In a dedicated session lasting three and a half hours, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr engaged with 354 headteachers, deputy headteachers, and senior teachers from 118 schools involved in the Pawa project for Gender Responsive Schooling.

This initiative is part of the broader School Leaders Support Program, implemented by the Freetown City Council in partnership with EducAid and Rising Academy, and has been active in over 420 primary and junior secondary schools since 2019.

Mayor Aki-Sawyerr highlighted the key objective of the meeting: to express gratitude to the school leaders for hosting the He4She Day on May 18th. During the event, school leaders shared impactful stories about the positive influence on fathers and father figures who attended, and how their engagement inspired many girls.

The discussion also addressed a growing concern of absenteeism among pupils after exams in the last term and during the first weeks of the new term. This absenteeism, attributed to children being encouraged to participate in trading activities, has a detrimental effect on learning as students miss out on completing their syllabi and lose valuable teacher contact time.

To combat this issue, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr and the school leaders brainstormed solutions, resulting in several agreed-upon interventions. A significant measure includes establishing a reporting mechanism between schools and the Freetown City Council (FCC), enabling the enforcement of the FCC Employment of Children Bylaws, 2010. This aims to deter parents and guardians from keeping pupils out of school for commercial activities. Additional incentives to discourage absenteeism will be developed in the coming weeks.

Mayor Aki-Sawyerr emphasized the importance of consistent school attendance in a message to parents and guardians, stressing the critical role of education in the students’ development and future success.