TES - Hope blooms in Sierra Leone's schools despite lack of support

I wrote this article for TES from Sierra Leone, after visiting schools in the remote northern chiefdom of Tambakha. The schools were built by charity Street Child . Incredibly, before 2009 when the charity began working in the area, Tambakha had only three schools and two qualified teachers for 9,000 primary-aged children. Building the schools and training teachers has been an incredible achievement, but the area is struggling to maintain the institutions without government backing. I was amazed to see how hard locals were trying to support their children's education despite so many barriers. In some classes the children had no books or pencils - they were learning everything aurally. This piece was written to coincide with a Street Child fundraising campaign. A film shot during my trip explains more about the charity's work in the area. To read the full article, visit the TES website . Watch the film at about Street Child's rural schools project.