Education in Sierra Leone

A second grade class in Koidu

Education in Sierra Leone is legally required for all children for six years at primary level and three years in junior secondary education,[1] but a shortage of schools and teachers has made implementation impossible.[2] The Sierra Leone Civil War resulted in the destruction of 1,270 primary schools and in 2001 67 percent of all school-age children were out of school.[2] The situation has improved considerably since then with primary school enrollment doubling between 2001 and 2005 and the reconstruction of many schools since the end of the war.[3] However, there is still a long ways to go. In 2004, Junior secondary school enrollment was only 17% of primary school enrollment, and senior secondary school enrollment was only 8% of primary school education.[4]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)[5] finds that Sierra Leone is fulfilling only 84.3% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.[6] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Sierra Leone's income level, the nation is achieving 100.0% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 68.6% for secondary education.[6]

  1. ^ Wang, p. 2
  2. ^ a b "Sierra Leone" Archived November 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. 2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Wang, p. 1 and 3
  4. ^ Betancourt, Theresa S.; Simmons, Stephanie; Borisova, Ivelina; Brewer, Stephanie E.; Iweala, Uzo; de la Soudière, Marie (July 30, 2008). "High Hopes, Grim Reality: Reintegration and the Education of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone". Comparative Education Review. 52 (4): 565–587. doi:10.1086/591298. ISSN 0010-4086. PMC 2662600. PMID 19337570 – via JSTOR.
  5. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
  6. ^ a b "Sierra Leone - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-27.