Education Education

The Sanda Charity (SC) works along with the government Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) to support children’s general psychosocial well being through education programming, focusing on meeting the educational needs of marginalized and disaffected children and youth, transforming existing educational systems so that avenues for accessing a range of quality learning opportunities are available to the most marginalized.

Currently the SC provides educational support to children engaged in or at-risk of becoming engaged in exploitative child labor through holistic interventions. Through this program IRC provides children and youth with educational or skills training opportunities, school materials, uniforms, and tuition vouchers. The program mobilizes and sensitizes communities to child labor and the importance of education for children and the community. To strengthen national and local systems for monitoring and eliminating exploitative child labor and supporting education, the SC advocates for issues of child labor, children’s rights, promotion of education and skills training in policy.

In a recently launched initiative focused on improving access and quality education for marginalized youth the SC is supporting rural Junior Secondary Schools in Sierra Leone through the capacity building of local education authorities, school institutions and teachers. To foster the improvement of education quality, IRC supports MEYS officials in the monitoring and supervising schools and supports teacher training. IRC also facilitates teacher training in participatory methodologies, curriculum development, school and classroom management, health education, and financial management, and how to provide appropriate educational and psychosocial support to children and youth withdrawn or prevented from worst forms of child labor.

Finally, the SC supports 125 Sierra Leonean primary school teachers enrolled in a rigorous distance learning program which is enabling them to work towards obtaining teaching certificates. The IRC is also working on the development of a distance education teacher training curriculum for Junior Secondary School teachers.