Sierra Leone

Primary Schools in Sierra Leone

Serving children at government-run primary schools

Working with Rising Academy Network, we provided tablet-based instruction to children in two government primary schools in grades 1-6 to test the fit of our software application in preparation for scale.

Building off the success of the pilot program, we are now designing a portfolio in Sierra Leone which will include partnerships with the Ministry of Education, Rising Academy Network, EducAid, West Africa Blue, and the office of the Mayor of Freetown. We are targeting an initial 40 schools, which will launch in early 2023, and we plan to expand to a portfolio of 200 schools serving approximately 50,000 students.

Pilot at Two Government Primary Schools

Serving children through a center-based learning program designed for grades 1 to 6.

Location: Bomotoke and Sembehun, Sierra Leone
Curriculum and Language of Instruction: Math and Literacy (in English)
Research Focus: How well is the delivery model working? How suitable is the intervention for learners at the different grade levels?
Type of Study: Implementation study

The Faces of Sierra Leone

State of Education in sierra Leone

Sierra Leone’s 1.9 million young children are crowded into just 4,398 primary schools.

The devastating Sierra Leone Civil War (1991 – 2002) destroyed 1,270 primary schools and forced 67 percent of all school-aged children out of school in the year 2001. Since then, Sierra Leone has recovered considerably but still continues to face significant challenges. Sierra Leone’s education system struggles with more than 40 percent untrained primary school teachers and a shortage of learning materials.

Population: 7.8 million

Number of early-grade children: 1.9 million

Primary school completion rate (%): 24%

Literacy rate for 15 years and older: 43%

Pupil/Teacher ratio in last grade of primary: 37:1

Impact

The pilot, in partnership with Rising Academies, has reached over 500 children across the two schools. The pilot was critical for testing and building out scale models in new contexts.

Based on the success of the pilot, we will be expanding to 40 schools in early 2023 and plan to eventually expand to a portfolio of 200 schools serving approximately 50,000 students.