The National Science and Technology Council, in collaboration with the ministry of Education Youth and Sport, has launched the Eastern Science and Technology Committee at the Tejan Kabbah hall at the Eastern Polytechnic campus in Kenema.
The programme, which attracted dignitaries from the entire eastern province, commenced with a march pass through the principal streets of kenema city up to the college campus.
Addressing the gathering the chairman of the ceremony, Alhaji Salia Magona who is also the provincial secretary East, described the ceremony as unique, adding that science and technology were very important in today’s world.
He cautioned everyone to embrace the programme and applied collective efforts to promote science and technology in the country.
Mr Magona appealed to parents to form a common ground for their children to consider science as an important area of study.
The chairman of the eastern science and technology committee, Dr Sandi Bockarie who is also the principal of the Eastern Polytechnic, explained that the overall responsibility of the committee was the promotion, coordination, and fostering of science and technology activities in order to enhance rapid and sustain economic and social development in the region.
He emphasized that it was an honour and pleasure to have met with everybody, adding that “science has drastically changed in the recent years.”
In his keynote address the ministry of Education Youth and Sport, Dr Minkailu Bah, commended the national science and technology council for a work well done.
He said for a country to maintain continuous growth in the next decade, it needed high level of innovation and creativity in science and technology.
“Hence the nation’s desire to produce well-trained effective scientists, engineers and technologists. To do this effectively, the country needs to increase the impacts of science by making science and technology accessible to all the people of this country, especially in the east, which is one of the most productive regions in the country,” he stated.
The minister advised parents to encourage and guide their children to take science and technology seriously, saying that science and technology could make a child a peaceful citizen.
Dr Bah said, “while we recognize the importance of participating in global partnership, local initiatives like the launching of regional committees must set us on the alert to start from somewhere. The universities and schools are the nucleus of this transformation. The need to increase the number of students, youths, lecturers, teachers, and women in the science and technical professions is therefore urgent,” he noted.
The overview of the national science and technology council was given by Ibrahim Sesay, the executive secretary.
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