English literacy is crucial in Ethiopia, as it is the sole language of instruction after primary school. Studies show that the longer an individual spends in education, the better their income and health is likely to be later in life. However, many children aren’t prepared to make the switch to learning in English by the time they finish primary school, and this contributes to high drop-out rates at the beginning of secondary education. Teachers in primary school often do not have the resources or techniques to confidently and effectively ensure their students finish the stage of school with a good grasp of English. We are seeking to improve English literacy in primary schools to overcome this problem.
The project
We will keep working with schools to make sure that teachers have the skills, techniques, support and resources required to teach English effectively and to increase students’ English literacy. Link Ethiopia, and its partner Jolly Learning, will deliver literacy training and innovative teaching method training courses. Resource-making workshops will demonstrate how to make engaging, cheap and useful teaching resources. These intensive courses will be complemented by ongoing monitoring and training visits to trained teachers, to ensure that they can put into practice the new techniques. We are dedicated to learning from our projects and ensuring that what we do works, and so students of trained teachers will have their literacy skills tested before and after the school year to measure the impact of the training.
What stage are we at?
We are in our third year of programming aimed at increasing English literacy teaching skills and we have been really pleased with the results so far. Children learning under trained teachers improved their literacy scores by an average of 20%, and 85% of teachers trained rated the course as ‘excellent’. The previous two years of this project has proved how important it is to support and advise teachers after the training, so we will be increasing the amount of assistance offered to teachers throughout the school year. The third year of the project will also bring together other fun and useful projects aimed at increasing literacy and reading. Reading clubs, remedial tuition, Saturday classes, pop-up libraries, reading bees and more besides will help children to get the most out of their school, while the core literacy training has been improved and developed to reflect what we have learned from the projects and from our partners Jolly Learning and THRASS.
What can your money do?
- £15 pays for one school’s ongoing support and training visits for a year
- £30 pays for four teachers to take part in the innovative teaching methods training
- £108 pays for phonics teaching resources for one school
- £314 pays for a teacher to take part in out two-day training course
- £650 pays for one school to take part in the literacy programme
Fund a programme
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Extra Tuition
Students learn at different paces, and some children often miss days of school due to family obligations, ill health or for economic reasons. Holding extra tuition classes for students that are falling behind is a really important way to ensure that every child gets the opportunity to learn, achieve and flourish, no matter their background. £1,500 pays for these classes to be set up in 46 schools.
Cost: £1500
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Teacher Training
Literacy and innovative teaching skills training helps teachers to improve their students’ English literacy, making the transition to secondary education smoother and reducing the likelihood of students dropping out. £350 pays for one school’s intensive teacher training and year-long support and assistance from expert staff and volunteers.
Cost: £350
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Reading Bee
The reading bee is a fun and exciting way to promote and celebrate students’ achievements over the year, and all schools field teams of budding readers to showcase their skills and compete for prizes. The competition instils an enthusiasm for reading in the schools. £850 pays for all 46 schools to come together for this entertaining and lively event.
Cost: £850
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Three new schools
Donating £1,950 will pay for three schools to join the literacy project. Six teachers will be trained in literacy, phonics and innovative teaching methods and recieve year round support. Around 3,300 students will attend schools with regular reading clubs, reading bee competitions and more. The enhanced English teaching that will give them the confidence and ability to flourish at the next stage of education.
Cost: £1950
Donate
If you would like to donate specifically to any of these projects then please click here and send an email to [email protected] to let us know that this is the project you want to support.