Education in Sierra Leone
Partner since:
Total grant support: US$99,891,906
Grant eligibility:
- Multiplier
- System capacity
- System transformation
Coordinating agency: Irish Aid
GPE Team lead: Plamen Danchev
Transforming education in Sierra Leone
In 2018, Sierra Leone set out to transform its education system by raising access and quality across all levels of schooling. Reforms have led to significant improvements, but early grade reading and mathematics assessments in 2014 and 2021 show that most students are not achieving foundational level literacy and numeracy.
The government is prioritizing foundations of learning for all to ensure that students learn to read fluently with comprehension, acquire fundamental mathematics competencies, and develop resilient socio-emotional skills.
With GPE support, Sierra Leone and partners are expanding access to pre-primary education, ensuring more students are ready to learn when they enter primary school. Clearly defined learning outcomes for grades 1-4 lay the basis for new teaching and learning materials and formative early-grade assessment tools.
The government is also investing in teachers with an aim to train, recruit, retain and support excellent pre-primary and primary educators. Reform efforts emphasize reducing gender and other disparities in access and outcomes so that all children acquire the foundational skills needed to progress through the education system.
Result story
Key data
14%
out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age
41%
of children start learning one year before entering primary school
73%
of primary teachers have the minimum required qualifications
13%
of government expenditure on education
Grants
(data as of November 23, 2024)
-
Type: System transformation and Multiplier
Years: 2023 - 2027
Allocation: US$42,321,794
Utilization: US$869,885
Grant agent: UNICEF
-
Objective
Ensure that foundational learning outcomes are achieved by all students from pre-primary to grade 4 and reduce disparity between girls and boys and disadvantaged and marginalized groups by:
- Raising children’s readiness to learn through targeted 1-year pre-primary education.
- Strengthening instructional core, teachers’ cadre and capacity to deliver foundational learning.
- Increasing the use of data and technology to support foundational learning and education service delivery.
- Strengthening governance, management and accountability for performance on foundational learning.
Document
-
Type: System capacity
Years: 2023 - 2027
Allocation: US$2,600,000
Utilization: 0
Grant agent: UNICEF
-
Objective
- Enhance capacity at national, district, cluster and school levels to collect and use foundational learning data.
Document
-
Type: Sector plan development
Years: 2021 - 2024
Allocation: US$450,000
Utilization: US$271,277
Grant agent: UNICEF
Civil society engagement
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting the Education For All Sierra Leone Coalition (EFA-SL) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
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