12 ABE centers in Afar Region being finalized
The construction of the 12 Alternative Basic Education (ABE) schools in the 4 districts (woredas) of the Afar national regional state has reached a finalizing stage.
The 12 ABE schools construction is made by Ethiopian Muslims Relief and Development Association (EMRDA) by a fund secured from Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The main goal of the project is to create access to educational opportunities to out of school children and adults that live in Afar Region. The ABE centers are constructed in Amibara (5 ABE centers), Dulecha (3 ABE centers), Argoba (3 ABE centers) and Yallo (1 ABE center) woredas. For each ABE centers, the building has three teaching and learning classroom, one office room and a toilet. The centers are built from concrete, Iron, Brick, cements and corrugated iron sheet materials. In addition, all the classrooms are furnished with well made desks, black boards, tables and shelves. The floor is cemented so that the dust raised from the earth will not affect the health of the children and adult participants. The total cost of the project is ETB 10,000,000
Despite the efforts made to raise awareness and promote social development by the government and Civil Societies Organizations (CSo) in Afar region, educational challenges in the selected woredas are still widespread. High illiteracy rate, low school enrolment, high school dropout, and poor material resource utilization are the main features of the targeted woredas. Some of the reasons for these features are that, the government schools are too old thus they are not functioning currently. Because of this the children’s are learning under a tree shed or are forced to walk about 1 hours since the nearby government schools are too far from the villages selected.
It is expected that the 12 ABE schools will be inaugurated in the near future. Furthermore, it is also believed that these ABE centers in the woredas will be instrumental in the education service delivery just like the other previous ABE centers constructed by EMRDA in Oromia and Afar Regions.
