Teaching and Learning in Fragile Contexts (2022 – 2026)

As post-conflict countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone have suffered from widespread poverty and have amongst the lowest human development index scores in the world. Poverty is compounded by staggeringly low literacy rates among young people and adults alike. For example, in both countries close to 50% of women cannot read. This is a significant contributing factor to low educational attainment, high levels of unemployment and lack of sustainable livelihoods.

Almost nowhere in the world is the impact of low literacy more pronounced than in these two countries, which are still in the process of rebuilding their education systems after devastating civil wars, followed by the Ebola virus outbreak in 2015, and then the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in Sierra Leone, 30% of children enrolled in primary school will not see it through to completion, and in Liberia only 14% of girls from the poorest families will finish primary school.

Both countries face high levels of overage enrollment; have minimal learning resources; and contend with high proportions of unqualified teachers.  Direct support, which addresses the quality of instruction at all levels of the education systems, is key to facilitating sustained positive change and ultimately improving learning in these fragile contexts.

In close collaboration with our trusted partner organizations – the WE-CARE Foundation in Liberia and The Association of Language and Literacy Educators in Sierra Leone – CODE aims to support sustained improvements to the quality of classroom instruction.

Working with ten teacher training institutes, CODE and our partners will help to enhance the quality of teacher preparation with a particular focus on active learning, gender-responsive pedagogy, and foundational literacy. The program will go further to support in-service teachers at 72 schools in catchment areas surrounding the teacher training institutes, and develop 12 new curriculum-aligned reading anthologies. Each anthology – comprising over 100 pages of engaging text – will be locally authored and illustrated, and reinforce critical themes like girls’ empowerment. Over 47,000 copies will come to stack the shelves of small classroom and school libraries.

We recognize the critical role of decision-makers in shaping education systems that prioritize gender equality and ensure the inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations, particularly girls. Through targeted interventions, TLFC seeks to build the capacity of education leaders to create an enabling environment for quality education that meets the needs of all learners. For instance, we will supports the growth of evidence-based research exploring education as it relates to gender equality, equity and inclusion in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) settings in fragile African contexts.