In Sierra Leone, children with disabilities are often kept at home and aren’t given the opportunity to get an education. Those who do attend school can struggle if they’re taught by teachers who aren’t trained to support students with disabilities.

The Secondary Education Improvement Programme, also known as ‘Leh Wi Lan’ in the local language Krio, is working at all levels of the education system to make secondary schools in the country more inclusive and accessible for all students.

Funded by UK International Development, the five-year programme is working closely with the government of Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education. It is also collaborating with organisations of people with disabilities, civil society organisations and communities to advocate for the rights of children with disabilities and hold the education system to account.

The programme aims to equip school staff and education managers with the skills they need to provide inclusive education. It will also improve data collection about students with disabilities, including tracking their school performance and progression, and improve screenings in schools for disability and assessment, referral and follow-ups to ensure all children get the support they need.

What has the programme achieved so far?

• We’ve created a network of 600 inclusion champions across five districts in Sierra Leone who maintain a register of children with disabilities for ongoing support, educate communities on conditions like epilepsy, connect children with disabilities to local services and support teachers to promote inclusive education
• We’ve supported the government to roll out new policies to improve the safety of children with disabilities, including training teachers on more inclusive classroom practices and addressing stigma in schools
• We’ve reviewed and improved existing inclusion training for teachers, including the development of a comprehensive handbook and WhatsApp support that provide essential guidance, skills and knowledge for the inclusion champions
• We’ve worked alongside organisations of people with disabilities to ensure their involvement in district-level decision-making so that children with disabilities get the support they need
• We’ve made girls’ and boys’ clubs more disability inclusive: these locally-led clubs bring together groups of children to support their personal development, including learning life skills, advancing gender equality and providing a safe space for them to share concerns
• We’ve supported schools to improve basic screening, assessment and referral of children with disabilities at school and district level
• We’ve enhanced the collection of data on children with disabilities to inform decision-making, such as the number of children with disabilities in schools, their level of vulnerability, support methods and the availability of accessible toilets