Our Current Work

Significant expansion across Sierra Leone

Working with Rising Academy Network, we provided tablet-based instruction to children in government primary schools 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. Initially, we will launch in 40 schools in early 2023, and we plan to expand to 350 schools serving approximately 150,000 students over the next three years.

Government Partners

Sierra Leone Ministry of Education
Office of the Mayor of Freetown

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Freetown
Pilot in Grades 1-3 in Government Primary Schools

Implementation Partner:
Rising Academy Network

Current Students: 954

Current Sites: 5

Planned Sites/Students: 26 / 8,750

Sembehun, Sierra Leone

Southern Province

Pilot programs at schools in Sembehun, Bumpe, Kargboro, and Rebi

Implementation Partner:
West Africa Blue

Current Students: 1,612

Current Sites: 5

Planned Sites/Students: 15 / 3,000

Port Loko, Sierra Leone

Northwest Province

Pilot programs in grades 1-6 at schools in Point Loko

Implementation Partner: EducAid

Current Students: 1,086

Current Sites: 6

Sierra Leone Impact At a Glance

Children Served

3,652

Program Sites

Tablets Distributed

849

Hours on Tablet (pending)

0

Early Pilots and Evidence-Building in Sierra Leone

The pilot, in partnership with Rising Academies, was critical for testing and building out scale models in new contexts.

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

PHOTO-2021-03-01-13-30-47-1-e1656353660889

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

The Sites

Sierra Leone