Ebola Vs Education: Students Study By Radio, TV 'Classrooms' In EVD Stricken Sierra Leone

               (N.deVries/VOA)

17-year- old Doris Ansumana listening to a radio school

               program in Freetown, Sierra Leone, October 20, 2014.

  Students in Sierra Leone are learning via radio and television as nation faces continuing Ebola Virus Disease crisis.

Sierra Leonean students have been forced to study by radio as the West African country continues to battle the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic.

With the EVD forcing the closure of schools in the country, over one million pupils have been forced to stay at home. Continue after the cut...

But the VOA reports that a students are now learning remotely.

Classes are being broadcasted on 41 radio stations and a television station, three hours daily, five days a week.

The Deputy Director for Sierra Leonean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Brima Michael Turay, reportedly said 30 qualified teachers were called together to design the programs.

He called on parents to monitor their children and ensure they participate in the classes.

“This has to be one of their greatest responsibilities. We can provide the service as a ministry, but if the parents who are at home do not participate, this is going to be a fruitless endeavor," he said.

Student Pulse gathered that the educational programs are being directed by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists and the Independent Radio Network in partnership with international organisations.