Freetown — The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports has received the draft copies of the Peace Education Curriculum (PEC) at the ministry's conference room, New England Ville in Freetown.

Presenting the PEC to Dr. Minkailu Bah, course director Dr. Thomas Mark Turay said peace education will be introduced to selected secondary schools come September 2010; and that he was honored and privileged to present the draft copies of the revised modules for both senior primary and junior secondary schools. He went on to say the draft copies contain five modules which are peace, conflict resolutions, ethical communication, human rights and gender and that the modules are strong pillars for peaceful co-existing in the school community.

Dr. Turay stressed that the peace education, when introduced in the selected schools in the western rural and Tonkolili district, will aid the kids to use non-violence skills, knowledge, values and attitude in dealing with conflict, reduce the level of violence, create safer school settings for school going pupils especially the girl child, build the capacity of teachers through the learner centre, achieve quality education and beseech educational authorities to have another alternatives for corporal punishment.

Project coordinator of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, Mrs. Hawa Koroma said her union in collaboration with the Canadian Teachers Union has opted to finance the pilot phase of the peace education in the selected schools in the western rural and Tonkolili district in the north. Based on this hallmark, 20 teachers and three supervisors will be trained by the Sierra Leone Teachers Union commencing July to August 3rd 2010. Madam Koroma stressed that the success of this project depends on collective responsibility and therefore pleaded with the minister to help them with supervisors who will be monitoring the project at its areas of operation.

In his response, the minister said the introduction of the peace education in selected schools by the Sierra Leone Teachers Union is a laudable idea as it works in line with the president's call for attitudinal change.

Dr. Bah stated that his ministry is appreciative of the step taken by the union and its partners and will give them the necessary support by providing them with supervisors that will effectively monitor the pilot phase of the project. He promised the union that his ministry will take the full implementation of the peace education project after it should have gone through a successful pilot phase.