A Sierra Leonean teacher Hassan Conteh who is married to Rebecca Stevens who happens to be the granddaughter of former President Siaka Stevens and presently staying in the UK, has taken a bold step in promoting education in his homeland.
The support given by this philanthropic Sierra Leonean came in the form of books and geometry sets with the aim of arousing the interest of pupils in Mathematics and the Sciences. The items were presented last Friday 21st January, 2010 to the Mayor of the Freetown City Council to whom the running of Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in the Freetown Municipality has been devolved.
Making the presentation on behalf of Mr. Hassan Conteh Rev. Olubunmi Syl- Macfoy who has been the brain behind the donation stated that he has been making frequent visits to UK and it was during one of his visits that he contacted Mr. Hassan Conteh who has a passion to develop the education system in Sierra Leone.
Rev. Syl-Macfoy said after explaining the present situation of education in Sierra Leone, Mr. Hassan Conteh decided to make the donation of books and other item as a start while hoping to do more in the area of introducing modern methods of teaching in Sierra Leone. Receiving the items the Mayor of Freetown George Herbert Williams commended Rev. Macfoy for the level of patriotism he has demonstrated to his country. He further thanked Mr. Hassan Conteh for donating the books which he said will contribute towards improving the knowledge of both pupils and teachers that will be using them. He assured Rev. Syl Macfoy that he will ensure that the items reach the intended beneficiaries who are school pupils and teachers. Mr. Hassan Conteh an accomplished teacher in the fields of Mathematics and Physics travelled to the UK where he is a teacher. He is currently the Head of Mathematics at the Archbishop Lanfranc School and a Mathematics Examiner for a major Examining Board in the UK.
By William Freeman