New Vision for Education

My journey so far as a lifelong learner Alusine Barrie “We are all born lifelong learners, it all depends on how it’s developed and how some of us take advantage of it in our lives.” – Clara Sancho It is only recently that I realized through my quest as an educator that I have sufficiently developed myself as a lifelong learner. I see this as synonymous to the concept of growth mindset. I saw a likely source of this being my step father who lived with us and would always bring children’s story books and would read with us in bed until we fell asleep. He was always ready to answer my numerous (and often bizarre) questions. In him and my mother (who was uneducated but had great tolerance for questions) I found a safe place to develop my budding curiosity. I transferred to Freetown in 2009 and was given ample access to numerous school resources (especially the internet) and an environment where I felt safe to learn many different things. I was very excited being an arts stu...

Politics and poor education in a social media wave. How can we get our youth to contribute more meaningfully in the politics of their country? My country Sierra Leone is undeniably a beautiful country with great potential to lift its people from poverty and make a happy home where all its people can achieve their greatest potential. Our cultural diversity is unparalleled, our lands swell up to the brim with natural treasures, and our population is vastly made up of young people ripe with untapped potential. All these give our country many opportunities. But these opportunities are shadowed by many challenges that move our country backward. In my opinion, one of the biggest challenges holding back our country is the poor quality of education that leaves our young people unemployed, poor and vulnerable to almost anything – especially bad politics in which their choice is so crucial. Comments from a group of my friends teaching in schools here in Port Loko (the town ...

Action for climate change begins here! Farm lands destroyed by bush fires Climate change is not a problem of science versus corporations. It is a problem of our society, its morals, and its priorities. Turning words into action starts with this mindset. I won’t talk here about the huge data available on climate change. Anyways, if you’re really curious to see for yourself, check out the links at the bottom of the page. Skeptics of our climate change problem may try to distract us with their bad rap. Well, tell them that while we may not be here in the year 2098 to see side effects of our action to put climate change under control, we may also not be here to see the side effects of our inaction. Therefore, for our own sake and for our children's sake (whose lives will be affected by our actions or inactions of today), we are choosing to do the right thing. Experience has taught us that taking bold steps to control these situations is the right thing to do. Turnin...

Education is a human right; not a privilege. Learning in EducAid Sierra Leone It is a good thing actually I never knew at the time that Education is a right for me and other children of Sierra Leone who struggled (and are still struggling) to get an education. In my experience now as a young man, I have learned that education, like all rights, are there to uphold the freedom, respect, and dignity of every human and to treat everyone with fairness. And, I have also learned that my government, to whom I pay my taxes, has a responsibility in upholding and promoting the right of every Sierra Leonean to get an education. Seeing this month’s theme took me down memory lane. I am specifically remembering the events which took place in my life about nine (9) years ago, forging the new path I was going to walk on. I was then in my first year of junior school and had just promoted to year two when all hell let loose on my mother. Years earlier, my father passed away in the rebel wa...

America votes Donald Trump and Britain voted Brexit, so what? This is an interesting topic and I will try to make my contribution from an African angle. America has elected Donald Trump, a businessman with no experience and knowledge in governance, and not very long ago Britain voted to leave the European Union "on what many believe to be xenophobic grounds". What does this mean for Africa? To understand what this means for Africa we have to understand some key factors that motivated these decisions which both sent huge shock waves throughout the world. Every country has the right to choose their leadership, and the path they want their country to take. However, this decision of choosing the leadership and path a country takes has a lot to say about the people of that country. This can be especially so when it has to do with countries like the United States of America and Britain, whose actions forged a new path for Africa, left an indelible mark on the continent, and who...

A country this beautiful deserves 'leadership' it can trust! We cannot afford to distrust our leadership! A country as beautiful as mine deserves a ‘leadership’ it can trust. This month’s theme ‘distrust in leadership’ strikes close to my heart. The presence of trust and its absence thereof as one of those things that makes or breaks any relationship from personal ties to business relations may have been clichéd in the world of business, but one which still holds quite true. Where trust exists between people amazing things can happen. Even mountains can be moved with ease! On the flip side however, lasting success is a dream too far to grasp wherever trust fails to exist. As said quite often, nothing significant can be achieved where trust is missing. Even in the presence of overwhelming resources at the disposal of an organization. My conception of this theme of distrust in leadership however goes beyond an organization, though not too far perhaps. Trust remains qui...

Migration is only a symptom of the actual problems Say the word Africa, and see what comes into most people’s minds first. Not the green, beautiful, exotic, virgin, wealth endowed continent that it truly is. Africa now connotes the harshest extremes of poverty, violence, disease, hunger, corruption and helplessness. The image of this beggar Africa is the repellent that is suffocating, and chasing away the youngest, most skilled, and the most talented of Africa to flee their homes in exchange for an ‘opportunity’ to live in Europe, further plunging the continent into even deeper misery. Africans either escape at all costs or stay risking their dreams and ambitions dying with them. Those who endure the pains of this suffocation either stay  and pass on their poverty to their next generation, or they take the driver’s seat. Now away from the realities of real poverty, they have forgotten their past. They have become the new oppressors themselves. I am a Sierra Leonean, an African ...