On 18th December 2023, National Council for Civic Education and Democracy (NaCCED) and a specialized United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) delegation to Sierra Leone had a one-hour long stakeholder engagement session at the former’s headquarters at 21 Steward Street, Freetown. This session was facilitated by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, the Council’s supervisory ministry. The engagement focused on understanding the invaluable efforts of NaCCED towards
“enhancing civic education infrastructure in Sierra Leone” and UNESCO’s role in sustaining a viable national civic education agenda.
The engagement was chaired by Mr. Francis Kobie, NaCCED Director of Human Resources and Administration. After the opening courtesies, Mr. Kalilu Totangi, NaCCED Chairman who was on official assignment overseas (participated virtually) welcomed the delegation to both the office and Sierra Leone generally. He thanked the Minister, Mr. Chernor Bah for, ” his leadership on this,” and expressed hope for his continued support to our work.
Nadia Assad (MoICE Chief of Staff) who facilitated the engagement thanked NaCCED for, “the impressive accomplishments in a very short time.” She informed participants that “the need for this visit is to understand where we are, what we have done, where we want to go, create a vision how we plan to get there, and how they can support,” she revealed.
This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation – who we are, what we have accomplished so far, challenges and what we plan to achieve going forward. This session was led by Mr. Thomas Johnny, NaCCED Director of Programs and Research. Some achievements highlighted included but not limited to reintroduced civics in schools, produced 7 text books, trained 3,400 civic education teachers, installed solar-powered television in all 190 chiefdoms, successfully implemented two National Action Plans (OGP), supported government MDAs and engaged with various communities across the country on relevant citizen’s education needs. Mr. Johnny touched on the Council’s plan to train more teachers, take civics to Senior Secondary and tertiary levels, and expand the scope of our out of school civic engagement efforts. He noted however, inadequate personnel, logistical, technical and financial challenges as major constraints
During the interactive session,
Ngozi Amanze, Regional Project officer, Education for Health and Well-being, UNESCO Dakar said, “the best investment anybody can do is to invest in human beings.” She asked, ” what effort have you made to ensure sustainability of the Council so that it keeps providing the needed services even after a change of government?” She also suggested that civics must be taught in colleges to sustain it in the classroom. Addressing her concerns she was informed that the Council has an Act of Parliament which guarantees its existence and efforts are being made to scale up civics at Senior Secondary and tertiary levels
Cecilia Barbieri, Chief, Section of Global Citizenship and Peace Education (UNESCO) inquired about the eagerness level of the youth trained, teachers feedback after the training, among others.
All questions, comments and concerns were addressed appropriately. In his closing remark, Mr. Totangi thanked the delegation and the ministry for the engagement and expressed hope for continued support and collaboration. A group photo climaxed the occasion
