Free Education Project Secretariat organizes ToT Clinic for Northern Region Grievance Redress Mechanism Committee Members

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson 

With funds from multiple donors including the European Union, Irish Aid and the World Bank and the Government of Sierra Leone, the Free Education Project Secretariat, yesterday successfully organized a Training of Trainers clinic for Grievances Redress Mechanism committee members in the Northern East Region. 

Hosted at the Sierra Leone Teachers Union hall in Makeni city, the day’s training brought together representatives from Bombali, Falaba, Koinadugu and Tonkolili Districts attached at several government and non-governmental organizations, as well as Ministries, Agencies and Departments such as District Councils, Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education, Teaching Service Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, Family Support Units, Ministry Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs among others servings as members of the Grievance Redress Mechanism committees in their respective districts that all benefited from the clinic.

One of the facilitators of the workshop Saniya Amie Bakarr who’s the Social Safeguards Development Specialist at the Free Education Project Secretariat told Journalists that the day’s clinic is a continuation of the secretariat regional engagements for Grievance Redress Mechanism committee members in the East, South, North East and North West regions correspondingly. Adding that: “the regional engagements is aimed to refresh the knowledge of committee members on the plan and capacity of the mechanism, as well as prepare them to train community stakeholders, set up inclusive and participatory committees at local levels while brothering dialogue and popularizing the existing channels of communications to complaint, compliment and make positive suggestions through the committee members, suggestions boxes, toll free 8060 line, email: complaints@education.gov.sl or on the MBSSE website. 

“All of these measures will make way for the successful implementation of the 60 months Free Education Project by the secretariat and of course will help to the process of improving transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the country’s free education program and its related drives.”

She continued that: “All cases must be resolved within 21 days and cases or be inwardly referred by the Grievance Response Mechanism Committee to the Secretariat for quick and amicable resolution for the common good. As your return to carry out your duties as committees members please remember to be efficient and effective as that will help your committees to be able to resolve grievances and complaints cases with utmost urgency devoid of corruption and forget not to uphold the value of inclusivity and make the necessary referrals to appropriate bodies especially with cases that may be subjected to be looked into by state institutions as required by the laws of the country which she emphasized remain prime over the laws of the committee,” she urged the trainees. 

Speaking to Journalists onbehalf of the trainees were Abubakarr Jalloh, Northern Region Coordinator for the Free Quality Education Program and Salamatu Barrie, the Gender Desk Officer at the Koinadugu District Council who admits they’ve learnt a lot more about their work as Committee Members of the Grievance Redress Mechanisms, avowed of continuing to voluntarily do their best for the success of the Free Education Project.