Primary education in Sierra Leone and development partnership with Britain :progress towards achieving Education for All (EFA)

摘要

One of the world's poorest countries, Sierra Leone, experienced a civil war from 1991udto 2002. The government has since been in the process of rebuilding the nation,udincluding the education sector. Yet, the challenge is that Sierra Leone is a very poorudcountry with about half of its national budget being donor-funded. Sierra Leone'sudformer colonial master and largest aid provider, Britain, is a particularly importantuddevelopment partner. With donor assistance, the government introduced a free primaryudeducation policy to achieve the international goal of EFA. The net primary enrolmentudratio has rapidly increased, from 35 per cent in 1992 to 63.0 per cent in 2004. However,udfield research based on school observations, interviews with government officials,udteachers and people engaged in Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) such asudNon-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Faith-based Organisations (FBOs), andudquestionnaires from pupils, parents, teachers, NGOs and government officials, revealsudworrying trade-offs in the quality of education provided. In addition, schools chargeudparents "school fees" to run their schools under the free education policy. This is oneudof the barriers to regular schooling for the vulnerable. Such findings show that theudgovernment lacks the ability to provide adequate public services to the people. CSOsudhave filled this democratic deficit and greatly contributed to the provision of education.udHowever, an investigation of donor-recipient relationships in this area showed thatudthere is a gap between the rhetoric and practice of "partnership" and "ownership" inudthe development relationship. Using three development theories — Modernisationudtheory, Dependency theory and Postcolonial theory to analyse aid modality and trendsudin education plans and strategies, this research argues that Sierra Leone has been inudtransition with regard to establishing ownership of its national development, workingudwith Britain as its main partner.