EDUCATION MANAGEMENT AND ITS CHALLENGES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE

In accelerating the future growth and development of Sierra Leone, education is considered a key factor. Sierra Leone had faced multitude of challenges in education in the past, from civil unrest to health-related outbreaks. However, the current government’s education agenda is outlined in its Medium-Term National Development Strategy, which has two broad result areas in education: Ensuring free quality basic and senior secondary education and strengthening tertiary and higher education. The objective of this paper is to assess the challenges faced by the University of Sierra Leone (USL) in terms of managing tertiary education and strategic learning. Data was collected through online questionnaire with a sample size of 78 respondents while the qualitative questionnaire targeted key administrators of the USL using a convenience sampling method. Findings from the study revealed that the demands of the labour market and the competitive external environment have led to continuous call for improvements. Therefore, a university management system based on a well-designed development strategy will effectively deliver on its key missions i.e. studentcentred learning, research, and collaboration with stakeholders that will enable development and improvement. The USL is faced with challenges of underfunding, inadequate ICT infrastructure, lack of capacity building for academic staff and strategic education management. The paper recommends the Government must support tertiary educational institutions in the acquisition and maintenance of modern technologies due to their high cost; and the USL should create room for collaboration and partnerships with other local or international educational institutions, industries and government agencies so as to build network and relationships, which in turn leads to sharing resources and expertise and the adoption of best practices and the adoption of best practices.