politics is totally eliminated from the day to day management of the various universities.
He entreated stakeholders that he had decided to engage them as a way of dialoguing with university authorities on the way forward in regaining the country’s past academic glory.
President recounted that the task of changing the narrative about Sierra Leone was a huge one, and requires the engagement of critical sectors.
The rationale of the engagement President Bio stated was to understand their thoughts and contributions going forward in terms of the educational process.
“I will depoliticize education in the interest of the nation. I want to take politics out of the University and I will step down as Chancellor of the University as soon as the necessary amendments are made.We think that you should have academic freedom in the management of academic institutions because you have spent your whole life in it and you know how to manage it,’’the President maintained.
He recounted that he has prioritized Human Capital Development and called the attention of the University stakeholders to play an important role to achieve that.
The President noted that it is incumbent on all of them to ensure that their kids get the relevant education that will empower them to live a better life and develop our country.
President Bio also stated that he was leading the process but would need all on board to think big in education and focus on technology and innovation.
The quality of education according to the President was in the hands of teachers and lecturers, saying that he wanted academic institutions in the country to be competitive like others elsewhere around the world.
President Bio during the 2018 March, elections campaign had promised to depoliticize Education by stepping down as the Chancellor of the University and also creating a separate Ministry to handle Technical and Higher Education.
He has succeeded in creating the separate Ministry and the legal environment for him to step down is been looked at but many are in increasingly worried that the leadership of the new Ministry has not been able to effectively coordinate the various higher Education institutions with a view to meet the President’s aspirations.
The administration of the legally mandated body to mange Tertiary institutions the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has been fraught with issues of interference from the Ministry of Higher Education.
It is therefore timely that the President is meeting these stakeholders to reemphasize that he wants sanity in the higher education sector and that the views and suggestions of all and sundry was significant.