Section 4, The Education Act, 2004

(1) This Act and any other enactment and administrativeinstructions relating to education shall be administered and interpreted in such a manner as to ensure that there is no discrimination between pupils or students in the matter of their admission to and treatment in any educational institution in Sierra Leone but nothing in this section shall be deemed to forbid or restrict– (a) establishment or maintenance of separate educational systems or institutions to pupils of the two sexes, if these systems or institutions offer equivalent access to education, provide a teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard as well as school premises and equipment of the same quality, and afford the opportunity to take the same or equivalent courses of study; (b) establishment or maintenance, for religious or linguistic reasons, of separate educational systems or institutions offering an education which is in keeping with the wishes of the pupil’s parents or legal guardians, if participation in such systems or attendance at such institutions is optional and if the education provided conforms to such standards as may be laid down or approved by the Minister, for education of the same level; (c) establishment or maintenance of private educational institutions, if the object of such institutions is not to secure the exclusion of any group but to provide educational facilities in addition to those provided by the public authority, if the institutions are conducted in accordance with that object and if the education provided conforms with such standards as may be laid down or approved by the Minister for educational institutions of the same level; (d) discrimination between citizens and noncitizens of Sierra Leone in the matter of the provision of financial assistance for the payment of school fees or the award of scholarships or otherwise. (2) For the purposes of this section “discrimination” includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, disability, language, religion, political, national or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect of impairing equality of treatment in education at any level.