Republic of Sierra Leone Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education 2019 Annual Schools Census Report And Statistical Abstract November 2019 ii Table of Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................................... v List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... vi Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background Information .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Scope of the School Census ............................................................................................. 1 1.4 Data Collection Tools....................................................................................................... 2 1.5 Coverage........................................................................................................................... 2 2. Field Methodology ................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Target ............................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Data Collection Procedures .............................................................................................. 4 2.3 Recruitment and Training of Field Staff .......................................................................... 4 2.3.1 Training of Trainers .................................................................................................. 4 2.3.2 Training of Enumerators ........................................................................................... 5 2.3.3 Team Composition .................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Data Collection and Data Management ........................................................................... 6 2.5 Quality Control Assurance ............................................................................................... 7 2.5.1 Spot and Back Checks .............................................................................................. 7 2.5.2 Office Spot Check ..................................................................................................... 7 2.5.3 Editing ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.6 Challenges and Limitations .............................................................................................. 8 2.7 Summary and Conclusion ................................................................................................ 9 2.8 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 10 3. Highlights of the 2019 Schools Census Results .................................................................... 12 3.1 Comparison between 2018 and 2019 School Censuses ................................................. 12 3.1.1 Distribution of Schools by Approval Status ........................................................... 15 3.2 Enrolment by grade and School level ............................................................................ 18 3.2.1 Enrolment Rates ...................................................................................................... 19 3.2.2 School Density ........................................................................................................ 20 3.2.3 Enrolment of Pupils with Disability ....................................................................... 21 3.3 Efficiency ....................................................................................................................... 21 3.3.1 Share of Repeaters .................................................................................................. 21 3.3.2 Pupil Flow ............................................................................................................... 22 3.4 School Attendance.......................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Human Resources ........................................................................................................... 25 3.5.1 Teachers and Teacher Ratios .................................................................................. 25 3.5.2 Qualified Teachers and Pupil Qualified Teacher Ratio .......................................... 28 3.5.3 Deployment of Teachers in Primary Schools ......................................................... 29 3.6 Pedagogical Materials .................................................................................................... 32 3.6.1 Primary Schools ...................................................................................................... 32 3.6.2 Junior Secondary ..................................................................................................... 34 3.6.3 Senior Secondary .................................................................................................... 35 i 3.7 School Infrastructure ...................................................................................................... 35 3.7.1 Classrooms .............................................................................................................. 35 3.7.2 Access to Water and Sanitation .............................................................................. 40 3.7.3 School Friendliness ................................................................................................. 46 3.7.4 ICT in Schools ........................................................................................................ 49 3.8 School Revenues and Expenditure ................................................................................. 52 3.8.1 Revenues at School Level ....................................................................................... 52 3.8.2 School Expenses ..................................................................................................... 53 Statistical Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 54 Pre-Primary Tables .................................................................................................................... 54 Primary Tables .......................................................................................................................... 79 Junior Secondary Tables ......................................................................................................... 112 Senior Secondary Tables ......................................................................................................... 145 ii Preface The Free Quality School Education (FQSE) is the Government of Sierra Leone’s most ambitious policy for national transformation through education. Teaching and learning outcomes, the status and conditions of the education sector workforce, and education leadership and management at schools are all in dire states at national level. Any specific policy interventions to address these challenges require reliable, verified and clean education sector data. The Directorate for Planning and Policy at the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has the responsibility to provide the leadership and support for Government and its partners related to the Annual School Census. The scope of the Annual School Census (ASC) is broad and it includes collection, compilation, analyses and dissemination of data related to schools, infrastructure, management and learning outcomes. These analyses further inform the national understanding of trends in numeracy, literacy, retention, transition and multi-level performance. In 2018, the Ministry transitioned to a comprehensive digital data collection process using technology (smart phones and tablets) to conduct the Annual School Census. This methodology accelerated the data collection process and allowed for the mapping of school locations using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates; taking inside and outside classroom pictures of schools and educational facilities; photographs of Teachers and other facilities including the Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WaSH), and furniture. While there has been a drastic change in how data are collected, processed and used over the last several years, 2019 was a critical year for the Ministry and the Government. In 2019, deeper collaboration with other partners including the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) led to the availability of the 2018 cleaned data to citizens and partners on the Education Data Hub (www.educationdatahub.dsti.gov.sl). It took the Ministry a much shorter time to clean the 2019 data, share with partners and use it for national