Building and Renovating Schools
“In 2011, 57 million primary school age children were out of school.”
One of the most significant barriers to education for school age children in low-income countries is access to and distribution of school buildings, particularly in the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities. Where school buildings exist, in rural and remote communities, they usually very far and have significant infrastructural limitations whereby they are in overall poor condition, built with mud bricks and thatched roof without the basic amenities such as latrines.
“The provisions of sanitary facilities such as latrines and sources of clean drinking water is a concern in Sierra Leone, with about 30 percent of schools recently surveyed having no toilet.”
The implications of access to and distribution of school building and the infrastructural limitations of existing school buildings are reduced primary enrollment rates of school-aged children in remote and rural areas and increased inequity facing the most economically disadvantaged.
In Sierra Leone, households in rural communities have lower school enrollment rates compared to their urban counterparts at all age levels.
The overall objective of this program is to expand access to and improve the infrastructure of school buildings in those communities most in need in Sierra Leone, through renovation and construction of school buildings.
Sierra Leone is a country at a crossroads, and Education for Hope is working in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental entities to continuously form new partnerships with interested communities to provide the material necessary to increase access to and improve the infrastructure of school buildings.
Building and Renovating Projects
Tumba Primary School
In December 2012, Education for Hope handed over the Tumba primary school to the community after the completion of a three-classroom structure with four toilet stalls, and also provided 21 sets of tables and chairs.
Three Communities Primary School Project
These communities are located in the Port Loko district, Koya Chiefdom, Sierra Leone, and do not have a functioning school; therefore, the children do not attend school. Ninety-five percent of the habitants are illiterate. Despite their circumstances, they understand the value of education and want their children to be able to read and write and lead a better life. There are approximately 95 school-age children (50 boys and 45 girls) who live in these communities. The residents of these communities rely on fishing and farming for their livelihood and shared the same characteristics as Tumba village.