Sierra Leone unveils home-grown academic services app

Sierra Leone’s drive to build a digitally enabled higher education system received a boost with the launch of a home-grown mobile and web application by the University of Sierra Leone’s Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), bringing a wide range of academic and administrative services together on a single digital platform for students and staff.

The launch ceremony, held on 12 June in Freetown, brought together senior government officials, university leaders, faculty, students and private sector partners. It was officiated by the Deputy Minister and hosted by IPAM’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Ezekiel Kalvin Duramany-Lakkoh.

Known as IPAM Online and launched under the theme, “Your Academic Journey, All in One Place,” the mobile and web platform is designed to support the entire student lifecycle.

It enables users to register courses, track grades, monitor class attendance, receive lecture notifications, submit assignments, access examination schedules and manage other academic activities from a single interface.

Speaking at the launch, the Deputy Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara, described the platform as a significant milestone in Sierra Leone’s digital transformation agenda for higher education, saying locally developed innovations are essential to improving quality, efficiency and the global competitiveness of graduates.

Addressing students, staff and university administrators, Aziz-Kamara said the initiative reflects the changing role of universities, which are increasingly moving beyond teaching, research and community service into the realms of innovation and industrialisation.

“What we are experiencing here is a march towards the domain of innovation and industrialisation. The traditional role of universities is changing and I am pleased to note that IPAM is moving fast forward,” he said.

Aziz-Kamara commended the University administration and IPAM leadership for embracing technology to improve institutional effectiveness, service delivery and the overall student experience. He noted that the platform reflects strong leadership and a commitment to leveraging digital technologies to enhance higher education.

He particularly praised the application as a home-grown solution developed with local expertise.

“What is most impressive about the app that we are going to launch is that it is home-grown, localised and a local solution. It shows the talents that we have in-house,” he said.

According to Aziz-Kamara, the initiative aligns closely with the ministry’s vision to advance digital transformation across Sierra Leone’s higher education sector. He said digitalisation is essential to improving quality, flexibility, efficiency and international competitiveness as universities prepare graduates for the demands of the 21st century.

“We want our students to compete globally,” he said, adding that universities must continue adopting emerging technologies and innovative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment.

He cited recent reforms across the sector, including online assessments and the increasing use of artificial intelligence tools to safeguard academic integrity, as evidence of higher education’s growing commitment to innovation.

The Deputy Minister also stressed that digital innovation must be accompanied by strong cybersecurity measures to protect institutional data and users from cyber threats. He further urged IPAM to ensure the platform remains simple, user-friendly and accessible to persons with disabilities so that no student is left behind.

The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education is the Sierra Leone Science Granting Council under the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), where it works with counterparts across Africa to strengthen research and innovation systems, build scientific capacity and advance evidence-informed policymaking.

The launch of the academic services app is the Ministry’s broader commitment to harnessing digital innovation to transform higher education and strengthen the country’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem.

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Published on 02 July 2026

By Jackie Opara-Fatoye