KEYNOTE ADDRESS
AND FORMAL LAUNCHING BY
HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT,
ALHAJI DR AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH,
ON THE OCCASION OF
THE U.S. AMBASSADOR'S GIRLS'
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME
FOR SIERRA LEONE AT PORT LOKO
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22ND 2005 AT 9:OO AM

Mr. Chairman
Ministers of Government
Hon Members of Parliament
The American Ambassador to Sierra Leone
Other members of the Diplomatic and
Consular Corps
The Representative of the Paramount Chief of Marforki Chiefdom
Other Paramount Chiefs and Tribal Heads of
Port Loko District
The Chairman and members of the Port Loko District Council
All Education Partners
Teachers and Pupils
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are here in the township of Port Loko to launch the Girls' Scholarship Programme, an initiative of the American Ambassador, which I view as a consolidation of Government's drive towards attainment of equity in education service delivery.

There is a universal recognition of the paramount importance of ensuring that all children, both boys and girls, receive basic education of at least nine years and of an acceptable quality. Education not only provides basic knowledge and skills but empowers people to take their rightful place in society and the development process.

Government considers education as everybody's right and this consideration has so far guided our education policies, which are being implemented systematically and diligently.

No country develops faster than the quality of the output of its people, and there could be no better vehicle than education for enhancing health service delivery, the attainment of food self-sufficiency and security, and economic growth.

Therefore, Government has made commitment to spend US$42 million in the SABABU Education Project to cater for rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools, provide school materials and train teachers in a five-year period.

Let me at this juncture express deep appreciation to our numerous partners who have supported this and other educational programmes in the country.

However, for several decades the education of girls has been recognized as a fundamental human right but was not prioritized as a developmental necessity in many countries.

The girl child education initiative has been inspired by this Government's commitment and concern for the improvement and well being of the Sierra Leonean women. Our intervention started at the primary level by payment of fees of Le6,000 per annum for over 400,000 girls now enrolled in our primary schools.

To ensure retention to the secondary school level, in 2003/4 academic year, Government launched a Girl-Child Support Education Programme. Through this Programme, girls who are successful in the National Primary School Examination (NPSE) and opt for schools in the Northern or Eastern region of the country, are provided with uniforms, teaching and learning materials and school fees. The number of beneficiaries increased from 4,700 to 11,390 girls within two years of starting the programme. To date, Le2.28 billion per annum is to be spent on the implementation of this programme.

In spite of all the gains we have made and the continued goodwill of our friends, there remain some gaps and we must ensure that all girls of school age are in school, sooner rather than later.

In that regard, Government is pleased that the Government of the United States of America, under the American Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Programme for Sierra Leone is geared towards strengthening our efforts by supporting girls starting at the primary level. I therefore wish to extend profound gratitude, through you Mr Ambassador, to your Government and people for the kind and timely support.

I have been made to understand that the pioneering efforts in girls/women's education in Sierra Leone will be incomplete on a day like this without mentioning the wife of Ambassador Hull. Indeed, Mrs Jill Hull had in the 1960s had a distinguished career as lecturer at the then Port Loko Women's Teachers College.

Furthermore, beyond the symbolism of today's event, the current U.S. envoy to Sierra Leone, Ambassador Thomas N. Hull, for many years in the 1960s, also rendered valuable educational service at Gbinti, Dibia Chiefdom in this very District.

To Ambassador and Mrs Hull, the people of Port Loko and indeed Sierra Leone will remain grateful for your invaluable contribution to their educational development.

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen,

I have in past public statements urged my compatriots to work harder so that we will be able to feed ourselves on what we can grow, as well as improve our lives and develop the country. Only then can we rid ourselves of excessive dependency on other nations.

Furthermore, I have emphasized that the sustenance of our development endeavours is possible only with rational and accountable utilization of our resources. This in turn demands our continued pathway on the road of good governance and the rooting-out of generational corrupt practices at all levels of society.

Government remains grateful for the invaluable service the Sierra Leonean teacher gives to the development of our children. These efforts would however go in vain if some teachers continue to demand fees from unauthorized charges that prevent access to schooling by all. Whilst appealing to teachers to cooperate with us to ensure universal access to quality education, government will now take measures to stamp out all unbecoming practices that stand out in the Anti-Corruption Strategy document. Only then will we be able to win the continued goodwill of our development partners.

At this juncture, I wish to acknowledge the Tony Blair initiative on Africa's debt and the support accorded it by other world leaders. We are pleased that Sierra Leone is in line to benefit from this initiative next year. This will enable us to devote substantially more resources towards the enhancement of the education of the girl child in particular, and Sierra Leonean women in general.

It now gives me great pleasure to formally launch the U.S. Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Programme for Sierra Leone.

I thank you.

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