Summary

This story highlights how VSO’s digital learning pilot, supported by EdTech Hub research, improved learner engagement, informed teacher training, strengthened partnerships, and shaped Sierra Leone’s foundational learning efforts and future EdTech initiatives.

Remote locations reached 2

Learners reached 7280

Number of schools reached 52

“For our organization, the experience underscored the value of iterative learning. We now place greater emphasis on establishing feedback loops between programme staff, teachers, and communities—ensuring that insights from the classroom inform design and adaptation in real time. We also learned that technology interventions must be accompanied by robust teacher capacity building and consistent community engagement to ensure sustainability and local buy-in. These lessons have influenced the way we design all subsequent projects: data collection is more systematic, partnerships with district education offices are more intentional, and we invest more in supporting teachers as change agents.”

— Shared by VSO

The Education Landscape in Sierra Leone

Education enrolment rates are high in Sierra Leone, but pupils’ learning and progress is held back. Teachers are often faced with crowded classrooms and inadequate teaching resources, leading to challenging learning environments. In April 2023, VSO launched an exciting new educational technology (edtech) project, Building Foundational Learning Through Technology (BFLTT) in Sierra Leone.

Working in partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone, this project aimed to deliver increased learning outcomes for over 7,280 learners in 52 schools in two remote locations in Sierra Leone by using the award-winning, comprehensive and scalable onecourse educational software powered by UK-based charity onebillion.

Bridging the Gap

The Challenge: Why Change Was Needed

Sierra Leone’s large class sizes, shortages of qualified teachers, and limited teaching and learning materials contribute to persistent low levels of foundational literacy and numeracy, especially in early grades. Rural and hard-to-reach communities often experience additional barriers, including limited infrastructure, lack of electricity, and high teacher turnover.

In this context, introducing technology-enabled approaches to support teaching and learning required not only new tools but also a shift in attitudes, practices, and policies. A study in collaboration with EdTech Hub was launched to explore how digital tools could support early-grade learning. 

While the study was completed in 2024-25, the findings from the study were shared at eLearning Africa in May 2025. In addition to dissemination there, VSO has also been sharing the findings with the internal stakeholders. In June 2025, VSO reached out to wider community groups using the research summary reports, with the Ministry of Education at the district level, the Teacher Service Commission (TSC), community stakeholders, parents, teachers, and learners.

VSO used the Measuring Impact For Learning and Empowerment (MILE) methodology to ensure that all stakeholders (including control schools transitioning to intervention schools) had a strong understanding of the approach and learning gains. For example, during these engagements, the concept of learning journals for classroom observations was shared with approximately 1,000 students across 20 schools.

Teachers invited parents to observe their children at school and shared the research findings with parents. Parents expressed excitement to see the progress that their children were making at school using the technology.

The Intervention

With a mission to solve this problem, Voluntary Services Organization (VSO) began a pilot to explore how digital tools could support early-grade learning in Sierra Leone, partnering with EdTech Hub to examine the impact of the pilot.

As shared by VSO, “what began as a pilot to explore how digital tools could support early-grade learning has grown into a catalyst for deeper shifts in practice — among our own team, in the communities we serve, and in the way we engage with government partners.”

The findings from the pilot informed revisions to teacher training materials in two districts of Pujehun and Kailahun, strengthening modules on the use of digital tools for assessment and instruction ahead of the teacher training of the control schools receiving the intervention. These revisions took place in May/June 2025 and were rolled out in the teacher training taking place at that time; this content will continue to inform and support teacher training going forward (delivered by MBSSE and other local NGOs in the future).

The MBSSE’s interest in aligning future technology pilots with the National Strategy for Foundational Learning further demonstrates the lasting influence of the study.

The Impact

The findings from the study are helping scale the programme and strengthen the partnerships. An important example is the partnership between VSO and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). The data showing improved learner engagement and early reading gains from tablet-based activities after the end of the project was referenced during quarterly sectoral meetings (August 2025) and was cited in discussions about the National Foundational Learning Agenda (part of Sierra Leone’s 2022-2026 Sector Plan) as well.

Concerning scaling, a new grant has been secured for a tablet-based learning initiative due to begin around November 2025 called Pekin Tablet, funded jointly by MBSSE and Imagine Worldwide (IWW).

Overall, the partnership with the EdTech Hub has also strengthened VSO’s capacity. As shared by the VSO team, “For our organization, the experience underscored the value of iterative learning. We now place greater emphasis on establishing feedback loops between programme staff, teachers, and communities—ensuring that insights from the classroom inform design and adaptation in real time. We also learned that technology interventions must be accompanied by robust teacher capacity building and consistent community engagement to ensure sustainability and local buy-in. These lessons have influenced the way we design all subsequent projects: data collection is more systematic, partnerships with district education offices are more intentional, and we invest more in supporting teachers as change agents.”