By: Zacharia Jalloh, Ministry of Information and Civic Education
Exhibiting their academic and Civic knowledge, ten Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in Magburaka town, the headquarters of Tonkolili district, have locked horns in a Quiz and Debate competition organized by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education as part of its monthly Civic Day Series on 27th October, 2025.
The participating schools are: Benevolent Islamic Secondary School, St Joseph Secondary School Magburaka, Government Secondary School for Boys, Government Secondary School for Girls-Mathora, SLMB Secondary School, Missionary Church of Africa (MCA) Magburaka, Pampana High School, Light of Islam, St. Thomas School, and National Commercial Secondary School.
In his statement before declaring the event open, the Resident Minister North-East Region, Ibrahim Jalloh, hailed the Civic Day Series, describing it as President Bio’s vision of getting the government closer to the people. He emphasized that the Civic Inter-school Quiz and Debate competition is essential in terms of igniting students’ understanding of civic education and national history. He urged the students to take their studies seriously and make their parents proud, saying education is the key that unlocks human growth.
Rolling out the Quiz questions, the Quiz Masters, Marian Magdalene Bangura and Timothy Sam, said two solid rounds of questions relating to civic education, national and local history would be posed to the students to assess their knowledge. After both rounds of five schools each, Rashid Barrie of Missionary Church of Africa (MCA) scored sixteen(16) points to win that category while Foday Sesay of St. Thomas School got nine points to take the runner-up position.
The Debate competition featured the same schools in two rounds of tense debate on the following topics: ‘Technology has caused more harm than good to students’, ‘Corruption in school administration is a major barrier to quality education in Sierra Leone’ and ‘Should citizens’ participation in the National Population and Housing Census be mandatory?’
Following the conclusion of two rounds of a tight contest, Amidu Bangura of Benevolent Islamic Secondary School won with 18 points while Ibrahim David Yateh took second position with 17 points.
Winners and runners-up received customized Civic Day Series school bags and exercise books plus handsome cash prizes. This showcases the government’s commitment to advancing the country’s human capital development.
On Tuesday, 28th October 2025, top government officials, opposition politicians and the private sector will converge at the Tonkolili District Council Hall in Magburaka to directly engage the people on emerging governance issues.
