Through a play-based curriculum and targeted teacher training, the O-Class program in Ethiopia, which is part of the General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E), aims to improve early education. O-Class, which began in 2010 and has grown significantly, provides a solid pre-primary foundation to help students prepare for primary school and lower dropout rates. By 2023, the program has benefited over 2.3 million children and contributed to an 88% transition rate to Grade 2.
GEQIP-E, launched in 2017, further supports this initiative by enhancing teacher training, supporting students with special needs, and addressing educational challenges in conflict-affected areas and refugee communities.
Eldana is a 6-year-old student in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. She enjoys learning and wants to become a teacher. She is part of the O-Class, a pre-primary educational program in Ethiopia.
O-Class aims to ensure that more students are better prepared for primary school by enhancing their learning outcomes. As a result, their chances of failing Grade 1 or dropping out are reduced. O-Class employs a preschool-appropriate play-based curriculum. Additionally, it provides learning resources and teacher training. Before O-Class was introduced, primary education completion rates in Ethiopia registered at 50%.
This low efficiency was in part due to the fact that many students did not start their education at the official enrollment age and attended school infrequently. In point of fact, grade repetition is probably the reason why many over-age children enter Grade 1. The Government of Ethiopia has made significant progress in enhancing internal efficiency, equitable access, and the overall quality of education through the General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E). Launched in 2017, GEQIP-E has implemented a range of targeted interventions across all of Ethiopia’s primary and secondary public schools.
It is a government-led and multi-donor initiative to ensure that students and teachers receive the necessary support and to strengthen the education sector from the bottom up. First introduced in 2010, the O-class provides pre-primary children with a strong foundation for handling primary school challenges and navigating their transition from first to second grade.
Improving internal efficiency
As of 2023, the O-class program has benefited over 2.3 million children, and the government extended it to a two-year pre-primary program alongside its other interventions.
“This is certainly a move in the right direction,” said Kirill Vasiliev, previous GEQIP-E Task Team Leader. “O-Class has a lot of potential for large-scale impact. It will be wonderful to carefully evaluate the findings, discuss them with policymakers, and investigate the options for expanding the O-Class approach. Indeed, despite challenges such as the impact of COVID-19 and recent conflicts on school attendance, as of 2022/23 Ethiopia has achieved an 88% transition rate to grade two.
Improving quality
The O-Class is a new approach for Ethiopia, necessitating the modification of previous methods of instructing young children.
To deliver O-Class objectives, GEQIP-E provides O-Class training programs for O-Class teachers and their school administrators on how to teach preprimary children.
The prospects for pre-primary education are promising, but reforming Ethiopia’s education system will be difficult. The number and quality of teachers available to Ethiopia’s 27 million students will have a significant impact on their academic performance. While the government has worked hard to train more teachers, many do not pass their licensing exams.
When they first start teaching, their classrooms are overcrowded and they don’t have enough school supplies. Zemen Ashenafi is a math and key teacher at Nigist Fura School in Hawassa City, Sidama region.
Key teachers work alongside subject teachers to support the delivery of lesson plans and help teachers apply recommended pedagogical methods. Zemen identifies insufficient training opportunities as a critical challenge for new teachers.
GEQIP-E provided a coaching and training program for supervisors, school leaders, and teachers all through its implementation. The program also focused on developing digital skills among secondary school teachers through training, providing tablets and assessment tools, and supplying textbooks for critical subjects in primary and middle schools.
In total, 102,117 teachers have been trained. As a result, these efforts significantly improved learning outcomes, particularly in middle schools.
As part of GEQIP-E, teachers were also trained in Continuous Classroom Assessment (CCA). This pedagogical method allows teachers to continuously assess students’ progress and understanding of the taught material on a daily basis.
Students are then categorized according to their needs: those who require intensive support, average support, and enrichment.
Zemen Ashenafi claims that CCA training has significantly enhanced teaching and learning. Students are more engaged as a result of the classes’ increased interactivity. The reading habits of the students have improved, and they now participate in more creative activities. She also notes that teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching has grown as a result of CCA training. Providing fair access Ethiopia’s Education Statistics Annual Abstract reported that in 2015/16, only 8.1% of children with special needs were enrolled in primary schools and 1.5% in secondary education.
Challenges in supporting children with special needs in mainstream schools include a lack of awareness and capacity to implement special needs education activities and a lack of educational resources.
Female students should also have easier access to safer schools in Ethiopia. This includes ensuring the availability of separate latrines for girls, hiring female teachers, and developing and delivering life skills training, counseling, and adolescent girls’ empowerment programs.
Thanks to GEQIP-E, there has been significant progress in ensuring equitable access to education. Over 72% of primary schools are now equipped to support girls’ enrollment and retention through the establishment of gender clubs at the school level.
In historically disadvantaged regions, such as Afar, Somali, and Benishangul-Gumuz, the gross enrollment rate of girls in upper primary schools has improved significantly, increasing from a 2017 baseline of 39% to 45% in 2023.
To meet the needs of children with special needs, GEQIP-E established 1,400 Inclusive Education Resource Centers nationwide. Over 148,528 students, 52% of whom are girls with special needs, are served by these centers. Over 10,000 teachers and experts in inclusive settings have also received priority training from GEQIP-E, enabling them to effectively instruct children with special needs. A special needs student in Addis Ababa, Semira Kemal, states, “I’ve received various materials from the resource center in my school.” I got a new stylus from here because my old one was broken. I also got a slate and voice recorder; these all are helping me a lot.”
“In the past, our society used to hide their special needs children at home,” said Ejeta Mekonnen. “Through these centers, we have provided support for eyeglasses. Additionally, wheelchair support has been provided by us. In the past, students’ parents had to carry them to school, but now they successfully use wheelchairs to go to school and learn.”
