Try teaching 95 children in a room for 40. That is how it was in Ethiopia when I first came in 2003. I visited primary schools in Hosanna, a rural town 240 Kilometers south of the capitol Addis Ababa. The largest primary school, Alemu Woldehanna Primary School, had 4,524 students, of courses in 2 shifts. I even saw a first grade classroom with 163 children. They were sitting in the aisles, standing in the back and 6 in a bench for 4, lucky they were small. Teachers in grades 1 to 4 had 10th grade education plus one year of teacher training. In that overcrowded classroom, the teacher had chalk and an attendance book and that was it. No textbooks, no manipulatives. The principal gave her chalk, 163 kids and said,” Good Luck”. Now 9 years later the story has improved. The average class size is 55. The total school population is 2,329- cut in half. (Now we are down to the size of my college)(For pictures of schools, see our website www.h2empower.org)
But this is normal in Ethiopia. Recently I met with some primary school teachers of English in Addis. Most classes have specialized teachers coming in each period for 50 minutes and then the teacher changes as the subject changes. They had 62 to 75 children in each class and taught 5 periods a day. Some taught 350-400 primary school children each day. The new government policy is to have one teacher teach all subjects in grades 1-4 but it is rare and there are many complaints from teachers who say for example, “we studied mathematics. We can’t teach English or the other languages or environmental science.” And it is true. They majored in one thing and only learned to teach that one subject.
When I see the classrooms here, I am in awe of the teachers. They try their best- despite salaries almost at poverty level, despite lack of training, materials, support. Here the higher the level you teach, the higher the salary. No one believes me when I say that a kindergarten teacher in the US has to have a Masters or that everyone has the same salary K-12. A radical concept here.
Education everywhere has many challenges, but seeing schools here, my heart breaks. Teachers are suffering in poverty, trying to educate hordes of children with so little resources, sometimes no books, desks, lights, following mandates with little support and appreciation. Imagine trying to teach a subject you don’t know. Ethiopia is not an English speaking country. There are 80 languages spoken and taught here. English is taught starting in grade 1 and by grade 5, 7 or 9, English becomes the language of instruction depending on the region. But in many case the teachers have limited English skills. Students’ high stake exams are in English. What are they to do? And I haven’t begun to discuss the needs of the children.
Every effort here is to improve the quality of education. I am glad I am here to be a part of that effort. Questions and suggestions are welcome.
You are welcome to join our tour of Ethiopia from March 22 to April 4, 2013. Consider joining us and seeing the schools first hand. For more information, see the upcoming events page of our website- www.h2empower.org.