Interview with Dr. Dennis Kargbo Principal of the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology, (MMCET) Sierra Leone.
Dr. Denis Kargbo, Principal of Milton Margai College of Education and Technology, is a very unassuming educationist and family man. Very few people know the man exists because he has chosen to lie low, do what society has assigned him to do, but more importantly in the quiet of where not many people often think thatan intuition of the type he runs exists at all.
“We, and our campus, geographically, are behind the blind curve of educational sites in Sierra Leone and yet very important”, Sulaiman Kabbia, member of the students union executive at MMCET said.
When the deputy editor of sierra-leone-news.com, Silas Gbandia thought it was necessary to listen to the dream behind the MMCET as a national institution, Dr. Kargbo earlier declined to talk. It was actually after long telephone and personal discussions that helped convince Dr. Kargbo that he needed to be listened to, much so as a national civil servant in an institution that has produced many educated personalities. Below is just part of the story you will read herein;
Silas began by asking Dr. Kargbo the length of time he has served as principal of the college.
Dr. Kargbo: Well, I came here in 1990, so it will interest you to know that it’s very close, not yet exactly but very close to twenty years.
Silas: How many departments were operating when you took over as head of this institution?
Dr. Kargbo: It was then a teacher training college and so then we trained students for junior secondary school in sciences and some specialist subjects like physical and health education, music and performing arts. You could rarely get trained teachers in this country [then] or in earlier years.
Silas[interrupting]: How far have you transformed the few departments to what they are now?
Dr. Kargbo: It’s a long story and it’s eh…eh a long development because I found this place only as a teacher training institute but then we have added non-teacher training courses that lead to vocations or to jobs directly; such as the behavioural disciplines and technical disciplines as well. Virtually all subjects that lead you to a career in life… all those courses that have to do with earning a living outside of teaching- you do it here. But that apart, I had also been asked by government some years back to develop Congo Cross campus, which is a career oriented college that trains engineers up to diploma and certificate level and so on. I built up that institution also from what it used to be to the larger institution it is now. We took the students population from something around 300 at Congo Cross campus to its present state of 1800 students. I’ve also been asked to superintend work at Brookfields in the training section of that institution. You know there was some huge amount of work to be done there too since the college was devastated by war. The rebels destroyed it during the war but we are trying to build it up again. It’s very challenging because all the equipment have been destroyed on the [brookfields] campus.
Silas: A look at the physical structure shows that the college itself has expanded that far…
Dr. Kargbo [interrupts] the college has expanded immensely on all the campuses especially Goderich. When I came to Goderich in 1990, the institution here in Goderich had only about three hundred students; now we have a student population of about 2000. Likewise [Congo Cross] had about 300 students. Congo Cross [now has] about 1800 students and Brookfields is the only one that has not developed much. That is how it has been. It’s definitely not easy running three institutions you alone.
Silas: So what have been your challenges in running the three institutions alone?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, you have to show your presence [on all the three campuses].
My main office is at Goderich here but I make sure I visit Brookfields and Congo Cross campuses. In the earlier years when I took over work, I used to be there at least once a week but grdually the work got on me after some time and I fell ill, very ill and then I had to be flown out for about eight months in Ghana. But I started working about 2 months ago. I’m well now any way but I’m curtailing on how much I visit the other campuses particularly Congo Cross. There are abled lieutenants over there in the persons of Mr. Bundu, while Mrs. Luke is at Brookfields and they are doing very well.
Silas: You have a large student population, what is the state of the infrastructure to match students’ expectations…?
Dr. Kargbo :[interrupts] That has been a challenge for all three campuses. Goderich of course… except for a few classrooms that the past government built in here, it hasn’t been easy. But with respect to housing eh…residences are seriously inadequate for the students because the few dormitories are over full. The capacity is just for about 300 students. Just as I told you the capacity in the dorms is about 1000 to 1800. When I took over Brookfields, it had less than what it is now: 300. All the campuses are faced with challenges in terms of space in order to cope with the large numbers of intake and demands for more students to come in every academic year.
Silas: So what is your over view about housing for students?
Dr. Kargbo: That area is worse because we only have space for 400 [or] 300 students. For Goderich alone we have 500 all of them polytechnic students.
So we have tried to bring in a sample of students from Congo Cross and Brookfields campuses to Goderich so that, that brotherhood and sisterhood of being together can be seen in the way the students interact out of class. They live together in the hostels and so on; that we’ve tried to show but it’s only symbolic because of the lack of proper and adequate available space. So that may not be many students from the other campuses, but there used to be far too small a number of students from even the students of Goderich here to interact. The accommodation is really a serious problem. It’s grossly inadequate.
Silas: You mentioned that you have a large students population and the campuses put together, you have the largest institution in the country, but if one goes around the country today one hears people saying that the quality of education in the country generally has fallen. What do you think to be some of the reasons as an educationist?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, there are several reasons. Let me just mention some of them. Motivation of teachers is low. The terms and conditions of service are not too good because the cost of living has risen. So good lecturers often leave the teaching field for better jobs. Allowances given to students as government grants do not serve for even a month. When we were in college we used to dine freely in the cafeteria of the college through a scholarships scheme that we had; government paid for that. But now they have adopted a cafeteria system and then what is provided for the students is grossly inadequate to sustain them on a three meals a day. To be frank, they are not properly fed. What is meant by their allowance is grossly inadequate too to feed them on a three meals basis as we used to have. You know that enabled us then, to concentrate without any increased prblems in our lives, we just concentrated on our work. But now students have to go out and fend for themselves, sometimes some survive only on one meal a day or half a meal a day and it’s difficult when you are not well fed to concentrate in your studies. Because of that, students are not concentrating in their studies, the lecturers are not quite satisfied with there conditions of service [therefore] they are not really giving up their best and the provisions in the college itself by way of equipment, furniture for the students’ use, by way of even lighting for the students at night for them to study,… all these things are poor and fair conditions for students to do badly in local and public exams. Things have so deteriorated over the years and so that has affected the quality of education. When the civil war also was raging, many of our lecturers and teachers left the country and some have never returned. When you look at the cumulative effects of these conditions I have outlined, it is difficult to have sound results by students.
Silas: Yet some of these students could still be the best in national exams, even under these adverse conditions you and your lecturers work.
Dr. Kargbo: Oh yes! Of course, but still even now the situation is this; our own salaries are not too good in the polytechnics. Our salaries are not too good so we are still losing lots of staff from our educational institutions to areas where they are paid better salaries. Sometimes we lose them to the university and sometimes to private enterprises where they are going to get better service. Sometimes in the middle of the year they leave and so it’s difficult to maintain your syllabus and work force throughout the year. In all of this, we have to continue to give lectures.
Silas: What about the standard and quality of the students you admit to the institution?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, the standards have fallen not only in our own college here at MMCET, but I may say the standards have fallen in all of our institutions, especially educational institutions in the country [at] school level, college level and so on. What we are getting from the schools is what we work with and if the graduates that are coming from the schools are not good then a lot of work has to be done to bring them to the level that we want them. The staffs are not well motivated because of these poor conditions. So you see, the thing is a cycle of disappointment. You know the problem is from the schools, the teachers are not motivated enough, they don’t teach the students well, the students manage to scrape their way into other higher institutions of learning. Some don’t come even with the required qualifications.
You know it because you see that they have failed the General Certificate of Education, GCE examinations; which are our criteria for selecting students.
So sometimes we have to lower our in-take requirements and standard just to bring these students to come in the institution. Sometimes we admit students with four O’ Levels, sometimes we have to admit with three O’ Levels. So that is the situation and it’s affecting not only Milton Margai here but all the other institutions of higher learning in the country.
Silas: So what do you think could be the way to circumventing such a situation?
Dr. Kargbo: As I explained to you, the problem is multifaceted and only a multifaceted appraoasch can fetch us good solution. If you want to effectively handle the matter, only a multifaceted approach to the problem can be the solution. It has to do with so many things. It has to do first of all, with the working places that we have. The working places are not properly maintained. These work conditions are not good. Classroom situations you know, then the lecturers are not too happy with their conditions of service you know. The students are not happy with their maintenance allowances from government, that is, if they get such allowances at all. They feed on only one meal a day. For a good number of them that is the best they could offer for themselves-one meal a day. And one meal a day when you are studying seriously is grossly inadequate. So the problem is multifaceted; and it has to be carefully studied. The problem has to be carefully studied and handled step by step. So it’s a very serious situation. It has to be studied from the learners’ point of view, then from the teachers’ or lecturers’ own point of stress, then you also would have to see if the facilities in these learning institutions can be improved upon. So it’s multifaceted. Over crowding? Yes. The institutions have not grown and yet we have a larger number of students populations in our institutions. This is the problem.
Silas: You train a lot of people. What are the responses that you get about your trainees?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, I don’t think I have problem with eh… my students seeking employment, especially those that are not in the teaching areas. Many get jobs particularly those going to work in banks as well as those other job-providing institutions that are non-teaching. The problem is more in the teaching area that is where when they are employed. To pay them decent salary is problem. Sometimes it takes so long such that they tend to leave the classrooms in search of other jobs. In that light, such a school or higher leaning institution loses a trained and qualified teacher or lecturer.
When you employ somebody and you are not able to pay the person or you don’t pay for a couple of months, it’s a problem to you and the individual. Sometimes some of them can teach in institutions for up to a year without receiving their salaries and so it makes life difficult for these graduates. Some of them don’t even gain employment in teaching. So these are all the difficulties. Better those ones who are going into non-teaching areas they can get jobs in so many institutions, banks, and then parastatals, NGOS, you know are all over the place.
Silas: Dr. Kargbo, on academic note, what is your academic standing?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, I hold a doctorate degree from British Columbia University in Canada.
Silas: Which other certificates do you hold coming downwards?
Dr. Kargbo: Oh! Well, of course if you want to follow the hierarchy, I started of with a first degree from Njala University, an M.A in Columbia University, followed by my doctorate again from the University of British Columbia. I have also studied for various diplomas, postgraduate diplomas in administration in other universities after my doctorate degree; just to enhance certain aspects of my responsibility.
Silas: Despite all these qualifications and experience of service, what exactly keeps you going?
Dr. Kargbo: What keeps an educationist going is tuning up yourself all of the time. You have to be reading to keep abreast. So I believe that’s why I’m always reading and keeping abreast. Otherwise if you allow your under men or peers to surpass you in providing leadership to them then you will lose your status.
Silas: So how many hours do you read?
Dr. Kargbo: That depends on the papers that I have in front of me because basically I deal with papers.
Silas: Apart from the administrative work let’s say reading at home.
Dr. Kargbo: Well, sometimes I read academic journals of general and science education, administration. So I cannot pinpoint how many I’ve finished but I do read a lot.
Silas: What has been your motivation to continue being on the job?
Dr. Kargbo: I love the job. I love helping people; to make their lives useful in the service of their country, in the service of their country men. So I just enjoy the fact that I am able to put my effort into serving people so that they themselves can be what God has wants them to be in life. It’s what I enjoy most.
Silas: So what do you normally spend your past time on?
Dr. Kargbo: well, nowadays I don’t have much. Before now, I used to relax with friends in clubs, you know but I don’t do that anymore. Now I enjoy worship, prayer. I enjoy more prayer now and worship than any thing in life. I don’t drink alcohol anymore. I don’t smoke. So if you don’t find me reading, then I have gone to worship with my bible and so on.
Silas: So you spend more time in the church?
Dr. Kargbo: Well, in the church yes, in the evening after work. Regularly I go to church with my family on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays.
Silas: Which church do you attend?
Dr. Kargbo: I now attend the Christ Embassy Church. The head of the church is Pastor Chris Oyakilome. Most times he is on television, nearly everyday.
Silas: Do you normally read the daily devotional book Rhapsody of Realities?
Dr. Kargbo: Yes I do, I do read it. In fact that’s what we use every evening to pray with in my family.
Silas: How large is your family? I mean your immediate family.
Dr. Kargbo: Well, my immediate family? I have three children and my daughter is a medical officer, the sons are here in Sierra Leone. One is working, he is a graduate of the University of Sierra Leone, and the last one is also a graduate of Fourah Bay College. That is I have three- one girl and two boys.
Silas: So what do you see fulfilled in your children?
Dr. Kargbo: [excited] Oh! Wonderful! I’m always thanking God that I have been able to parent children whom God has blessed with successful studies and they are all engaged fruitfully serving the various communities where they find themselves. As I said, my daughter is in the medical field in the UK, that’s where she is married. And my boys are here working in Sierra Leone. One is working in the bank and the other is working for a private company. So I thank the Lord for these blessings. I’m too grateful to God for the blessings he has bestowed upon me.
Silas: What do you hope to do when you retire from all of these busy schedules?
Dr. Kargbo: When I do retire, I’ll go to serve the Lord in whatever way God wants me to. I’m actively involved now with my church. If the church needs me in any special way I’m ready be it in Sierra Leone or elsewhere.
Silas: So what new innovation do you hope to see in the educational system?
Dr.Kargbo: Well, we’d pray because education has really deteriorated in the country. So we’ll pray to God to help us so that Sierra Leone the Athens of West Africa can regain what it has lost and be what it is suppose to be in the regional community.
But we have to work hard and we have to be sincere in our work and in our delivery for the benefit of our country. I Hope to see renewed hope and dedication in my compatriots as they serve their country.
“I know many people will miss me with this hat on because they are not used to seeing me in a hat. I only wear this on very special occasions.”
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