Improving education in Ethiopia

Africa 2005

Only 47 per cent of primary school-age children in Ethiopia regularly go to school.
For those who do attend classes, their education is often affected by badly resourced classrooms, poorly trained teachers and the ongoing challenges posed by the HIV & AIDS pandemic.

The Ministry of Education in Ethiopia however is fully committed to improving the quality of education. And for the past three years has been working with VSO on a strategy to improve standards in all areas of education.

How is VSO helping?
Two volunteers playing an instrumental role in this process are Deb Jordan and David Spinney, who have developed the Higher Diploma Programme.
The aim of the programme is to improve the quality of education in Ethiopia, through a compulsory licensing scheme that will develop the skills and professionalism of all teacher trainers in Ethiopia.

Deb and David began their placements in February 2003 and by the end of their first six months had assessed the professional development needs of teacher trainers across Ethiopia and written a 500-page distance-learning handbook.

Having devised the programme, Deb and David are now managing it and are responsible for training new VSO volunteers as Higher Diploma Leaders. These volunteers then deliver the Programme in 31 Teacher Educator Institutes around Ethiopia.

Just 20 months after Deb and David arrived in Addis Ababa, 1,363 teacher trainers have undertaken the programme. This will ultimately benefit 800,000 children in Ethiopia.