A nine-year-old boy from Sierra Leone has been banned from attending a British school after parents threatened to remove their children out of fear he could spread Ebola.
Kofi Mason-Sesay was born in London and has duel British and Sierra Leone citizenship. His mum, Miriam Mason-Sesay runs EducAaid, a charity which educates vulnerable children in Sierra Leone, teaching 3000 young people across the country.
Miriam and Kofi travel back and forth between Sierra Leone and the UK, and Kofi has attended St Simon’s Catholic Primary School in Stockport, Greater Manchester for up to a month every year. He has attended the school since he was three years old, and has lots of friends there.
This year however, Ebola fears have lead to his visit being cancelled.
Despite already arriving in the UK, being tested for the disease and being given the all clear, parents launched a campaign to have the boy banned from the school.
“We are being treated like lepers and it’s very sad,” Miriam said.
“The school and its governors have been extremely supportive, but I’m afraid they’ve been put under undue pressure by an aggressive minority spreading panic and ignorance about this virus.”
“The school and its governors have been extremely supportive, but I’m afraid they’ve been put under undue pressure by an aggressive minority spreading panic and ignorance about this virus.”
“I am a reasonable citizen and mother – there is no way I would be wandering around with my nine-year-old if he had ebola,” the angry mum said.
“It is a difficult disease to catch but that point has not been taken on by these ignorant parents. We have absolutely no contact with sick people – we’re an education charity.”
“It is a difficult disease to catch but that point has not been taken on by these ignorant parents. We have absolutely no contact with sick people – we’re an education charity.”
The headteacher of the school, Elizabeth Inman, sent out a letter explaining the situation, apologising to Miriam and Kofi.
“A significant number of parents have been in touch with me to express their fears,” she wrote.
“A significant number of parents have been in touch with me to express their fears,” she wrote.
“There are many parents who believe that the visit should have gone ahead and that we are contributing to misunderstandings by cancelling it. In this instance, it has been very hard to juggle justice to Miriam and the views of parents.”
‘It is with great sadness that we decided to cancel the visit; the misguided hysteria emerging is extremely disappointing, distracting us from our core purpose of educating your children and is not an environment that I would wish a visitor to experience.”
‘It is with great sadness that we decided to cancel the visit; the misguided hysteria emerging is extremely disappointing, distracting us from our core purpose of educating your children and is not an environment that I would wish a visitor to experience.”
She ended the letter by proposing parents make a “sizable donation to EducAid” in recognition of Miriam’s charity work.
