Education and Training in Ethiopia An Evaluation of Approaching EFA Goals

Benishangul-Gumuz with vocational training was intended to foster their self-employmentskills.The Finnish educational projects cooperated and exchanged experiences with each other.In addition, the two Finnish project leaders maintained regular contacts with other donors,NGOs and the various departments of the MoE. The leader of the Finnish ESDP projectcoordinated and organized, about once a month, what were known as EDGE meetings todiscuss a topic agreed on together. The meetings were open to anyone interested. Theparticipants represented only themselves, which meant that even MoE specialists wereable to talk a little more openly than was usual in official contexts. This was also a forumwhere many NGOs kept abreast of how the ESDP was developing. The meetings were aplace for sharing experiences, and the NGOs had an opportunity to tell about their ownmodels and experiences. Even if no experiments were officially expanded to the nationallevel at these meetings, at least many contacts were made and potential overlaps avoided.Project EfficiencyThe ESDP project had a Project Preparatory Phase during which, while full-scale activitieshad already been started, the staff identified resource and training needs. Gender analyseswere also carried out 6 . The project had a Finnish project leader, external interim evaluatorsand external consultants approved by the Ethiopian MoE. Most of the personnel resourceswere Ethiopian educational specialists. A substantial amount of project funds were usedalso to acquire materials, such as source books, teaching materials, teaching aids and afew computers. When the materials were delivered, the recipients were invariably trainedin their use and maintenance; the target groups included librarians, teacher educators andadministrative staff and caretakers.The Supervisory Board, the Steering Committee, the Project Coordination Office and MoEand the REBs of the two regions met regularly to plan, review, and monitor and otherwiseattend to project business and objectives. According to evaluations, the project met theneeds of the beneficiaries. The external midterm review considered the project successful.The total amount of money used for the project was FIM 19,545,430. The funds have beenfairly distributed and effectively utilized.Capacity building involved supporting and enhancing the operations and activities of theMoE and local administration organizations at various levels by providing them withhuman and material resources. Apart from training events, the efficiency of central andlocal government seems to have benefited from teamwork with project coordinators andconsultants. A number of institutions have been strengthened by being supplied withessential items such as books, journals, IT equipment, furniture, vehicles andinfrastructural services such as electrification. Among others, the librarians at AmharaRegional Bureau and Gondar Junior Teacher Training Institute used the books and journalsthat MFA had donated to create a core resource. The managerial capacity of institutionswas strengthened through staff training.6 Berhanu, A., Ruotonen, H. & Tsega, L. Female participation in Education in Regions 3 and 6. June 1996.FTP International and MOE.82