Nonformal Education Eenters Reach Farming and Pastoralist Children in Ethiopia

In Amigna Daba, a small rural village in the south-central Ethiopian highlands, girls must overcome distanceas well as cultural and religious barriers to education. The village has no services, no safe water, and no roads, or other basic infrastructure. The nearest school is a three-hour walk away. When the Ethiopian Muslim Relief and Development Association (EMRDA) opened a basic education center in the village, 13-year old Dire Seid found herself in a classroom for the first time in her life. Now she attends the center every morning from 6-9 A.M. three times a week. During the rest of the week she assists her family collecting water, herding cattle, and other various chores. After only seven months, Dire has learned to read and write and do basic numeracy and, in the process, has moved to the top of her class. She also has begun writing and reciting poetry and has taught her father how to read and write.

The challenges children face in going to school in rural Ethiopia are hard to imagine. Sixty-four percent of the population in the country lives in absolute poverty. This harsh statistic translates into a weak educational infrastructure, which serves only 57 percent of the total school age population and 47.0 percent of school age girls.

Since 1998 Pact has supported the creation and expansion of alternative basic education centers. Working through local NGOs operating poverty alleviation programs throughout the country, Pact financially and technically supports indigenous NGOs in managing 164 alternative education centers reaching over 20,000 children in very rural areas of Amhara, South Omo, SNNPRS, and Oromyia regions of Ethiopia. In these remote regions most people either survive as subsistence farmers or as pastoralists, moving from place to place in search of water and grazing land for their cattle.

Without such educational opportunities, future generations have little hope in improving their lives and moving beyond absolute poverty. The alternative education centers, which focus on both formal curriculum and life skills, equip children to grow into problem-solving adults who will be able to create and take advantage of opportunities for improved livelihoods. The schools also go a long way towards raising community awareness on the importance of education and ensuring that education is a high priority for future generations.

Meantime numerous children sit outside the centers waiting and hoping that space will become available. Sadly, every day they continue to wait. The major challenge facing the NGOs operating these centers is in finding the resources to acquire space and books to reach additional children and to support the facilitators who teach the classes.