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EIB Investment Brings Results in Sierra Leone
How outcomes-based funding boosted education for Sierra Leone children
This is an excerpt from Mélanie Mazier's story on the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge. You can read the full article on the European Investment Bank's website.
What you need to know
Teacher shortages, low attendance, climate-related disruptions and limited public resources are problems for Sierra Leone schools, especially in remote areas. A new education programme tackles these challenges by linking funding directly to learning outcomes.
Why this matters
Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of out-of-school children at primary level in its region and learning levels have been falling. This programme shows how directed funding can improve results for children.
A number that tells a story
134 000 pupils in 325 schools recorded literacy and numeracy gains that outperform 70% of comparable programmes globally.
Sierra Leone’s education innovation challenge
Schools in Sierra Leone face many interconnected hurdles. High teacher turnover, low student attendance and the prevalence of unpaid volunteer teachers disrupt learning. Economic pressures often pull children and teachers away from classrooms, while climate-related shocks and limited public budgets strain the system. As a result, Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of out-of-school children at the primary level compared with similar countries in the region, and national learning levels have been declining.
To address these challenges, the government of Sierra Leone and the Education Outcomes Fund, a UNOPS-hosted fund, launched the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge, an $18 million programme running from 2022 to 2025 across 325 schools in five geographical areas.
The Challenge's goal was to prove that a different way of funding education could help transform learning in some of the country’s hardest-hit primary schools. Instead of paying for activities up front, the programme focuses on rewarding the consortia that run the programme only when pupils’ literacy and numeracy improve. The Education Innovation Challenge was funded by the government of Sierra Leone with international partners that include the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Hempel Foundation, the Korean International Cooperation Agency and Bank of America. The initiative places a particular emphasis on supporting the education of girls in these communities.
Expert Insight
Nancy Cooper is programme manager at Rising Academies, a social enterprise that partners with governments to improve teaching and learning outcomes, and a delivery partner of the Education Innovation Challenge.
Q: What were the main challenges in delivering the programme, and how did you adapt?
A: High teacher turnover and low attendance were persistent obstacles, particularly because around half of the teachers in participating schools were unpaid volunteers. To respond, we established weekly “communities of practice” — often using WhatsApp — where teachers and coaches could meet, share lesson plans and watch short training videos together. Our coaches also visited schools frequently to mentor teachers, check on student progress and help adjust strategies in real time. This consistent support, guidance and shared learning proved effective in improving teaching quality and keeping pupils engaged. Thanks to the flexible outcomes-based funding approach, we could continuously adjust our delivery to focus on what worked best for the children, knowing that payment depended on achieving measurable improvements in learning.
> Outcomes-based programmes are scaling up: The model is being applied in new education and skills partnerships across sub-Saharan Africa, and in other sectors such as health and plastic waste management.
> Local partnerships drive better results: Collaborative approaches that involve communities and local NGOs — combined with real-time data analysis and feedback loops — are helping teachers and students adapt and improve.
> Public and private capital catalyses impact: This combination, through trust funds and equity funds, is increasingly seen as a way to mobilise investment for high-impact projects that would otherwise struggle to attract funding.
