Deadline: 17 June 2020
Do you have innovative ideas? Would you like to be part of this exciting opportunity of improving the quality of primary school education in Sierra Leone? Then, ‘Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge‘ is for you!
The aim is to improve the learning outcomes for more than 250,000 children in over 500 schools in every district in the country. Children will be given interventions to improve their reading, writing, critical thinking, maths and computational skills. They are looking for engaged partners who want to bring innovation to the education system.
The Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East (EOF) is an initiative of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) and the Education Commission. Our team brings together world leaders in education, impact investing, and innovative finance.
Together with government, they fund innovative education and youth employment readiness programs, and help improve their effectiveness. Rather than the traditional model of paying for programs up front – based on the number of students reached or learning materials purchased – they incentivize success by paying for the learning and employment results those programs deliver, once they’re achieved.
About Program
The new three-year program, Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge (SLEIC), is scheduled to begin in September 2020. The government will identify schools in need of additional support, set the target outcomes and implement innovative interventions in partnership with non-state providers. It will not prescribe how to improve learning outcomes.
In light of Covid-19 and school closures, greater focus will be given to distance learning and ed-tech interventions to keep children learning through the crisis.
Their Approach
- SET LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- They work with governments to set learning objectives and determine how results will be measured.
- They incentivize a broad set of crucial skills essential for young people to succeed in the 21st Century.
- SELECT & SUPPORT EDUCATION INNOVATORS
- Together with government, they partner with education organizations to achieve the agreed learning outcomes and strengthen education systems.
- They help mobilize upfront funding from impact investors to help the organizations deliver.
- Throughout, they support the organizations to use data, strengthen their capabilities, and adapt their approach, based on what works.
- PAY FOR RESULTS
- From a pool of public funds, aid, philanthropy, and corporate CSR contributions, they repay investors and delivering organizations their initial investment plus a return if the learning objectives are reached.
- By making payments based on independently verified learning and employment results, they ensure that resources only go to programs that work.
Eligibility Criteria
- Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) and the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), in partnership with the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), are seeking education providers and investors to help scale-up innovation to the education system.
For more information, visit https://www.educationoutcomesfund.org/sierra-leone-eoi
