To foster educational sustainability, Orange Sierra Leone (OSL) has handed over a newly constructed state of the art Beamay Nursery & Preparatory School to military authorities. The colorful event which attracted top dignitaries including Sierra Leone’s First Lady took place on Thursday 28th September, 2023 at Wilberforce Barracks in Freetown.
The keynote speaker, First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Jabbie Bio expressed satisfaction to OSL for the uplifting the school’s status.
Education, she said, was the first pillar of the agenda of President Julius Maada Bio’s administration adding that OSL has brought back dignity to the children of the armed forces. The first lady appealed for more support for President Bio’s vision in developing Sierra Leone through education.
Handing over the newly refurbished school, OSL Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sekou Amadou Bah said they understood the essence of giving back to communities in which the company operate.
“That is why we did not hesitate to provide the philanthropic support required to this local community school to create a positive impact on children’s lives and to foster educational sustainability,” he said.
He said when they received the request from the Army Wives Association to support the school’s renovation, they were compelled to take action owing to the school’s deplorable state.
According to CEO Bah, they recognised that good infrastructure was important for producing good outcome. He went on, the company was happy to refurbish seven classrooms set to host about 280 pupils thereby giving them better facilities for an effective learning environment to nurture future leaders.
“If a community is to improve on its economic and social well-being, it needs to invest in human capital development by providing good education to the children. We see here today the foundation to grow and develop productive members of society,” he emphasised.
He further assured Sierra Leoneans that OSL will continue to play key role in government’s big five game changers through various corporate social responsibility and foundation projects to drive human capital development and youth empowerment.
Such move aims at contributing effectively to President Julius Maada Bio’s vision for Sierra Leone. The CEO further noted that they were happy and proud to hand over the learning facility to the school administration with the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
“I am confident that the pupils will make full use of the new facilities to improve their education and contribute to the country’s progress by achieving full and rewarding lives in the future,” he said.
The OSL CEO also expressed his profound appreciation to the first lady, Dr. Fatima Bio for collaborating with Orange on this project, and they look forward to more partnership with office of the First lady.
He also thanked the Ministry of Basic Senior and Secondary School, the Army Wives Cooperative Society and the school administration for giving OSL the great opportunity to support their local communication and for showing the spirit of cooperation to provide a school facility that the children deserve.
In his statement, CEO for Sonatel, Sekou Drame said the project was a reflection of Sonatel and Orange group’s commitment towards fostering sustainable development in education which is about sowing seeds for the future.
According to Sekou Drame, the objective of their group’s corporate social responsibility policy is to deploy sustainable development goals at the heart of all their affiliates across Africa and the Middle East that will be imbedded in four areas: well-being of communities in which they operate, good governance, growth and economic development through their investment and preservation of the environment.
The Sonatel CEO also said they were proud that OSL had been giving back to the community in which they had been operating to ensure wellness of the local community through its educational pillar on corporate social responsibility to build human capital development.
“In the last five years, we are the first telecoms company to launch a partnership with the Ministry of Basic & Senior Secondary Education to build early child development centres across the Country,” he said.
Through their Orange Foundation, he went on, they had built five ultramodern early child development centres within the last three years at the following districts in Kambia, Pujehun, Port Loko, Moyamba and Bonthe districts.
He said the 5th School was already completed in Tihun, Bonthe district and would be commissioned in October this year. Sonatel said the school centres would enroll children between the ages of 2-4 years and holds at least 84 pupils per school.
“We have also commenced construction of the 6th early development centre for the community of Sarguehun Town. We are committed towards fostering development in education as this is the backbone of any society in the world and we recognise the role it plays in the development of a country. We commend the government for taking steps to improve quality education, but we know that government effort alone could not be enough,” he asserted.
He rounded up his address saying that OSL wished to express its firm commitment, and it aspires to be a trusted partner of government for development. The company supports the five big game changers through driving human capital development, youth empowerment and continued investment in technology and infrastructure.
Other dignitaries including the Director General NaTCA, Amara Brewah, Member of Parliament representing Constituency 028 Hon Benjamin, Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Peter Lavahun expressed thanks and appreciation to OSL for the indelible footprint in Sierra Leone’s development.
The authorities said they had no doubt in OSL about its adherence to its corporate social responsibility adding that such massive project will add to the armed forces’ morale.
Major-General Lavahun said the newly refurbished school was one of the oldest schools which had produced many scholars as well as productive citizens of the nation. The army’s children, he said, could now have conducive learning environment which would add to their educational dignity.
The army chief appealed to other companies to emulate OSL’s bright example in making education a top priority.