Education Sector Development Program - VLIR-UOS

Education Sector Development Program IV
regions of the country has played an important
role in the increment of enrolments. The GER
(grades 1-8) which was 23.3% and 20.9% in
Somali and Afar in the year 2004/05 has grown,
according to the regional reports, to 58% and
63.8%, respectively, in 2008/09.
But the enrolment rates of the emerging regions
are still low when compared to the average of
the country. Thus, introducing new alternative
modalities and strengthening the existing ones
will be continued during the ESDP IV to access
equitable quality education for pastoral and
agro pastoral region children. Boarding schools,
low cost pensions, mobile schools etc. should
be introduced and strengthened. Attention will
have to be given to their design to facilitate the
continuation of studies for learners who have
completed ABE and find it difficult to join formal
schools. Transforming the ABE centers to
formal/regular schools in the areas where the
communities are relatively settled, expanding
and up-grading the existing formal schools,
constructing new 1st and 2nd cycle primary
schools and providing the schools with basic
facilities will also be given special attention in
ESDP IV.
In addition, organizing different support
mechanisms, such as tutorial programs, school
feeding programs, material and financial support,
scholarship programs for the indigenous children
(both girls and boys) and the vulnerable will be
emphasized in ESDP IV to strengthen the internal
efficiency of the schools in the emerging regions.
Furthermore, strengthening the capacity of
officials and experts working at REB and WEO
by organizing different capacity development
programs, up-grading the academic level of
facilitators and teachers, as well as, REB and
WEO officials and experts of the emerging regions
by arranging: in-service summer programs,
distance programs, etc. will intensively be
continued during the ESDP IV.
Main challenges
• Vulnerability of pastoral and agro
pastoral regions to repeated
drought and food shortage which
in turn forces students to drop out
of school,
• Communities’ low level of
awareness on the importance of
education and reluctance to send
girls to school,
• Impact of mobility and low density
of population that has made the
building of infrastructures and
social services difficult
• Inability of addressing the
education needs of pastoralists
through formal schools alone,
• Lack of capacity within educational
management bodies in particular
to collect and analyze data and to
mobilize the community for the
development of the education
sector,
• Inability to deliver primary
education in the vernacular
language of pastoral and agropastoral
regions, (specially Afar),
• Acute shortage of teaching
learning materials and teaching
aids in primary schools of pastoral
regions,
• High gap of access to primary
education between the emerging
regions (Gambella, Somali and
Afar regions) and other regions,
• Limited transition from ABECs
to formal/regular schools, due
to the lack and distance of Cycle
2 (Grades 5-8) primary schools,
2. Expected program outcomes
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Emerging regions children’s
(especially indigenous children)
access to primary education
increased, through continuous
expansion of regular schools and ABE
centers,
The gap between the emerging
regions and other regions in access
to equitable quality education
reduced, by giving special support to
the education of emerging regions’
children (both female and male),
Capacity of Educational management
bodies at various levels and
facilitators / teachers strengthened
Key outcome indicators / targets:
Drop-out rate in the first cycle of primary schools
and ABE centers decrease to 1% for both girls
and boys by 2014/15,
The repetition rate in primary education will
decrease to 1% for both girls and boys by 2014/15,
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