Beat the Clock - From school dropouts to star teachers - Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, Plan International is supporting young women to become qualified teachers. 700 women have taken part in the four-year training programme, receiving stipends and mentorship to support their success and remove financial barriers. Together, we will Beat the Clock.
When Eunice left school, she was living out a story that’s common for young women in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, though it didn’t feel that way to her. “When you become a [school] dropout, you feel very much sad,” she says. “You feel isolated." Eunice is one of five children in a family she describes as poor. She left school when her mother died in 2019, leaving her as the primary earner for her family. She became a mother herself when she was 18 years old.
In 2021, Eunice was invited to enrol in a four-year Plan International programme that supports out-of-school young women to become teachers. There, she met Kumba, another young single mother at a similar crossroads. Kumba had dropped out of school when her mother fell ill and hadn’t found a way back to the classroom until the programme offered an alternative.