By Kadijatu Bangura, D.S
FREETOWN — The Center for Empowerment, Education, Peace and Agriculture for Rural Development (CEEPARD) has expanded its annual education support programme to benefit 2,500 vulnerable children and women-led households in Waterloo and surrounding rural communities.
The sixth edition of its Summer School Livelihood Support Programme was launched on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the Bassa Town Playing Field, bringing together children, parents, teachers and community stakeholders.
The initiative was held under the theme: “The 17/7 Principle: An Assurance to Achieve All-Round Academic Excellence Through Societal Synergies.”
Speaking at the launch, CEEPARD Deputy Executive Director, Ing. Mohamed Osman Mansaray, said the programme was created to tackle barriers preventing children from enrolling in and staying in school.
He said CEEPARD is a community-based organisation supporting less-privileged children, with interventions also in agriculture, engineering and other sectors.
According to him, the organisation supported 1,500 pupils last year but increased the figure to 2,500 this year due to growing need.
“This is our sixth edition. We are supporting less-privileged children here within the Western Area. The programme is designed to ease some of the challenges that prevent children from attending or staying in school,” Mansaray said.
He identified lack of basic learning materials as a major cause of dropout among pupils.
“We have a lot of school-going pupils that drop out because they say they don’t have bags, pens, or pencils to go to school,” he noted.
Mansaray said the initiative complements government’s flagship Free Quality Education programme and called on parents to ensure materials given to children are used for their intended purpose.
He appealed to donor partners, organisations and individuals to support the initiative to enable CEEPARD reach more children, disclosing that the target for next year is over 5,000 beneficiaries.
“To donor partners, we are pleading with them to come on board and let’s partner and make this initiative a bigger one,” he added.
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