PARTNERSHIP PURPOSE & HISTORY

DFID Sierra Leone is committed to improving the lives of young people in the country and supports the human capital development mission of the government and the flagship Free Quality School Education programme. It views education as a critical pillar and has provided UKAid resources, through the Leh Wi Lan programme, to improve the quality of secondary education and raise learning outcomes of young girls and boys in English and Maths. Leh Wi Lan is a GBP38m programme of assistance managed by Mott MacDonald (Cambridge Education) on behalf of DFID and will run until March 2021. DFID is also passionate about addressing challenges and opportunities for girls and young people with disabilities, exploring how this links to other parts of the human capital agenda, including school health, reproductive health, and ending preventable deaths.

DFID- Current UKAID education programmes include:

•Leh wi Lan: £62.5 million (2016-21): supporting all government approved junior and senior secondary schools;
•Girls Education Challenge Fund, £31.1 million, targeting the most disadvantaged girls and comprising GEC T: £13.2m (2017-21) and EAGER ‘Leave no girl behind’: £17.9m (2019-23);
•The UK is the largest bilateral contributor to the Global Partnership in Education (GPE) providing 15 per cent of the total of all GPE funds;
•DFID oversees the SPHEIR Higher Education Partnership Programme: £4m (2017-21) implemented by the British Council and works in partnership with the British Council on the school linking programme ‘Connecting Classrooms’ (2019/20) £148k;
•DFID also funds ad hoc research, capacity building and innovative financing initiatives e.g., the Education Workforce Initiative collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Teacher Service Commission;
•A Development Impact Bond for education backed by DFID is currently under discussion.