Section 7, The Education Act, 2004

(1) Junior secondary school (JSS) constitutes the threeyears of schooling after primary school and forms part of the formal basic education in Sierra Leone; and shall, accordingly, be compulsory and free to the extent specified by the Minister under subsection (3) of section 3. (2) Every chiefdom, shall have at least, one junior secondary school. (3) The purpose of junior secondary school shall be to provide a broad based, general education in preparation for senior secondary schooling, technical and vocational education or for the world of employment or self-employment. (4) The Ministry shall set criteria for the recognition and approval for each junior secondary school to operate and shall ensure that such standards are maintained for the recognition to continue. (5) Each junior secondary school shall have its own administration headed by a Principal and consisting of a Vice-Principal, Heads of Departments, at least one Guidance Counsellor, senior teachers and non-teaching staff. 8 9 Primary Junior secondary No. 2 Education Act 2004No. 2 Education Act 2004 11 (6) A junior secondary school shall be controlled by a Board of Governors complemented by a parent/teacher association. (7) During a junior secondary school course– (a) teaching shall be guided by teaching syllabuses produced by the National Curriculum Research and Development Centre. (b) guidance and counselling shall be provided for the pupils; (c) the same continuous assessment scheme approved by the Ministry shall be used in all junior secondary schools. (8) The junior secondary school course shall be concluded by a Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council on behalf of the Ministry in conformity with an approved syllabus and regulations; and in which each candidate’s continuous assessment score shall form part of his final grading.