Expanding primary school completion through culturally responsive and sustaining education: Evidence from a historical project in Sierra Leone

Abstract

This article takes an unconventional approach of empirically evaluating a historical UNESCO-funded educational development project in Sierra Leone. Grounded in principles of culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE), the Bunumbu project represented one of the largest investments in the 1970–80s to universalize primary education into rural sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). By combining a historical analysis with a difference-in-differences model, this study uses national census data from thirty years after the project began to evaluate the effects of the Bunumbu project on primary school completion. Results show that there was a 3.8%-point higher increase in primary completion rates in the Bunumbu project area than neighboring comparison chiefdoms. Findings suggest that CRSE can complement recent pedagogical approaches like structured pedagogy programs that have gained popularity in SSA.