Freetown: The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) through UNICEF, handed over ten motorbikes to School Quality Assurance Officers (SQAOs), strengthening school monitoring and supervision nationwide. According to Sierra Leone News Agency, the handover ceremony occurred at the Ministry headquarters in Freetown, as part of the Government's commitment to improving education quality and enhancing SQAO mobility. The motorbikes will enable SQAOs to efficiently access schools, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, and conduct regular monitoring while providing professional teacher support. Their primary responsibility is to ensure teachers deliver lessons using the approved national curriculum syllabus prescribed by the Ministry. The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sthe Aas A Ckey, described the donation as a major milestone in addressing longstanding SQAO challenges. The Ministry currently maintains 220 SQAO s serving Sierra Leone's 16 districts, and the motorbike distribution is continuing nationwide. The Minister explained that the initial handover covered officers in the Western Urban Area, with another distribution exercise occurring in Waterloo for Western Rural Area officers. The Deputy Minister and Chief Education Officer (CEO) will oversee the remaining motorbike distribution in other districts. He urged officers to make effective use of the motorbikes to improve school supervision, ensuring that monitoring activities become more regular and impactful. Chelsea Lavalie, GPE Coordinator at UNICEF, stated that the provision of motorbikes responds directly to transportation concerns repeatedly raised by SQAOs. She encouraged the officers to use the motorbikes for their intended purpose and to maintain them properly, emphasizing the importance of maintenance in delivering lasting benefits to the education sector. Upon receiving the motorbikes, SQAOs expressed their appreciation to UNICEF and MBSSE for addre ssing this critical operational challenge. They pledged to take proper care of the motorbikes and use them diligently to fulfill their monitoring responsibilities and improve teaching and learning outcomes nationwide. The Ministry announced that the remaining motorbike distribution will continue across other districts in the coming weeks.