Education falls prey to Ebola in Sierra Leone

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Thu, 2015-04-30 10:09 — mike kraft

Amid lingering disease fears and economic fallout, most children have stayed away from recently reopened schools.

AL JAZEERA by Tommy Trenchard April 30, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone --

...the most dramatic change since Ebola swept across the country last July - forcing the school system to shut down completely - was in the number of students.

Sixth-grade teacher Andrew Kabia writes Ebola prevention messages on a blackboard [Tommy Trenchard/Al Jazeera]

Out of a total of 150 pupils in class six, less than 20 actually turned up on a recent Tuesday. It is not unusual in Sierra Leone for the school year to start slowly, but this year's figures were extremely low. A week later, classrooms were still not even half full....

Between the restrictions on movement brought in to stem the spread of Ebola and the fear of markets and crowded spaces, small businesses everywhere have felt the pinch, leaving many families unable to continue supporting their children's education.

Rob MacGilvery, country director for the British charity Save the Children, said along with lingering fears of public spaces keeping students away, many young people have been pushed into finding jobs to help their families deal with the economic pressures caused by Ebola.

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