We Day Kam Back (We Go Back) in Sierra Leone
Partner: CAUSE Canada
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic, like the Ebola crisis in 2014, has jeopardized girls’ education in Sierra Leone. Schools were closed between March and October 2020, increasing the risk of child marriage and child labour, both of which greatly decrease the likelihood of girls returning to school after the pandemic. Furthermore, although the government implemented distance education through radio programs, during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, only 30% of children participated in home learning. Many girls never returned to school since they were busy with household and income-generating activities and failed to keep up with the curriculum.
Project objectives
640 out-of-school adolescent girls aged 12-16 years will participate in 30 accelerated learning centres located in the rural communities of Koinadugu and Falaba in the northeastern region of Sierra Leone. Using a combination of e-learning and accelerated learning, the project will help the girls return to school at the appropriate grade level for their age. It will develop their knowledge, skills and confidence through the use of high-quality resources, allowing them to rebuild their ability to excel at school.
A targeted accelerated learning program will provide the girls with a safe learning environment and help them achieve effective learning outcomes, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Program participation will also provide girls with an opportunity to socialize with peers who have similar life experiences and caring adults, reducing the negative impact of the pandemic on their mental health. Furthermore, the program will also contribute to the girls’ physical health and safety, both of which were greatly jeopardized during the lockdowns.
The Mobile Learning Labs will be equipped with discrete health resources, and Mothers’ Clubs and staff will monitor for signs of physical or sexual abuse. The necessary support will be provided to victimized girls and at-risk girls to ensure their well-being and foster their ability to continue their schooling. Finally, the program will rebuild parental and community commitment to girls’ rights and education, negatively impacted by the pandemic. Through awareness-raising and advocacy, community leaders will ensure that the girls’ parents realize that child marriage and child labour, which may look like good short-term solutions to the socio-economic insecurity created by COVID-19, jeopardize the long-term prospects of both their daughters and communities. The girls’ reintegration into school is a long-term investment in girls’ human capital and economic prosperity.
Why partner with CAUSE Canada?
60 million girls is proud to have worked with CAUSE Canada since 2011. Our first two-year project supported CAUSE’s Peer Literacy program by offering bursaries to secondary school girls who, in turn, tutor young children to improve their basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2016, we funded another two-year project that built on the Peer Literacy program initiative. In addition, we introduced 750 primary-school children to after-school, self-directed computer-based learning with the use of tablets in a local learning centre. This e-learning program culminated with our analysis of the impact of self-directed computer-based learning on learning outcomes and non-cognitive skills in our Project Evaluation Report in 2018.
CAUSE has been an excellent partner. It has been supportive of 60 million girls and willing to pursue innovative approaches to education. During the COVID pandemic, it quickly pivoted to help adolescent girls who had been part of the bursary project. As the girls could not attend school, they were given tablets that were pre-loaded with quality learning materials like tutorials, dictionaries and encyclopedias so that they could continue their studies.