The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has pledged technical support to Sierra Leone as the West African nation moves to establish a Centralized Admissions System aimed at improving transparency, efficiency, and fairness in tertiary institution admissions.

The commitment was made during a high-level stakeholder engagement organised by Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Technical and Higher Education in Freetown, as part of ongoing reforms to over haul the country’s higher education admissions process.

The development follows a recent visit by a Sierra Leonean delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara, to Nigeria, where officials understudied the operations of Nigeria’s centralized admissions model during JAMB’s Annual Policy Meeting.

Addressing stakeholders at the meeting, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr Haja Ramatulai Wurie, disclosed that the proposed Centralised Admissions System had received Cabinet approval and is backed by the country’s Universities Act of 2021.

She said the reform would replace the existing decentralised admissions process with a unified digital platform for universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions.

According to Wurie, the initiative was being implemented in collaboration with key national institutions, including the Tertiary Education Commission, the West African Examinations Council, the National Civil Registration Authority, the National Telecommunications Authority, and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education.

She noted that Sierra Leone was not seeking to replicate another country’s model wholesale but intended to adapt global best practices to suit its educational system.

The minister also thanked Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, for supporting Sierra Leone’s reform efforts, describing the proposed admissions system as a major step towards restructuring tertiary admissions in the country.