World Vision Ethiopia (WVE) Education and Life Skills Program Strategy aspires to ensure all children, especially the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, experience learning and gain a reliable education with minimum global standards. WVE’s Education Program aims at children, adolescents, and youth as active learners, equipped to lead a productive and fulfilling life. There is also an emphasis on improving girls’ education, promoting inclusive education for children with disabilities and ensuring education continuity for children living in conflict-affected and fragile contexts.

Why Education? 

• 67% of Pre-school aged children do not have any kind of access to formal and informal early learning programs.
• 80% the first cycle primary school children in most regions of Ethiopia do not read with comprehension as evidenced by WV-Ethiopia's 2014 Literacy boost baseline assessment.
• Primary school facilities which have an impact on access, quality, efficiency and equity of education needs intervention (status of primary school facilities such as water supply 58.9%, latrines, 92%, school clinics 21.1%, pedagogical center 53.2%, and libraries 43.3% ).
• Primary completion rate trends for grade 5 is 69.5% and grade 8 is 46.7%.
• Despite increasing numbers of full-time students, large number of youth are neither in employment nor education (2015 Baseline Report, S4YE).
• Youth make up nearly a third of the population. According to CSA 2012, the Ethiopian urban youth unemployment 16.4% is on the rise, in particular, the urban female youth unemployment rate is so severe (29.6%).

Objective 

To contribute effectively to improving child learning outcomes through effective, proven programming and children equitable access to quality education. 

Approach 

The education program is implemented in regular sponsorship program and grant-based projects and has both school-based and community-based activities. 

Strategic Focus Areas:

1. Early Childhood Development (ECD)

2. Literacy/ Numeracy

3. Basic Education Improvement Plan (BEIP) 

4. Youth/ Adolescent Development

5. Education in Emergencies  

IMPACT

• Improved developmental outcomes and school readiness for children 3 – 6 years old.
• Enhanced community awareness on positive child-rearing skills and supporting and expanding ECD programs in their localities.
• Ensured first cycle primary school children reach an acceptable level of reading comprehension proficiency skills at the age of 11.
• Contributed to the improvement of enrollment, retention, completion rate in target primary schools.
• Increased community awareness on girls’ education and education of children with disabilities.
• Improved developmental outcomes and school readiness for children 3 – 6 years old.
• Enhanced community awareness on positive child-rearing skills and supporting and expanding ECD programs in their localities.
• Ensured first cycle primary school children reach an acceptable level of reading comprehension proficiency skills at the age of 11.
• Contributed to the improvement of enrollment, retention, completion rate in target primary schools.
• Increased community awareness on girls’ education and education of children with disabilities. 
• Contribute to teachers professional competency.
• Youth and adolescents remain resilient in life.
• Employability of youth and adolescents is improved.

What we do:

• Conduct regular parenting empowerment sessions to enhance parents’ capacity to nurture their children’s holistic development 
• Establish community managed, cost-effective and quality early learning centers
• Capacitate facilitators, community representatives and Woreda education officers about the quality ECD programming
• Conduct baseline and end-line assessments for children's reading levels
• Train teachers quite intensively on how to help their students learn to read at school
• Establish village based reading camps at community level
• Supply age-appropriate, culturally relevant and interesting reading materials to the reading camp children
• Engage the community parents to help their children in reading at home
• Improve teachers’ professional competency
• Create safe learning environment Empower school leadership and management and increased stakeholders engagement in children’s learning
• Engage education stakeholders to ensure the enrolment of all children to learn
• Work and promote to establish learner-friendly, inclusive and protective school  environment to enable all children learning together ( girls and children with disabilities are the major focus)
• Increase life skills for adolescent and youth to have learning opportunity
• Empower the youth through business skills, life skills training and financial literacy for youth and adolescents to be ready for work and life