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Country: Ethiopia

Helping Ethiopian students heal with sports and recreation

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Posted April 4, 2023 .
1 min read.

USAID’s READ II Education Recovery Activity in Ethiopia is using sports and recreation to help students heal from the trauma of war.

10 ideas about systems strengthening from Creative’s leaders in Africa and the Middle East

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Posted February 24, 2023 .
By Ashley Williams .
3 min read.
Cory Heyman, VP of Creative's Education Division, introduces leaders from projects in Africa and the Middle East as they share their insights on strengthening education systems.

Cory Heyman, VP of Creative’s Education Division, introduces leaders from projects in Africa and the Middle East as they share their insights on strengthening education systems.

Leaders from Creative’s projects in Africa and the Middle East came together for a summit at Creative’s headquarters to discuss systems strengthening in education. Four Chiefs of Party and one technical expert shared their experiences about how projects in Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen are working locally to build up the systems that support education.

All five of the project leaders are from Africa, and three are Chiefs of Party in their home countries, making their insights particularly interesting.

These 10 quotes from the summit explore what systems strengthening entails and how it can succeed.

What does systems strengthening mean to you?

  • “To me a system is different interconnected parts that come together to work together as a whole.” –Faiza Hasan, Chief of Party for Bar ama Baro in Somalia
  • “Education systems are what turn policies and strategies into actions.” –Mamdouh Fadil, Chief of Party for Jordan Technical Assistance Program
  • “When I think about systems strengthening, what comes to mind is holistic thinking and seeing how individual parts of the system align and work together to become effective.” –Tassew Zewdie, Chief of Party for READ II
  • “Systems all have a life of their own. Systems all have their own culture, and understanding the norms is very important to being able to operate within the system.” –Nurudeen Lawal, Chief of Party for LEARN to Read in Nigeria
  • “Systems strengthening requires a practical approach where you put a plan in place. That way you can be sure you are leaving behind a system that is implementable.” –Ayo Oladini, Senior Technical Advisor for Gateway to Education in Yemen

What are the ingredients for successful systems strengthening?

  • “Systems strengthening implies change, and change is scary for people. The most important thing is to engage stakeholders from the beginning so they buy in to the expected transformation. We have to think holistically but also consider each of the individual parts of the system, like the structure or hierarchical model, policies, human resources and information flow. These different parts need to be aligned so they can work together smoothly towards the expected result.” –Tassew Zewdie, Chief of Party for READ II
  • “Systems strengthening has to be realistic and there should be local leaders. It is also important to incentivize good performance and make it public. I see creating standards and benchmarks as crucial.” –Mamdouh Fadil, Chief of Party for Jordan Technical Assistance Program

What stands in the way of successful systems strengthening?

  • “Silos are a major problem I’ve seen standing in the way of systems strengthening. Everyone can do their own thing instead of working together, and we don’t see results.” –Ayo Oladini, Senior Technical Advisor for Gateway to Education in Yemen
  • “You need to understand the system inside and out. You need to understand stakeholder power dynamics in the system. You can’t start if you don’t get those two right.” –Nurudeen Lawal, Chief of Party for LEARN to Read in Nigeria
  • “If something is already working well, there is no reason to throw something new in there. It is important to understand what is already working in the system and improve on that.” –Faiza Hasan, Chief of Party for Bar ama Baro in Somalia

IDP teachers support IDP students in northern Ethiopia

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Posted October 4, 2022 .
By Berihun Ali .
4 min read.

Haftu Beze, a mathematics teacher in the Raya Bala District, thought he may never instruct students again. Living in the one of the disputed areas between the Amhara and Tigray regions, the young teacher fled his home and classroom when fierce fighting erupted between the government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, also known as the TPLF.

Today, Haftu is one of the 25,000 internally displaced persons living in a camp in the North Wollo District of the Amhara region. He is among the millions displaced by the conflict in Afar, Tigray and Amhara regions.

Haftu teaching at a temporary learning center, Jara IDP Camp, North Wollo.

“After we were displaced and settled in the IDP camp, my fellow teacher colleagues and I were thinking about how we could provide support to students affected by this conflict,” Haftu recalls.

The U.S. Agency for International Development-funded READ II Program, which is implemented by Creative Associates International with its core partner World Vision, established temporary learning centers for primary school students at Jara IDP camp.

When the program sought qualified and experienced instructors, Haftu and many other displaced teachers eagerly volunteered.

“When READ II came up with the idea of establishing a temporary learning center for IDP students, we didn’t think twice though we know we will not be paid,” he says.

READ II established the temporary learning centers in tents and outfitted them with basic material, such as desks, blackboards and chalk. The project also provided students with scholastic materials, such as exercise books, pencils and pens, snacks and dignity kits for adolescent girls. The program also donated recreational items, including footballs and volleyballs.

Besides the material support, USAID READ II provided training on psychological first aid, social-emotional learning and psychosocial support for teachers and temporary learning center administrators so that they can support students and communities affected by the conflict.

Wodajo teaches at the temporary learning center and grateful for the support of READ II.

“The training was eye-opening and life-changing,” Haftu says. “It has transformed our roles as teachers not only to teach but also support and encourage students and our community using the new skills we get from the training.”

The training supports teachers and educators to calm themselves, understand the situation students and their communities have been through and provide the necessary support.

“The traumatic experience of the conflict has affected not only students but the whole community including teachers,” Haftu says. “The training has played an important role in getting over those traumatic experiences – first to ourselves and then provide support to students and the communities.”

Despite Haftu’s prior teaching experience, instructing displaced students is much different than his previous classroom work.

“It is very difficult to manage students in an IDP camp,” Haftu says. “But the training we were provided gave us the understanding and skills of how we can support these traumatized children.”

A total of 62 teachers and IDP coordinators in Jara IDP camp have received the training. Overall, USAID READ II has provided similar training to more than 2,496 teachers and 1,246 school administrators cascading the training at school and community levels reaching 338,000 students in 693 schools in conflict-affected Amhara and Afar regions.

Wodajo Admasu, an experienced Amharic teacher displaced from Raya Alamata, also volunteered his services in the Jara IDP camp and went through the special training, which he says changed the way he assumes his responsibilities and his approach to educating and supporting students.

Students at the temporary learning center and grateful for the support of READ II.

“Based on the training, we now try to prepare lessons that are more participatory, engaging and entertaining to students,” says Wodajo. “Our relationship with our students and their parents is remarkably changed as we not only teach subject matters in the classrooms but try to understand their feelings and problems and help them to solve those problems.

Wodajo says READ II has been supporting the temporary learning center by furnishing them with students’ desks, and chalk as well as providing scholastic and recreational materials for students.

“But the skills we get are life-changing not only in our profession to help students who need psychological and emotional support but for our lives as human beings,” Wodajo says. “They are transformational.”

After the training, Wodajo says, the teacher’s role has remarkably changed in that we support and understand students.

“We are more supportive and appreciative of students than controlling and directing them to do tasks,” He says. “I have observed that there are changes in students too as they are more engaged and actively participate in activities.

READ II support improves reading, motivates educators and students

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Posted September 7, 2022 .
By Berihun Ali .
5 min read.

When Tarikua Tesfaye completed the second grade in 2020, she was frustrated. She still couldn’t read, and even struggled to identify the letters and sounds of the alphabet.  

She was far from the only second-grade student who couldn’t read in Ethiopia, where a 2016 study revealed that only a third of second and third grade students could read at a functional level.  

Today, Tarikua, 11, is now considered one of the best readers in her fourth-grade class, thanks to the support her school and its teachers are receiving from the READ II project. The five-year program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development supports millions of primary school students in Ethiopia in more than 3,000 target schools in seven regions.  

Tarikua’s improvement is a typical example of how students, when supported, can succeed in Ethiopia.  

Tarikua Tesfaye, a fourth grader in the Dara district of Sidama state in Ethiopia is proud to say she’s one of the best readers in her class. Her school and its teachers have received training from USAID’s READ II training.

“Cognizant of the challenges from consecutive studies conducted earlier, the USAID READ II project has been implementing a set of interlinked activities to help primary school children learn to read,” says Tassew Zewdie (Ph.D.), the project’s chief of party.  

These activities include providing training to mother-tongue and English-language teachers to improve classroom instruction; capacity building of education administrators to better support schools and teachers; providing supplementary reading materials for students who previously didn’t have access, and creating awareness among communities to support children’s reading, he adds.   

The Ethiopian government has made it a priority to increase the country’s consistently low literacy rates. To assist the government to address these challenges, READ II  seeks to boost the quality of literacy instruction and student support for 15 million children, including those at risk of failure and dropout caused by cognitive, emotional, and physical effects of hunger, violence, and displacement.  

Implemented by Creative Associates International, along with its core partners Education Development Center and World Vision, the project works to better equip teachers with effective early grade reading instruction techniques and materials in seven mother-tongue languages and English, while simultaneously building a culture of reading in the school, home and community. 

By employing the more student-centered approach, students are engaged and actively participate in the classroom activities and drills. Teachers are trained to identify and group students based on their reading performance using the tools they receive from the READ II training to provide focused support to those who are weak performers.  

Tarikua is one of those students who benefited from the focused support, which allowed her catch up to her grade-level reading skills and fall in love with reading.  

She now can read well from all the texts in her books as well as the stories in the supplementary reading materials READ II provided to them. “I am excited to start school,” she says. “I feel I am improving my reading and my grades in school, and I want to improve them more in this [academic] year.” 

Supporting teachers to help students succeed   

Tarikua’s school is in Odola Primary School in the Dara district of the newly established Sidama regional state some 370 kilometers south of the capital, Addis Ababa. The school teaches in Sidaamu Afoo, the mother tongue of the region. 

Tarikua’s Sidaamu Afoo teacher, Aregash Demeke, received training from READ II, which helped her to improve her classroom instruction. The mother-tongue teacher is also supported by the school director, cluster supervisor, and mentors, who are all trained by READ II. These all expedite Aregash to deliver better classroom instruction to help students learn reading.  

“The training and the successive supports I am getting has completely transformed the way I teach in the classroom,” Aregash says. “I have acquired new skills and employ new methodologies on how I teach students to learn to read and write, to monitor and evaluate them.” 

 Tarikua’s success shows that students can improve reading with support from their teachers, the community and their parents. 

“I have observed remarkable progress on my students’ reading performance after implementing the tools and methodologies I acquire from the READ II training,” Aregash says. “The supports I get from my colleagues, the school director and mentor teachers, as well as the cluster supervisor are very helpful in delivering better to students.” 

Though Aregash has been working as a mother-tongue teacher for more than a decade, she never used a teacher’s guide or any other manual as a reference. But after the training, she understood how important such a guide’s use is for students’ learning success. She now uses the teacher’s guides and the manual she is provided at the training in each session.  

“We strictly use them alongside the students’ textbook on a daily basis. I also refer them when planning and implementing those plans,” she says.  

Aregash plans, executes and evaluates her activities and her students’ performance based on the tools and checklists she acquired from the training.  

“The school director, cluster supervisor, as well as my mentor and colleague provide me support on a daily basis, starting from the lesson plan preparation to the evaluation of students,” she says.  

The improvements Aregash says she has observed in the past few years in students’ performances—particularly reading skills, are rewarding as well as inspiring and motivating for other students. 

When they came to school for the first time after a long summer break, students were excited as they expect to continually improve their performances supported by their teacher, parents and volunteer community literacy leaders, who are supporting them to practice reading in the reading camps established near their village. Tarikua, too, was also excited to come to school like other students.  

Aregash Demeke, Tarikua’s teacher, says she is inspired by the successes of her students.

“The training and the continued support have improved the way I teach students,” says Aregash. 

In addition to the support students get from schools, they are also provided an opportunity to practice their reading in a reading park established in their school compound and reading camps established near their village.  

In reading camps, students use the facilities usually on the weekends and after school with facilitation support from volunteer community literacy leaders. READ II provided training and ongoing support to volunteer community literacy leaders to facilitate the reading camps session for students to practice their reading.  

“In the reading camps there are books we practice after school and over the weekends,” Tarikua says. “I think they have helped me a lot in improving my reading as I also sometimes borrow them to read at home.”  

Tarikua wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She wants to support children to learn better and understand new things as her teachers are doing for her.  

“I want to be an exceptional teacher when I grow up,” she says. “I want to help students in my community—both boys and girls—to  succeed in their education.”

Q&A With Mastewal Worku, USAID READ II in Ethiopia

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Posted April 19, 2022 .
5 min read.

Despite compounded challenges of Covid-19 and conflict, USAID’s READ II reading camps bring benefits to Ethiopia’s early readers

The READ II project in Ethiopia seeks to boost the quality of literacy instruction and student support for 15 million children, including those at risk of failure and dropout caused by the cognitive, emotional and physical effects of hunger, violence and displacement.

Starting in 2020, the five-year project faced unforeseen additional challenges starting with the Covid-19 pandemic and then in 2021, the emergence of new conflict in the northern regions of Ethiopia. READ II reading camps are working now with vulnerable and displaced communities in several northern regions.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International, the project works with its core partners Education Development Center and World Vision to better equip teachers with effective early grade reading instruction techniques and materials in seven mother-tongue languages and English, while simultaneously building a culture of reading in the school, home and community.

Reading camps are an important component of READ II’s programming because of the engagement they bring between students, parents and the communities they serve.

Mastewal Worku

Mastewal Worku is a Senior Advisor on Community Outreach Programs for READ II with extensive experience designing and managing education and life-skills programs. He is an expert on early grade reading education, targeting both the school and community through literacy programming.

At READ II, he is leading and coordinating the community outreach as a representative of World Vision.

In this interview, Mastewal talks about students’ reading through the engagement of parents and the community and discusses the challenges the project faced in rescoping the project during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Describe your role as senior community outreach advisor on READ II.

Working to help children to read addresses the entirety of their lives. One who reads, knows. One who knows, acts. One who acts or works contributes immensely for the development of the human strata.

The community outreach position works toward that and uses the very platform to induce this broader concept in as many as seven regions and 70 districts across Ethiopia. READ II along with its eight local implementing partners have successfully mobilized resources—land, labor, cash, etc.—from the community and government, and established a total of 5,456 reading camps in the six READ II target regions.

A total of 815,600 struggling students from graded one to four have so far benefited from these reading camps and the extra help provided by trained volunteer community literacy leaders. The project has so far mobilized and engaged a total of 12,478 youth and adult volunteers, community literacy leaders to help the children in reading over the weekend for two to four hours a week.

In addition to the challenges related with COVID-19, Ethiopia is facing another the crisis of conflict in the northern region. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in Tigray, Amhara and Afra regions need support. How can READ II’s reading camps model be used to reach children during this crisis?

Reading camps in both Tigray and Amhara regions are situated within the community and outside the school premises to provide access to extra-learning opportunities that are flexible and informal. Reading camp sessions are designed to augment formal classes. Reading camp volunteer training focuses on using methodologies, such as songs and stories.

Likewise, children in crisis affected areas, such as IDP and refugee camps, need temporary, flexible and informal learning opportunities until the situation stabilizes and they can go back to formal schooling. Like reading camp volunteers, facilitators in temporary learning spaces are encouraged to use methodologies such as songs, games, plays, stories, etc., with children who might be traumatized. Both reading camps and temporary learning spaces need to be furnished with indoor and outdoor games, stationery material and reading books. Reading camps operate on shifting system (morning and afternoon shifts) with the intention of reaching more children. Temporary learning spaces can apply the same to accommodate more children in IDP camps.

How do relationships between the reading camps, schools, parents and village governments contribute to sustaining children’s reading in the community?

Reading does not happen only in schools. Reading happens everywhere, and everywhere includes family and home, and the community and reading camps.

School teachers select and refer struggling children to reading camps for extra help at least two to four hours a week, and family helps them read for an hour a day at homemade reading corner, while local governments such as Parent Teacher Student Associations and Kebele Education and Training Board members facilitate land, labor, cash, etc. for the construction of the Reading camps and the availability of sufficient books for reading in the community. Reading camps are managed by village leaders, and this includes recruitment of volunteer community literacy leaders and safeguarding reading camp materials, such as supplementary reading materials donated by the project.

Reading camps are established primarily to support school-based reading interventions.

Can you explain the connection between reading camps and schools? How do the reading camps provide mother-tongue teachers and students with additional help to improve reading skills, especially for slow learners?

Reading camps are established primarily to support school-based reading interventions. Schools understand that reading camps are best places to refer struggling children for extra support by trained volunteer, community literacy leaders.

The project trained mother-tongue teachers to continually assess and identify the levels of the children’s reading skills and to share the list with reading-camp volunteer, community literacy leaders to easily identify the support required for each student. Of course, reading camps are not solely for those who have reading impairments but for all the children who need to develop their reading proficiency. Mother-tongue teacher are also trained on the reading camp toolkit to help them support volunteer, community literacy leaders in the preparation and implementation of the weekly reading camp sessions.

Tell us about World Vision’s “Unlock Literacy” model and how it has been adapted under READ II to fit the Ethiopian context.

World Vision’s Unlock Literacy model focuses on helping children improve core skills of reading acquisition: letter knowledge, sounding out words, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Reading assessments, teacher training community actions, and teaching learning material are the core components of the model.

Because World Vision International’s role in the READ II project is implementation of the community outreach piece, we picked up and adapted the two components from the Unlock Literacy model: community action and teaching and learning materials. READ II has been implementing the Unlock Literacy project model to create a culture of reading in school, at home and in the community.

The great digitization of learning

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Posted October 26, 2021 .
By Ayan Kishore .
2 min read.

A growing community of education technologists have tried to bring the promise of technology for teachers, students, and caregivers to fruition for decades.

Digitizing learning materials and making them available to beneficiaries can dramatically improve at scale student learning time, parental engagement, teacher training and reading outcomes for students. Yet, these interventions have been on the fringes of international education, particularly in development programming.

All this changed in 2020.

The pandemic shuttered schools globally, and digital was perhaps the only way education could continue. Governments scrambled but adapted quickly, with ministries putting out blended learning policies and setting up and growing their EdTech staffing.

We have seen an epoch of massive digitization of school learning content. In addition to doubling down on existing TV and radio distance learning initiatives, governments also set up new digital learning channels such as learning management systems and virtual meeting communications.

Every Creative education program pivoted, and project staff and teachers upskilled to fill gaps. Learning and training content was digitized and distributed via WhatsApp in Mozambique, eLearning courses and video in Morocco, SMS and radio in Nigeria, and IVR in Ethiopia for example.

There was crucial behavior change beyond the tangibles. The persistent resistance to technology in education was rapidly overcome with forced digitization. Teachers learned how to use distance learning, communication and administrative technologies for reaching and supporting their students. They also gained first-hand experience in learning with technology by receiving professional development virtually.

There is still much to be done.

Some of the rapid changes have missed the EdTech field’s learnings on best practices. What makes for good accessible digital learning content? How does one effectively deliver blended learning across multiple channels? How can learning be assessed remotely?

Much of the digital content is currently inaccessible to the marginalized: people with disabilities, people in remote areas without connectivity, those who cannot afford devices, and so on. The digital divide has become a significant barrier to education equity.

The question on many minds is whether the digital changes brought about by the pandemic will stick. I think so, and so do most country governments.

They are clear about a permanent future of hybrid or blended learning that complements in-person with digital channels, creating for a more resilient education system. Structural capacity is being built, and human spirit has been instigated to find a way.

This is the start of the global era of the Great Digitization of Learning.

We, along with international education colleagues affiliated with the Basic Education Coalition conducted a survey at the turn of this year with 12 developing country governments to understand how they have used education technology to adapt during the pandemic, and their concerns and hopes for the future. You can read the brief report here. 

Keeping communities at the center of development

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Posted February 1, 2021 .
By Semere Solomon .
5 min read.

When designing and implementing solutions for sustained growth, development programs depend on a strong foundation that brings together clear plans, stakeholder engagement, policy frameworks and many other strategies. Regardless of the duration, size and scope of a program, it should be geared towards sowing the seeds for sustained growth, allowing others that follow it to build on its accomplishments.

At the center of this foundation are the communities the program seeks to serve. Approaching programming with a community-anchored approach is a crucial piece in ensuring a program’s success.

Only by collaborating with communities can development professionals uncover facts, disprove assumptions and validate a theory of change.

No one is better placed to characterize the local situations, pinpoint problems, single out priorities, and identify local solutions to local problems in an effective way than the community itself. Communities know what works for them, how interventions can advance their own strategic interests and how to work efficiently in the local context. Community-driven development projects usually deliver public investments to poor people faster, cheaper and better. Building trust matters if this partnership is going to work.

These conversations will pave the way for a stronger partnership that responds to the real (not assumed) needs and aspirations of local communities.

A teacher leads class in at at adolescent girls learning center.
A teacher leads a class at an adolescent girls learning center in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Photo by Erick Gibson.

In Nigeria, the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI Plus) has engaged communities to expand education opportunities for tens of thousands of students. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of governments in two states to provide greater access to basic education — especially for girls and out-of-school children — and to significantly improve reading outcomes for school-aged children and adolescents. One piece of its holistic approach is the establishment of non-formal learning centers that serve students not enrolled in the formal school system.

Non-formal education has long been instrumental in addressing the educational and psycho-social needs of out-of-school children and adolescent girls. For NEI Plus, what stands out is the extent to which the project has put the communities at the center.  

This community-based effort starts with a thorough mapping exercise in collaboration with community structures (both traditional and contemporary), local government entities, and local civil society organizations to get to know where the need is most felt. Once a community has been identified to host a non-formal learning center, the project consults with community members and leaders to:

  • Identify who should be enrolled in this center with an emphasis on girls’ enrollment
  • Determine the location of the center giving due consideration to safety issues
  • Determine the type of infrastructure (temporary structure, classroom, tent, religious institution compound, etc.)
  • Identify who should serve as the teacher or learning facilitator and set criteria for their selection
  • Select members of the Center-based Management Committee (CBMC)
  • Specify which days of the week and hours (for example, taking into consideration market days, harvest seasons or religious occasions) are suitable for children to attend
  • Identify local craftspeople who could train students on in-demand labor skills in their locality
  • Determine the community’s contributions to the center, which includes in-kind and monetary support and monitoring

This process ensures that centers are ready to operate successfully and generates a sense of ownership and responsibility among the community. NEI Plus has established 5,600 non-formal learning centers across Bauchi and Sokoto states with a student population of around 270,000.

Facilitating these important conversations are Community Coalitions, which are instrumental in bringing together diverse interest groups such as community and faith-based organizations, traditional and religious leaders, prominent personalities in the localities, and representatives of women and youth groups. NEI Plus established 20 Community Coalitions to drive engagement and create a platform for  leaders to advocate and provide for the needs of out-of-school children and adolescent girls.

Children raise their hands in a reading camp classroom in Ethiopia.
A lively reading camp in Addis Ababa, led by a volunteer community literacy leader. Photo by Jim Huylebroek. Photo by: Jim Huylebroek

Community partnership and leadership is also expanding access to educational opportunities in Ethiopia. The USAID-funded READ II program aims to improve the reading proficiency of 15 million children by boosting the quality of literacy instruction and student support. There, communities are similarly mobilized around local reading camps, which are led by youth volunteers. READ II, in collaboration with seven local NGOs, has mobilized 11,656 youth volunteers, called Community Literacy Leaders, and established 5,938 reading camps across the country. Click here to take a 360-degree tour of a reading camp.

An outreach campaign mobilized communities to promote a culture of reading. In addition to identifying youth volunteers, local communities have succeeded in providing space, making in-kind contributions, and maintaining the camps. The camps have become fun and engaging spaces for children to practice reading outside of school with the support of facilitators.

Outside of education, community-anchored development can strengthen economic growth and expand opportunity. Access to financial institutions is a major hurdle for many communities and individuals, and for women in particular. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) leads grassroots-level interventions that promote community engagement and ownership in strengthening women’s economic opportunity and engagement. BRAC takes a business approach to ending poverty, using social enterprise models to recover costs and accelerate impact at scale.

Through this model, people excluded from the formal banking system (due to lack of assets that usually make people eligible for loans) can access a myriad of financial services such as credit, savings and microinsurance products with the support of microfinance. This practice creates a suitable environment for families to build assets and reduce vulnerability to shocks such as health emergencies or natural disasters amongst others. Collateral-free loans are released exclusively to individual women through a group setting, known to BRAC as village organizations.

This platform, comprising 15 to 25 women, helps them come together to deposit their installments and savings, share information and improve financial awareness through training and market support. Using this mechanism, BRAC has succeeded in impacting the lives of 5.6 million active borrowers (87 percent of whom are women) by disbursing $4 billion in 2018. For these women, this has been a life-changing opportunity.

From a much broader developmental perspective, beginning with an anchor in the community is vital to advancing on the journey to self-reliance. When development goals — in education, economic growth, health, and more — are so interconnected, strong community roots ensure programs can complement one another and meet the real and present needs of the people they serve.

Without listening to the poor, we can’t alleviate poverty; without listening to the uneducated, we can’t expand education. For projects to be effective and sustainable, communities should be brought to the center. It is not an option, but a requirement.  

Semere Solomon is a Senior Director with the Africa Center at Creative Associates International.

School supplies break down barriers to education in Ethiopia

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Posted November 5, 2018 .
By Ashley Williams .
3 min read.

Prolonged drought, seasonal flooding and ethnic conflicts have displaced more than 2.8 million Ethiopians. For displaced children, this disruption can mean months out of school.

To ensure these children don’t fall behind, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded READ II program provided school and recreational materials to 147,731 internally displaced children in Oromia, Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR). This targeted intervention will ease some of the hardships that traditionally impede students’ return to school or contribute to high dropout rates following humanitarian crises.

“By ensuring displaced children can continue their education, we are making an investment in their future, and the future of Ethiopia,” says Sonjai Reynolds-Cooper, Director of USAID’s Ethiopia Education and Youth programs.

This year, the Ethiopian government and USAID launched the READ II project to raise the reading proficiency of 15 million children by 2022. READ II is a five-year program implemented by Creative Associates International, along with its core partners Education Development Center, International Rescue Committee and World Vision. It is designed to boost the quality of literacy instruction and student support, reaching out to children at risk of failure and dropout caused by cognitive, emotional and physical effects of hunger, violence and displacement.

While most of READ II’s interventions support reading and writing improvement in mother tongue and English, its Crisis Modifier component is specifically intended to provide services for students who are unexpectedly confronted by the effects of conflict or other emergency-related events that could prevent them from attending school and learning. This was the first time a Crisis Modifier has been used in a USAID education project.

The more than $767,000 worth of school and recreation materials restored a small sense of normalcy for these internally displaced school children, according to their parents.

“These materials for our students at this critical time creates great happiness in their mind and also at each household level,” says a displaced parent. “It will create a more positive school climate and also improve their academic achievement.”

Answering a need

Young Ethiopian boys and girls receive books.
Students receiving school supplies. Photo by Kassaye Yimer.

READ II conducted a rapid assessment across all six regions where the program works that revealed school materials were the second most important factor in preventing school dropout. The June report also found that lack of school materials was one of the top four reasons for absenteeism.

While enrollment of primary school-aged children in Ethiopia is more than 85 percent according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, a threefold increase from 1994, literacy still lags behind. A 2016 early grade reading assessment by USAID showed that 34 percent of Ethiopian students in grade 2 were unable to read a single word of a grade-level story, while 48 percent could not answer one comprehension question.

To help address this gap, the READ II project is working to better equip teachers with effective early grade reading instruction techniques and materials in seven mother-tongue languages and English. Teachers will also receive ongoing coaching, mentoring  and learning opportunities at the school and district level. Simultaneously, it is building a culture of reading in the school, home and community.

To meet the needs of all learners, particularly girls and vulnerable students, the project will enable teachers, communities and parents to support the whole child through differentiated instruction; a safe, friendly school environment; sufficient materials; and activities to improve learning, engagement, and well-being.

With reporting by Kassaye Yimer.

How to build a culture of reading and literacy in Ethiopia

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Posted June 7, 2018 .
5 min read.

Despite the growing enrollment of Ethiopian children in primary and secondary schools, only 63 percent of adolescent boys and 47 percent of girls complete school able to read and write.

The new READ II project aims move that number closer to 100 percent.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, READ II strives to increase literacy through support to teachers and students— ultimately reaching 15 million children during the five years.

Implemented by Creative Associates International with partners Education Development Center, World Vision, IRC and InEHD, READ II focuses on equipping teachers with the training, support and materials to effectively teach reading. By supporting literacy efforts at the community and household level, the project works to help develop a culture of reading outside of the classroom so young learners can succeed

For the most vulnerable learners, including girls, refugees and internally displaced students, READ II will provide specialized support, a crisis modifier, to ensure that those learners most at risk of dropout and irregular attendance can stay in school or have opportunities for extra support.

At a higher level, the project will partner with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education to systematically improve literacy education and reach students in need.

READ II builds on Creative’s holistic “whole child, whole teacher, whole school” approach that combines teacher professional development, curriculum and policy development, school management and community engagement.

In this Q&A, Joanie Cohen-Mitchell, Senior Advisor for Literacy and School Readiness at Creative and READ II Project Director, explains the obstacles to reading in Ethiopia and the program’s unique approach to increasing literacy.

How do low literacy and education obstacles affect vulnerable populations in Ethiopia?

Joanie Cohen-Mitchell: The low literacy levels and low functional literacy levels, meaning basic reading and writing abilities, hurt the most vulnerable the hardest. We’re talking about refugee communities, internally displaced people, minority language groups, poor people, rural people, nomads, pastoral people. And they are marginalized even more when they don’t have access to reading and writing and haven’t “cracked the code” to the functional literacy level. Economically, socially, mobility-wise, they are really hit the hardest.

READ II is specifically looking at internally displaced peoples in the Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ regions, and in other parts of Ethiopia as well, and refugees. But we’re also focusing on disability and inclusive education, looking at ways in which we can make learning accessible to children with different abilities.

The other big focus of the READ II project is on adolescent girls. The research has shown us that they might get through primary school, but the drop-off rate as they go through puberty is quite significant. And if there’s not an enabling environment at school, at home and in the community to support girls to stay in school, that becomes a really big issue.

What are some of the biggest challenges for teachers?

Cohen-Mitchell: Lack of materials is always huge. Do they have textbooks, do they have teacher guides, do they know how to teach reading?

In the last 15 years or so, there’s been a lot of scientific research and evidence-based practice about how to most efficaciously teach reading and writing. It’s a phonics or a balanced approach, but a lot of teachers aren’t exposed to those methodologies and even if they are, they don’t have ways to sustain the support around them. Maybe there aren’t teaching guides, or maybe their supervisor doesn’t understand the new approaches to reading, writing and literacy and they’re not supportive of the teacher changing his or her behavior. You really have to look at what the system is doing to support those teachers.

The other piece is that there is a lot of movement in Ethiopia, and teachers are in and out of different schools. Maybe a school principal has done a great job of developing this cadre of teachers at the primary level, but then they are placed somewhere else. Mobility can create a new set of teachers who might not be able to do what they need to do to help kids learn to read and write.

How will the READ II project support teachers?

Cohen-Mitchell: The focus of the change is really on the teacher, but we know that it can’t just be the teacher alone. We need to make sure that the educational system around the teacher is also supportive. While the majority of our interventions are targeting that single teacher in the classroom who is teaching reading and writing, we’re also spending a lot of time teaching principals and supervisors how to be coaches and how to mentor teachers, which means that they too have to understand this new reading pedagogy. We know that the teacher is at the center, but we are also looking at what’s around him or her, and the supports that need to be put into place.

Another piece is looking at the multiple layers in the Ministry of Education, figuring out how we can strengthen systems so that the work is sustained. And it really does take all those pieces working well together to create long-term change.

What makes READ II unique?

Cohen-Mitchell: We’re going to focus at the teacher level, and we’re going to work with our partner Education Development Center to start linking in-service and pre-service teacher training, because right now they’re two distinct systems. We’re trying to link those systems so that there’s more of a continuum before someone becomes a teacher and after they enter the classroom.

This project also has a very unique component in what’s called a crisis modifier. There are ongoing crises in Ethiopia, with refugees and internally displaced people who don’t have food, don’t have money, whose families are struggling. So, our mandate with the crisis modifier is to intensify, in a very rapid way, educational outputs or activities to bring children back to school. For students who have been out of school temporarily, supplemental activities like after-school summer programs and extracurriculars can get them back on track. If they have been out of school long-term, programs like accelerated learning can help them return to the classroom.

How will READ II address the additional hurdles that female learners face?

Cohen-Mitchell: The focus on adolescent girls is very unique to this project and previously hasn’t been done in a systematic way.

We’re going back through all the educational materials that have already been developed and looking through a gender lens. Are girls and women portrayed well? Are there gender stereotypes? Are the materials pushing some of the boundaries and some of the social taboos to really promote equity and equality for adolescent girls?

We’re also doing a radio series, a program we’re calling “Let Girls In, Let Girls Learn, Let Girls Lead,” which is focused on girls’ agency and empowerment. And that is intended to be a safe space for young girls. Adolescent girls need a safe space where they can problem-solve together and be supported by a mentor, a woman in the community or a leader outside the community to help them see the possibilities. So that’s a really exciting component!

Cadence Quaranta is an intern with Creative’s Communications team. She will be studying Journalism and International Relations at Northwestern University in the fall.

Ethiopia – READ II Education Recovery Activity

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Conflict, drought and the pandemic have taken their toll on Ethiopia’s school-aged children. The USAID-supported READ II has pivoted multiple times to support quality education efforts in key parts of the country. 

Originally designed as an early grade reading program, READ II sought to improve the reading proficiency of 15 million children in seven regions of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Sidama, SNNP and Tigray) in English and seven mother-tongue languages. During its first three years, READ II supported 3,000 schools in more than 70 woredas. Through a variety of proven techniques—including training teachers, school administrators, volunteer community literacy leaders, girls club coordinators and establishing reading camps—the program benefited 3,077,232 primary school students. 

Then the pandemic struck, which pushed the out-of-school population from 13 percent in 2020 to 22 percent in 2021. READ II pivoted to address the crisis by developing in-person interventions and virtual technology responses – from distance learning through radio and TV and virtual training for teachers to establishing an IVR hotline to engage teachers, parents and school directors.

The outbreak of the Northern Ethiopia Conflict in November 2020 further exacerbated the learning crisis. More than 3.4 million students (1.7 million girls) are out of school in northern Ethiopia, the United Nations reported in February 2023, of which Tigray accounts for 2.3 million (1.8 million girls). More than 9,380 schools were damaged or destroyed. 

Renamed as the READ II Education Recovery Activity, it supports more than half a million children in 1,156 conflict-affected primary schools in 90 districts. The activity provides teaching, learning and recreational materials to students, as well as basic school supplies, furniture and tents for schools and temporary learning centers to resume teaching and learning. READ II also supports regional and local back-to-learning campaigns through targeted campaigns, posters, radio public service announcements and mobile hotline push messages.   

Program Achievements

READ II has made a tangible impact by directly benefiting 3,077,232 primary school students across Ethiopia. This achievement stems from the implementation of proven techniques, including comprehensive teacher training and the establishment of reading camps. These efforts have significantly enhanced the reading proficiency and educational experience of students, contributing to a brighter future for them and their communities.

The READ II program has provided critical support to over half a million children enrolled in 1,156 primary schools affected by conflict in Ethiopia. By supplying essential teaching materials, such as books and educational resources, READ II ensures that these children can continue their education despite the challenges posed by conflict. This support is vital for maintaining educational continuity and preventing further disruptions to their learning journey.

In response to the urgent needs of conflict-affected schools, READ II has delivered comprehensive support, including teaching, learning, and recreational materials. Additionally, the program has supplied basic school supplies, furniture, and tents to ensure that educational activities can continue in a conducive environment. These provisions not only facilitate teaching and learning but also contribute to the overall well-being and safety of students and teachers amidst challenging circumstances.

Recognizing the importance of psychological well-being in the learning process, READ II has conducted extensive training sessions for teachers and community leaders. These sessions cover essential topics such as psychological first aid, psychological support, and social-emotional learning. By equipping educators and community leaders with these skills, the program aims to create a supportive environment that fosters resilience and emotional growth among students, enhancing their overall educational experience.

Child protection is a core priority of the READ II program, especially in contexts affected by conflict and crisis. Through systematic integration, the program conducts screening for vulnerable children, provides in-school psychological support services, and establishes robust referral systems. These efforts ensure that children receive the protection and support they need to thrive academically and emotionally, safeguarding their well-being amidst challenging circumstances.