BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
Ethiopia has recently experienced massive improvement in access to education. Primary school enrolment has increased remarkably; likewise, secondary school enlistment has shown a progressive improvement. These though are extraordinary achievements in terms of increasing enrolment; ensuring education quality still remains a daunting challenge. To undo the challenge and ensure quality education, the Ministry of Education developed a national School Improvement Program (SIP) to be implemented throughout the nation.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald Educational Program and Quality Improvement Desk Head with the Ministry, Taye Girma said that Ministry of Education has put in place General Education Quality Improvement Package (GEQIP) intending to enhance quality of education in primary and secondary schools and bringing about an impact on the quality of higher education. To support the implementation of the program, the Ministry allocated 1.3 billion Birr that could be distributed toeach primary and secondary school in line with the number of students. Moreover, eight thousand school administrators were trained in a bid to create informed and skillful leadership that strives for a productive outcome of the program. At the same time, 332 woredas are recognized under school wash programs that give them the opportunities to build and access to latrines and water lines, he added.
SIP is one of the GEQIP packages implemented throughout all schools and each school prepares a plan by identifying its performance based on process, input and results it has registered. According to him, the Ministry devised schools’ standards and identified that only ten percent of the schools are qualified while the rest, ninety percent, fell below the standard. Schools need independent classroom size, playing ground, library, laboratory and other facilities that meet the set standards because most schools in hinterland and urban areas are established without set standards, which makes the SIP implementation challenging.
Mentioning that fulfilling the set standard is capital intensive, and requires skilled human power, he said that the Ministry plans to create informed communities and development partners for productive achievement. The Ministry also acknowledges that ensuring quality education and making schools qualify to the set standards takes a long way owing to demand and supply mismatches. To end this, the Ministry, joining hands with stakeholders, is exerting effort to mobilize resources with the intention to pull schools out of the lower range of standards and enable them to proceed to the next level.
“At the end of this academic year, the Ministry hopes that 33 percent of schools will meet the set standards,” he reflected. GEQIP (SIP) Advisor with the Ministry, Abraham Asfaw for his part said that the progress in translating SIP to the ground is promising. All schools developed a SIP plan in line with their resources, performance and identified challenges. Improvement in student learning outcomes depends on system-wide support for change in the classroom instruction. Effective instructional practice, including strong standards based instruction, data based planning, differentiation and individualization, research based pedagogical approaches, and classroom management, must be identified and supported at the school.
In this context, the country should step up effort to make more schools to qualify for the set standards and implement SIP in hinterlands and urban areas. Menelik II Preparatory School Teacher Development Deputy Head Yalemzewd Demelash stated that successful school improvement requires establishing a clear educational vision and a shared institutional mission. Furthermore, knowing how well the school is accomplishing that mission, identifying areas for improvement, developing plans to change educational activities and programs, and implementing those plans or new programs effectively is equally important.
As he stated, the school has developed a three years SIP plan and is striving to translate it to the ground. As per the inspection from the Ministry of Education, the school falling at level means it is below the set standards. According to him, to make school improvement efforts a success, teachers, parents, community, business partners, administrators, and students must share leadership functions. Similarly, the principals’ role must be changed from that of a top-down supervisor to a facilitator, instructional leader, coach, and strategic teacher.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2023
