Freetown: Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara, Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, on the 21 April, 2026 formally inaugurated a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiative tailored specifically for returned migrants.
According to Sierra Leone News Agency, the project is executed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with financial backing from the European Union. It seeks to fortify reintegration by endowing beneficiaries with competencies that directly mirror current labour market demands. Freetown Polytechnic serves as the delivery partner, tasked with building participants' capacities and synchronising instructional content with economic realities. The initiative directly confronts the precarious reintegration challenges facing Sierra Leoneans returning from irregular migration routes.
Speaking at the Jui Campus launch ceremony, Aziz-Kamara hailed the endeavour as fully congruent with government priorities on youth enfranchisement and vocational uplift. He affirmed that the administration is broadening TVET access to ensure young people gain saleable skills responsive to workplace needs. The Deputy Minister applauded IOM's dedication to safe, dignified migration and extended profound gratitude to the EU, characterising their collaboration as a paradigm of effective development partnership.
He noted that President Julius Maada Bio's broader agenda emphasises job creation and skill cultivation to curb vulnerability to perilous, irregular migration. Ongoing TVET reforms, he added, have modernised training protocols, overhauled certification systems, deepened industry linkages, and elevated technical education as a premier career pathway rather than a fallback option. Trainees will acquire expertise across several vocational domains: aluminum fabrication, painting, solar installation, welding, electrical installation, computer software applications, and tiling. Each trade was selected based on local market gaps and growth potential, according to project documents.
Aziz-Kamara underscored Freetown Polytechnic's pivotal role, calling it an institution endowed with the requisite capability and experience to deliver superior technical education while buttressing national reintegration schemes. He exhorted beneficiaries to seize this opportunity wholeheartedly, stressing that skill acquisition remains among the most dependable routes to both individual advancement and collective prosperity. The Deputy Minister further reminded the audience that technical prowess alone does not guarantee success without steadfast dedication and discipline.