TVET Institutions
TVET Institutions
Business Model Description
Set up and operate Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET) institutions that offer education and training that are technical and/or vocational in nature with an aim to provide skills needed in the labor market across all sectors including hospitality, carpentry, construction, etc.
Expected Impact
Address unemployment and low economic activity for people in Sierra Leone - especially youth - who lack access to quality vocational and technical training that are aligned with the job market.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Sierra Leone: Western Area
Sector Classification
Education
Development need
In Sierra Leone, only 3.6% of women and 3.9% of men complete primary school, while 5.4% of women and 10.3% of men complete secondary school (1). Only 2.4% of the population complete university (1). 57% of 15-year-olds and above are illiterate and half of those leaving primary school are unable to read or write (2). The lack of education and a high level of illiteracy are a drag to economic growth, as the country needs more skilled employees. In addition to access, schools suffer from a lack of qualified teachers as well as poor facilities and infrastructure across all education levels.
Policy priority
Ensuring free quality basic and senior secondary education is a priority for the government of Sierra Leone. The government has set a target to increase the budget allocation to education to 20% (2). It commenced a Free Quality School Education program in 2019, which offers access to every child, and caters for books and a school feeding program for schools in the most vulnerable communities (3). Strengthening tertiary and higher education is another priority area for the government (4). It has established the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, whereby scaling up higher education is recognized to diversify the economy.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Although primary school enrolment has now reached gender parity (1.01 as of 2017), there is still poor understanding and accounting for the needs of girls and women in education (5). The vast majority (71% as of 2021) of primary school teachers are male (6).
Key bottlenecks introduction
Lack of finance is the main barrier for the poorest to access education (7). For private education solutions, in addition to low levels of average income (USD 3.9 in 2017) (8), the fact that education is provided for free by the government also makes it challenging in terms of families' willingness to pay.
Formal Education
Development need
There is a high unemployment rate (broad) of about 10% for youths compared with 7% for the non-youth population in Sierra Leone (9). The country faces a high structural youth unemployment rate of 60% (10). The school curricula are not tailored to the demands of the country's economy, making it difficult for young people to find work (3). At the same time, the economy is struggling to find skilled labor, such as repairing and operating farming, road construction and mining machinery, making companies rely on migrants (11).
Policy priority
The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education was established in 2019. Investing in technical, vocational, and higher education to produce the skilled labour force demanded by the market is one of the priorities in the Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP). However, TVET is an underfunded area, representing only 2.3% of the overall education spend in 2019 (12). The MTNDP specially mentions the establishment of district-level vocational centres in partnership with the private sector (3). Under the current policy, women applying to courses in STEM are provided with automatic scholarships (13).
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Youth (ages 15–35) represent the largest share of the overall population (66%) and more than half of the employed population (56%) in Sierra Leone (9). Lack of technical skills is attributed as one of key reasons for the high youth unemployment rate in Sierra Leone with 0.5% of youth having tertiary degrees 1.2% of youth having technical education (9). Unemployment is also among the reasons driving the urge of young people to seek work abroad, leading to irregular migration (14).
Investment opportunities introduction
Potential opportunities in the formal education sector are mainly in the private education institutions, particularly in the technical and vocational training and education (TVET) where the curriculum is closely linked to the job market in Sierra Leone.
Key bottlenecks introduction
There is currently no established National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in Sierra Leone and it is one of the country's key TVET policy objectives to develop such a framework for TVET. Non-formal programs are not systematically delivered without systematic assessment and certification system (15).
Pipeline Opportunity
TVET Institutions
Set up and operate Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET) institutions that offer education and training that are technical and/or vocational in nature with an aim to provide skills needed in the labor market across all sectors including hospitality, carpentry, construction, etc.
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
< 5%
630,000 - 952,000 people of working age youth are not working nor in training in Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, there are 2 million working age youth population in Sierra Leone, but only 52.4% are employed (9). Of the youth population (which is about 56% of the total population of 8.4 million i.e. 4.7 million),13.4% or 630,000 are neither in employment nor in education or training (NEETs) (20, 21). In other words, the target number of people for TVET institutions in Sierra Leone are about 630,000 - 952,000.
Sierra Leone's working age population is expected to increase from 4.5 million in 2020 to 8.5 million people by 2050, representing an annual compound increase of 2% (7).
Indicative Return
10% - 15%
There are very few examples of commercial investments in the TVET space in Africa. The two examples - Morigna School and AltSchool - are in the technology space, which may not represent the more traditional TVET institution.
AltSchool raised USD 1 million pre-seed funding from venture capital ("VC") investors (Founders Pledge, NestCoin, and ODBA VC) (22) while Moringa School raised seed funding from impact investors (Proparco, DOB Equity) and Mastercard Foundation (23). VC and impact investors are likely to expect a return of 15-20%. More concessionary or blended return that is more suitable for investors into TVETs will likely to be around 10%.
Investment Timeframe
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Setting up a new TVET institution is expected to take a couple of years as a physical infrastructure needs to be built. A gradual ramp up of students will be expected after opening the facility, resulting in an estimated medium term timeframe. If it is a new investment, the funding is expected to be used for an expansion of an existing facility or to build a new campus, which will also take similar amount of time. A tech-focused TVET is likely to cost less and have a shorter investment timeframe.
Ticket Size
> USD 10 million
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Capital - Requires Subsidy
Capital - CapEx Intensive
Capital - Limited Investor Interest
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
In Sierra Leone, only 0.5% of youth have tertiary degrees, while 1.2% of youth have technical education (9). In addition, the school curricula are not tailored to the demands of the economy, making it difficult for young people to find work (3). The earning gap between individuals with technical degrees or certificates or with tertiary degrees and individuals with less education is highly significant in wage employment and agricultural self-employment (9).
In Sierra Leone, in a working-age population of slightly more than 3 million people, 62.2%, are employed, with a broad unemployment rate of 9.1% (9). Even if they are employed, most workers are self-employed (91%) while only 9.5% are wage workers (9). Labor force participation varies across regions and is lower in urban areas (9).
At the same time, the economy is struggling to find skilled labor, such as repairing and operating farming, road construction and mining machinery, making companies rely on migrants (11). This shortage of a skilled labor force affects the country’s most productive economic sectors and economy as a whole. As many as 88% of its workforce is in low-productivity employment or self-employment (11).
Gender & Marginalisation
There is a high unemployment rate (broad) of about 10% for youths compared with 7% for the non-youth population in Sierra Leone (9). Some reference the high structural youth unemployment rate of 60% (10). Furthermore, young people are in more vulnerable employment, with 78.5% in self-employment or in unpaid family work, with only one-third of youth in paid employment were engaged with a written contract (20).
There is a higher labour underutilization rate among young women (72.8%) compared to young them (59.9%) in Sierra Leone. Young women are also more likely (16.2%) than young men (10/7%) to be out of school and not working, as a result of inability of some young women to go to school and the early age of family formation in the country (20). Young women receive an average of 0.5 fewer years of training than young men, who average 2.3 years of training (9).
In Sierra Leone, men earn nearly three times as much as women in wage employment, more than 2.5 times as much in non-agricultural self-employment, and nearly double in agricultural self-employment (9).
Expected Development Outcome
TVET institutions provide high quality training on subjects that are relevant for the job market in the country.
TVET institutions often work closely with companies to provider apprenticeship to the learners or place the graduates into jobs.
TVET institutions develop curricula that are tailored to the needs of the job market, therefore developing graduates that meet the demands of the prospective employers.
Gender & Marginalisation
One key segment for TVET institutions to target is the youth population. In Sierra Leone, only 0.5% and 1.2% of youth have tertiary and technical education, respectively (9). There is significant opportunity for TVET institutions to provide high quality and relevant training to the youth population (9).
While there is potential for TVET institutions to address gender issues for women and challenges of young women in Sierra Leone, it will require intentional curricula and school design to ensure that women feel welcome in such institutions. For example, teenage pregnancy (21% of girls have their first child between 15 and 19) is a serious challenge in Sierra Leone (1), and there needs to be a special program design to integrate such girls/women.
By ensuring an inclusive training curriculum and culture, TVET institutions can provide training and connect women to better paid jobs after finishing their program.
Primary SDGs addressed
4.3.1 Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
As proxy data, the participation rate of youth in vocational education is 1.2% (9).
By 2023, ensure that the National Youth Service and the Skills Development Project (technical and vocational education and training) is fully operational (3).
8.5.2 Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
The broad unemployment rate for the population of Sierra Leone is 9.1% as of 2014. The broad unemployment rate for the youth population in Sierra Leone is 10.1% as of 2014 (9).
By 2023, increase youth employment by 15%, with special attention to gender equity (3).
1.1.1 Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographic location (urban/rural)
57% as of 2018 (3).
N/A
9.2.1 Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita
2% (34).
N/A
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Corporates
Public sector
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Corporates
Public sector
Outcome Risks
TVET institutions without proper certification and relevance to the job market will not equip the learners to get placed in proper jobs (14). There is currently no established National qualifications frameworks in Sierra Leone. Poorly delivered programmes will cause further monetary and emotional damage to the already impoverished population.
TVET institutions that do not design curricula taking into account the specific needs of women and other disadvantaged populations will perpetuate the existing marginalization. Women in Sierra Leone are typically excluded from technical fields in Sierra Leone.
TVET institutions are likely to be located in commercial centers of the countries, to the disadvantage of those that are located in rural areas.
Impact Risks
If TVET institutions are not able to deliver high quality programs that match the job market in Sierra Leone, the number of unemployed population will continue to grow. This could result in increased burden on the government caused by high levels of poverty, poor development outcomes.
If TVET institutions are not able to deliver high quality programs that match the job market in Sierra Leone, the country will not be able to take advantage of the "demographic dividend" with the increasing number of young people (27). Instead, it could lead to increased number of young and able populations that are not productive, putting further drag on the economy.
If TVET institutions do not develop a curriculum that addresses marginalized populations (e.g. women and disabled people), it will not reach the people most in need.
Impact Classification
What
TVET institutions provide access to high quality vocational and/or technical education that match the needs of the job market in Sierra Leone. This is a positive impact as it helps to address both education and unemployment issues.
Risk
While the benefit of TVET education is proven and widely recognized, affordability for the learners as well as ability for institutions to reach those most in need require careful consideration.
Contribution
The additionality that TVET institutions brings to the target customers who lack vocational and technical training opportunity is significant. This is because the potential link to securing a job is high.
Impact Thesis
Address unemployment and low economic activity for people in Sierra Leone - especially youth - who lack access to quality vocational and technical training that are aligned with the job market.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) (2019) states that investing in education, especially technical, vocational, and higher education, to produce the skilled labour force demanded by the market is a key policy action. The policy also explicitly states its focus on the youth as it lists conducting skills training for youth through technical and vocational education and training as a policy action item (3).
The Education Act (2004) provides for the structure of the 6-3-3-4 education system including technical and vocational education, adult and nonformal education as well as the control of education (28, 29).
Sierra Leone Education Sector Plan (ESP) 2022 - 2026 (2022) builds on the sector plan from 2018-2022 and focuses on improving learning outcomes for all children and youth. The plan contains two missions, including "strengthening tertiary and higher education." One of the nine strategic objectives is to "strengthen partnerships in support of learning and work readiness" (12).
National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVE) Policy for Sierra Leone (2019) defines the major actions intended to revitalize and develop TVET. The main thrust of the policy is that TVET development relies on a TVET system that is relevant, flexible, effective, efficient, accessible and sustainable. It is also based on the need that TVET is developed as an integrated part of the educational system of Sierra Leone (15, 30).
Financial Environment
Other incentives: Other incentives are likely to come from international donor agencies or private foundations that are interested in supporting TVET institutions in Sierra Leone. Donors such as GiZ are supporting the TVET sector through the government of Sierra Leone (32).
Regulatory Environment
The National Council for Technical, Vocational and other Academic Awards Act (2001) established an independent body whose main functions are to validate and certify awards in technical and vocational education and teacher training, accrediting technical and vocational institutions and advising MEST on TVET and teacher training curriculum areas (29, 31).
TVET in Sierra Leone is comprised of formal and non-formal programmes. In non-formal TVET programmes, public institutions, NGOs and private schools offer employment-oriented TVET programmes but not in a systemically manner. Government’s financial support is largely targeted to meeting its recurrent funding to public TVET institutions. Any person/entity that wishes to establish a TVET institution must meet the criteria included in the Education Act 2004 and the Polytechnic act of 2001, along with additional criteria in the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVE) Policy for Sierra Leone of 2019 (30).
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
FLS Academy, FLS Group, CODE, DHL.
Government
Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Development and Economic Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Commission for Democracy and Human Right, National Commission for Social Action, Skills Development Fund Secretariat.
Multilaterals
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO), World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Union (EU), African Development Bank (AfDB).
Non-Profit
Living Seeds, SOS Children’s Villages, African Education Foundation, Injini, Future Fund for Education, Mastercard Foundation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Public-Private Partnership
TVET Coalition of Sierra Leone aims to jointly support the TVET system of Sierra Leone in delivering its mandate with the overarching objective of improving the employability of TVET graduates in Sierra Leone. The organization is formed by governmental institutes, international organizations, donors, NGOs, and the private sector (35).
Target Locations
Sierra Leone: Western Area
References
- (1) Statistics Sierra Leone. 2019. Demographic and Health Survey. https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR365/FR365.pdf
- (2) Government of Sierra Leone. 2021. Out-of-School Children Study Sierra Leone. https://www.unicef.org/sierraleone/reports/out-school-children-study-sierra-leone
- (3) Government of Sierra Leone. 2019. Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019 - 2023. https://www.slurc.org/uploads/1/0/9/7/109761391/sierra_leone_national_development_plan.pdf
- (4) UNESCO. May 2022. Higher Education Report Sierra Leone. https://whec2022.net/resources/Country%20report%20-%20Sierra%20Leone.pdf
- (5) World Bank. Data. School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) - Sierra Leone. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ENR.PRSC.FM.ZS?locations=SL
- (6) World Bank. Data. Trained teachers in primary education, male (% of male teachers) - Sierra Leone. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TCAQ.MA.ZS?locations=SL
- (7) IMF. 2022. Sierra Leone: Selected Issues. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2022/260/article-A002-en.xml?rskey=fQtPbW&result=20
- (8) World Bank. Data. Survey mean consumption or income per capital, total population (2017 PPP $ per day) - Sierra Leone. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TCAQ.MA.ZS?locations=SL
- (9) World Bank. 2016. Findings from the 2014 Labor Force Survey in Sierra Leone. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/df404b14-bcbb-5696-b5df-76d5981280e3/content
- (10) National Youth Commission in Sierra Leone. Accessed through http://nationalyouthcommission.sl/Blue%20print.html
- (11) A. Ansari et al. 27 May 2022. World Bank Blogs. Is demand-led skills training one answer to Sierra Leone’s human capital crisis? https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/demand-led-skills-training-one-answer-sierra-leones-human-capital-crisis
- (12) Government of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone Education Sector Plan. 2022-2026. https://www.unicef.org/sierraleone/media/1306/file/Sierra%20Leone%20Education%20Sector%20Plan%202022%20-%202026.pdf
- (13) UNESCO. 2020. Republic of Sierra Leone: Education sector analysis: assessing the enabling environment for gender equality. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375434
- (14) IOM. Young Sierra Leonean Women Defying the Odds to Learn New Technical Skills. https://rodakar.iom.int/stories/young-sierra-leonean-women-defying-odds-learn-new-technical-skills
- (15) UNESCO. TVET Country Profiles - Sierra Leone. https://unevoc.unesco.org/home/Dynamic+TVET+Country+Profiles/country=SLE
- (16) FLS Group. Accessed through http://www.flsgroup.sl/
- (17) CODE. Accessed through http://codesl.org/
- (18) AltSchool. Accessed through https://www.altschoolafrica.com/
- (19) Moringa School. Accessed through https://moringaschool.com/
- (20) ILO. January 2017. SWTS Country Brief - Sierra Leone. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_542024.pdf
- (21) World Bank Data. 2021. Population, total - Sierra Leone. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=SL
- (22) C. Nwokoma. 1 February, 2022. Techpoint.Africa. Techpoint Pitchstorm alumnus, AltSchool raises $1m pre-seed to plug Africa’s shortage of entry-level talent. https://techpoint.africa/2022/02/01/altschool-bags-1-million/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social%20via%20ifttt&utm_campaign=ifttt%20twitter%20autoshare
- (23) Moringa School. 23 June 2022. Press Release. https://moringaschool.com/blog/leading-investor-proparco-afd-group-completes-pre-series-a-investment-in-moringa-fueling-its-expansion-across-africa/#content
- (24) NIRAS. Kenyan-German TVET Initiative (KGTI): Centres of Excellence for Cooperative Training. https://www.niras.com/projects/kenyan-german-tvet-initiative-kgti-centres-of-excellence-for-cooperative-training/
- (25) GlobalAfrica Network. 9 April 2019. New TVET college campus coming to Mitchell’s Plain. https://www.globalafricanetwork.com/company-news/new-tvet-college-campus-coming-to-mitchells-plain/
- (26) OECD. 2020. INVESTING IN WOMEN AND GIRLS THE BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING ALL THE MDGS. https://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-development/45704694.pdf
- (27) Gagem Anastasia. 21 September, 2018. The demographic dividend and youth in sub-Saharan Africa. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/goalkeepers2018-essay-gage#:~:text=African%20countries%20have%20the%20potential,called%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20demographic%20dividend.%E2%80%9D
- (28) Government of Sierra Leone. 2004. Education Act, 2004. https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/70662/70533/F1191419290/SLE70662.pdf
- (29) African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). 2022. TVET Country Profile Sierra Leone. https://aspyee.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/Country%20TVET%20report_SierraLeone_V1%5B13%5D.pdf
- (30) Government of Sierra Leone. 2019. National Technical and Vocational Education and Training Policy for Sierra Leone. https://mthe.gov.sl/PDF/News/Approved%20TVET-Policy.pdf
- (31) Government of Sierra Leone. 2001. The National Council for Technical Vocational and Other Awards Act, 2001. http://www.sierra-leone.org/Laws/2001-10.pdf 32 GIZ. October 2017. Support to TVET in Sierra Leone. https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz2018-en-support-tvet-sierra-leone.pdf
- (33) Statistics Sierra Leone. October 2017. Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census. Thematic Report on Population Structure and Population Distribution. https://www.statistics.sl/images/StatisticsSL/Documents/Census/2015/sl_2015_phc_thematic_report_on_pop_structure_and_pop_distribution.pdf
- (34) World Bank. 2021. Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) - Sierra Leone. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.ZS?locations=SL
- (35) TVET Coalition of Sierra Leone. https://tvetcoalition.wordpress.com/about/