On Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th June 2019, Her Worship the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, unveiled a total of 49 newly-constructed classrooms across three municipal schools.
With funding from Make-It-Happen, a UK Charity Organisation, FCC constructed 20, 18 and 11 classrooms at Henry Fergusson Municipal School, Fattah Rahman Municipal School and E.B. Williams Municipal School respectively.
The nine-month long construction of the classroom blocks is one of FCC’s Education Sector initiatives, aimed at improving the teaching and learning environment in municipal schools, in the #TransformFreetown Agenda. Before now, the schools were in deplorable conditions, to the extent that E.B Williams being popularly called “pan bodi skul“.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremonies, Mr Michael Colin, Chief Executive of Make-It-Happen, explained, “What we have provided here is planting an acorn. From the seed that we have planted, we very much hope that there will be a mighty oak tree, which will be your performance in the years to come. The reward I look for is to know that a student sitting here today will be a president of this country.”
Also present at the unveiling ceremonies were the British High Commissioner, a representative of Ministry of Education, members of the schools’ boards, Member of Parliament, Councillor and FCC’s Education Officer.
Addressing the students before cutting the ribbons, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said, “This is about you. This is us actively playing our part to ensure that the quality of your education improves. The ball is now is your court; make use of these classrooms! Your success is our ultimate reward.”
In addition to the classroom blocks, toilets, staff rooms and office spaces were constructed at the schools.