Hidden inequities within universalising primary education in rural Sierra Leone

Despite great progress, attaining the goal of universal primary education (UPE) has stalled, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study critically examines how UPE is experienced by out-of-school children and families in three rural villages in Sierra Leone. Drawing on data from 101 qualitative interviews, this study applies relational inequality theory to illustrate a benefit of education that is often underemphasised in UPE discourse – that of maintaining human dignity and relational power. Through the widespread cultural acceptance of exploitative teacher stipends, the formation of new lines of social closure, and the inability of out-of-school children and their families to make claims for respect, I argue that out-of-school children are being excluded from a pathway to basic dignity – an effect that can be mitigated by a renewed commitment to delivering on the de jure promise of free access to education through universal teacher remuneration.