Basic Education
 |
|
© UNICEF/Ethiopia/UN/Debebe |
|
Girls attending primary school in Harar. |
Issue:
• More than three million of Ethiopia’s children are unable to attend primary school
• Only one in four adults in rural areas are able to read and write, meaning roughly 40 million people are illiterate
• Early marriage prevents young girls from being sent to school which leads to gender disparity among students as well as teachers
Action:
• The Basic Education Programme supports the government’s third Education Sector Development Program through a range of initiatives including the Girl’s Education Initiative (GEI), alternative basic education and the promotion of the cluster school model.
• The Girls’ Education Initiative addresses the gender gap in net enrollment ratios. Development is being supported in several areas: making schools child and girl friendly, providing water and sanitation provision and hygiene education, community dialogue on the importance of girls’ education and the elimination of harmful traditional practices.
• Additional alternative basic education centers are being established and strengthened to meet minimum learning standards for vulnerable children including pastoralist and marginalized children. Training facilitators and improving education techniques are key components as well as promoting life skills and HIV/ AIDS education. The trainers work to educate parents and develope appropriate curricula.
• UNICEF is promoting the establishment and operation of the School Cluster Programme as a basic unit of local management of primary education. One school is used as a base for resources and training for multiple ‘satellite’ schools in the vicinity.
• Education personnel in disaster prone regions are currently being trained in emergency preparedness and response and in creating a learning environment for traumatized children.
Impact:
• Net Enrollment Rate (NER), which refers to the total number of students that attend primary school between the ages of 7-14, has increased to 77 percent. The target NER for 2011 is 85 percent.
• Net Intake Rake (NIR) is the percentage of seven year olds that attend first grade out of the population of seven year olds overall. The NIR is up to 56 percent with the target for 2011 set at 96 percent.
• 50 percent of children are passing grades 4-8 and 60 percent of children displaced by emergencies continue with their education.
• The gender gap, in terms of the Net Enrollment Rate, has been reduced to 8.2 percentage points
