Safe space to learn

In Sierra Leone, there is an educational crisis. The educational level in the country is devastatingly low, where only 42% of persons above 15 years are literate. The education crisis is especially acute for young women - Sierra Leone has one of the highest levels of child marriages and teenage pregnancies in the world. There are many reasons why the educational level is so low in Sierra Leone. One of the major reasons is lack of access to the formal school system for vulnerable children and youth living in poor communities. 

Many do not attend school because they cannot afford it. While the government promises free education for all citizens, there is a dichotomy between politics and practice. Many families lack the resources to pay for school uniforms, books, pens, etc. On top of this, public school teachers frequently charge for taking exams, for giving grades, for extra classes, etc. Other reasons are limited opportunity to travel from their community to formal schools due to transportation costs; responsibilities to help out in the family and earn money; and early pregnancies for girls. 

Among children and youth dropping out of the formal school system, very few end up re-entering school. The formal school system is based on age, rather than competencies, which makes returning school complicated. These children and youth with limited access to formal education are the ones the non-formal education programme aims to reach.

“Filling the gap” 

In Sierra Leone, the non-governmental organisation, Youth Dream Center, has dedicated their work to create access to education. They see a gap in the formal education system, where the marginalised children and youth are excluded. They have developed their organisation around non-formal education programmes, to ‘fill the gap’ and reach the most vulnerable children and youth. The founder of YDC-SL describes it as: “The non-formal system which we developed is to overcome the gap, the deficiencies, or the excesses of the formal education structures”.

“Out of nothing comes something” - Youth Dream Center Sierra Leone

 Since 2007, YDC-SL has worked to promote education, primarily for marginalized children and youth. Their unofficial motto is “out of nothing comes something”, and their vision is: “To experience meaningful change in the lives of vulnerable youth, women and children in Sierra Leone and to increase the access of education for all”. They have a country office in Freetown, a unit in Makeni and one in Kono. They provide educational activities covering both traditional school subjects, technical and vocational skills training and computer and media skills training. 

YDC-SL hosts classes every day for more than 150 young people with a focus on making learning as relevant as possible to the individual, acknowledging that their motivation for ‘going to school’ is often affected by negative experiences with previous education. 

YDC-SL’s education programmes support young people to build key life and livelihood skills, which can help them move on in life. They teach young people basic literacy and numeracy, and they teach a number of technical and vocational skills that can improve young people’s job opportunities. 

The Technical Vocational Skills Training Programme (TecVoc) targets young women and girls in particular, who have families and responsibilities to take care of at home. The aim of the TecVoc is to increase their opportunities on the job market, by teaching them catering, sewing, soap making, beadwork and other vocational skills. On top of this, YDC-SL teaches them business skills to better their possibilities of putting the skills to work outside of the school. 

Information Communication technology (ICT) and Media Training, young people get access to computer and media training, which is inaccessible for most people. These skills are valuable in terms of employment, as well as in relation to advocacy through the use of media on behalf of themselves and others.

Safe spaces to learn

Currently, YDC-SL facilitates their learning activities in their three offices across Sierra Leone. However, there is a need for more space specifically for the non-formal education programmes to cater for the many young people who lack access to education and are more than willing to learn.

Dreamtown has worked together with YDC-SL to build community centers across Sierra Leone through support from DANIDA. So far, eight public community centers have been built across eight different communities in Sierra Leone. The ambition is now to link the educational activities with the community centers. The centers will be education hubs, situated close to the children and youth in the target group. This way, we can provide safe spaces for learning in close proximity to where this space is mostly needed.