Low-Income
Country Africa (Sub-Saharan)

Sierra Leone

  • SDG Score 57
  • Policy Score 35
  • Avg. Score 46

Home to 287,300 out-of-school girls who represent 22% of all school aged girls nationally.

SDG Score

Total: 56.79

Available Indicators: 17/22

  • Pre-primary Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Proportion of girls enrolled in pre-primary school 42%
    Proportion of girls enrolled in pre-primary relative to boys (parity) 102/100
  • Out-of-school rates Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Out-of-school rate for girls of primary school age 2%
    Out-of-school rate for girls of lower secondary school age 49%
    Out-of-school rate for girls of upper secondary school age 67%
  • Completion rates Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Proportion of girls completing primary school relative to boys No Data
    Proportion of girls completing primary school No Data
    Proportion of girls completing lower secondary school relative to boys No Data
    Proportion of girls completing lower secondary school 43%
    Proportion of girls completing upper secondary school relative to boys No Data
    Proportion of girls completing upper secondary school 10%
  • Teachers Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Proportion of qualified female teachers in pre-primary education 69%
    Proportion of qualified female teachers in primary education 79%
    Proportion of qualified female teachers in lower-secondary education 87%
    Proportion of qualified female teachers in upper-secondary education No Data
  • Expenditure Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP 3%
    Expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure 21%
  • Learning-adjusted years of schooling Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Learning-adjusted years of school 4.89
  • Climate education Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Climate change education ambition scores 0.61
  • Inequality Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Ratio of the number of poorest girls completing primary school to the number of richest girls 55:100
    Ratio of the number of poorest girls completing lower secondary school to the number of richest girls 21:100
    Ratio of the number of poorest girls completing primary school to the number of richest girls 10:100

Policy Score

Total: 34.73

Available Indicators: 23/32

  • Financial barriers Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Is primary education tuition free? Legislative or constitutional guarantee
    Is beginning secondary education tuition-free? Legislative or constitutional guarantee
    Is completing secondary education tuition-free?  Not tuition-free
    Are parents incentivized to send their daughters to school (cash transfers)? No Data
    What is the perceived reach of these cash transfers? No Data
    What is the coverage of school feeding programmes? 19.35
  • Sexual & reproductive health rights Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Is child marriage banned? Ban with legal exceptions regarding consent and/or some groups of girls
    When loophole exceptions are taken into account, what is the minimum age of marriage for girls? 13 years old or younger
    To what extent do laws and regulations guarantee full and equal access to contraceptive services? No Data
    To what extent do laws and regulations guarantee the provision of comprehensive sexuality education? 0
    Is the right to education of pregnant and parenting girls legally protected? No explicit protection of the right to education of pregnant and parenting girls
    What is the coverage of separate toilets and sanitation facilities for girls? 20.21
  • Child safety and non-discrimination in education Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education? Ratified
    Party to UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women? Ratified without reservation(s)
    Is there a national program to reduce violence by school staff in place? No Data
    Is there a ban on corporal punishment? No Data
    What is the perceived reach of the ban on corporal punishment? No Data
    Is there a National Action Plan to reduce violence in schools? No Data
    To what extent is the National Action Plan to reduce violence in schools funded? No Data
  • Labour market opportunities Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Does the law mandate nondiscrimination based on gender in employment? No
    Does the law mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value? No
    Does legislation explicitly guarantee equal pay on the basis of gender?  No guarantee
    Does the law prohibit discrimination by creditors on the basis of sex or gender? No
    Is sexual harassment of women explicitly prohibited in the workplace? 0
  • Role models Indica­tors
    Indicator Value
    Proportion of female primary teachers 31.3
    Proportion of female lower secondary teachers 16.76
    Proportion of female upper secondary teachers 0.3
    Proportion female public sector workers 8.3
    Are there voluntary party quotas for female parliamentarians? No
    Are there legal quotas (constitutional or electoral law) in the lower house? No legislation
    Are there legal quotas (constitutional or electoral law) in the upper house? No Data
    Are there legal quotas (constitutional or electoral law) at the subnational level? Reserved seats

See how Sierra Leone compares against other low- and middle-income countries

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