Access to electricity is a major challenge in many rural areas in Sierra Leone, particularly in Tongo, a small town located in the Lower Bambara Chiefdom, Kenema District, Eastern Region of the country. This lack of electricity can have a significant impact on the education of children in the area, who are often unable to study at night without a source of light. In many cases, children must rely on expensive and environmentally harmful sources of lighting such as kerosene lamps or candles.
To address this issue, the Director General of the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC), Dr. Emmanuel Mannah, made a patronage donation of solar lights to primary school children in Tongo. The donation specifically targeted children set to take the National Primary School Examination in May this year with the aim of improving their academic performance and providing them with the opportunity to reach their full potentials as well as transform them to productive and independent citizens in society.
The schools that benefited from this gesture were the Al-Qudus Islamic Primary School, Roman Catholic Primary School and the UMC Primary School, all located in Tongo. The Head Teachers and stakeholders of the various schools expressed their gratitude to Dr. Mannah for his philanthropic gesture, recognizing that his generosity would have a positive impact on the lives of the children and the outcome of their academic performance.
Responding, Dr. Mannah emphasized the importance of access to solar lights for the education and future success of the school children and expressed satisfaction on how the distribution of these solar lights to primary schools would help to improve their academic performance in addition to giving them the opportunity to reach their full potentials. He further highlighted the role of the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission in promoting access to energy in rural areas and improving the quality of life for communities.
The solar lights donated by Dr. Mannah are durable for more than five years, which means that subsequent pupils coming to class six should also have access to them after the first users. Dr. Mannah encouraged the children to make positive use of the solar lights to get excellent grades in their examination results.
Concluding, the distribution of solar lights to primary school children in Tongo is a significant step forward in improving access to education and creating a brighter future for young learners. By providing reliable and sustainable energy sources, this gesture is helping to motivate future generations to seek education and create opportunities for them to succeed and reach their full potentials for which the Director General and the Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission should be commended for their efforts to promote access to energy in rural areas and improving the quality of life for communities in Sierra Leone.
Two primary schools; Al-Qoudus Islamic Primary School and the RC Primary School in Lalehun and two UMC Primary school and Al-Qoudus Primary School in Pandebu benefited from the donation.
