Free Quality Education Is Costing Us More, Not Less
By Arthur E. Pearce
Chevening Scholar 2026/27 | University of East Anglia, UK | FBC, MMUET, IPAM | 25 August 2026.
I attended Government Primary School. Tower Hill Municipal School It worked.
For secondary school, 2003–2009, my mother paid SLE 2,400 a year at _International Secondary School Limited – ISS_. It was expensive, but private schools were still accountable, and you got value for what you paid.
Today I am paying SLE 17,000 a year for my Class 2 child ,
That is a 608% increase from what my mother paid 17 years ago.
With my Nursery child at SLE 14,500, we are now at SLE 31,500 a year total and fees went up again this year. ( watin go be next year ? )
This is not normal inflation, this is what happens when the public system collapses.
What Is Happening in Our Schools?
SLTU Ibrahim Bankapoma Kargbo, President of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, spoke on 98.1 Radio in an interview with Reporter Y. Kabia about school opening and its challenges. His words explain why parents are suffering, why school administrators are discouraged from functioning and maintaining ethical standards, and why the Government is only continuing with this Free Quality Education for political reasons and vote-scoring, just to win elections.
SLTU PRESIDENT !
“I don’t have money to repair and build furniture… I don’t have money for minor repairs to buildings… I don’t have money to pay auxiliary staff. We can’t clean the school or provide water and hygiene… I don’t have money to buy a register, I don’t have money to buy chalk. School will open, but it will not be effective. We are tired of going on strike.”
“All we are asking for is for the budget to reflect in reality, because it does not.”
“The Government spends 22% of the budget on this sector, but you do not see the effect. Why do we continue to suffer year after year?”
“There are no books and learning materials. The Le 10 per child for 3 months as a subsidy is not enough and was not even available last year.”
He is warning us: schools will open, but they cannot function.
How This Is Driving Corruption?
The breakdown is not just about money. It is breaking trust.
1. Parents are forced into private schools instead of public schools.
With no books, no chalk, no cleaners, and overcrowded classes, parents who want their children to learn have no choice. That desperation is why private school fees keep rising every year. There is no functional public system to compete.
2. Teachers and administrators are desperate over poor conditions that affect the education sector and their personal wellbeing.
They are told to deliver quality with no resources and poor pay. With 80+ students in one class and no materials, some resort to illegal “contributions”, selling spaces, or asking parents for money just to keep the school running.
3. Exam corruption is now normal, from NPSE Examination.
Years of “free” schooling without teaching and learning materials means children reach NPSE unprepared. Then the pressure hits. Schools need pass rates. Parents need results for the SLE 17,000 they are paying elsewhere. That is how we get leaked questions, paid marking, and “help” to pass. The weakness of FQSE is most exposed at exam time.
4. Families are under pressure to “secure funds by all means.”
When you need SLE 31,500 for two children in private schools, people cut corners. That pressure fuels bribery and fraud in both the public and private sectors.
President Kargbo even said the hard truth: we may need to stop the school subsidy and use that money to _”improve the salaries of teachers”_ and supply materials regularly.
He called it “political suicide” according to the Government reaction, but said it because the current model is failing.
Bottom Line
I benefited from public education at the primary level from Government _THMS Tower Hill Municipal School_. My mother paid SLE 2,400 a year at International Secondary School, but the system was controlled. It is not the same now, with no competition.
Today, FQSE has made public schools so weak that parents like me must pay 608% more for one child just to get the education we had for less.
“Free” without quality is not helping. It is harm.
It pushes parents into debt, pushes teachers and administrators into corruption, and pushes our children through exams they were never taught to pass.
Until the Government actually funds teachers wellbeing, books, repairs, and the day-to-day running of schools, this flagship program will keep doing more damage than good.
Credit: Interview with Ibrahim Bankapoma Kargbo on 98.1 Radio, Reporter Y. Kabia_
Thank you very much prezo Kagbo, you have said it all and it’s the hard fact.
God will bless you and your family.