Sierra Leone Minister calls for stronger measures to protect education quality

During a Special Edition Civic Town Hall at the Miatta Civic Centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, called for intensified measures to protect the integrity of the nation’s education system.

Addressing the theme “How Do We Address the Threats to Quality Education in Sierra Leone?”, Minister Wurie focused on combating examination malpractice, verifying academic qualifications, and increasing institutional accountability. She warned that allowing academic dishonesty to become normalized poses a long-term risk to society, as students may carry these unethical practices into their future professional roles as leaders.

To mitigate these threats, the Minister advocated for the integration of technology, including the use of multifunctional ICT centres for electronic examinations. Proposed solutions include utilizing randomized question banks to prevent collusion and employing artificial intelligence to assist in marking multiple-choice and short-answer questions, while maintaining human oversight for quality control.