Equity & Efficiency - Sierra Leone: Incorporating learning outcomes and learner disadvantages in teachers allocation mechanisms

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: From policy to practice: leveraging incentive-based financing to ensure sustainable education financing

Proposal

Sierra Leone sought to address large disparities in teacher distribution and low learning outcomes in disadvantaged districts. The objective was to ensure that newly qualified teachers are preferentially allocated to districts with poorer learning outcomes and higher concentrations of marginalized learners.
A GPE grant tied incentive funding to a clear target: the design and implementation of a protocol for the equitable allocation of qualified teachers, demonstrated by the share of newly qualified teachers placed in targeted (disadvantaged) districts.
The protocol was developed by the Teaching Service Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). Implementation was supported by a preference-matching algorithm (adapted from models used for deploying doctors in the U.S.) and builds on earlier work with the World Bank.
The protocol uses multiple data sources and indicators to identify disadvantaged districts and match teacher supply to need, including:
• Learning outcomes from national examinations and large-scale assessments (e.g., SLEIC 2022, SGLA 2018)
• Teacher and school data from the Annual School Census and the Teacher Management Information System
• Equity indicators related to Radical Inclusion groups (e.g., distance to population centers, qualified teacher–pupil ratios).
Additional eligibility rules ensures that teachers are fully qualified and have passed the relevant annual examination, and only government-approved, publicly funded schools are considered for selection.
Key results from this policy action include:
• 2,000 new government-funded teacher positions were created; 56.05% were allocated to the 10 most disadvantaged districts
• 1,000 new early childhood development teacher positions were created, 53% of which directed to the same districts
• A net increase of 89 qualified teachers in disadvantaged districts
• All new teacher positions deployed through the 2024 protocol were placed on the government payroll in the government’s budget projections
The achievement of the agreed target unlocked the incentive funding. Most importantly, the protocol has been institutionalized and will continue to guide future teacher allocations, with all newly deployed teachers placed on the government payroll. This ensures the durability of the policy implemented and promotes sustained, equitable use of education resources beyond the implementation period.

(Panelist from the Ministry of Education is in the process of confirming participation and will be confirmed shortly)

Author

• Emmanuel Allie, The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Sierra Leone