Education Initiative

Despite the Government of Sierra Leone's policy of free access to primary and secondary education in public schools, ancillary costs such as school materials and transportation remain a financial burden for parents, especially for those with lower incomes and in cases where the male partner has passed away. The JNJ Foundation's project intends to alleviate these challenges by providing adult literacy programs for widows, covering school fees and materials for their children, and offering opportunities for teenage girls who have become pregnant to return to formal schooling. This comprehensive approach is designed to prevent school dropout, improve academic performance, and reduce the risks of early marriage and teenage pregnancy, thus sustaining the socio-economic well-being of widowed families in selected communities.