Quality Education Pilot Project Initiated

Corruption and the lack of educational opportunities were two factors contributing to the discontent from which the civil war emerged. To begin to address these root causes, SFCG in SL's Community Peacebuilding Unit started a pilot project to facilitate public participation in ensuring quality education. The pilot focuses on two districts: Port Loko in the north and Moyamba in the south.

After the fair and peaceful elections in May 2002, SFCG identified five new priority areas to address, including quality education. To this end, the Community Peacebuilding Unit launched a project to provide information to communities on the resources allocated to their schools and to encourage public participation in ensuring these resources were properly utilised. SFCG partnered with the Sierra Leonean Teachers Union and the Anti-Corruption Commission on this project.

At community meetings, displays were posted with photos of schools in the area. Comments underneath each stated how many teachers the government thought taught there and the amount of money allocated to staffing those schools. Through this mechanism, misallocated funds were revealed to the community for them to take action.

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