Conrad Sackey - Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education

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Conrad Sackey - Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education My official page to get daily updates on my work as the Minister of Basic & Senior Secondary Edu.

I wish to inform the public that the purported 2026 BECE timetable circulating on social media is fake and unauthorised....
30/05/2026

I wish to inform the public that the purported 2026 BECE timetable circulating on social media is fake and unauthorised. No official timetable has been finalised or released by the Ministry or WAEC. I urge pupils, parents, guardians, and schools to disregard the document and rely only on information published through our verified channels.

On the margins of the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I was pleased to engage Sierra Leonean Alumni Associations f...
30/05/2026

On the margins of the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I was pleased to engage Sierra Leonean Alumni Associations from across the UK on the future of education in our country.

We discussed the progress of Free Quality Education, the role of technology and AI in learning, and the importance of maintaining high standards and integrity across the education sector.

I am encouraged by the passion, expertise, and commitment of our diaspora community. Together, we can strengthen education, expand opportunity, and help build a brighter future for every Sierra Leonean child.



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Good intentions do not transform education systems. Strong delivery does. And Sierra Leone is building the machinery to ...
29/05/2026

Good intentions do not transform education systems. Strong delivery does. And Sierra Leone is building the machinery to deliver.
At the 2026 Education World Forum in London,

The quality of a school rises and falls with the quality of its leadership. A great curriculum means nothing in the hands of an unsupported, underprepared headteacher. Sierra Leone is investing in leaders at every level.

Anyone can write a beautiful education plan. The true test of a government is whether it can implement that plan, consistently, systematically, and at scale.

That is precisely what this conversation was about.

We received updates on LGI's expanding work across both the MBSSE and the Teaching Service Commission, two institutions that must work in concert if Sierra Leone's education transformation is to be real and lasting.

At the heart of our discussion was the Delivery Toolkit, currently being piloted by the Ministry's own Delivery Unit, a practical, structured instrument designed to close the yawning gap between ambitious targets and ground-level results.

What does strong school leadership look like to you, and do you see it in Sierra Leone's schools today?

the quality of a school rises and falls with the quality of its leadership. A great curriculum means nothing in the hands of an unsupported, underprepared headteacher. Sierra Leone is investing in leaders at every level, from the Ministry all the way to the school gate.
This is what serious reform looks like. Not grand announcements. Toolkits. Pilots. Research. Iteration. Results.

We received updates on LGI's expanding work across both the MBSSE and the Teaching Service Commission, two institutions that must work in concert if Sierra Leone's education transformation is to be real and lasting.

At the heart of our discussion was the Delivery Toolkit, currently being piloted by the Ministry's own Delivery Unit, a practical, structured instrument designed to close the yawning gap between ambitious targets and ground-level results.

Now I want to hear from YOU:

What does strong school leadership look like to you and do you see it in Sierra Leone's schools today?

Accountability is not a threat to Sierra Leone's education reform. It is our fuel.At the 2026 Education World Forum in L...
29/05/2026

Accountability is not a threat to Sierra Leone's education reform. It is our fuel.
At the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I sat down with a formidable team from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) – Jo Bourne, Ruth Kagia, Sally Gear, and Heather Saunders – for a meeting that went beyond pleasantries and dove straight into performance, progress, and the hard questions that serious partnerships demand.
With the Mid-Term Review of our current GPE programme now underway, this was not a moment for polished talking points. It was a moment for honest stocktaking, and Sierra Leone showed up ready for exactly that.
We reviewed where we stand on implementation milestones. We assessed what is moving at the pace our children deserve and where we need to accelerate. We spoke candidly about the realities on the ground — because a partnership built on comfortable half-truths helps no one, least of all the children in our classrooms.
GPE's investment in Sierra Leone's foundational literacy and numeracy agenda is not charity. It is a strategic bet on a country that has demonstrated it can turn resources into results. And the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education intends to honour that bet with transparency, with rigour, and with an unrelenting focus on what actually changes learning outcomes.
Mid-term reviews can be uncomfortable. Good. Discomfort drives improvement. We are not here to look good on paper. We are here to ensure that a child in Moyamba reads better this year than last year. That a child in Tonkolili counts with confidence today that she did not have yesterday.
That is the only scorecard that matters. 🇸

I want YOUR honest assessment too:
Do you feel that education programmes funded by international partners like GPE are making a visible difference in Sierra Leone's schools?
What does real accountability in education reform look like to you as a parent, teacher, or community member?
If you were sitting at that table reviewing our education programme, what would YOU want to know?
Drop your thoughts below. Because the most powerful mid-term review of all is the verdict of the Sierra Leonean people.

Sierra Leone walked into a room full of the world's foremost literacy experts, and we did not come empty-handed.At the 2...
29/05/2026

Sierra Leone walked into a room full of the world's foremost literacy experts, and we did not come empty-handed.

At the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I had the privilege of joining a high-powered session chaired by Ben Piper and Peggy Dubeck, two of the most respected names in foundational learning globally, where the world's best evidence on successful literacy programmes was laid bare. Experts from WWHGE, UNICEF Innocenti, the Gates Foundation, and the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) were in that room.
And Sierra Leone was not just present. Sierra Leone was part of the evidence.
Our SLEIC programme, Sierra Leone's bold, homegrown push to crack the code on foundational literacy, stood alongside global best practice as proof that an African nation, with the right commitment and the right strategy, can move the needle on one of education's most stubborn challenges. We did not arrive as a case study of failure. We arrived as a case study of momentum.

I spoke plainly about where we are, what is working, and where we still have ground to cover. Because that is what serious reform looks like: not performance, but honest, evidence-driven accountability. Low foundational literacy levels are a reality we inherited. A literate Sierra Leone is a future we are building deliberately, systematically, and urgently.

The global experts in that room are watching Sierra Leone. Our partners are investing in Sierra Leone. And most importantly, our children are counting on Sierra Leone.
We will not let them down.

Your voice belongs in this conversation:
Did YOU struggle with reading or writing in your early years of school? How did it shape your journey?

Do you think Sierra Leone is doing enough to ensure every child can read by the end of Primary 2?

What do you believe is the single biggest barrier to foundational literacy in our schools, and what should we do about it?

Tell us in the comments. Because the most powerful evidence we have is the lived experience of the Sierra Leonean people.

Some meetings are courtesy calls. This was not one of them.On the sidelines of the 2026 Education World Forum in London,...
29/05/2026

Some meetings are courtesy calls. This was not one of them.
On the sidelines of the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I sat down with George Laryea-Adjei, Director of UNICEF's Global Programme Division, and Wangani Grace Nkhoma Sankofa, Senior Adviser at UNICEF, for a conversation that was direct, purposeful, and pointed squarely at the future.

UNICEF has been a steadfast partner in Sierra Leone's education journey and this meeting was about making sure that partnership deepens, not plateaus. We explored concrete opportunities to strengthen foundational learning, build system resilience, and intensify support for our most vulnerable children the ones who cannot afford for us to get this wrong.

I left that meeting with one clear conviction: Sierra Leone is not looking for handouts. We are looking for partnerships that produce results. Results that show up not in glossy reports, but in the reading ability of a seven-year-old in Kono. In the numeracy confidence of a child in Pujehun. In the life trajectory of a girl in Kambia who stays in school because the system finally works for her.
UNICEF reaffirmed their commitment. We reaffirmed ours. And together, we are mapping the next chapter of a collaboration that puts children, not bureaucracy at the centre.

I want to hear from you:
UNICEF has been a steadfast partner in Sierra Leone's education journey, and this meeting was about making sure that partnership deepens, not plateaus. We explored concrete opportunities to strengthen foundational learning, build system resilience, and intensify support for our most vulnerable children the ones who cannot afford for us to get this wrong.

Which communities in Sierra Leone do you feel need the most urgent attention when it comes to foundational learning? If you could tell UNICEF one thing about the realities of education in your community, what would it be?
Your voices matter. Your experiences are evidence. Share them below because the best education policy is built on the truth of the people it serves.

Sierra Leone does not hide from hard truths. We hunt them down, face them, and use them to build something better.At the...
29/05/2026

Sierra Leone does not hide from hard truths. We hunt them down, face them, and use them to build something better.
At the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I stood before the world not as a minister seeking sympathy but as a leader presenting proof.
Over the past five years, Sierra Leone has done what many said was too difficult, too expensive, too ambitious for a country like ours. We have built a living, breathing ecosystem of learning assessments that does not just measure our children it guides them. From our landmark EGRA and EGMA assessments in 2021, to our Grade 4 national assessment in 2023, to our groundbreaking P0 and P2 assessments in 2024 we have refused to wait until problems compound before we act. We are now capturing data at the very start of a child's learning journey, so that no child silently slips through the cracks.
But data sitting in a report is just paper. What sets Sierra Leone apart is what we do with it. Our assessments have shaped our Education Sector Plan, our Foundational Learning Roadmap, and our Partnership Compact with development partners. And inside our classrooms, our new Continuous Assessment Handbook is transforming how teachers understand and respond to their students not at the end of term, but every single day.
As Chair of the Foundational Learning Ministerial Coalition, I used this global platform to send a clear message: foundational learning is not a developing-world problem. It is a universal imperative. I invited fellow ministers to embrace our FLAT+ evidence as a shared resource, set bold national targets, and hold themselves and their partners accountable for measurable gains in early grade learning.
Sierra Leone did not come to London as a passive recipient of aid. We came as leaders. As proof that an African nation, with commitment and courage, can build an education system that learns to learn.

Sierra Leone is done guessing. We are measuring. We are acting. And we are winning.At the 2026 Education World Forum in ...
29/05/2026

Sierra Leone is done guessing. We are measuring. We are acting. And we are winning.
At the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I sat down with Theodora Ntoka and Elizabeth Stubbs from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), alongside the Chair of our Teaching Service Commission, Lans Keifala, for a focused, forward-driving conversation on something I consider non-negotiable: knowing exactly where our children stand.
Our P0, P2, and P6 learning assessments are not bureaucratic exercises. They are the pulse check of a national education system that refuses to leave any child's progress to chance. Every data point is a child. Every result is a responsibility.
I made our position unambiguous: strengthening the National Assessment Support Unit (NASU) at the MBSSE is a priority full stop. Not a talking point. Not a future aspiration. A present, urgent commitment. And with ACER's technical expertise behind us, we are building the capacity to make our assessments sharper, more credible, and more actionable than ever before.
Decisions in Sierra Leone's education sector will be driven by evidence, not assumption. By data, not politics. By results, not rhetoric.
But I want to hear from YOU:
Do you believe national learning assessments are the key to fixing our education system?
Have you seen the difference data-driven education makes in your community?
What do YOU think should be the biggest priority for foundational learning in Sierra Leone?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Every voice matters — because this system belongs to all of us.

There is something uniquely powerful about two African nations sitting across from each other not as competitors, but as...
29/05/2026

There is something uniquely powerful about two African nations sitting across from each other not as competitors, but as collaborators asking the same question: how do we ensure every child can read?
On the sidelines of the 2026 Education World Forum in London, I had the privilege of meeting with the Honourable Minister Irere, Rwanda's Minister of State for Education, for a bilateral exchange that reminded me why peer learning is one of the most underrated tools in education reform.
Our conversations centred on early grade reading, teacher development, and strengthening system performance – the unglamorous, essential building blocks that determine whether a child leaves primary school equipped for life or left behind.stem-level commitment. And in that frankness, Sierra Leone and Rwanda found a great deal of common ground.
Sierra Leone is making progress. We are not where we were, and we will not stop where we are. Engagements like this one, built on mutual respect, shared purpose, and honest peer exchange, sharpen our thinking and strengthen our resolve. STEM-level commitment. And in that frankness, Sierra Leone and Rwanda found a great deal of common ground.
Our conversations centred on early grade reading, teacher development, and strengthening system performance – the unglamorous, essential building blocks that determine whether a child leaves primary school equipped for life or left behind. STEM-level commitment. And in that frankness, Sierra Leone and Rwanda found a great deal of common ground.
Africa does not always need to look outward for answers. Sometimes, the wisdom we need is sitting right across the table.
Sierra Leone is making progress. We are not where we were, and we will not stop where we are. Engagements like this one built on mutual respect, shared purpose, and honest peer exchange sharpen our thinking and strengthen our resolve.

Sierra Leone's youth are not a problem to be managed. They have the potential to be unleashed, and at the 2026 Education...
29/05/2026

Sierra Leone's youth are not a problem to be managed. They have the potential to be unleashed, and at the 2026 Education World Forum in London, we took a decisive step toward doing exactly that.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Liesbet Steer, Executive Director of People in the New Economy at Systemiq, and the Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission for a high-level conversation that cut straight to the heart of one of our most pressing national challenges: how do we connect education to opportunity?
We identified tourism and green growth as priority sectors where Sierra Leone's natural endowments and demographic energy can meet real economic demand. And critically, we were not alone in that vision. Partners from the World Bank, the EU, and the ILO signalled a growing appetite to support scalable, results-driven initiatives that move beyond pilot projects into genuine national impact.
We identified tourism and green growth as priority sectors — areas where Sierra Leone's natural endowments and demographic energy can meet real economic demand. And critically, we were not alone in that vision. Partners from the World Bank, the EU, and the ILO signalled growing appetite to support scalable, results-driven initiatives that move beyond pilot projects into genuine national impact.
The momentum is real. The attention now shifts to fast-tracking a coherent national proposal — one that unlocks the financing we need and drives implementation on the ground.
Our young people are ready. The question is whether the systems around them will match their ambition. We intend to make sure they do.

"Will our children arrive at school safely?"This was not a rhetorical question. It was the challenge that anchored every...
29/05/2026

"Will our children arrive at school safely?"
This was not a rhetorical question. It was the challenge that anchored every conversation at the End Violence in and Around Schools (VIAS) Taskforce session at the 2026 Education World Forum in London, a session I had the distinct honour of co-chairing.
Alongside Baroness Chapman, UK Minister of State for International Development, I convened a powerful room of education representatives from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Ministers of Education from Pakistan and Colombia. Different countries. Different contexts. But one shared truth: no child can learn in fear.
Every voice in that room told a version of the same story: that ending violence in and around schools is not a peripheral concern. It is foundational. Our children must feel safe on their way to school, inside their classrooms, and on their journey home. Without that safety, everything else we build rests on sand.
What moved me most was not the policy language; it was the honesty. Country after country spoke openly about their challenges, and in that honesty, we found each other. From confidential comment boxes and community engagement initiatives to school feeding programmes that keep children present and protected, the solutions may differ, but the intent is the same: transparency, accountability, and turning policy into action.
Sierra Leone stands proudly in this coalition of the committed. We will not rest until every school in our country is a sanctuary — not a source of fear.
The conversation continues. The work is urgent. And our children are watching.

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