project • education

ESDP is a multi-donor programme and the Government of Italy, through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, has contributed to it with EUR 28.5 million to support the development of the education system through three components:

1. Institutional Capacity Building and Primary Education (CBPE)
2. Upgrading of Secondary Schools to Junior Technical Vocational Education and Training College (DTTTL) at Tegbared e General Winget TVET Colleges in Addis Ababa, Diredawa TVET College e Dessie W/ro Sehin TVET College.
3. Post Graduate Programme (PGP) of Addis Ababa and Haramaya University

The project is executed by the Government (Ministry of Education and Regional Education Offices) and includes capacity building activities and civil works and procurement especially for the TVET component. The ESDP programme is in its final phase. The activities planned for the first components 1 & 2 have been completed. The activities of the PGP component are still ongoing.

The main activities implemented for primary education and TVET components are the followings: provision of technical assistance and training courses for teachers and education officials both at federal and regional level; procurement of equipment and teaching materials for regional education offices and selected schools; execution of civil works at the four beneficiary TVETCs and procurement of equipment and tools for the workshops. A particular attention was given to Alternative Basic Education (ABE), aimed at ensuring a wider access to basic education for children of nomad communities in Afar and Somali regions.

Moreover, in order to further sustain institutional strengthening and teacher training activities, two distance Master courses have been supported, respectively in "Educational Planning" and "Technical and Vocational Training Management". The first one addressed ministerial officials and technical personnel of regional and district education offices, while the second one addressed the managers and teachers of the four beneficiary TVETCs.

The Post-Graduate Programme (PGP) component aims at supporting Addis Ababa and Haremaya Universities, in order to improve the quality of university education, promote applied research and train qualified educational personnel at Earth Sciences, Archeology and Heritage Management, Veterinary and Management Faculties. PGP has four main components: 1) provision of courses by Universities and/or University consortia (identified through international tenders), 2) research grants, 3) procurement of equipment/material for laboratories, and 4) financial management (components 2, 3 and 4 are managed directly by the Ethiopian universities according to the provisions of the annual action plans).