Emergent Literacy and Math (ELM) Intervention Endline Report November, 2013

Ethiopia is progressing well in education over the last two decades and the country is also at the vanguard of Africa’s move toward improving access to education. Enrollment in primary education has increased from less than 30% twenty years ago to 95.4% (gross enrollment) and 85.4% (net enrollment) in 2012. During these decades of progress, however, Ethiopia paid little or no attention to early childhood care and development (ECCD), viewing it as the responsibility of families and communities. In recent years, the Government of Ethiopia has paid more attention to ECCD through policy development and by encouraging enrollment.

Research evidence shows that early childhood is a critical phase for human development, and that access to early childhood care and education (ECCE) services can improve children’s nutritional, health and education outcomes. Cognizant of this rationale, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is giving due attention to pre-school education and has prioritized it in the Education Sector Development Program of the country. Accordingly, the government is implementing the program as “Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)” in all the schools. As a result, the gross enrolment rate of pre-school children has increased from 5.3% in 2010/11 to 21.6% in 2011/12 academic year.

Though the government is very ambitious of the program, pre-school education is marred by many challenges such as lack of trained and independent facilitators/teachers, unavailability of curriculum and guidelines, lack of adequate center facilities, developmentally appropriate learning materials, play grounds and lack of incentives/salary for teachers assigned for this program among others.