By Ibrahim S. Bangura
Sierra Leone: With schools set to reopen on Monday, mounting tensions between the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) and the government over unpaid subsidies and salaries have sparked fears of a nationwide teachers’ strike. At the heart of the crisis is a growing concern from Freetown’s Mayor, Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, who has voiced deep frustration over the deteriorating conditions in municipal schools and the government’s failure to meet its financial obligations.
Speaking candidly at the Liberty Online TV on Wednesday, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr described the situation as “very worrying for parents, for children, and for us as a council,” warning that the visible signs of strain in the education sector are only the tip of a much deeper problem. “Just yesterday, I spoke with some teachers. They told me that not only have they not received subsidies, but many senior secondary school teachers have not even received their July salaries. Now we are in September,” she said.
The SLTU has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government, demanding immediate payment of outstanding school fees subsidies for the third term of the 2023/2024 academic year and the first term of 2024/2025. The Union also called for prompt termly payments, correction of payment inconsistencies, a review of subsidy amounts, replacement of retired or deceased teachers, and resumption of teaching and learning material supplies.
While the Union has urged teachers to continue working until the deadline, the threat of a strike looms large, especially for municipal schools under the Freetown City Council. According to Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, the Council was allocated 2.6 billion Leones for its 806 schools for the entire year, but only 800 million Leones—roughly one quarter—has been disbursed as of September.
“Even if the full allocation were paid, it still works out to about 3 million Leones per school for the whole year—to cover all expenses such as repairing roofs, fixing broken toilets, and day-to-day maintenance,” she explained. “Parents are already struggling. They are not supposed to be taxed for additional costs. Yet teachers and school leaders are forced to find ways to keep institutions running. This is not good for the country, not good for the children, and it certainly cannot be allowed to continue.”
The Mayor emphasized that while the Free Quality Education program has led to increased school enrollment since its launch in 2018, the lack of resources and unpaid teacher salaries severely undermines its effectiveness. “If institutions are starved of resources, and teachers are not receiving their salaries, the quality of education is definitely compromised,” she said.
She acknowledged that both the government and the Council have made efforts to expand infrastructure, citing new classrooms at JFK Kennedy School, SM Broder School, Fatah Rahman School, and a newly built two-storey primary school in Kroo Bay. However, she stressed that “the quality of education is not just about structures.”
A recent assessment by the Council revealed that the cost of necessary repairs across municipal schools runs into several millions of Leones—far beyond the limited allocation. Even basic needs like exam supervision are underfunded, and disbursements are often delayed.
As the September 9 deadline approaches, the unresolved issues continue to cast a shadow over the reopening of schools. With parents, students, and educators caught in the middle, the Mayor’s warning underscores the urgent need for government action to prevent a full-blown crisis in Sierra Leone’s education sector.