The government has been committing itself in providing quality education to citizens in all geographic locations of the country.
It as well embraced the objectives of the 1990 Jomtien and 2000 Dakar Conferences on Education for All (EFA) in addition to the latest Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), precursor of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Pastoralists constitute a substantial proportion of the Ethiopian population; at an estimated 12 -15 million people (14% – 18%) who inhabit 60-65 percent, of the land area. (Pastoral Forum Ethiopia, 2006). Due to a prolonged period of neglect under previous governments, pastoralist communities have historically had limited access to social services such as education and health. In these areas, basic infrastructure such as transportation and communications are relatively poorly developed when comparing to the rest of the country.
Senior Expert of Special Support and Inclusive Education Directorate with the Ministry of Education, Fekadenegash Bagashaw, indicates that the regions are now availed with educations of all levels–basic, technical and vocational as well as higher.
Due to low level of community awareness on these regions, parents were not sending their children to school, he said, adding that nowadays this trend is reversed meaningfully.
To him, most school-ages children in the pastoralist regions are enrolled in pre-primary and primary schools while many of the young people are stepping up the ladder of education.
The building of educational facilities in the regions is one contributing factor for the registered progress, according to him. Above and beyond, as the community can have difficulties of attending regular classes due to movement in search for green pasture to their cattle, the Ministry has also prepared congenial teaching approach through alternative basic education and mobile schools, he explained.
Alternative Basic Education Program is an organized basic education program mainly flexible and responsive in character and is delivered outside formal primary schools. It is an alternative to formal primary first cycle and second cycle [grade 5-6] and has a six year program. It is the most commonly implemented strategy among the recommendations from 2008 Pastoralist Education Strategy.
It is characterized by low-cost construction, community contribution to construction and school management, teaching in the local vernacular, selection of a facilitator from the local Somali community, accelerated learning, and active and learner-centered teaching methodologies.
It targets children ages 7-14, but practically, under-aged children, youth, and even adults, attend the classes, he explained.
According to him, this year in the four major pastoralist areas [Afar, Somali, Benishangul Gumuz and Gambela states] the number of students in both primary and secondary school has grown to 405,329 and 1,149,303 and 453,011 and 220,885 and respectively. And also similarly, the number of educational schools have grown to 1,122, 3490, 669, 322, respectively.
The achievement registered so far would never stir sense of complacence but the Ministry presses ahead with more works to improve the community’s lives through accessing quality education of all levels, he concludes.