Selection of Effective Adult Literacy
and Numeracy Programmes

Homepage Programmes

Ethiopia

Poverty Reduction and Capacity Building through Livelihood Skills Training - EXPRO

Ministry of Education supported by the German Adult Education Association (DVV) International

Context

Ethiopia is a multi ethnic, multilingual and multi cultural nation on the Horn of Africa. It is currently home to well over 75 million people, making it the second most populous nation in Africa. With a real per capita GDP of about 90 US$, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. About 60% of the adult population is illiterate. In Ethiopia, nearly 40 percent of the total population, the majority of whom are landless and illiterate youth and adults, live in total poverty. These groups n have neither the access nor the required minimum marketable skills to earn a living.

The Government of Ethiopia considers education to be one of the key development sectors. Whereas it has accorded top priority to primary education and TVET sub-sectors in the education sector, adult and non-formal education has been the least important and only marginally supported sub-sector for the last decade. Only recently has NFE received stronger political support as an alternative route to basic education. In addition, livelihood-oriented adult and non-formal education initiatives and activities carried out by NGOs and community-based organizations have been recognized as important contributions to the development of the education system, and gradually as a means of poverty reduction, too.

DVV has been assisting the basic skills training programme of the Ministry of Education and some regional education bureaus frmo the time that it started supporting Ethiopia in 1995. In 2002, DVV undertook a comprehensive study on “skills and literacy training for better livelihoods” in Africa on behalf of the World Bank, in order to assess the effectiveness of education and training programmes for poor people. One of the general findings was that programmes that start from or are concentrated on livelihood appear to be more successful than programmes that are more focused on literacy education alone. The EXPRO project, a combined livelihood oriented approach, has been developed jointly over time by the Ministry of Education, regional education bureaus, TVET commissions and the DVV country office.

The EXPRO Project has evolved over the years in response to practical demands and as the result of a number of practical interventions. Strategies and methods have been developed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education, regional education bureaus and national experts, and are thus appropriate to the national context.

Programme

The aim of the EXPRO project is to establish model Skill Training Centres – mainly Community Skill Training Centres (CSTCs), Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) and rural TVET Centres) - in geographically and socio-economically diverse environments. These centres are intended to provide systematic skills training to educationally disadvantaged people living mainly in rural areas. Furthermore, EXPRO aims at contributing to the reduction of poverty in selected regions/ federal states of Ethiopia by enabling poverty-stricken youths and adults to improve their livelihood.

The programme is currently being implemented by the Regional Education Bureaus (REBs), Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) commissions and one women’s association in six regions/federal states of Ethiopia. So far, seventeen model Community Skill Training Centres (CSTCs) have been developed as:

• officially recognised professional, non-formal training providers;
• centres of information and innovative practices; and
• focal points for further training and experience-sharing with other CSTCs with the aim of expanding the programme to other areas in the respective regions.

The target group of the programme are youth and adults with incomplete primary or secondary education (less than grade 10), without access to formal vocational or higher education, and those with no education at all. Preference is given, however, to poor people from rural areas where the poverty rate is especially high.

Programme activities are based on guiding strategies and methods, which have proved successful in different contexts, which are as follows:

a)

Ensure information, sensitization and orientation for decision-makers and key people, because without their support major innovations are unlikely to take place;

b)

Involve relevant line ministries such as those responsible for capacity building, agriculture and health, as well as the ministry of education, because educational interventions on their own are not enough toachieve sustainable poverty reduction;

c)

Involve target groups and their communities in planning and implementation. The programme design and participatory methods must ensure community ownership and the active participation of the community;

d)

Design the training curriculum and content with a focus on livelihood skills. The term “livelihood” is used in EXPRO in the traditional sense of making a living in a predominantly agrarian society. The kind of skills and thus the curriculum relevant to a particular area is identified through a situational analysis and PRA, combined with a market analysis and training needs assessment;

e)

Make the training programmes market-oriented and demand-oriented. It is of the utmost importance that a market analysis combined with a training needs assessment be carried out prior to starting any training. Depending on the geographical location of the CSTC, there are currently three options for choosing skills areas: according to livelihood needs, market needs or training needs;

f)

Link the programme to credit institutes and institutions that support enterprise. It is important to involve the relevant institutions, banks, NGOs and micro or small credit information centres in the planning of the annual training programme right from the beginning;

g)

Target the programmes towards carefully selected special groups such as rural girls and women, landless youth, school drop-outs and other motivated individuals living in poverty,. These groups are likely not only to participate fully in the training but also start income-generating initiatives afterwards. Educational or motivational requirements must be carefully considered before potential participants are invited;

h)

Apply research-based methods for analysing areas, markets, training and institutional needs, and for planning and evaluating programmes. Systematic training must be organised to enable adult and NFE planners, trainers of trainers (ToT) in livelihood skills or CSTC coordinators to apply the methods properly;

i)

Support capacity building through the ToT approach and the interregional sharing of experience;

j)

Train coordinators according to programme needs. The training is streamlined strictly according to programme requirements. It also offers new aspects such as linking livelihood with literacy, resource mobilization and fund-raising, and cooperation with other sectors;

k)

Use the training opportunity to inform and teach trainees about HIV and AIDS. Whenever young people and adults gather for learning or training purposes this opportunity should be used to inform and, if possible, teach trainees about the impact of HIV and AIDS and how to deal with it;

l)

Produce relevant training materials in a range of languages. No other government organization or institution and no adult education NGO in the country is producing materials for livelihood skills training or non-formal vocational training. There is an urgent need for training materials to be developed, produced and translated into at least three languages;

m)

Follow a step-by-step approach in developing a model CSTC. EXPRO has developed a guide on the “New Profile of a Model CSTC” that comprises “Ten Basic Activity Steps” which must be followed in order to identify and utilise potential resources for income generation;

n)

Increase the coverage area of the model CSTC by providing boarding facilities and/or satellite centres. Providing basic boarding facilities, especially for girls and women, helps to increase the coverage area significantly; and

o)

Use and promote existing and new cooperations between communities, CBOs, NGOs, regional associations and government organizations.

Lessons learned

Skills training is one major way of improving the livelihoods of poor people. Whether literacy education should be included in skills training or provided separately has still to be decided. The results of an impact evaluation of a three-year pilot programme show that such an adult education approach does help to reduce poverty. The reactions from target groups, local stakeholders, adult and non-formal education experts, and administrators and concerned politicians have been predominantly positive and encouraging. Politicians and administrators committed to poverty reduction should consider the EXPRO model for large-scale implementation, and multi- and bilateral donors are requested to provide support.

Contact

Dr Bernd Sandhaas
Director
DVV Regional Office East Africa
PO Box 34 743
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
e-mail: iiz.dvv@telecom.net.et