The Sites

Sierra Leone

Scale Portfolio

Significant expansion across Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is part of our Scale Portfolio. Our tablet program is closely aligned with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education’s top priorities of foundational learning and solar electrification. Building off the success of previous pilot programs we implemented with Rising Academy Network, we conducted two co-creation workshops in 2024, bringing together stakeholders from across government and local organizations. Thanks to the bold leadership of the Sierra Leone government, we have a formal agreement to serve 750 schools by the end of 2026, with an eye to eventual national scale.

Current Impact At a Glance

Students

53,669

Schools (+solar)

270

Tablets

13,199

Teachers Trained

2,445

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

State of Education in Sierra Leone

In 2018, Sierra Leone set out to transform its education system by increasing access and quality across all levels of schooling.

Reforms have led to significant improvements, but early-grade assessments in 2014 and 2021 show that most students are not achieving foundational level literacy and numeracy. Nearly 90% of Sierra Leone students are unable to comprehend a simple text by age 10. Sierra Leone’s education system struggles with more than 40% untrained primary school teachers and a shortage of learning materials.

Population (2023): 8.7 million
Number of public primary schools (2021): 5,616
Number of primary school children (2021): 1,964,346
Primary school completion rate (2024): 67%
Pupil/Teacher ratio (national): 40:1