Staneala Beckley

Dr. Beckley is a Sierra Leone educationist and Chair of the Sierra Leone Teaching Service Commission (TSC), since its inception in 2015.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Durham University and master’s and doctorate degrees in psycho-pedagogy from the University of Ibadan. A qualified and trained teacher, she taught English and French at secondary level and developmental psychology and foreign language pedagogy at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria before returning home in 1981 to head the French Department at the then Milton Margai Teachers’ College (MMTC). She made significant contributions to French teaching in Sierra Leone as President of the Sierra Leone Association of French Teachers (SLAFT) and the Alliance Française of Freetown. She was also Executive Board Member of the International Federation of French teachers (FIPF). Her work in popularizing and improving the teaching of French in Sierra Leone earned her the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques from the Republic of France in 1986.

Dr. Beckley pursued advanced research in Human and Social Development as a United Nations University research fellow at the Universities of Bogota, Colombia and Chicago, Illinois in 1986. On completion of her course, she took up appointment as Deputy Director of the University Research and Development Services (URDS) Bureau at the University of Sierra Leone that same year, where she guided commissioned research projects in Education.

From 1991 to 2008, she worked with national governments and other development partners to shape education policies and strategies, and guide and monitor practice down to school and community levels as Chief of Education for UNICEF in Nigeria (1991-1995) and Pakistan (1995-2001) and subsequently Regional Chief of Education for UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa (2001-2005) and West and Central Africa (2005-2008). After her retirement in 2008, she was engaged as interim Chief of Education for UNICEF in Iraq.

As Chair of the TSC Dr. Beckley is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of teacher policies and professional standards as well as maintenance of the teacher payroll database.