{
  "title": "Sierra Leone’s David Sengeh on Digital Innovation – IMF F&D",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/03/david-sengeh-of-sierra-leone-on-digital-education-and-economy-trenches",
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  "summary": "Sierra Leone’s David Sengeh, minister of basic and senior secondary education and chief innovation officer, takes an inclusive approach to digitalizing the education system and economy.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "National digital innovation strategy and governance",
      "content": "- National Innovation and Digital Strategy guides implementation of innovation across government and supports the medium-term national development plan.\n- Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) objective: ensure government delivery of the national development plan and design an innovation ecosystem centered on total digitalization.\n- Core digital priorities: digital identity, a digital economy, and digital governance.\n- DSTI leads ICT and data efforts for the national COVID emergency response center; chief innovation officer advises the president and sits on the presidential task force for COVID."
    },
    {
      "heading": "COVID-19 digital responses and technical tools deployed",
      "content": "- Information dissemination channels: an app, mobile phone solutions (text messaging), and online travel portal for tracking tested passengers.\n- Health and monitoring tools: quarantine app to manage monitoring of service delivery to quarantine facilities and homes; synchronization of districts’ health information systems; application programming interfaces (APIs) build dashboards for decision makers.\n- Surveillance and analytics: drones monitored and evaluated compliance with stay-at-home orders; anonymized call data records and surveys used to understand effects of government policies."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Education policy, digitalization, and statistics",
      "content": "- Education as flagship program: \"Some 22 percent of our budget is devoted to education.\"\n- Coverage and enrollment:\n  - \"Thirty percent of the population is receiving free public education.\"\n  - \"We added 9 percent more students to the total in-school population between 2018 and 2020.\"\n  - \"The country’s 11,400 schools employ about 80,000 teachers.\"\n  - \"When schools finally reopened in July 2020 for examination classes, we brought back over 450,000 students for in-class learning and supported them via radio and online instruction.\"\n- Service delivery: government pays tuition for every student in government and government-assisted school and pays exam fees for all students; school subsidies, learning materials, and school meal programs coordinated using data and digitalization.\n- Digital learning access tools: expanded radio teaching program (revamped from 2014 Ebola crisis); procured new radio transmitters and worked with community radio stations to reach nearly all districts.\n- Mobile access and low-tech innovation: launched an SMS and USSD accessible dictionary; \"Some 87 percent of our people, however, do have mobile connectivity.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Inclusion, gender, and vulnerable groups",
      "content": "- Policy of \"radical inclusion\": ensure every child—regardless of family origin, location, gender, or disability—is educated.\n- Overturned ban on pregnant girls attending school to avoid repeating exclusion experienced after Ebola.\n- Targeted social support during pandemic: expanded and revamped social welfare base; provided direct cash to women in various informal sectors; \"the support is ongoing.\"\n- Increased consideration for people with disabilities and vulnerable groups in policy and program design."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Health system investments and operational changes",
      "content": "- Expanded information publication and measures to allow facilities to make more beds available.\n- New travel portal system in place at airports and borders enabling connection with people entering the country by air and land.\n- Investments framed as contributing to a more robust health system and epidemic control capacity."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Lessons, priorities, and personal perspectives",
      "content": "- Key lesson for policymaking: design solutions that work for everyone, not only in emergencies—\"solutions should work for everyone, not just in emergencies.\"\n- Recognition of unpaid care and labor burdens during lockdowns: pandemic revealed labor and loss of time for stay-at-home parents.\n- Personal motivation: Sengeh draws inspiration from music and public service; album \"Love Notes to Salone\" intended to inspire young people and convey hope and civic empowerment.\n\nSource: Sierra Leone’s David Sengeh on Digital Innovation – IMF F&D\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- الإدماج الجذري\n  - الإدماج الجذري (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - الإدماج الجذري (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- 前 沿 - 将包容进行到底 - 金融与发展 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 -2021年3月号·第58卷\n  - 前 沿 - 将包容进行到底 - 金融与发展 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 -2021年3月号·第58卷 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - 前 沿 - 将包容进行到底 - 金融与发展 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 -2021年3月号·第58卷 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Inclusion radicale\n  - Inclusion radicale (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Inclusion radicale (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n- Inclusion radicale\n  - Inclusion radicale (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Inclusion radicale (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2021/03/david-sengeh-of-sierra-leone-on-digital-education-and-economy-trenches"
    }
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    "Authors: ADAM BEHSUDI",
    "Published: March 1, 2021",
    "National Innovation and Digital Strategy guides implementation of innovation across government and supports the medium-term national development plan.",
    "Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) objective: ensure government delivery of the national development plan and design an innovation ecosystem centered on total digitalization.",
    "Core digital priorities: digital identity, a digital economy, and digital governance.",
    "DSTI leads ICT and data efforts for the national COVID emergency response center; chief innovation officer advises the president and sits on the presidential task force for COVID.",
    "Information dissemination channels: an app, mobile phone solutions (text messaging), and online travel portal for tracking tested passengers.",
    "Health and monitoring tools: quarantine app to manage monitoring of service delivery to quarantine facilities and homes; synchronization of districts’ health information systems; application programming interfaces (APIs) build dashboards for decision makers.",
    "Surveillance and analytics: drones monitored and evaluated compliance with stay-at-home orders; anonymized call data records and surveys used to understand effects of government policies.",
    "Education as flagship program: \"Some 22 percent of our budget is devoted to education.\"",
    "Coverage and enrollment:",
    "Service delivery: government pays tuition for every student in government and government-assisted school and pays exam fees for all students; school subsidies, learning materials, and school meal programs coordinated using data and digitalization.",
    "Digital learning access tools: expanded radio teaching program (revamped from 2014 Ebola crisis); procured new radio transmitters and worked with community radio stations to reach nearly all districts.",
    "Mobile access and low-tech innovation: launched an SMS and USSD accessible dictionary; \"Some 87 percent of our people, however, do have mobile connectivity.\"",
    "Policy of \"radical inclusion\": ensure every child—regardless of family origin, location, gender, or disability—is educated.",
    "Overturned ban on pregnant girls attending school to avoid repeating exclusion experienced after Ebola.",
    "Targeted social support during pandemic: expanded and revamped social welfare base; provided direct cash to women in various informal sectors; \"the support is ongoing.\"",
    "Increased consideration for people with disabilities and vulnerable groups in policy and program design.",
    "Expanded information publication and measures to allow facilities to make more beds available.",
    "New travel portal system in place at airports and borders enabling connection with people entering the country by air and land.",
    "Investments framed as contributing to a more robust health system and epidemic control capacity.",
    "Key lesson for policymaking: design solutions that work for everyone, not only in emergencies—\"solutions should work for everyone, not just in emergencies.\"",
    "Recognition of unpaid care and labor burdens during lockdowns: pandemic revealed labor and loss of time for stay-at-home parents.",
    "Personal motivation: Sengeh draws inspiration from music and public service; album \"Love Notes to Salone\" intended to inspire young people and convey hope and civic empowerment.",
    "**الإدماج الجذري**",
    "**前 沿 - 将包容进行到底 - 金融与发展 - 国际货币基金组织季刊 -2021年3月号·第58卷**",
    "**Inclusion radicale**",
    "**Inclusion radicale**"
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