Putting Children First: Identifying solutions and taking action to tackle poverty and inequality in Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23-25 October 2017 This three-day international conference aimed to engage policy makers, practitioners and researchers in identifying solutions for fighting child poverty and inequality in Africa, and in inspiring action towards change. The conference offered a platform for bridging divides across sectors, disciplines and policy, practice and research.

1. Scaling-up Early Learning in Ethiopia
The Potential of 'O-Class' for Equitable
Development
‘Putting Children First’
Addis Ababa
24 October, 2017

2. A MOTIVATING ARGUMENT
Pre-school attendance among the older cohort between ages three and five
(between 1997 and 1999) by poverty levels

3. What we see: low learning + high levels of inequality in outcomes
Early inequalities result substantially from differential levels of ‘opportunity to learn’
These early inequalities are a major source of inequality and inequity in later life
If allowed to persist, this presents substantial challenges to the view of education as a
driver of poverty reduction, social mobility and equal opportunities
A MOTIVATING ARGUMENT

4. POLICY SHIFT SINCE 2010

5. ECCE ENROLMENT CURVE SINCE 2010
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 19/20
Pre-Primary Gross Enrolment Rate 2003/04 to 2015/16 and requirement to 2019/20
M (trend) F (trend) T (trend)
M (projection) F (projection) T (projection)

6. SOME PERSPECTIVE (SIMPLISTIC)

7. WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN WHO MIGHT BENEFIT MOST

8. HOW ARE LATER ENROLMENTS SHARED

9. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH WITH MOE

10. SIX PHASES, RESPONSIVE TO GOVERNMENT NEEDS
Policy paper:
international experience
on effectiveness of ECCE
and alignment with
Ethiopia’s plans
Stakeholder mapping
+
Review of EMIS data
Consultations with seven
Regional Education
Bureaus
National ECCE Taskforce
+
Education World Forum
Exploratory study into
issues of supply with
Colleges of Teacher
Education
Exploratory study into
issues of demand with
community stakeholders

11. HOW IS O-CLASS ENROLMENT SHARED
0%
34%
57%
71%
73%
73%
86%
90%
92%
92%
92%
93%
100%
66%
43%
29%
27%
27%
14%
10%
8%
8%
8%
7%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Addis Ababa
Dire Dawa
Somali
Harari
Gambella
Afar
Oromiya
National
Amhara
Ben.-Gumuz
Tigray
SNNP
Gross enrolment shares in O-Class by location (rural/urban) and
region, 2007 (Somali=2006)
Rural Urban

12. E.G. FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, WITH THE DELIVERY
OF BASIC SERVICES DECENTRALISED TO REGIONS
Piloting a
programme of
Accelerated School
Readiness
Target Child-to-Child
modality to pastoral
communities
Standalone O-
Class where no
primary
Child-to-Child for 4/5
year olds as preparation
for O-Class at age 6

13. Making ECCE work for the
poorest and most marginalized
children in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa
23 to 25 October 2017
Kiros Birhanu and Workneh Abebe

14. • The data was collected from 4 communities in 4
regions: Amhara, Tigray, Oromia and SNNPR
• 3 rural and 1 urban
• All are Young Lives research project communities,
which we are familiar with since 2002
• Intentionally selected to look into historical
perspectives on early learning progress
• This presentation focuses on data obtained from the
three rural communities as these are the most
marginalized compared with the urban in relation to
access to quality early learning
INTRODUCTION: RESEARCH COMMUNITIES

15. • Qualitative data collection using semi-structured
interview tools
• Focus group discussions with community members
and service providers
• Structured observation:- observation into the
indoor and outdoor facilities, classroom
situations, school compound, toilets, water
sources, learning materials and classroom corners
• Data collection took place in May 2017
INTRODUCTION: METHODOLOGY

16. • Woreda level: Experts from education office ,
health office, women and children affairs, labour
and social affairs
• Kebele level: kebele cabinet members, education
board members
• Community level:
• PTA members
• Mothers and fathers who have O-Class age children
• Primary school principals
• O-Class facilitators/teachers
• YL young cohort boys and girls
STUDY PARTICIPANTS

17. What parents want
• Protection: in early childhood. Protection from fire,
animals, dirt, river, ponds, cliff, road and vehicles,
etc…
• Health: high demand for modern and traditional
health services (vaccination, nutritional support,
health treatment, traditional healer)
• Play: playing and recreational centres
• Socialization: on what is good and bad, on work
responsibilities and other desired skills
WHAT STAKEHOLDERS AND PARENTS WANT FOR CHILDREN

18. What parents want
• Education: increasing interest to send children to
preschool services starting from the age of 3
years (emphasis given to distance and quality)
• Education: how to write and read some
alphabets and numbers
• Education: spiritual and moral education is
considered as part of early education and
socialization
WHAT STAKEHOLDERS AND PARENTS WANT FOR CHILDREN

19. What service providers or stakeholders want
• Mostly services emphasizing based on their interest
area and modern options instead of traditional ones
• Mostly focusing on quality comparing with sector
specific standards and experiences of nearby towns
• Quality preschools that are neat, with access to
potable water, toilets that fit preschool children and
well trained teachers
• Health professionals want improved vaccinations and
health treatments, with better access and skilled
professionals
WHAT STAKEHOLDERS AND PARENTS WANT FOR CHILDREN

20. • O-Class helps children to
read and write letters in
local language
• O-Class helps children to
have confidence to ask
and express themselves
• O-Class is helping children
to love school and to
make them ready for
Grade 1
• O-Class is helping children
to play and recreate with
friends
O-CLASS: WHAT IS WORKING WELL?

21. • O-class is helping
children to familiarize
themselves with school
environment, in terms
of school discipline and
teacher-student
relationships
• Children are able to
improve their language
skills as compared with
children who have no
access to any preschool
provisions
O-CLASS: WHAT IS WORKING WELL?

22. “She knows many things about the school rules and regulations.
Her discipline at home is highly improved after she started O-
Class.
She is confident...never afraid of expressing her ideas.
She always argues with us if we speak unnecessary things like
backbiting. She has learnt Amharic and English alphabets.
I think Grade 1 will be easy for her. If my older children had had
this chance, things would have been different now.”
(Father, Amhara)
FATHER’S VOICE

23. System level challenges
• Regions implement O-Class differently, which has resulted
in an age mix in most regions
• Coordination problem among sector offices
• Woreda experts gives less attention to O-Class in
supervisions
• Large number of untrained O-Class facilitators, limited
opportunity for in-service training
• Low O-Class teacher motivation: big salary difference
between the trained and untrained facilitators
• No clear plan to link O-Class with other ECCE programs
(e.g. health, traditional religious education, recreation)
at the woreda level
MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR O-CLASS SERVICES

24. “Teachers are not willing to stay here because there is
no light and telephone network in the area.”
The school has only one facilitator and he is a farmer.
He teaches students only during holidays [from farm-
work] and his salary is only 700 birr annually.”
(Mother, Amhara)
MOTHER’S VOICE

25. School Level Challenges
• School management gap: low support from primary school
administration and PSTAs to which O-Class attached
• Limited budget for O-Class, no school grant budget line
for O-Class by the time it reaches schools
• Multiple grades:
• Same curriculum and teaching materials for all grades
• Large number of overage & underage children in one class
• Age inappropriate O-Class facilities and infrastructure
• Exclusion of O-Class children from school feeding program
MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR O-CLASS SERVICES

26. “There is no school-feeding program in the O-
class. Children also do not come with lunch box.
They have to run home when they feel hungry. The
teacher cannot hold them at school while their
stomach is empty”
(Director, Oromia)
DIRECTOR’S VOICE

27. “The class is multi-grade. Children aged 4-6 learn in one
classroom by the same teacher. They learn the same thing.
The teaching is also not age appropriate. The intention is
to keep children in O-Class for three years. Sometimes, we
find children aged 3 years in the O-Class. We can also get
overage children (for example 8 or 9 years old) in the O-
Class.”
(Vice Director, Oromia)
VICE-DIRECTOR’S VOICE

28. School Level Challenge
• Shortage of O-Class teachers: only one in most O-
Classes
• Poor teacher motivation (lack of residential house,
low salary for contractual facilitators, lack of on-the-
job training)
• High initial enrolment but high dropouts
• Short school day for O-class (only for 2 to 2:30 hours
daily)
• The issue of stand alone vs O-Class within primary
school premises is debatable
MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR O-CLASS SERVICES

29. Community Level Challenges
• The expansion of O-Class leads to decline in traditional priest
school, and NGO based KGs
• Huge gap in awareness among rural parents about the
importance of preschool for young children
• Access is still a major barrier: distance to O-Class; large
number of O-class age children but only one O-class-space
• Poverty of the household, poor children go to school without
lunch-box and they feel hungry when they stay long in the
school
• Environmental risks: parents have huge concern about risks
related to road, dirty places around schools, forests and rivers,
ditches and wells
MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR O-CLASS SERVICES

30. “We cannot take our children to school because the school starts early
in the morning (8:00am). Early in the morning, mothers have many
house chores. We have to take care for smaller children, and we give
priority to our household work. Previously, the O-Class teacher came to
our home, took our children to O-Class, and returned them back home
when they finished class. However, recently, he stopped this activity
and we stopped sending our children to school because we are afraid of
the car accidents. Our main problem is the main road, which crosses
the community. The school is beside the road. Many car accidents have
happened so far and four children have died from accidents.”
(Mothers, Amhara)
MOTHER’S VOICE

31. • We have a good policy frame work
• We see increasing commitment from the MOE to expand
early learning programs
• We see an increasing understanding among school
principals and parents about the objectives of O-Class
and these are broadly consistent with national policy
• We see increasing numbers of 4, 5 & 6 year old children
attending O-class. This is an opportunity for government
to think about a medium term plan for 3 years
Kindergarten education
• A large number College of Teacher Education starting to
train pre-school teachers
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES TO SCALE UP EARLY LEARNING

32. “We opened O-Class attached to our primary schools with the following
objectives: first, O-Class aims to provide preschool education for
children who have little access to kindergarten education. Second, O-
class helps smaller children to read and write before they start primary
education. Children can identify the different letters and numbers
before they start first grade. Third, O-Class may help the children to
learn and adapt to the school environment. Fourth, it helps them to
improve their social relationship with peers and other school
communities. Socialization is an important part of the O-Class
program.”
(Directors in Oromia, Tigray and Amhara)
DIRECTOR’S VOICE

33. WHY WE NEED TO GET IT RIGHT

34. EARLY STIMULATION
6 years 5 years 4 years 3 years 2 years 1 year 0 years

35. KG ≠ O-class A ≠ O-Class B ≠ Child-to-Child ≠ ASR

36. RETURN TO THIS CONFERENCE’S CONCEPT NOTE
"Gaps in learning are evident even as
children start school, meaning that
disadvantage needs to be tackled from
the early grades and even before
children enter the classroom.
Investment in early childhood
development is key to levelling the
playing field and getting all children
off to the best possible start."

37. LOOKING FORWARDS
Measuring Early Learning
Quality and Outcomes
[National Assessment Agency]
Early Learning Partnership
System Diagnostic
General Education Quality
Improvement Program III
Early Stimulation, Health
and Nutrition