After a decade-long civil war, Sierra Leone witnessed an unprecedented surge in school enrollments at the primary and then the secondary levels. Committed to the Education for All objectives, the government further encouraged greater access to school. The country must now negotiate the transition from postwar recovery to regular delivery of education services. The main tasks ahead include reaching the remaining out-of-school children and improving the quality of the learning environment and, ultimately, of learning outcomes. Success will depend on the unrelenting, strong commitment of the government, the capacity of providers to effectively deliver education services, and a sustainable financial framework. This report uses the latest census, survey, and administrative data to explore the current status of the education sector. It emphasises the needs of the poor, as well as the elimination of disparities across regions, between urban and rural areas, and between boys and girls. It also lays an analytical foundation for the preparation of a long-term strategy for the education sector.

After a decade-long civil war, Sierra Leone witnessed an unprecedented surge in school enrollments at the primary and then the secondary levels. Committed to the Education for All objectives, the government further encouraged greater access to school. The country must now negotiate the transition from postwar recovery to regular delivery of education services. The main tasks ahead include reaching the remaining out-of-school children and improving the quality of the learning environment and, ultimately, of learning outcomes. Success will depend on the unrelenting, strong commitment of the government, the capacity of providers to effectively deliver education services, and a sustainable financial framework.

Nineteenth-century Sierra Leone presented a unique situation historically as the focal point of early abolitionist efforts, settlement within West Africa by westernized Africans, and a rapid demographic increase through the judicial emancipation of Liberated Africans. Within this complex and often volatile environment, the voices and experiences of children have been difficult to trace and to follow. Enslaved children historically are a challenging narrative to highlight due to their comparative vulnerability. This book offers newly transcribed data and fills in a lacuna in the scholarship of early Sierra Leone and the Atlantic world. It presents a narrative of children as they experienced a set of circumstances which were unique and important to abolitionist historiography, and demonstrates how each element of that situation arose by analyzing the rich documentary evidence. By presenting the data as well as the individuals whose lives were affected by the mission schools (both as teacher or pupil) this study has sought to be as complete as possible. Underlying the more academic tone is a recognition of the individual humanity of both teachers and students whose lives together shaped this early phase in the history of Sierra Leone. The missionaries who created the documents from which this study arises all died in Sierra Leone after having profound impacts on the lives of many hundreds of pupils. Their students went on to become important historical figures both locally and throughout West Africa. Not all rose to prominence, and the book reconstructs the lives of pupils who became local tradespeople in addition to those who had a greater social stature. This book attempts to offer analysis without forgetting the fundamental human trajectories which this material encompasses.

This book is about Fourah Bay College (FBC) and its role as an institution of higher learning in both its African and international context. The study traces the College's development through periods of missionary education (1816-1876), colonial education (1876-1938), and development education (1938-2001).

Originally published in 1975, this book was something of a pioneering study. It examines the three main traditions of African educational development – indigenous, Islamic and ‘Western’ – and the resulting harmonies and conflicts that arise from these traditions. Its contributors are all specialists writing about their own particular area of interest covering many countries of tropical Africa. They include a number of well-known African scholars as well as some comparatively new names in the field of African Studies at the time. A feature of the book is the attention that it gives to the education of women – an aspect of ‘nation-building’ that had often been rather neglected. This study is an inter-disciplinary work, calling into contribution History, Sociology, Anthropology, Law, Linguistics, and Medicine, as well as Education. It seeks to show how complex the educational situation is in Africa – and how this complexity needs to be appreciated as a background to educational planning. Nobody who has read this volume will be inclined to dismiss educational reform in Africa as ‘a relatively simple matter’ – a point of view too frequently implied by those who have not studied the subject in depth. ‘Off with the old – on with the new’ cannot be so easily implemented as critics within and without the continent sometimes seem to think. More constructively, however, this volume provides many useful insights into ways in which social tension may be reduced and harmony promoted in, and through, education. Although it is likely to be of most immediate value to those who are concerned with African education and its administration (especially in teacher-education), the book constitutes a significant contribution to understanding problems of ‘development’.

Colonial education was instituted in Sierra Leone as a consequence of the activities of British philanthropic and missionary bodies from the late 19th to mid 20th century. It was largely in the hands of Christian missionaries introduced in the form of evangelism and as part of Western missionary enterprise. Such education basically ignored the achievements and contributions of the indigenous populations and for the most part, did not cultivate the African student's self-esteem and pride. The author gives details of policies, programmes and statistical outcomes. It is important, particularly for policy makers, as it may serve as input to the debate on future education policy development and has the potential for contributing to research literature on implementation of educational policies. Sierra Leoneans should access the previously lacking and relevant knowledge of the development of education during the fifty years of Independence, as presented in this book. As such, it will also be a valuable resource for college and university lecturers.

This book has been written to lay the foundations of a single curriculum framework for citizenship education in Sierra Leone. It is a direct result of a consultative process aimed at complementing and consolidating a number of citizenshiprelated initiatives within and outside government circles in Sierra Leone. The framework it presents looks at some significant and critical themes, and goes on to set parameters and suggest guidelines to ensure its successful implementation.