The Pujehun District Students Association (PuDSA) will host a public lecture on the theme, “invest in education to increase sustainable access to quality education in Pujehun district,” on Saturday 30 June 2018. Seven prominent, inspirational and motivational speakers from the District will share their personal stories with pupils, students, and parents. The BBC’s Sierra Leone correspondent, Umaru Fofana, will also take part in the event.
PuDSA was formed to promote solidarity among university students from the District with the goal of mobilizing stakeholders and citizens with the view of fostering development and promoting quality education in the district. Mohamed Kallon, the National President of the association, said this public lecturer is part of that initiative.
Pujehun has experienced a serious downward trend in its educational standards since the end of the civil war, especially among girls. Several factors are at play in this, but much of it is blamed on the perennial problem of sexual abuse perpetrated on girls. The desire of many parents to see their girls get educated appears an unrealized dream.
A 2016 report by UNICEF indicates that eight out of ten children in Sierra Leone are considered poor, with Pujehun District accounting for the worst cases in the country with 93% child poverty, outweighing the national statistics of 77.7%.
In that report, Pujehun could only be compared to Bonthe, which accounts for 91.2% and Moyamba with 88.3%, all of which are in the southern region. The report is the result of a survey, which included nutrition, water, sanitation, health, housing, education, and information as parameters.
“This is a clear manifestation of the fact that there is every need for us to support and invest in our children’s education as a district,” said Kallon.
Every year the association has used occasions like the commemoration of the Day of the African Child, its Annual General Meeting, Outing, Dinner, and Awards, as means of raising funds to enable it implement projects geared towards ending teenage pregnancy.
Such projects include school debates and scholarship awards. Kallon said this will be the first time in the history of the association that it is organizing a public lecture. He said they have always deemed it prudent to inject sense of purpose into the minds of indigenes of the district to increase access to quality education.
The public lecture will focus on several burning issues affecting the district, including teenage pregnancy, gender based violence, child labour, and early child marriage.
“In our university database, out of 100% students from Pujehun district, only 5% of girls are visible. We are tired of seeing males dominating representation in all of our interventions.
MTM/26/6/18
By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
Wednesday June 27, 2018.
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