Sierra Leone

• Sierra Leone Profile (source: FTI 2010 Annual Report Data)
• Implementation Status and Results Report (source: World Bank)
• The coordinating agency is UNICEF
• The FTI Focal Point is Prema Clarke

Endorsement Documents

• Education Sector Plan 2007-2015 (April 2007)
• Appraisal Report - April 2007
• Country Level Process: Summary Country Milestones 2010-12

Key Resources

• Poverty Reduction Strategy - March 2005
• PRSP Progress Report - September 2006

Aid Effectiveness

• Development Assistance Coordination Office (DACO)
• 2008 OECD-DAC Monitoring the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness Country Chapter for Sierra Leone
• United Nations Development Assistance Framework for Sierra Leone, 2008-2010 (pdf)
• Accessible Information on Development Activities: Education Sector Sierra Leone
• Ministry of Finance

The Out-of-School Children of Sierra Leone

"I am the eldest of 3 sons in my family; I have to feed them by 'begging'. My parents are blind; [...] I was going to school...but I stopped in class 6. My mother sent me to school. Even though she was blind she was determined that I go to school. [...] Whatever she had, she used to pay my school charges, uniform and other materials. We were asked to pay for photographs, extra classes and other items [...]. Raising the money was difficult through begging alone and my mother could not pay the fees...I stopped attending because I could not pay." This statement was given by a 17 year old boy when interviewed for the study "The Out-of-School Children of Sierra Leone". The study was commissioned by UNICEF on behalf of the Education Development Partners in order to assist the Government of Sierra Leone to identify primary aged out-of-school children.

Despite progress, total net enrolment rates in primary school remain at 70 percent and according to UNICEF about 300,000 children are out of school in Sierra Leone. As these numbers do not give insight into who these children are, the driving questions for the study were: Who are the out-of-school children? Why are they out of school? Where are these children? How can we increase access to primary education for this group? In order to get a good picture of the situation data was collected in 54 rural and urban pilot communities, representing all possible scenarios in the country. A total of 33 focus group discussions were conducted and 379 participants participated directly in the in-depth interviews.

The main findings of the study are: (i) Poverty is the primary reason as to why children are out of school; (ii) Children may be at risk of not being in school due to their geographic location, gender, religion and family situation; (iii) The death of a parent(s) is ranked second to poverty as the reason why children are not in school; (iv) Orphans and children living with extended family members (or caretakers) are the most exploited and marginalized children in their communities; and (v) Eighty-seven percent of children interviewed, both schooling and non-schooling, were found to be economically active.

The report shows also that in spite of women's limited economic activities, 37% of the mothers struggled to financially support their children's schooling. The study recommends a strong commitment of the government to address the typical problems of out-of-school children and to install interventions like educational scholarships, school feeding programs, social protection programs and community safety nets. The UNICEF-report is an attempt to better document the numbers and the living conditions of out-of-school children in Sierra Leone. Though little data exists, the problems of the country's out-of-school girls and boy are very visible in everyday life.

UNICEF. August 2008. "The Out-of-School Children of Sierra Leone".

The issues of identifying and addressing the educational needs of out-of-school children were discussed during the 2009 FTI Partnership Meeting in Copenhagen.Read the results and presentations here.

[Last update: February 2010]