By Saidu Kargbo
Freetown, 3rd August, 2026— The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) has received 10 Honda motorbikes donations from UNICEF to enhance the implementation and monitoring of activities under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Programme across Sierra Leone.
The donation, which is to be used by Quality Assurance Officers (QAO’s), is expected to improve the mobility of ministry personnel, enabling them to effectively supervise education projects, monitor schools, and provide timely technical support, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.
Speaking during the presentation, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey, described the donation as a significant boost to the ministry’s efforts to improve service delivery and ensure the success aimed at expanding access to quality education. “This is a move to achieve the efficiency of being able to monitor our schools and to support our teachers,” he noted. He acknowledged that the QAO’s use the bikes for the right purpose for which they were given.
The Ministry expressed appreciation to UNICEF for its continued partnership and commitment to strengthening Sierra Leone’s education sector. The motorbikes will play a vital role in facilitating field operations, improving monitoring and evaluation, and supporting the delivery of educational programmes nationwide.
UNICEF GPE Coordinator, Chelsea Lavalee, expressed delight in presenting the bikes to the Ministry, stating that it had taken almost two years since they started the journey of working together “We’ve taken almost two years since we started this journey, working together, learning how to visit schools, and collect data.”
She encouraged them to use the motorbikes for the right purpose to improve supervision and learning outcomes.
“I just encourage you to continue doing your work, and I hope these motorbikes will help you in that endeavor,” she concluded.
The Field Monitoring and School Quality Officers expressed their excitement and promised to use the bikes responsibly.
“We promise you that we will use these bikes in the best way possible, even more than we were doing when we were using other bikes,” they assured.
The donation reflects the longstanding collaboration between UNICEF and the Government of Sierra Leone in promoting inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all children.
