The School
Since 2011, EducAid's Maronka School has worked to remove the barriers that stand in the way of access to education and currently provides free, high quality education to over 100 vulnerable primary aged children (50 boys and 50 girls) with 76 pupils (38 boys and 38 girls) calling Maronka home and being their safe space. 12 Maronka students in the Eagles class (4 girls) are preparing for their National Primary School Exam (NPSE) in May. Our 9 teaching staff currently on the Maronka team, maintain close relationships with the surrounding community.
Furthermore, the Maronka Safe House works to not only keep girls in school and safe from harmful home situations, but also works to build their confidence before adolescence.
Maronka Primary School also currently serves as a model school in our teacher-training network impacting over 15,000 students. This makes it a hub for learning in the Port Loko district setting an example for free, quality, safe, gender specific education across all of Sierra Leone.
In October and November 2022 Maronka hosted more than 500 teachers as part of the The Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge (one of the largest outcomes-investments in African education)! The teachers from 65 primary schools across Sierra Leone participated in a 1-week intensive, residential training. This will impact and improve education for over 15,000 primary school students!
Maronka is small primary school making a big difference.
Education Projects at Maronka
Across the school we have many different educational projects.
Classes typically focus on improving literacy, numeracy and other subjects in the national curriculum. The team also places emphasis on learning through play, student safety and confidence building.
For example our Every Voice Counts programme is across all of the school ensuring that all students are heard, feel respected, and are empowered to learn.
There are also environmental projects (tree planting), health projects, community outreach and more!
New projects at Maronka
- 2023 will see some important building work at Maronka with the construction of a new kitchen and repairs of boarding facilities for boys and girls, in addition to the construction of new bathrooms. Staff toilets and rooms will also be repaired.
- EducAid has also recently partnered with Imagine Worldwide, a US-based charity empowering children to build necessary literacy and numeracy skills with technology (child-led via tablets) in 6 African countries. Maronka will serve as one of the hubs for a Sierra Leonean pilot working closely with 4 low-performing primary schools in Port Loko (those with 0% pass rate on the National Primary School Exams), increasing to 6 additional schools in September. This means further solar installation for Maronka as well as each Maronka student having 5 tablet lessons per week, tailored to his or her level. Watch the moment Imagine Worldwide arrived to deliver the tablets and the community’s welcome - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cob8PkvoSSU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
- After the intensive, residential trainings for all SLEIC teachers, EducAid invited the 76 nursery level SLEIC teachers to join for a special early years training for 1 additional day of training to focus on building strong literacy and numeracy foundations for younger learners through play. The Maronka teachers helped to lead the sessions and joined in the training.
Recent Achievements
EducAid's participation in World Education Week covered by the Sierra Leone Telegraph
Welcome Back to School September 2023!
4th September welcomed back our students and teachers to Maronka for the new school year!
Watch and share the joy with our students as they come back into class in the video below!
Under new leadership this year Maronka's school leaders describe their hopes for the year ahead, and introduce themselves:
"I am Mohamed Alhaji Fornah, but people call me MAF. I am from Mathonkara village in Tonkolili district and attended EducAid’s Lumley Secondary School in Freetown from 2010 to 2014. I was employed as a maths teacher at EducAid Secondary School Sierra Leone, then as a Cluster Mentor under the Education Innovation Challenge (EIC) and later I served as a District Officer at Education Development Trust (EDT) under the UNICEF Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Programme. I am a self-motivated and committed individual eager to utilise my education and experiences to contribute towards transforming education and fostering the growth of students in Sierra Leone, promoting equality, and safety for all. I am open to learning, enjoy teamwork, and always take responsibility for my actions.
Moving to the new academic year, I hope for the following:
- Maintaining a safe environment for both students and staff and ensuring a high-quality learning environment.
- Continuing to improve our external examination results.
- Working collaboratively with the community, management, and other education stakeholders to promote the smooth running of the school and promoting better understanding of key issues like child protection and gender equality in the community.
- Ensuring the effective and judicious use of EducAid's resources."
"My name is Aminata Martha Kamara, former student of EducAid, coming from Freetown. I have served as a volunteer teacher in EducAid Maronka and I have a BSc in Business & Information Technology. I also trained as a nurse for two years. I am positive and persistent. I maintain a positive mindset and I believe in my ability to achieve my goals. I stay persistent even if I face setbacks or temporary failures. But my dedication, effort, perseverance, help to achieve success. I believe in teamwork to achieve the desired outcome. I am excited to be back in the EducAid family and that my son is a student at EducAid Rolal. He loves it there.
My goal for the upcoming year is to build good relationships with students and teachers, managing students' behaviour positively and promoting success in their academic goals."
"My name is Mayio S Mansaray. I am a lifelong learner who thrives on challenges and constantly seeks opportunities to grow. Born and raised in Maronka, I started my primary schooling at EducAid and continued on to WASSCE level. I left with eight credits including English and Maths and am currently doing the EducAid/UniMak BAM degree. I have served as a volunteer on three different sites, EducAid Pate Bana, EducAid Rolal and as a trainee in Maronka. I am currently running a Firebreak project in Maronka which is about teaching boys and young men how they can break with negative behaviour from previous generations and to embrace a new definition of masculinity that promotes gender equality and rejects violence.
Some of my aims for the new academic year in Maronka are:
- to ensure the safety and security of students, staff and visitors on the school premises
- to encourage collaboration and teamwork among students and staff members to enhance efficiency and productivity
- to foster clear efficient communication between the school administration, staff, parents and external stakeholders
- to continue improving the NPSE results."
Maronka Team
MAF, Aminata and Maiyo
FA will continue to lead early years education and efforts at Maronka and be on hand to help support the new school leadership to ensure a strong transition.
