Umc Primary School, Makeni Group

Pictured is the faculty of the United Methodist Church (UMC) Primary School, Makeni. It was founded in 1969 by the United Methodist Church to educate the children of the community and to support the church. It is one the oldest schools in town. UMC currently has an enrollment of 917 pupils and a staff of twenty-five dedicated teachers.

Because of the dedication of its teachers, UMC Primary students achieve outstanding results in the National Primary School Examination (NPSE). Almost always, 99% of UMC Primary pupils pass the examination to enter secondary school. The children also participate in extracurricular activities, such as football (soccer), other athletic games, and social events organized for all primary schools in Makeni.

Teaching is a rewarding profession, but it is not well paid. Government salaries for teachers are usually small, so teachers often have to supplement their incomes. But with this loan, they will be able to invest in something meaningful and gradually repay the loan within a ten-month period from their monthly salaries.Some of the teachers will use their portion of the loan to pay school fees for themselves or their children. Other will invest their portion in businesses or farming. And others will use their portion to buy furniture or improve their homes. This is the first loan UMC Primary school is seeking from SMT. They were inspired by UMC Secondary school to apply for a loan from SMT.

Sallamatu Barzey (3rd from Left) is the head teacher of this school. Sallamatu was born in Yoni Banna, a small town in the Tonkolili district. She is thirty-six years old. She is married to the principal of UMC Secondary School, Makeni, and the couple has two children. She has been teaching for the past fourteen years. She has always found it necessary to take on extra work, such as selling foodstuffs, to supplement her monthly salary. She would use her portion of this loan to buy palm oil (the most popular cooking oil) in bulk for resale. She would use the profits to pay school fees for her eldest son, who is in class four.




About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more

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