Problematizing the missing of millions of children from the education system: The Case of Ethiopia

• In Event: Educational Power and Empowerment in Africa

Proposal

Abstract
This short paper focuses on the consequence of missing large number of school age children from the education sector. The paper argues that having large number of out of school children would have a multiplier counter effect on the sustainable economic development of the Country. The study exclusively used desk review of official documents of the Ethiopian government. It also attempts not only analyzing the extent of the problem but also shed light on the possible solutions.
Ethiopia is believed to have the largest number of out of school Children and low level of primary school enrollment in Sub Saharan Africa. About 2.8 million primary school aged children are estimated to be out of school (World bank/UNICEF, 2014). Deepening poverty and widespread economic and social disparities represent major bottlenecks to schooling and make it extremely difficult for the country to formulate and finance the needed multi-sectoral policies for addressing the challenges. Despite all these barriers in the education sector, the country has achieved unprecedented and remarkable improvement in enrollment of primary school in all regions of the country. A recent study by UNESCO revealed that Ethiopia is in a fine line towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal ‘Addressing primary school for all’ by 2015.
The level of disparities between girl and boy students as well as between emerging regions and developed regions are significant. The national average of the gross enrolment ratio of preprimary education is 39% (which is very low), whereas the GER of the Afar and Somali regions (the two pastoral regions) are only 8% and 12% respectively, which is very far than the national average. The same disparities are observed in the primary school enrolment. When the national average is 94.3%, the enrolment rate of Afar and Dire Dawa regions is 59.2% and 56.9% respectively (MoE, 2014/15). The Ethiopian education system suffers from not only disparities but also from apparent inefficiency. According to the annual statistical abstract of the MoE, 9.9% of enrolled students at primary level dropped out before completing first four grades. The same document revealed that only 55.75% of the total enrolled students in grade one will complete grade 5 (MoE, 2014/15). This is not only a wastage of students, but a wastage of the country’s meager resources.
The Speed School initiative brought practical and proven primary education approach that addresses the problems of access, quality as well as efficiency. The Speed School initiative in Ethiopia is implemented by Geneva Global Inc, a US based philanthropic company, was launched in September 2011. Speed School is an accelerated learning program envisaged to equip out of school children with literacy and numeracy skills (reading, writing and math skill). Speed School is an innovative and fruitful strategy to enable out of school children (OOSC) to acquire a first cycle learning (1-3) in a 10 month catch up program. It is the foundation for lifelong learning. Speed School has four interrelated components, namely: Ten month temporary classes (SS class), Self-help group of the children’s mothers (SHGs), Primary school capacity building, Pre-school using a child to child model (GGI, 2015).
The Speed School model has proven its success in terms of bringing back over 102,000 out of school children to school, having less than 1% dropout rate and over 97% survival rate to grade 6, which is by far better than the traditional primary education system (GGI, 2015).
Hence, the purpose of this study is to share experiences of Speed School, thereby initiate discussion among academicians as well as practitioners on alternative approaches to address the problem of disadvantaged children.

Author

• Abebaw Abetei Tegegn, Geneva Global Inc