Siem Reap, December 2, 2016 – Today, the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education approved a US$70 million grant for education in Ethiopia.
The grant builds on prior achievements and will help strengthen the country’s general education system.
“Ethiopia has made encouraging progress in its education outcomes in recent years,” said Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education Secretariat. “With this grant, the Global Partnership for Education is pleased to continue to help Ethiopia build on its growing commitment to give all its children the quality schooling they deserve.”
“Education is the basis for development of every country,” said Dr Shiferaw Teklemariam, Ethiopia’s Minister of Education. “Ethiopia achieved the MDG education targets in 2015 and will do the same with SDG 2030 as part of our national Growth and Transformation Plan, which will lead the nation into middle-income country status by 2025. We very much appreciate and commend the Global Partnership for Education for being a strong supporter of Ethiopia’s ambitious education sector development plan.”
The funding supports the second phase of Ethiopia’s General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP II).
The grant will be paid into a pooled fund for GEQIP II also supported by DFID, Finland, IDA, Italy, Norway and USAID. The grant will help improve learning conditions and education quality in primary and secondary schools and strengthen institutions at all levels of education.
Specifically, the grant will support the implementation of a new curriculum, provision of textbooks and learning materials, professional development for teachers and school leaders and implementation of school improvement plans. It will also help strengthen school management system and capacity building, enhance planning, monitoring and evaluation and improve early childhood programs.
Ethiopia is eligible for an additional US$30 million, which is contingent upon a successful proposal identifying key indicators and targets for progress in equity, efficiency and learning outcomes, and meeting results in these areas in the coming years.
Ethiopia joined GPE in 2004 and received several GPE grants to date totaling US$268 million to support the implementation of its education sector plans. The current GPE grant is contributing to improving the quality of education throughout the country. GPE funding has contributed significantly to positive results in the education sector, for instance to achieve a ratio of one textbook per student and increasing the percentage of qualified primary teachers to 70% by providing training to 100,000 teachers.
The World Bank is GPE’s grant agent in Ethiopia, supervising the grant implementation. UNICEF is the GPE coordinating agency in country.
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About the Global Partnership for Education
The Global Partnership for Education works with more than 60 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, the most vulnerable and those living in fragile and conflict-affected countries. GPE mobilizes financing to improve learning and equity through building stronger education systems. As the only global organization focused exclusively on improving education, GPE brings together developing country and donor country governments, multilateral development and humanitarian agencies, and organizations from the private sector, philanthropy, civil society and the teaching profession.
Contact information:
For GPE: Alexandra Humme at ahumme@globalpartnership.org
For the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia: Mr. Eshetu Cheru at esheshe_2010@yahoo.com
