This is a report on research funded by Plan International on the impact of Learning Assistant (LA) component of Girls Education Challenge Sierra Leone. The LA programme has enabled nearly 500 young women to train as teachers in remote rural areas where schools are understaffed and there are few female teachers. The LA programme provides a pathway to teaching through guided distance study and in-school work experience. This research examines empowering and constraining factors of the LA programme.
The research draws on interviews in two rural locations with 18 participants: Learning Assistants themselves, and those who work alongside and support them: headteachers, class teachers, subject tutors, community leaders, family members and programme staff
