Education in Western Area, Sierra Leone: official figures
The 2025 Annual School Census counted 904,684 pupils in the Western Area in the 2024/25 school year (26.2% of Sierra Leone's 3,450,104): 62,695 in pre-primary, 392,510 in primary, 219,871 in junior secondary and 229,608 in senior secondary school, across 3,738 schools.
Do children in the Western Area stay in school to senior secondary?
There were 58 senior secondary pupils for every 100 primary pupils in the Western Area in 2024/25, the highest of the 5 regions (Sierra Leone: 25), a rough sign of how many children stay in school to the end of secondary.
Source: Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone) · saved copyHow many pupils are there per teacher in the Western Area?
Schools in the Western Area had 32 pupils per teacher and 48 pupils per qualified teacher across all levels in 2024/25, the lowest of the 5 regions for pupils per qualified teacher (Sierra Leone: 37 and 58).
Source: Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone) · saved copyAre teachers in the Western Area qualified and paid by the government?
66% of the 28,497 teachers in the Western Area held a teaching qualification in 2024/25 and 33% were on the government payroll (Sierra Leone: 65% and 40%).
Source: Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone) · saved copyHow many children in the Western Area go to school?
86.6% of children of primary-school age (6 to 11) in the Western Area were attending primary school in 2019, but only 62.4% of those of secondary-school age (12 to 17) were in secondary school; the highest of the 5 regions for secondary attendance (Sierra Leone: 86.8% and 45.1%).
Source: Statistics Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyHow many adults in the Western Area can read?
64.7% of women and 80.5% of men aged 15 to 49 in the Western Area could read in 2019, the highest of the 5 regions for women (Sierra Leone: 42.8% and 62.2%).
Source: Statistics Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (with ICF, The DHS Program) · saved copyMore figures
- 38.3% of teachers in the Western Area were women in 2024/25, the highest of the 5 regions (Sierra Leone: 30.6%). Source: Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone) · saved copy
How Western Area compares with other areas
Pupils per qualified teacher (all levels) (2024/25)
Western Area ranks 5 of 5, highest first.
| Rank | Region | Pupils per qualified teacher (all levels) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North West Province | 76 |
| 2 | Eastern Province | 67 |
| 3 | Southern Province | 58 |
| 4 | Northern Province | 50 |
| 5 | Western Area | 48 |
Secondary school net attendance ratio (2019)
Western Area ranks 1 of 5, highest first.
| Rank | Region | Secondary school net attendance ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Area | 62.4% |
| 2 | Northern Province | 45.3% |
| 3 | Eastern Province | 42.7% |
| 4 | North West Province | 38.6% |
| 5 | Southern Province | 33.4% |
More on Western Area: overview · economy and jobs · health · poverty and living standards · Sierra Leone
Sources
- Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone): 2025 Annual School Census Report, annex tables by region (schools, enrolment, teachers, pupil-teacher ratios), school year 2024/25, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 8102ec32f4bc…)
- Statistics Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (with ICF, The DHS Program): Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey 2019, final report: tables by province (water, sanitation, wealth, schooling, fertility, child health, nutrition, HIV, partner violence), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c4e747e7cf70…)
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