R.S. AFRICA SPECIAL NFP

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The Ethiopia Project

DEMOGRAPHY OF ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is a developing country located in East Africa with a population of 85 million of which about 71 million live in rural areas. The population growth rate is 3.2% and the GDP per capita based on the Purchasing Power Parity, is $900. There are over 83 different languages with 200 dialects spoken at different parts of the country. According to Central Statistical Authority (CSA) in 2007, 59.1% are Orthodox Christians, 25.9% are Muslims, 13.5% are Protestants, and the rest are other including non-religious. Eighty percent of the working population is engaged in farming. Agriculture is the core of the economy and the major exports include coffee, oil seeds, pulses, sugar, vegetables and animal hides.

Fast population growth, poor economic performance, low educational level (about 57% of the population cannot read or write) and poor health status places Ethiopia in a low socio-economic status globally, though some hope of recent improvement has been promising.

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ETHIOPIA

The Ethiopian K-12 education system is categorized into;

a) Primary Education: Lower cycle (1 st – 4 th grade),

b) Primary Education: Upper cycle (5 th - 8 th grade),

c) General secondary education (9 th – 10 th grade), and

d) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) or Upper secondary education (11 th – 12 th grade) that prepares students for tertiary education.

Early childhood education is very scarce, solely private and exclusively urban. A 2011 report by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Education Management Information System (EMIS) state that for early childhood education (ages 4-6) about 382,741 children are in preschools, which represents only 3% of children in that age bracket (MoE/EMIS, 2011). The numbers are even worse in the remote rural areas.

In 2007, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Education for All Global Monitoring Report (2006) estimated that 33% of children who are out of school may be children with disabilities. Additionally, the report also identified Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Ethiopia as the countries with the largest number of out-of-school children. While the 1994 Education and Training Policy in Ethiopia embraces the right of children with disabilities to education, only a small fraction of these children have access to education (Tirussew Tefera, 2005).

DISABILITY IN ETHIOPIA

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10% of the world’s population is affected with some kind of disability. According to the report by the Housing and Population Census of the Ethiopian Government (CSA 1998), 2% of the population has some kind of disability. Additionally, the 1995 focused-baseline survey of people with disabilities, reported the number of people with disabilities at 3%. While disability encompasses a wide range of people with physical, chemical, organic, intellectual and behavioral ailments and can be exacerbated by different factors, the main focus of R.S. Africa Special is to address and tend to the lack of special educational services in the country.

Culturally, disability in Ethiopia is looked upon as a curse, a punishment from God and aligned with evil spirits. Consequently, there are negative feelings, lack of understanding and educational opportunities for people with disabilities. In effect, parents are stigmatized and ashamed of allowing their disabled children to get out of the house thereby depriving them of general socialization and education. It is therefore important to raise the awareness of the general population to disabilities and in so doing, change such perceptions.

In interviews conducted with out-of-school children with disabilities, staff of World Vision found that the children spent all their time at home with their parents and siblings, basically doing nothing though they expressed their desire to go to school just like the other children. Further, these children shared that they wanted to be accepted for who they are and be able to socialize with other children in their neighborhoods (“Including the Excluded” by World Vision in Ethiopia; 2007 World Vision UK).

Similarly, the parents of these children admitted that their children are not involved in any kind of household chores or tasks. Generally, the community alienates the entire family believing that they are afflicted with evil spirits, thereby limiting their children’s social lives. Some of the reasons why parents do not send their disabled children to school include:

1) The regular school system does not accommodate children with disabilities;

2) Lack of understanding by the other non-disabled children;

3) There are very few schools for children with learning disabilities and when they do exist, they are far away. There are few schools mostly for the hearing and visually impaired children;

4) Special schools for the learning disabled are very expensive and unaffordable.

R.S. Africa Special aims to make these special education programs, within the regular school settings, more affordable and more accessible to children with disabilities.

SCREENING AND ADMISSION

According to interviews conducted with school directors in Oromia, the schools do not have any system of screening at the time of admission (Tirussew, Tefera; 2005). Though the interview was conducted in Oromia, the problem exists throughout the country. Parents are the biggest source of information about their children and teachers continue to assess problems during the teaching and learning process and recommend and provide the support needed. Ras Goben and Dima Schools admission is determined based on Kebele (specific for a community) Education and Training Board, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the School Management. There are no psychologists, psychiatrists or social workers involved during this process. R. S. Africa will

ensure that proper and applicable diagnostic tools are available to identify children with learning disabilities and that individual educational plan (IEP) is developed for each child.

*Table 1. The enrolment of children with disabilities in six selected schools (Table taken from “Including the Excluded” by World Vision in Ethiopia; 2007 World Vision UK)

As can be seen from the table above, the highest enrolment rate of children with disabilities was found in Mekanisa School for the Deaf (60%) and the smallest enrolment was found at Ras Gobena Primary School (0.4%). The general enrolment rate of children with disabilities in the six schools was 3.3%. Mekanisa School was originally founded as a special school to serve children with hearing impairments only. It started to admit hearing students later on. This is an innovative approach which has been noted as an encouraging scheme to build up inclusive schools.

EXISTING SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION TRAINING

A survey of Ethiopian colleges and universities showed that they started offering Special Needs Education (SNE) courses in 2003. Most of these training programs which are focused at degree and diploma levels are offered at Addis Ababa University (AAU), Dila University and Kotebe College of Teacher Education in Addis Ababa. Additionally, the specialist teacher training center at the Sebeta Institute (School for the Blind), in Oromiya region, has a ten-month course for qualified teachers.

Addis Ababa University (AAU):

• Offers a three-year Bachelors of Education (B.Ed) degree in SNE (361 undergraduate students)
• Offers a Masters program (137 graduate students)
• Offers a Ph.D. program (26 students admitted over the past five years)

Dila University:

• Offers a three-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree (20-30 students admitted each year)

Kotebe College of Teacher Training:

• Offers a one-year diploma (trains 40 students each year)

The Sebeta Institute:

• Offers a ten-month certificate program (trains 50 students each year)

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