Locations
PROJECT SUMMARY
Sierra Leone has faced multiple challenges over the past decades, including civil conflict, health crises such as the Ebola outbreak, and economic shocks from fluctuating commodity prices. However, the country has maintained peace and stability for nearly twenty years, with a governance focus on economic growth, transparency, and improved public services.
To address human capital development, the government launched the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) Programme in 2018, a flagship initiative aligned with the Sierra Leone Medium-Term National Development Plan (2024–2030). This program aims to expand access to free quality basic and senior secondary education, emphasizing technical and higher education as critical drivers of national development.
Education sector improvements are expected to free up household resources previously spent on private education, enabling increased consumption, entrepreneurship, and investment, particularly benefiting girls and rural communities. However, challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted progress, leading to economic contraction and constrained public investment.
Despite these setbacks, Sierra Leone remains committed to investing in youth education and strengthening public service delivery. These efforts are crucial for fostering economic growth, enhancing private sector participation, and positioning the country as an attractive destination for investment.
In this regard UNDP Sierra Leone is to implement the project, Improving the Public Service Educational Facilities for the Youth in Sierra Leone for the SDG Delivery under the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund (GDF) on behalf of UNDP China to enhance educational infrastructure by equipping schools and higher education institutions with quality furniture, facilitating improved learning environments.
BACKGROUND
Due to the weak state of human capital development and fluctuating economic growth in Sierra Leone, an adequate investment in children from pre-primary upwards has become more crucial than ever for children to get socio-economically empowered through education. Reports from the districts indicate a dearth of accommodation in schools across the country. There are still cases of overcrowded classrooms, makeshift classes and even classes under trees. After the three billion leones investment in education to procure school furniture in 2018, the Government has since not made additional allocations, thereby creating a huge need for furniture in schools across the country.
This gap needs to be filled if the Government’s desire to get schools revert to the one-shift system is to be realized.The national population is growing fast, with consequent growth in the number of education-ready children and young people. The rising enrolment over the years is expected to quadruple with the introduction of the Free Quality School Education Programme, which reinforces the need to strengthen the support to Technical and Higher Education in terms of furniture. It is imperative to cater the anticipated increase of young people, especially girls who will be progressing to Higher Education. In 2018; 20,000 students sat to the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and in 2021; the amount increased to 152,000 students. These pupils will certainly put pressure on existing university infrastructure, and therefore the need to make provision for a conducive learning environment with requisite furniture to accommodate the anticipated increased enrolment.
Beyond health and economic issues, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in educational disruption following extended periods of school closures and exacerbated the education financing gap. The current situation didn’t improve much since 2018. International cooperation and development assistance for education emerge as a key complement to domestic resources to meet these financial needs. The gap, in terms of furniture, has then increased and a support in terms of tables and chairs is very much needed for boys and girls to have proper access to education under this uncertain period. In the process their right to education will not be taken away.
