Imagine Worldwide
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.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Freetown
Serving students in Government Primary Schools

Implementation Partner:
Rising Academy Network

Current Students: 12,917

Current Sites: 65

Sembehun, Sierra Leone

Southern Province

Serving schools in Sembehun, Bumpe, Kargboro, and Rebi

Implementation Partner:
Rising Academy Network

Current Students: 4,179

Current Sites: 15

Port Loko, Sierra Leone

Northwest Province

Serving students in grades 1-6 at schools in Point Loko

Implementation Partner: EducAid

Current Students: 11,670

Current Sites: 51

Mayimbima, Sierra Leone

Country-Wide

Serving students in grades 1-6 at government schools across Sierra Leone

Implementation Partner: ActionAid

Current Students: 6,595

Current Sites: 19

Daru, Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone

Central Provinces

Serving students in grades 1-6 at government schools across Sierra Leone

Implementation Partner: SEND

Current Students: 6,262

Current Sites: 15

Sierra Leone Impact At a Glance

Children Served

99,090

Schools

358

Tablets Distributed

7,832

Hours on Tablet

1,232,001

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

Sierra Leone Partners
ActionAid Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Implementation
EducAid
Sierra Leone
Implementation
onebillion
Burkina Faso Ghana Liberia Malawi Senegal Sierra Leone Tanzania
Software
Rising Academy Network
Ghana Liberia Sierra Leone
Implementation
SEND Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Implementation