Leading with Courage in Sierra Leone

A note from Dr. Amel Karboul, CEO

When the Government of Sierra Leone launched the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge (SLEIC) three years ago, it showed the world what courageous, forward-looking leadership in education really looks like. This was not just a new programme. It was a decision to lead with evidence, embrace transparency, and align public spending with what matters most, children’s learning.

President Julius Maada Bio and David Moinina Sengeh, then Minister of Education and now Chief Minister, championed an approach that required a particular kind of courage: the courage to try something new, to be measured independently, and to prioritise long-term systems change over short-term comfort. That courage has continued today under Minister Conrad Sackey, with the Ministry carrying this work forward with the same commitment to evidence, accountability, and improving foundational learning for every child.

And courage like that matters. SLEIC delivered learning gains that outperform roughly 70 percent of similar programmes globally, with maths gains reaching the 90th percentile of international effect sizes. It strengthened teaching practice, reshaped how organisations use data, and showed what adaptive delivery can achieve in complex settings. Critically, it helped schools move forward even as national learning levels, like in many countries worldwide, were under pressure.

But perhaps one of the most powerful lessons is this: SLEIC was not just bold, it was an example of prudent public spending. The government used its leadership to mobilise additional capital from UK International Development, KOICA, Bank of America, the Hempel Foundation, Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, and the Rockdale Foundation, multiplying the impact of its own investment. Through outcomes-based financing, government and funders paid only for real, verified improvements in learning.

In a low-income, high-complexity context, that combination of courage and careful public spending is rare and deeply needed. SLEIC has now shown the world that outcomes-based financing is not only possible at national scale, it can drive real gains for children, strengthen public systems, and align partners around evidence-based decision-making.

Sierra Leone has offered a powerful message to all of us working in global education. If you want better outcomes, you need leaders willing to make better choices and partners willing to stand with them.

Dr. Amel Karboul

CEO, the Education Outcomes Fund