Investing in the Future, by Investing in Education

West African country Sierra Leone has decided to invest a quarter of its budget on education for all children, as it is perceived as the key to the nation’s development and prosperity – and since 2018, more than a million kids have found their way to school benches.

“We are throwing all our resources, all our energy into education. We cannot develop without improving education. I see it as an existential issue, states President Julius Maada Bio. “I had to walk barefoot to school, with not even shoes on my feet. For me to come to this level of leadership, I think education has played a very important role.”

This year, $98 million – 22% of the national budget – is allocated to Sierra Leone’s ambitious “radical inclusion” educational reform program launched in 2018. The initial goal was to help millions of kids get free and quality education, especially children from marginalized and poor fringes of society. Girls are also encouraged to attend school and pursue their education even if they are pregnant. An increasing number of female teachers will be hired and trained to boost the number of qualified educators. To that end, the government has introduced a “quality benchmark” test to assess the teachers’ proficiency in maths, English, and ICT.