ECD Achievement on Education
Another area of focus is educational access for impoverished children. As a result, the center has made an important impact on enhancing access to education for children from poor families. The center’s contribution includes its work in enhancing access to pre primaries for children from poor families. In many parts of Ethiopia, especially in impoverished areas and localities school aged children are kept at home missing out the key formation stage of their lives. In some poor areas where there is attempt to cater for the needs of pre primary children, there are inadequate facilities. ECD has witnessed that the children are kept outdoors under sheds or in run down classrooms with inappropriate facilities. Hence, ECD not only built pre-primaries fully furnished with adequate facilities and outdoor playgrounds but it also provided up to standard teaching aids and learning materials. Furthermore, the center has also successfully assisted poor girls in formal high school education for higher grades and better performance for better futures and possibility of pursuing higher education and subsequent gainful employment.
ECD conducted extensive needs assessment
Metting with Parent/Teacher Committee
ECD’s base line assessment, which took place prior to the above intervention, clearly demonstrated that the pre-primary in most impoverished areas are not age appropriate or financially and technically capable for the provision of up to standard education. The availability of fully equipped pre-primaries with outdoor playgrounds would have been unthinkable in these impoverished areas without ECD’s intervention to bridge the gap between the poor and rich.
Since its construction the number of students attending pre primaries has increased each year and ECD continues to assist the teaching learning process by providing quality and up to standard, teaching aids, which were provided after the completion of renovation and construction. These teaching aids have helped improve the quality of education to the children and the teaching aids together with the reading material provided enhanced the children’s skills and development including reading skills considerably. Furthermore, ECD provided training to facilitators of 8 schools a total of 20 participants were enlightened on methodology and their facilitation roles.