USAID Supports English Language Improvement in Primary Schools

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008     Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – As part of its ongoing commitment to support Ethiopia’s educational system, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), launched today a new education training program to strengthen primary school teaching.  The Teach English for Life Learning (TELL) program will train 20,000 English language teachers from grades 6, 7 and 8 across schools throughout Ethiopia. 

Speaking at the opening of the workshop for teachers’ trainers held at the Ministry of Education’s General Education Curriculum Framework Development Department, Ms. Nancy Estes, Acting USAID Mission Director said, “The development of quality textbooks alone cannot assure the quality of education unless teachers are trained in the use of the textbooks.  We are proud to be working in partnership with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education to improve the teaching of the English language in primary schools and, most importantly, to help this country’s children be better prepared for productive futures.”

New English textbooks for grades 6, 7 and 8 were developed by Alabama A&M University of the United States in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and with financial support through USAID.  The TELL program will be training teachers on how to best use the new active-learning English textbooks, working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s General Education Curriculum Framework Development Department and Regional Education Bureaus.

U.S. support for quality education in Ethiopia includes scholarships that enable girls to complete secondary education, alternative basic education and adult literacy for out-of-school children and adults in disadvantaged areas, strengthening community school partnership and teacher training at the primary level as well as capacity building in planning and management at all levels.  U.S. assistance has resulted in increased access, decreased dropout rates and improved retention, particularly for girls.  With an emphasis on primary school completion, USAID has been supporting the Ministry of Education since 1995. 

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