MTHE Seeks Bold Investment to Elevate TVET and Higher Education in FY2026.

The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education unveiled its FY2026 budget at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown, where Minister Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie stated that education absorbs roughly 21% of the allocation, yet TVET languishes at a mere 3%, urging a substantial infusion of resources to elevate it into a robust, credible alternative to traditional university pathways.

The session was attended by the Minister, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, the Deputy Minister, Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara, senior ministry staff, university and polytechnic leaders, as well as representatives from higher-education institutions.

Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, the Principal Deputy Financial Secretary, S.E.B. Momoh, emphasised that budget submissions must align with the Budget Call Circular and the Medium-Term National Development Plan. He further stressed the importance of including a clear procurement plan to address intended procurement activities.

In her contribution, Minister Wurie highlighted several key points. She stated that the government allocates about 21% of the budget to education, which she described as a strong commitment to human capital development. On Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), she noted that despite the policy emphasis, only 3% of the education budget currently goes to the sector. She therefore called for significant new investment to make TVET a credible and high-quality alternative to university education.

The Minister also disclosed that plans were underway to transform existing Government Technical Institutes into community technical colleges that would be tailored to local economic activities, such as agriculture in Bo District. She further cautioned that Sierra Leone risked losing benefits from international partnerships like UNESCO if membership fees continued to remain unpaid. She therefore urged the timely settlement of these dues to unlock related funding opportunities.

On the status of budget execution, the Senior Budget Officer, Laima A.K. Dumbuya, reported that the 2024 approved budget amounted to Le 188.9 million (recurrent) and Le 43.5 million (public investment). Out of this, 80% of the recurrent budget and 35% of the domestic capital budget have already been expended.

He further reported that the execution for 2025 (January-June) was tracking similarly, with detailed breakdowns provided for universities, polytechnics, and technical institutes. However, he noted that there were notable variances, including over-expenditure at certain universities due to overdue severance and Government Grant-in-Aid (GIA), while some projects, such as teacher-training rehabilitation and the construction of the national archives, had received no disbursements.

The Ministry appealed for increased budget allocations and timely disbursement to strengthen TVET programs, support staff promotions and new appointments, estimated at Le 21.5 million for GTIs and Le 85.2 million for universities in 2026, and to build capacity in technical institutions and universities to meet Sierra Leone’s human-capital goals.

Correspondent- Richard Williams

Email: rw327542611@gmail.com

Tel: +23203086143