MTHE’s Deputy Minister Highlights Government’s Drive to Transform TVET through Demand-Driven Reforms

Government intensified its TVET overhaul, Deputy Minister Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara said, framing demand-driven reforms as key to stronger job skills, wider access, and sustainable growth.

Speaking during the government’s weekly press briefing in Freetown, Aziz-Kamara said the Human Capital Development Agenda has helped reshape technical and higher education since the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education was created in 2018.

He said the ministry’s creation gave Sierra Leone dedicated oversight of tertiary education, technical and vocational training, research, innovation and skills development.

Deputy Minister said reforms under the 2021 Universities Act converted polytechnics into technical universities, increasing the number of public universities from three to six and broadening access to higher education.

He said the government was moving away from certificate-focused education toward competency-based training aligned with labor market demand. He cited the 2019 National TVET Policy, the Skills Development Fund and nationwide labor market surveys as major tools guiding curriculum reform in agriculture, mining, construction, ICT, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality.

He said government technical institutes were being expanded across all 16 districts, with plans to upgrade them into community colleges. He added that a proposed Dual Apprenticeship Policy would combine classroom learning with workplace training, while the National Qualifications Framework would create clearer progression routes from entry-level technical training to advanced professional certification.

Minister Aziz-Kamara said the government continued to prioritize education, allocating about 22% of the national budget to the sector, subsidizing public universities and supporting staff salaries. He said those investments should produce graduates with practical, employable skills.

He called for closer collaboration with the private sector to ensure training programmed matched industry needs and warned students against enrolling in unaccredited institutions. He added that the government was establishing Centers of Excellence in specialized fields such as renewable energy and argon-processing, while expanding flexible learning through micro-credentials and credit transfer systems.

Addressing examination malpractice, Aziz-Kamara described the practice as organized crime and said the government’s zero-tolerance policy, backed by plans to digitize examinations, would improve transparency and reduce opportunities for abuse.

He said the first phase of the government’s $20 million Skills Development Project trained more than 20,000 beneficiaries, far above its original target of 8,000. The next phase, he added, would deepen private sector participation and keep skills training closely tied to market demand.

In closing, Aziz-Kamara urged universities to review their programmed regularly to reflect emerging national priorities, including agriculture, industrialization, technological innovation and artificial intelligence. He called for stronger cooperation among government, educational institutions, private sector partners, development agencies, the media, parents and civil society to build a skilled workforce capable of driving sustainable economic growth.