Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- Progress in the Education Sector -- Major Challenges and Policy Development -- Policy Scenarios for Long-Term Development -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 1. POST-CONFLICT CONTEXT -- Political and Administrative Structure -- Population Structure and Growth -- Poverty Levels and Well-Being -- Adult Literacy and Educational Attainment -- Children, Youth, and Youth Employment -- Overview of Government Finance -- CHAPTER 2. STUDENT ENROLLMENT, COMPLETION, AND TRANSITION -- History of the Education System -- Structure of the Education System -- Student Enrollments -- Educational Coverage -- Student Flow in Primary and Secondary Education -- Policy Implications -- CHAPTER 3. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND OUTCOMES -- Preprimary, Primary, and Secondary Education -- Technical and Vocational Education and Training -- Tertiary Education -- Policy Implications -- CHAPTER 4. EXPENDITURE AND FINANCING -- Total Expenditure on Education -- Analysis of Education Expenditure in 2004 -- Policy Implications -- CHAPTER 5. DISPARITY -- Disparity in Schooling -- Disparity in Household Expenditure on Education -- Disparity in Distribution of Public Expenditures -- Policy Implications -- CHAPTER 6. GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT -- The Changing Legal and Governance Environment -- Management of Education Service Delivery -- Policy Implications -- CHAPTER 7. IMPROVING EDUCATION: POLICY CHOICES -- Context -- Four Scenarios -- Summary -- APPENDIXES -- Appendix A. Smoothing the Data from the Sierra Leone Population and Housing Census 2004 -- Appendix B. Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey Data -- Appendix C. Formula to Decompose the Unit Cost -- Appendix D. Figures and Tables -- Definitions of Indicators -- Notes -- References -- Index -- BOXES -- Box 1.1: Sierra Leone at a Glance.

Box 3.1: International Lessons on Enrollment Expansion without Quality Decline -- FIGURES -- Figure 1.1: Total Population, 1963-2004, and Projected Population, 2005-25 -- Figure 1.2: Population by Administrative District, 1963-2004 -- Figure 1.3: Population Pyramids, 2004 and 2015 -- Figure 1.4: Life Expectancy, 1950-55 to 2000-05 -- Figure 1.5: Literacy Rates by Grade, 2003/04 -- Figure 1.6: Average Years of Education Completed by Age Group, Location, and Gender, 2003/04 -- Figure 1.7: War Impact on Real GDP Growth, 1991-2004 -- Figure 1.8: Government Revenues and Expenditure, 1996-2006 -- Figure 2.1: Structure of the Sierra Leone Education System -- Figure 2.2: Preprimary Enrollment, 2003/04 to 2005/06 -- Figure 2.3: Primary School Enrollment Trends, 1987/88 to 2004/05 -- Figure 2.4: Secondary School Enrollment Trends, 2000/01 to 2004/05 -- Figure 2.5: Distribution of Trainees by TVET Institution Type and Ownership, 2003/04 -- Figure 2.6: Tertiary Institutions Enrollment Trends, 1998/99 to 2004/05 -- Figure 2.7: Tertiary Institutions Enrollment Trends by Institution Type, 1998/99 to 2004/05 -- Figure 2.8: Primary and Secondary Gross Enrollment Ratios in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2004/05 -- Figure 2.9: Age-Specific Enrollment Rate and Percentage of Out-of-School Children, 2003/04 -- Figure 2.10: Percentage of Students At, Over, and Under the Official Age by Grade, 2003/04 -- Figure 2.11: Percentage of Children Who Have Ever Been to School, by Age, 2003/04 -- Figure 2.12: Estimated Survival Rates by Grade, 2004/05 -- Figure 2.13: Gross Completion Ratios by Level of Education, 2001/02 to 2004/05 -- Figure 2.14: Primary Gross Completion Ratios in Sub-Saharan Countries, 2004/05 -- Figure 2.15: Repetition Rates in Primary and Secondary Schools, 2003/04 -- Figure 2.16: Sierra Leone Student Flow Pyramid, 2004/05.

Figure 3.1: Number of Recognized Primary and Secondary Schools, Pre-1962 to 2004/05 -- Figure 3.2: Distribution of Primary School Damage Index, 2004 -- Figure 3.3: Number of Unqualified Teachers in Primary Schools by Education District, 2004/05 -- Figure 3.4: Number of Candidates Taking the NPSE by Gender, 1995-2005 -- Figure 3.5: NPSE Actual and Hypothetical Pass Rates if Pass Mark Retained at 2001 Level, 1995-2005 -- Figure 3.6: NPSE Pass Rates by Region, 2003-05 -- Figure 3.7: Number of Candidates Taking the BECE by Gender, 2000-05 -- Figure 3.8: BECE Pass Rates, 2000-05 -- Figure 3.9: BECE Pass Rates by Region, 2003-05 -- Figure 3.10: BECE Score Distribution in Core Subjects, 2005 -- Figure 3.11: Number of Candidates Taking the WASSCE by Gender, 2000-05 -- Figure 3.12: WASSCE Pass Rates by Gender, 2003-05 -- Figure 3.13: WASSCE Pass Rates by Region, 2003-05 -- Figure 3.14: TVET Institutions by Ownership, 2004 -- Figure 3.15: Staff Profile in TVET Institutions, 2002 -- Figure 4.1: Government Expenditure on Education, 2000-08 -- Figure 4.2: Education Share of Current Budget in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Figure 4.3: Share of Current Expenditure by Level of Education, 2000-04 -- Figure 4.4: Share of Current Expenditure by Level of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, circa 2003 -- Figure 4.5: Donor Funding for Education, 2000-04 -- Figure 5.1: Enrollment Rates by Age and Gender, 2003/04 -- Figure 5.2: Enrollment Rates by Age and Urban/Rural Locality, 2003/04 -- Figure 5.3: Gross Enrollment Ratios by District, 2003/04 -- Figure 5.4: Cohort Access Rates for 9- to 13-Year-Olds by Household Expenditure Quintile and Gender, 2003/04 -- Figure 5.5: Cohort Access Rates for 9- to 13-Year-Olds by Household Expenditure Quintile and Urban/Rural Locality, 2003/04.

Figure 5.6: Average per Student Spending on Education as a Percentage of Total Household Expenditure per Adult Equivalent, by Level and Household Expenditure Quintile, 2003/04 -- Figure 5.7: Lorenz Curve for the Distribution of Public Education Expenditures on Primary and Secondary Education, 2003/04 -- Figure 6.1: Teacher Deployment in JSS, 2003/04 -- Figure 6.2: Teacher Absenteeism by Local Council, 2005 -- Figure 6.3: Teacher Activities during Surprise Visit to Classrooms, by Local Council, 2005 -- Figure 6.4: Flow of Resources in the Education Sector -- Figure 6.5: Current Mode of Procurement and Distribution of Primary School Textbooks, Procurement Reform Unit -- Figure D.1: Population Pyramids, 1963-2015 -- TABLES -- Table 1.1: Population Distribution by Age, 1963-2025 -- Table 1.2: Incidence of Poverty by District and Locality, 2002/03 -- Table 1.3: Poverty Incidence by Formal Educational Attainment, 2003/04 -- Table 1.4: Selected Health Indicators -- Table 1.5: Literacy Rates, 2004 -- Table 1.6: Prewar Trends in Real GDP and GDP Growth Rates, 1963-88 -- Table 1.7: Selected Economic Indicators during the War Years, 1990-99 -- Table 1.8: Selected Economic Indicators during the Postwar Years, 2000-04 -- Table 1.9: Government Current Expenditure by Sector, 1996-2003 -- Table 2.1: Sierra Leone TVET Programs -- Table 2.2: Enrollments in the CREPS and RREP Programs, 2000/01 to 2004/05 -- Table 2.3: TVET Trainee Enrollments by District, 2004/05 -- Table 2.4: Percent GER, 2001/02 to 2004/05 -- Table 2.5: Age-Specific Enrollment Rates and Out-of-School Children by Age Group, 2003-04 -- Table 2.6: Community Perceptions on Why Children Do Not Attend School, 2003/04 -- Table 2.7: Net Enrollment Rates, 2003-04 -- Table 2.8: Age Distribution of Currently Enrolled Students by Grade, 2003/04 -- Table 2.9: Primary GIR, NIR, and CAR, 2001/02 to 2004/05.

Table 2.10: Efficiency of Student Flow in Primary Education, 2004/05 -- Table 2.11: Index of Efficiency in Student Flow for JSS and SSS, 2004/05 -- Table 3.1: Percentage of Recognized Primary and Secondary Schools by Ownership, 2004/05 -- Table 3.2: Sets of Core Textbooks Distributed to Primary Schools, 1999/2000 to 2005/06 -- Table 3.3: Intended Instruction Time, 2005 -- Table 3.4: Distribution of Teachers by Gender and Qualification, 2004/05 -- Table 3.5: Pupil-Teacher Ratios in Primary Schools, 2004/05 -- Table 3.6: Teacher Education Programs -- Table 3.7: Conditions of TVET Infrastructure by District, 2001 -- Table 3.8: Number of Academic and Nonacademic Staff in Tertiary Education, 2004/05 -- Table 3.9: Student-Teacher Ratios in Tertiary Institutions, 2004/05 -- Table 4.1: Government Expenditure on Education, 2000-08 -- Table 4.2: Household Spending on Primary and Secondary Education, 2003/04 -- Table 4.3: Distribution of Household Spending per Primary Education Pupil by Category, 2003/04 -- Table 4.4: Resource Mobilization for Education, 2003 -- Table 4.5: Distribution of Personnel and Current Expenditure by Education Level and Type of Expenditure, 2004 -- Table 4.6: Unit Cost Estimates for Education by Level, 2004 -- Table 4.7: Unit Cost as a Percentage of GDP Per Capita in Sub-Saharan Countries by Level, circa 2000-04 -- Table 4.8: Teacher Salary and Pupil-Personnel Ratio by Level, 2004 -- Table 4.9: Ratio of Average Teacher Salary to GDP Per Capita in Sub-Saharan Africa, circa 2000-04 -- Table 4.10: Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa, circa 2000-04 -- Table 4.11: Decomposition of Unit Costs by Level, 2004 -- Table 5.1: GER by Gender, Locality, Region, and Household Expenditure Quintile, 2003/04 -- Table 5.2: Student Flow Rates by Gender, Locality, Region, and Household Expenditure Quintile, 2003/04.

Table 5.3: Average Household Spending on Primary Education by Household Expenditure Quintile and Expense Type, 2003/04.