Education

CHADET introduced non-formal/Alternative Basic Education (ABE) for children who did not get the chance to be enrolled into regular education. Between the years 2003-2008, CHADET established and operated three schools in and around the largest commercial center of Addis Ababa where there are large number of street and working children. Over 3,000 children got an opportunity to attend the first cycle of education (grades 1-4) and be integrated into regular schools. Currently, there are about 400 street and working children who are enrolled into the non-formal education and regular schools in Addis Ketema Sub city.

Even though significant success has been achieved by the government of Ethiopia in all areas of education, especially in the enrolment of children at primary level of education, highly vulnerable children still have difficulties to access Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). Under its ECCE program, CHADET has been able to set-up and furnish ECCE centers where thousands of vulnerable children who have limited or no access to ECCE, especially for children from low-income households, are enrolled. CHADET trains facilitators and provides scholastic materials for vulnerable children. Over 6,000 children have accessed CHADET’s ECCE services and were able to transit to primary, secondary and college level of education over the past two decades.

The support that is being provided by CHADET to primary and secondary level students has an objective of retaining children in school and help them thrive to successfully transit to the next level of education. CHADET identified the low value attached to girls’ education by families and communities, inability of care givers to meet education-related costs (books, food and uniforms) and unfriendly, unsafe, un-stimulating and poorly-resourced school environments where boys dominate ‘to be challenges to girls’ education. CHADET established Good Brothers Clubs to secure the support of boys to girls’ education. The project was executed in 77 primary and secondary schools in eleven Woredas located in Amhara and Oromiya Regions.

With the support that it had obtained from FCDO and Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission, CHADET carried out different activities to improve access to safe and potable water and sanitation for students in rural schools. Depending on the location, accessibility of water sources and suitability of the landscape where the schools were set-up, CHADET used different design, material and items to construct the water facilities. In some of the sites, the work involved fixing a water pump to push up water into a water tanker mounted on a steel structure while in other places an all-in-one structure, where the drinking and hand washing basins are set around a masonry structure on which the water tanker is mounted.