Project: Sierra Leone Early Childhood Education Outcomes Fund 
Alternative names: Salone Pikin 4 Play en Lan
State of development: Current
Stage of development: Final negotiations
Type of instrument — Impact Bond: ; Outcomes Fund: Yes; Social Impact Incentives (SIINC): ; Social Impact Guarantee: ; Payment-by-results (no pre-financing): ; Technical Assistance and Market-building program: ; Other: 
Part of a larger outcomes-based financing program: No 
Expected length of project (years): 4
Rationale for using outcome-based finance: Sierra Leone is a priority country for EOF portfolio of programmes. The Government of Sierra Leone, in partnership with EOF, launched an Outcomes Fund at the primary level to increase learning outcomes in primary school children (SLEIC). The government solidifed its willingness to explore innovative financing mechanisms to increase the outcomes of children in the education sector. Former Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and current Chief Minister David Sengeh has championed the use of innovative finance at scale to help build a nascent ECCE sector in the country and ensure the value-for-money of education interventions. Following the successful launch of the SLEIC programme, President Bio unveiled an exciting new chapter in Sierra Leone's journey for quality education: the ECCE programme, a testament to the commitment and resolute political will driving this enduring partnership.
Role of the domestic government — Outcomes funder: Yes; Service provider: ; Member of project committee: Yes; No formal role: ; Other: Open call for expression of interest
Service providers identified and selected — Request-for-proposals: Yes; Direct contracting by outcome funder/investor/intermediary: ; Provider-led deal development: ; Other: 
Feasibility study: Yes
Technical assistance grant: No — 
Estimated maximum potential outcome payment: 17000000 USD
Social/developmental challenge: 1. Limited but growing financial resources to the sector.
2. The recent prioritisation of ECCE by the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) also means that several of the administrative and institutional structures needed to support the rapid expansion of the sector are still in development. Firstly, there is limited data, especially on quality of ECCE provision and on the functioning of the more informal parts of the ECCE sector such as community ECD centres. Limited oversight and monitoring of ECD centres have resulted in an incomplete picture of the ECCE provision. In turn, this leads to an absence of evidence to inform policy, particularly on informal provision and its quality. Finally, as the sector develops, interventions have been more focused on activities/inputs and outputs rather than on outcomes, such as child development. In following the GoSL existing commitment to impact, it will be critical moving forward that accountability structures focus on impact on child development to ensure that existing efforts are translated into improved outcomes for children.
3. Process and structural quality are limited due to infrastructure constraints and insufficient pedagogy rollout. There is a limited use of age-appropriate pedagogy as the new standards have not been translated into practice yet. Some pre-primary centres lack basic facilities: for example, 24% of pre-primary centres had no access to running water in 2021, and most teachers are not trained in using child-centred approaches. These structural constraints combine to create a situation of insufficient supply of ECCE services. Additionally, there is a limited use of age-appropriate pedagogy as the new standards have not been translated into practice yet. A lack of capacity to systemically monitor the process quality of these centres also limits the information available on their suitability to meet instructional quality standards. There are also demand-side forces that impact the rollout of process quality improvements, such as limited parental awareness of the importance of ECCE and age-appropriate and play-based pedagogies for children’s holistic development and learning, which leads to limited demand for these programmes in some areas
Expected intervention model: The primary objective of this programme is to expand access to quality early learning opportunities to achieve the ultimate goal of improving holistic child development outcomes for children aged 3-5 in Sierra Leone to better prepare them for the next stage of education. This programme aims to complement existing programmes, such as the proposed GPE funding which aims to expand the pre-primary sector through establishing P0 classrooms within primary schools with UNICEF acting as grant agent. Through complementary efforts, rather than doubling interventions of the same type, this programme can help rapidly expand access to ECCE and find synergies with other programmes to benefit implementers across both programmes.
Policy sectors — Employment and private sector development: ; Education: Yes; Social protection: ; Criminal justice: ; Health: ; Agriculture: ; Environment and climate change: ; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: ; Energy: ; Humanitarian: ; Early Childhood Education: Yes; Other: 
Target population: Children ages 3-5 inclusive
Targeted number of unique service users or beneficiaries: Estimated a direct reach of up to 29,700 unique children possibility of expanding it to around 63,700 participating children. EOF expects that 115- new ECCE centres will be open through the programme, benefiting the families within the selected areas 
Unit type of targeted beneficiaries: Individual
Country income classification of beneficiaries — Low-income: Yes; Lower-middle-income: ; Upper-middle-income: ; High-income: 
Beneficiary notes: The 3-5 age range aligns with the Sierra Leone Education Sector Plan (ESP) 2022-26, which includes three years in formal pre-primary education, starting at age three, and also gives the intervention a longer opportunity to achieve impact prior to the transition to primary school. 
Notes: Data for this pipeline instrument was last updated in November 2024. 
Delivery location: Sierra Leone