Sierra Leone awards automatic scholarship for key varsity courses

The Sierra Leonean government has awarded automatic scholarships to persons studying specific courses in public tertiary institutions, a Reuters / BBC journalist has reported.

The move covers admissions for persons studying engineering, agriculture, physics, chemistry and mathematics, the journalist added.

According to Umaru Fofana, the government through a statement from the ministry of higher education had as at Tuesday evening informed all registrars of the concerned institutions.

Since his coming into office earlier this year, President Julius Maada-Bio has moved to fix the country’s basic education system. He announced free education at the level which program was rolled out this academic year.

The #SierraLeone Govt has awarded automatic scholarship to all those admitted into all public universities & tertiary institutions to study engineering, agriculture, physics, chemistry & maths. A statement from the ministry of higher education has duly informed all registrars.

— Umaru Fofana (@UmaruFofana) November 6, 2018

On a recent visit to Ghana, where a free Senior High School program is being run, he spoke of learning from the neighbour’s lead with the view to progressively rolling out same at home.

Across the border in Liberia, President George Manneh Weah, last month announced free university education for all students in public universities across the country.

Even though the fine details of how the move was to be funded had yet to be made public, the news was received by cheers from students who around the same time had staged protests over exorbitant semester fees.

Across Africa, university education is considered expensive even though most young graduates complete school yet find it difficult to secure jobs. Many countries give students loans to fund their education with the view to repay after school.