Financing Primary Education within a Decentralized System: The Case of Ethiopia • 77
PROMOTE THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOW-COST SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS The low-cost construction of 194,748 furnished and equipped additional classrooms for increased enrollment must make substantial use of local materials and labor. Communities’ direct involvement in school construction will lead to effective participation in maintenance and management of the schools. Revised alternative models will be provided to the communities.
IMPROVE QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY OF EDUCATION The most critical challenge for SFAI was the effect on the quality of education. To improve quality: • •
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Curriculum will be revised for today and for the citizen of the future. Students’ achievements will be monitored by national educational assessments. School improvement program with a focus on school leadership and management, parent and community partnership, student-centered learning, professional development and collaboration, and quality instruction will be implemented. A guide to this program will be developed. Educational inspection will be strengthened. Public examinations will give feedback to improve quality. Diverse measures will be taken to ensure the availability of qualified and committed teachers. In the first and second primary cycles, the share of qualified teachers will be 99.8 percent and 99.3 percent, respectively. A total of 294,760 additional teachers (168,847 first cycle and 125,913 second cycle) will be recruited to take care of the additional enrollment and reduce pupil-teacher ratios. Textbook-pupil ratio will be 1:1. There will be a liberal provision of textbooks: 146.9 million copies will be printed and distributed to schools. Schools will be provided with an adequate nonsalary recurrent budget so that they can purchase and use the necessary instructional materials. The nonsalary recurrent budget will constitute 39.5 percent of the recurrent budget. Pupil-section ratio in both primary cycles will be reduced to 1:50. Similarly, one teacher will be provided for 45–50 students. Improving quality indicators will improve efficiency by reducing dropouts and repetition.