Sierra Leone Early Childhood Education Outcomes Fund

Overview

Pipeline ID: INDIGO-PL-0163

Dates

Expected length of project (years): 4

Delivery locations

Sierra Leone

Target population

Children ages 3-5 inclusive

Intervention description

The primary objective of this programme is to expand access to quality early learning opportunities to achieve the ultimate goal of improving holistic child development outcomes for children aged 3-5 in Sierra Leone to better prepare them for the next stage of education. This programme aims to complement existing programmes, such as the proposed GPE funding which aims to expand the pre-primary sector through establishing P0 classrooms within primary schools with UNICEF acting as grant agent. Through complementary efforts, rather than doubling interventions of the same type, this programme can help rapidly expand access to ECCE and find synergies with other programmes to benefit implementers across both programmes.

Outcomes

Centres are safe for children before they open During the first year of implementation, payments will be tied to the number of centres that are established in existing infrastructure which meet minimum safety and child protection requirements. This metric was included to lower the risk transfer to providers and to translate government's priorities in meeting minimum requirements for the opening of new centres.
Increased access of children ages 3-5 within teacher child ratios Since access remains a critical challenge in Sierra Leone and one of the top government’s priorities, the programme will pay for the number of children aged 3-5 years attending ECD centres within teacher child ratios. This metric was also included since the ECCE sector in Sierra Leone is nascent and there is a need for building ECCE awareness through community engagement activities, which providers are well placed to deliver and will ultimately result in an increase in the number of children attending ECD centres.
Settings and practices meeting quality standards – Structural quality Considering that structural quality is a key determinant of the quality of ECD centres, the programme will tie payments to the number of ECD centres that achieve minimums or levels (i.e., thresholds) of defined quality (e.g., medium, high). Desired levels of structural quality will be defined using the ECCE standards checklist. However, specific details of how this checklist can be translated into desired levels of quality will be determined in close collaboration with the ECCE measurement expert and in close collaboration with MBSSE.
Settings and practices meeting quality standards – Process quality In addition to structural quality, the programme will incentivise process quality given its close link with holistic child development outcomes.
Improved holistic child development outcomes As part of EOF’s mission to focus on outcomes, the programme aims to link a substantial portion of the payments to children’s holistic developmental outcomes

Notes

Data for this pipeline project/programme was last updated in August 2024.

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