Learning What Works: Closing SLEIC

The British High Commissioner Josephine Gauld hosts closing event for the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge.

Freetown, Sierra Leone – 15 January 2026 – Senior government leaders, donors, implementing partners, private sector representatives and civil society organisations gathered at the British High Commissioner’s Residence last night for the close-out of the Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge (SLEIC), marking a pivotal moment in the country’s education reform journey. 

Hosted by British High Commissioner of Sierra Leone Josephine Gauld, the event brought together stakeholders from across the education system to reflect on evidence generated through SLEIC and to consider how lessons from the programme can inform the sector at large, particularly in a constrained financing environment. 

“This is a celebration,” Gauld noted in her opening remarks, “but it is also a moment to ask where we find the money and how we make every pound and every dollar truly work for children.” 

From Access to Learning Outcomes

In his keynote reflections, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Honorable Conrad Sackey, was clear that Sierra Leone’s education priorities are evolving. 

“Expanding access is necessary, but it is no longer sufficient,” the Minister said. “The next phase of reform must be decisively focused on learning outcomes.” 

Drawing on evidence from SLEIC, he highlighted that the programme demonstrated measurable gains in learning, particularly in mathematics, even during periods of system-wide stress. He underscored the role of structured pedagogy, teacher support, and routine use of data in driving improvement. 

At the same time, the Minister was candid about the challenges. One finding, he noted, “made me pause”: English literacy did not improve at the same pace as mathematics. He signalled this as a priority area for further government action, emphasising that SLEIC had provided concrete evidence rather than abstract theory.

“SLEIC shifted us from inputs to outcomes, from assumptions to evidence,” he said. “The responsibility now is to act on that evidence.” 

Learning Through Dialogue

Discussions highlighted two critical priorities for Sierra Leone’s education system: improving learning outcomes in schools and ensuring education financing drives measurable results.  

On learning outcomes, participants explored ways to make the most of instructional time. The Chief Education Officer from MBSSE, Mr. Edward Kpakra, noted that frequent breaks and time allocated to extracurricular activities often leave most subjects with less than one hour of teaching per day, limiting depth and continuity of learning. Increasing school hours, while intentionally creating space for structured extracurricular activities such as debates, socio-emotional learning, and other enrichment opportunities, was discussed as a practical way to strengthen both academic and holistic learning. 

Other challenges emerged, including gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy, teacher capacity, and language of instruction, alongside the need to embed socio-emotional and life skills into the curriculum. Participants repeatedly cited SLEIC as evidence that targeted, data-driven interventions can improve outcomes even under system-wide stress. 

Financing discussions focused on outcome-based approaches and shared responsibility. With fiscal space tightening, participants stressed the need to prioritise interventions that deliver measurable results and emphasised that government, donors, the private sector, and communities must work together. 

Reflecting on SLEIC’s financing model, EOF highlighted that the programme represented not only a funding mechanism, but a broader systems shift. 

“Outcome-based financing is a very simple idea,” said Miléna Castellnou, Chief Programmes Officer at EOF. “Paying for results that matter rather than activities that may or may not lead to impact.” 

By tying payments to measured and verified outcomes, she noted, SLEIC encouraged adaptability, accountability and stronger use of data across the system. 

The Next Step

In her closing reflections, FCDO Development Director Alex Maclean praised the depth of engagement during the discussions and the quality of ideas generated. 

“The discussions I joined were incredibly informed and engaged,” she said, “and they reinforced how much knowledge and commitment exist in this room.” 

While the SLEIC closing event marked a significant milestone, partners were clear that it represents a transition rather than an endpoint. 

The partnerships and learning generated through SLEIC are already informing the planned launch of the outcomes-partnership for early childhood care and education in March, widely seen as a natural next step in building on the programme’s momentum and applying its lessons at an earlier stage of the education cycle. 

As Maclean concluded, “This is not the end of the journey; it is the beginning of a new chapter.”