SIERRA LEONE: RIGHT TO LEARN PROJECT REACHES 20,616 CHILDREN

Street Child has been transforming the lives of children in Eastern Sierra Leone since 2018 with the recently completed Right to Learn Project, reaching 20,616 children. Street Child was able to complete this project thanks to the UK government, foundations, and our public supporters.

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world with over half the population living under the poverty line and on less than $1.25 a day. Poverty is a principal barrier to education as parents are unable to afford the costs of schooling. The abolishment of school fees in 2018 was a significant step towards sustaining schooling but poorer families still struggle to afford school costs and the most vulnerable families continue to count on their children to contribute to household income. Chronic under-resourcing of schools creates an additional barrier to completion of basic education for children in remote rural regions. 40% of community primary schools do not reach up to class 6 (UNESCO 2013) and so children from rural areas are significantly less likely to transition to Junior Secondary School (JSS). 

The Eastern Province has the poorest learning outcomes in Sierra Leone at all levels; only 29% of JSS students pass the Basic Education Certificate of Education (BECE) (UNESCO, 2013) and UNICEF’s 2016 OOSC study estimated that 89,000 children aged 6 to 14 in the East are out of school. 

The Right to Learn project was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with 6-month school closures, restrictions on travel, and a nationwide curfew. However, through a close working partnership with our long-term partner Street Child of Sierra Leone, we were able to exceed our initial targets. The project directly supported 20,616 children into education by addressing complex social and financial barriers. 63% of children reached were out of school when they were identified by the project and 98% of children supported were still in basic education in September 2021 demonstrating the sustainability of such interventions.

Improving the quality of teaching has been pursued through in-classroom coaching, including use of the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, for 123 upper primary teachers.

The success of social, livelihoods and education support strategies:

Thanks to your donations and fundraising, across the three years, 5,086 children were individually supported to enrolled in school, 60% of which were girls. Outside of direct enrolment 5,000 children received education support packages which included uniform, schoolbooks, pens, and school bags. A combination of family counselling and specific packages reached 624 teenage mothers to ensure they were able to stay in school and look after their child. 

Isatu is one of those beneficiaries: 

“Before I met Street Child I was out of school with my baby, my family had nothing. Street Child encouraged me to go to school and gave me the courage to go back and learn. The support made sure I was not a drop out.” 

Increasing the ability of families to support their children in education is also crucial to establishing a sustainable pathway to education. Street Child supported 4,125 families with business training and small cash grants to ensure their business could support their children’s retention in school. 80% of these caregivers reached their savings target during the project and as a result 5,513 additional children from these households were supported into school.  

3,447 children were supported to pass the Basic Education Certificate Examination and complete their basic education, a pass rate of 85% across the project. 

To increase transition to secondary education for children in remote rural communities, Right to Learn also supported the development of 40 rural primary schools by building or renovating classrooms.

The impact of transforming primary schools:

To increase transition to secondary education for children in remote rural communities, Right to Learn also supported the development of 40 rural primary schools by building or renovating classrooms. This enabled the full range of classes 1-6 to be taught.

10,763 unique children were enrolled in and benefitted from improvements to the 40 target schools, with an increase of 47% enrolment between the first and final year of intervention. A total of 1,283 children successfully completed primary education, passing the National Primary School Examination during the lifetime of the project, with a highly successful pass rate of 79.5% and 1,172 (91%) of those children were supported via the individual component to transition to Junior Secondary School.

Improving the quality of teaching has been pursued through in-classroom coaching, including use of the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, for 123 upper primary teachers. 39 unqualified teachers were also enrolled in college to pursue the government-recognized teaching qualification, they are awaiting their results after sitting their exam in August 2021. 

Community action plans were created to address sustainability, including lobbying for integration into the government system and future financial support. During the project 23 schools gained Government approval through collaboration with the regional Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education office and all 40 schools established income generating initiatives to create a source of income to increase the sustainability of project improvements.

Street Child and Street Child of Sierra Leone would like to express our enormous gratitude to everyone who supported the Right to Learn Project, which has reached 20,616 children and increased their chances to access education.