Proceedings of the 7th Annual National

Educational
Conference on Building the
Foundations: Status, Challenges, and
Prospects of Early Years Education in Ethiopia
© College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University
ISBN 978-99944-844-7-8
No part of this publication may be reproduced without a written permission from College of
Education and Behavioral Studies (CEBS), Addis Ababa University (AAU)

Disclaimer

All the ideas and opinions in this issue belong to the paper presenters, and do not necessarily
reflect the views of CEBS, AAU.

Members of the Organizing Committee

Main Organizing Committee
Dr. Abraha Asfaw Chairperson
Dr. Yekoyealem Desie Secretary
Ato Girma Abdissa Member
Dr. Fetene Regassa Member
Dr. Tsegaye Aregay Member
Dr. Fantahun Admas Member
Dr. Ambissa Kenea Member
Dr. Kassa Michael Member

Proposal Development Subcommittee

Dr. Fantahun Admas
Dr. Temesgen Fereja
Dr. Belay Tefera

Fund Raising Subcommittee

Dr Tsegaye Aregay Dr G/Egziabher Debeb
Dr. Befekadu Zeleke Dr. Kassa Michael
Dr. Dawit Mekonnen

Review & Screening Subcommittee

Dr Ambissa Kenea Dr. Yekoyealem Desie
Dr. Selesh Zeleke

Logistics Subcommittee
Ato Girma Abdissa Dr Hussien Kedir
Dr. Dame Abera Dr Tadesse Sibamo
Wro Eyerusalem Kebede
 Proceedings of the 7th Annual National Educational
Conference on Building the Foundations: Status,
Challenges, and Prospects of Early Years Education in
Ethiopia

May 11-13, 2017

Central Hotel, Hawassa, Ethiopia

Editors

Prof. Amare Asgedom

Dr. Berhanu Abera
Dr. Mekasha Kassaye
Dr. Teka Zewdie

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND BEHAVIORAL STUDIES

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
CONENTS Page
Acknowledgments iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms vi
Preface ix
Introduction 1

WELCOMING AND OPENING REMARKS 3

Welcoming Speech (Dr. Abrha Asfaw, Dean, College of Education and
Behavioral Studies, AAU) 3
Opening Speech (His Excellency Dr Tilaye Gete,
Minister of Education of
the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia) 6

CONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT 11

PAPERS PRESENTATIONS PAPERS PRESENTED IN PLENARY

SESSIONS 19

Developmental Appropriateness and Cultural Relevance

of Early Childhood Care and Education Program in Ethiopia:
Reflection on Current Practices (Dr. Girma Lemma) 20
Quality of Early Years Education (EYE) in Ethiopia:
A Meta-Analysis (Dr. Abraha Asfaw) 85

Early Childhood Care and Education in Ethiopia

(Prof. Tirussew Teferra) 119

A Comparative Study on Academic Achievents of

Primary Students (Grades 1-4) swi Pre-School
Education Experience and without: Empreical Evidences from
Selected ChildFund Assisted Primary Schools (ChildFund Ethiopia) 153

The Challenges of Government Preprimary Education:

A focus on Schools/Centers in Addis Ababa (Ato Hailu Dinka)
204

PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM I:

APPROACHES AND EXPERIENCES 240
Peace Education as a Missing Piece in Early Years
Education in Ethiopia: Foundation for the Development of
a Peaceful Personality at Risk (Prof. Habtamu Wondimu) 241
Early Years Education, Care and Support within the Oromo
Gada System: Implications for Later Life Experiences
(Dr. Firdissa Jebessa) 264
Apparent Paradoxes in Professionalizing ECCE (Dr. Setegne Arasaw) 315
Study on Best Practices on Community Based Early
Childhood Development Program in Ada’aWoreda
(Azmeraw Belay) 336

World of Child Labor or World Early Child Education?

International Perspectives and Experiences of Education
before Formal Schooling (Taye Alamirew) 406

ECCE for Primary Schooling: Cases from Selected

Government and Private Pre-Primary Schools
in Addis Ababa (Dr.Fozya Tesfa 455

PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM II:

INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 514
Profile of Early Childhood Care and Educational
Practices in Selected Pre-School Types of Ethiopia
(Dr. Daniel Desta et al) 514

Differentiated Instruction (One-Size- Does not- Fit All Approach)

(Dr. Tadesse Melesse) 557

The Effect of Universalization of Primary Education

(UPE) Campaign on the Accessibility of Primary Education
to Manjo Minority Children in Kaffa Zone: The Case of Post 2015
Achievement Dilemmas in Chena and Adiyo Woredas
(Getachew Robo) 609

A Critical Review on Policy Environment and Practice of

Inclusion in Ethiopian Early Childhood Education
(Tewodros Habte) 686

Community-School Partnership for Improved Learning

Environment: Lessons from the Community-School
Partnership Program/CSPP Initiative in Ethiopia
( Dr. Wossenu Yimam) 717

Absence of Early Identification, the Misleading Onset of

Autism and Parents Walk on the Jagged Road for Cure
( Dr. Yirgashewa Bekele) 738

PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM III:

TEACHING LEARNING AND CHILDREN’S LITERATURE 759
Behavioral Intervention for Pre-School Children with Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD): Implications for
Quality Early Childhood Care and Education (Ahmed Esmael) 760
Integration of Computers in Early Childhood Classroom:
Teachers’ Skills and Practice (Dr. Ayalew Belay) 781

A Review of Studies and Programs on Preschool

Attendance and Developmental Outcomes (Mebratu Belete) 801

Practice of Early childhood education and care in

Tigray Regional state: challenges and
opportunities (Mengesha Eyasu) 818

Preschoolers’ Mastery Motivation and its Role in

Acquiring Learning Tasks at Some Selected Preschools in
Addis Ababa: Implication for Caregiving (Dr. Moges Ayele) 853

The Practice of Learning through Play in Ethiopian Early

Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Centers (Dr. Sewalem Tsega) 867

Oung Children’s Emotion and Self-Regulation Predict Classroom

Interactions and Academic Achievement: A Discussion of the
Evidence and Implications (Carlos Valiente et al) 890
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This proceedings is an outgrowth of the 7th National Educational Conference of the College of
Education and Behavioral Studies (CEBS), Addis Ababa University (AAU), successfully held from 11
-13 May, 2017 at Hawassa, Central Hotel. The conference was organized under the theme “Building
the Foundations: Status, Challenges and Prospects of Early Years Care and Education in Ethiopia.”
The success of the conference and the publication of this proceedings is unthinkable without
the financial and technical backing of the following organizations and individuals. The organizing
committee would like to acknowledge the indispensable contribution received from them.

First of all the organizers would like to extend their appreciation to the FDRE Ministry of Education,
Education Strategy Center (ESC), Addis Ababa Education Bureau, ChildFund Ethiopia, College
of Development Studies (AAU), Tigray Development Association (TDA), and Office of the Vice
President for Research and Technology Transfer (VPRTT, AAU) for the financial support accorded to
the organization of the conference. Second, our enormous gratitude goes to UNICEF Ethiopia for
the generous financial and technical support for the publication of this proceedings.

We would also like to thank individuals who participated in different subcommittees of the conference
organization: proposal development (Dr. Belay Tefera, Dr. Fantahun Admas, Dr. Temesgen Fereja),
Review & Screening (Dr. Ambissa Kenea, Dr. Selesh Zeleke, Dr. Yekoyealem Desie), Fund raising
(Dr. Befekadu Zeleke, Dr. Tsegaye Aregay, Dr. G/Egziabher Debeb, Dr. Kassa Michael, Dr. Dawit
Meonnen), Logistics (Ato Girma Abdissa, Dr. Dame Abera, Dr. Hussien Kedir, Dr Tadesse Sibamo.,
Wro Eyerusalem Kebede), and overall conference organizing committee (Dr. Abraha Asfaw, Dr.
Yekoyealem Desie, Ato Girma Abdissa, Dr. Fetene Regassa, Dr. Tsegaye Aregay, Dr. Fantahun
Admas, Dr. Ambissa Kenea) for the superior effort they put for the success of the conference.

We are profoundly grateful to the Editors of this proceedings- Prof. Amare Asgedom, Dr. Teka
Zwdie, Dr. Mekasha Kassaye, and Dr. Berhanu Abera- who have invested their precious time and
meticulously edited this material to make it up to the standard. We would also like to extend our
enormous appreciation to Ato Abraham Tarekegn for his contribution in the designing and preparation
of Book of Abstracts and certificates.

Finally, we are sincerely grateful to all paper contributors and presenters, keynote speakers, session
facilitators, rapporteurs, and the entire College faculty who provided support and assistance in
various ways for the success of this conference. We thank all of you very much!

Yekoyealem Desie (PhD)

Associate Dean for Research & Technology Transfer, CEBS, AAU
&
Abraha Asfaw (PhD)
Dean, CEBS, AAU
 Abbreviations and Acronyms

AAU Addis Ababa University

AAGR Annual Average Growth Rate
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ANOVA Univariate Analysis of Variance
ASD Autism Spectrum Disordered
CAP Contextually Appropriate Practice
CCFC Christian Children Fund of Canada
CDD Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
CDS College of Development Studies
CEBS College of Education and Behavioral Studies
CfC Community for Children
CTEs Colleges of Teacher Education
DAP Developmentally Appropriate Practice
DI Differentiated Instruction
ECCD Early Childhood Care and Development
ECCE Early Childhood Care and Education
ECD Early Childhood Development
ECEC Early Childhood Education and Care
ECE Early Childhood Education
ECERS-R Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale
EFA Education for All
EGMA Early Grade Mathematics Assessment
EGMC Early Grade Mathematics Competence
EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment
ESC Education Strategy Center
ESD Education for Sustainable Development
ESDPs Education Sector Development Programs
EPE Early Primary Education
EYE Early Years Education
EYPs Early Years Professionals
FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
FGM Female Genital Mutilation
FIQ Family Involvement Questionnaire
FPs Facilitating partners
FSPs Family Support Programs
ETP Education and Training Policy
GEAC Girls Education Advisory Committee
GER Gross Enrollment Rate
HEWs Health Extension Workers
IDELA International Development and Early Learning As
sessment
ILO International Labor Organization
VPRTT Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer
MoE Ministry of Education
MNCDSA Ministry of National Community Development
and Social Affairs
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
PDD Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PE Preschool Education
PEERS Peers Everyday Emotions and Relationships at
School
PGDT Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching
PPE Pre-primary Education
KG Kindergarten
KII Key Informant Interview
LTP Learning through Play
MANOVA Multivariate Analysis of Variance
NLA National Learning Assessment
NER Net Enrolment Rate
NLA National Learning Assessment
SCED Single Case Experimental Design
SES Socio-Economic Status
SNE Special Needs Education
SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities and
People’s Region
SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
SSRS Social Skills Rating System
TB Target Behavior
TDA Tigray Development Association
TTI Teacher Training Institute
UE Universal Education
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Right
UPE Universalization of Primary Education
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child
UN United Nations
UNICEF United Nations Internationals Children’s
Emergency Fund
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
WOE Woreda Office of Education
 Preface

Building the Foundations of the Early Childhood Years

Education in Ethiopia: The Way Ahead
With greater focus on the foundation periods, many of the noted research works and intervention
programs of educational and developmental nature have concentrated their efforts on the early
years of human life. Consequently, studies referring to the physical, social, emotional, and
cognitive dimensions of the early years, along with the various intervention programs involving
such professionals as physiologists, educators and psychologists have been witnessed in several
countries, though seen in their fewer and isolated forms in Ethiopia. For instance, the experimental
works on the impact of early brain stimulation, have amply demonstrated the role of early stimulation
in the development and enrichment of synaptic connection of brain neurons that are crucial for early
cognitive development (Schiller, P. 2001 ), justifying the theme of this Conference.

It is with this in mind that the Conference, with a theme of Building the Foundations: Status,
Challenges, and Prospects of Early Years Education in Ethiopia, was organized by the College
of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University with the active support of such
organizations as the Ministry of Education, Education Strategy Center (ESC), UNICEF Ethiopia,
Child Fund Ethiopia, Addis Ababa Education Bureau, Tigray Development Association (TDA), Vice
President for Research and Technology Transfer (VPRTT) Office, Addis Ababa University, and College
of Development Studies (CDS), AAU.

With the initiative of the College of Education and Behavioral Studies (CEBS), AAU, and the
active support of these sponsoring governmental and non-governmental organizations, the two
day conference that was conducted from May 11 to May 13, 2017 at Hawasa Central Hotel was
organized with the following four main objectives: Examining the current early years care and
educational situation, organizing, and documenting knowledge and experiences pertaining to early
years care and education, creating a platform for exchange of views among various professionals
and stakeholders, and envisaging the way forward.

In consonance with the above objectives, all efforts have been exerted to include all the presented
papers in this proceeding. There is also a plan to publish some of the noted papers in peer reviewed
journals. Most importantly, there is a felt need to prepare and deliver critical and focal thoughts of
the deliberations to key stakeholders. Finally, with the initiative of the College of Education and
with the active support of concerned stakeholders, the Conference conceives of developing a
comprehensive plan of research and intervention on early years care and education in Ethiopia.

Several scholars were responsive to the Conference’s call and close to 60 abstracts were initially
collected. With further screening, however, twenty eight papers were recommended for the
Conference. This two-day conference was marked by the attendance of about 120 participants, and
included academics and researchers of the different universities of the Country, MoE representatives
and policy makers, regional education bureau representatives, graduate students, invited guests
from relevant NGO’s and universities, and CEBS academic and support staff members.

The papers of the proceedings have been organized under four themes: educational practices,
curriculum relevance, diversity issues, and community and cultural issues. The papers dealt with
pertinent educational and care issues, using such nomenclatures as Early Years Education (EYE),
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Early Childhood Education (ECE), Preschool Education
(PE), Kindergarten (KG), 0 classes, Child to-Child Education, Early Primary Education (EPE), and
Universal Education (UE), without seriously considering the conceptual, dimensional and practical
uniqueness of each name.

Basically, each nomenclature is conceptually different in terms of content, service dimensions

and participants, but each is important in addressing the educational and developmental needs
of the young Ethiopian child. Each nomenclature is an important element in this, patchwork, as it
logically calls for integration of care and educational services of the early years, involving different
stakeholders. We would, therefore, like to appreciate the patchwork nature of the early years care
and educational practices that this proceeding inheres, as it has the implication of compulsively
pushing academics, professionals and policymakers toward conception and practice of the issue
within an integrated framework.

Evidently, the above various nomenclatures taken up by the different presenters of the Conference
signify that early years care and educational services are to be construed from a holistic dimensions
of health, care and education, extending from the homes to the preschool/school and community
settings, involving professionals from health, nutrition, psychology and education, and calling for an
integrated collaboration of, for instance, such line ministries as the ministry of education, health,
and social services.

Evidently, this is an appreciable and necessary patchwork that eventually seeks a more integrated
approach in meeting the educational and developmental needs of the early years in Ethiopia. As
demonstrated in the deliberations of the two-day Conference, the early years of child development
are very critical to the overall development of the child and the person, suggesting the need for
more investment and more intervention in the early years of the child’s education.

We therefore, believe that the various issues of early year’s education and development point to
the need for integration of the conceptions and practices of the early years. Taking the words
of Elliot (2006), this means a need to a move from the patchwork approach to the “coherent,
long-term national action plan and time line to develop and implement an integrated, well-funded,
regulated, and managed system of early childhood education and care with clear goals, priorities
and outcomes”.

Hence, the way ahead is a move toward a meaningful engagement and focus on the mix of types
of the care and educational institutions, and stakeholders, the interconnected roles of the home
and educational centers in the care and education of the young, and the delivery of the care and
educational system, reflecting and strengthening the Ethiopian cultural values, and practices of care
and education.

Thus, the papers of these proceedings are important information sources and can be taken as a
part of the “national data” on the Ethiopian early years care, education and outcome experiences.
But much remains to be done. For instance, as highlighted in some of the papers, the importance
of the social context needs to be underscored with its research and policy implications that call for
systems of early care and education conceptions and practices that connect the families with the
educational institutions and communities. For instance, more needs to be done on research, policy
and practice issues of early years care and education and on the need for partnership between the
home, the community, the preschool/and even the primary school contexts.

There is thus an urgent need to move ahead, so that Ethiopian children can enjoy equitable access to
high-quality early care and education. The way ahead lies in moving beyond the care and education
divide, and placing learning and development at the heart of our policies and practices. Interestingly,
the Ethiopian National Policy frameworks referring to the early years offer the promise of developing
a coherent, integrated approach to early childhood policies and practices that show their logical
extension to the primary and post primary levels of learning and development. As also noted in
the key note address of the representative of the Ministry of Education at the Conference, “it is
unthinkable to have a vibrant community-friendly, quality secondary and tertiary level education in
Ethiopia without “a viable early year’s education and care in place” (MoE Representative, 2017).

Consequently, and without further ado, it is our hope that, the interested reader of the proceedings
would find clues of relevance regarding the current status, practices and challenges of early year’s
education and care in Ethiopia.

The Editor References

Elliott, A. (2006) Early Childhood Education: Pathways to Quality and

Equity for all Children. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research

MoE Representative (2017) Conference Key Note Address. Building the Foundations:
Status, Challenges and Prospects of Early Years Education in Ethiopia. Hawasa:
CoEBS.

Schiller, P. (2001). Brain Research and Its Implications for Early Childhood Programs.
Little Rock, AR: Southern Early Childhood Association.
 INTRODUCTION
(Dr. Yekoyealem Desie, Associate Dean
for Research and Technology Transfer,CEBS)
Your Excellency Dr. Tilaye Gete, State Minister
for General Education, MoE, FDR Dr. Abraha
Asfaw, Dean of the College of Education and
Behavioral Studies, AAUEsteemed Faculty of
CEBSDistinguished Participants

Ladies and Gentlemen

First of all I would like to say welcome you all to this important event of the 7th National Educational
Conference of the College of Education and Behavioral Studies (CEBS), Addis Ababa University.
The theme for this year’s national conference is “Building the Foundations: Status, Challenges and
Prospects of Early Years Care and Education in Ethiopia.” This theme has been selected for this
year’s conference believing that it is a high time for us to critically examine policies and practices in
the area of ECCE in Ethiopia.

Distinguished Participants
In this three days conference a total of 30 papers (six in plenary and 24 in parallel sessions) are
expected to be presented and deliberated. About 150 participants from different stakeholders are
also expected to take part in this conference.

Ladies and Gentlemen

In order to elevate the profile of the conference and increase the quality and mix of the papers, the organizing
committee has followed three modalities in organizing this conference. First, established scholars
were invited to prepare scientific papers in different themes of ECCE and present them in plenary
sessions. Second, organizations with proven evidence-based practices were invited to present their
rich experiences in plenary sessions; and third, an open call for abstracts and papers was announced
for contributors in which 60 abstracts/papers were collected and 28 of them were able to pass the
stringent screening and selection process of the review committee.

Now I call upon Dr. Abraha Asfaw, Dean of the CEBS to give us a welcome note and invite the guest
of honor his Excellency Dr. Tilaye Gete, State Minister for General Education, MoE, FDRE to deliver
an opening speech and to officially open the conference.

I wish you all a pleasant and fruitful stay in the beautiful city of Hawassa

Thank you,
 WELCOMING AND OPENING REMARKS

WELCOMING SPEECH
(Dr. Abrha Asfaw, Dean, College of
Education and Behavioral Studies, AAU)
H.E. Dr Tilaye Gete, State Minister,
Ministry of Education
MoE and Regional Education Bureau
representatives
Researchers and university professors

Representatives of Partners
Our college community
Invited guests

Ladies and gentlemen!

I am really delighted to see you all in this 7th National Educational Conference of the College of
Education and Behavioral Studies, AAU. The theme as you can see on the conference documents
is: Building the Foundations: Status, Challenges and Prospects of Early Years Education and Care in
Ethiopia - a result of series of discussions and scholarly dialogues among the management of the
college and core organizing committee members, especially on the implications to the enhancement
of quality of education in Ethiopia. We have the opinion that early years education is not only critical
for the school children to develop learning potentials but also to bring breakthrough solutions to the
vicious circle of quality education in the system. We believe that this is possible when we share
visions, integrate missions and act together. Thus, I welcome and thank you all for coming.

Dear participants!
In this introductory remark, I would like to bring to your attention that this conference on this
theme is the first of its kind, at least in the history of our college. It is intended to open up an
opportunity for scholars and practitioners to examine the situation of ECCE in Ethiopia, document the
knowledge base in the area for ease of access and gap identification purposes, establish platform
among stakeholders to bring hands together for transformation, and shape future actions for better
outcomes. If we are committed to bring change in the quality of education, we do believe that
collaborative actions have far reaching effects than otherwise.
Ladies and gentlemen!
I have to give you an idea about who is in this conference to help facilitate sharing of experiences
during our stay here. Cognizant of the diverse nature of stakeholders in the area, and implications to
policy, research and practice, we expect a total of 120 participants representing:

- Ministry of Education and Regional Education Bureaus;

- Universities (AAU and others);
- Practitioners;
- Researchers; and
- Funding partners. I thank you all for taking your part!

Ladies and gentlemen!

I want to kindly inform you that papers for this conference are collected through two approaches:
(a) invitation of writers on selected topics of interest, and (b) call for papers communicated to a
wider community of researchers and practitioners. Efforts were made to include both theoretical
and practice-based papers with the intention of creating an opportunity to examine the synergy
between the two in the Ethiopian educational context. The number of papers to be presented in
this conference is about 30 (selected from over 60 submitted). Some will be discussed in plenary
sessions and other in three syndicates as shown in the conference schedule. Therefore, the major
outcomes will be edited textbook, conference proceedings and policy briefing.

Finally, allow me to conclude by thanking two important entities here in front of you - esteemed
participants:

A. Partners that extended their hand generously for the realization of this conference -
Ministry of Education, Education Strategy Center, Addis Ababa Education Bureau,
UNICEF, ChildFund, Tigrai Development Association (TDA), Addis Ababa University,
and College of Development Studies at AAU.
B. Members of the organizing committee, who worked tirelessly for over a year to make
this a reality at this amazingly growing city - Hawassa.

Collaboration for breakthrough in educational quality!

Thank you so much for your attention!
Abraha Asfaw (PhD),
 Dean, College of Education & Behavioral Studies, AAU

OPENING SPEECH
(His Excellency Dr Tilaye Gete,
Minster of Education of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia)
Dear Participants of the 7th Annual
National Educational Conference of
theCollege of Education and
Behavioral Studies

Invited guests, researchers, professors,

Ladies and gentlemen!
First of all, allow me to express my deepest gratitude to Addis Ababa University for making me
feel very much honored and privileged to address this remarkable National Educational Research
Conference. It is indeed an honor for me to make this opening speech and thereby convey some
critical remarks on behalf of the Ministry of Education on the occasion regarding the current status
of early years education and care in Ethiopia.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Cognizant of the dire need for quality early years of education and care as a critical foundation for
all other forms of education, especially at the time when we have embarked in unison on the 2nd
Growth and Transformation Plan of Ethiopia, the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, has
organized this invaluable National Annual Educational Conference.
The Ethiopian government believes that higher education institutions especially the Addis Ababa
University, given its historical position, has to take the lead in bringing researchers and practitioners
in the area of early years education and care together to create a community of scholars to undertake
continued researches and dialogues to create a dynamic vibrant system of early years education
and care in Ethiopia that in turn constructively informs the primary, secondary and tertiary level
education systems of the county. The Ethiopian government has been providing all the required
support and encouragement to universities and colleges to improve early years education and care
in Ethiopia. Some of these supports include the start of the formulation of comprehensive policy
and regulatory frameworks that recognize the critical place the sector should take in the education
system and full support for universities to run postgraduate Masters and PhD programmes in the
areas of early years education and care. So much, however, remains to be done on the ground to
significantly improve the sector and maximize its contribution to enhance the overall quality of our
education system.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Higher education as it was unanimously applauded by many member states of the African Union
in a recent higher education and research conference held in Djibouti has an indispensible role to
improve the quality of primary education and education beyond. This spectacular conference staged
by the College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Abaca University, on the theme: Building
the Foundations: Status, Challenges, and Prospects of Early Years Education in Ethiopia is a clear
display of the contribution of the Addis Ababa University for enhancing the quality of early years
education and care in Ethiopia. I would, therefore, like to congratulate, on behalf of the Ministry
of Education and myself, the College of Education and Behavioral Studies upon this successful
accomplishment of mission.

Congratulations!
Ladies and gentlemen!
In the following conference days, you will be deliberating various aspects of early years of education
and care, critically examine the present status, challenges, and prospects of early years education
and will emerge with useful ideas and recommendations for policy shaping in the area. This is the
lofty contribution of higher education to other sectors of the same: informing policy with research.
The conference will also enable the college to create data base for knowledge and experience
sharing in the area of early years education and care, an area that has unfortunately not been given
due emphasis by stakeholders so far. I would like to stress the fact that without viable early years
education and care in place, it is unthinkable to have a vibrant, community-friendly, quality secondary
and tertiary education in a country.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Dear colleagues!
This nation finds itself at a critical juncture in time as it has to pay all kinds of sacrifice to lay
foundations for the development of the generations to come. Investment on the development
of both the child and the youth is a prime concern for the Government of Ethiopia. So is it for all
member states of the United Nations and the African Union as it is unequivocally articulated in the
AU’s Addis Convention 2014 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals set for 2030 and Agenda
2063. A development strategy that marginalizes the child and the youth, the critical mass of almost
all societies in Africa, is doomed to failure. The Ministry of Education is committed to encourage
continued research in the areas of early years education and care and youth education, job creation
and overall human capital development.
Once more, allow me to congratulate the Conference Organizing Committee in particular and that of
the College of Education and Behavioral Studies in general for having staged this timely and greatly
important conference!

Dear colleagues!
Finally, I would like to reaffirm the strong commitment of the Government of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia to provide you with all the necessary support in your effort to improve the status
of early years education by overcoming all the challenges and problems it currently is facing and in
your effort to take the quality of overall education in this country to a highest scale and successfully
meet the demands of the sector in the 21st century.
I wish your conference to be a venue where extremely invaluable and innovative ideas will emerge
and contribute greatly to the development of early years education and care in Ethiopia.

Now, I declare that the 7th Annual National Educational Conference of the College of Education and
Behavioral Studies is officially open!

Thank you!
Conference Summary Report
Overview
The College of Education and Behavioral Studies (CEBS), Addis Ababa University (AAU) has
successfully conducted its 7th National Educational Conference from May 11 -13, 2017 at Hawassa,
Central Hotel. The conference is an outcome of careful and over one year preparation of the CEBS.

The theme for this year’s national conference was “Building the Foundations: Status, Challenges
and Prospects of Early Years Care and Education in Ethiopia.” Recognizing the multidimensional
significance of early years care and education and understanding it as one of the top national priority
agendas, the CEBS selected this theme to achieve the following four major objectives:

• Examine the situation of early years care and education in Ethiopia to enhancing policy
development/change, research and intervention based on solid understanding of the prevailing
situation in context.
• Systematically organize and document knowledge and practical experiences in the area for the
literature in Ethiopian context so far is scanty and scattered;
• Create platform for academics, researchers, policy makers, practitioners and the wider community
to come together to facilitate changes in the area; and
• Foresee the prospect and plan the future of early years of education and care in Ethiopia to
realize envisage changes in the area.

To increase the quality of conference papers and create balance on the mix, the organizing
committee followed the following modalities: (1) invitation of established scholars in the area to
prepare scientific papers in different themes and present them in plenary sessions; (2) invitation
of organizations with proven evidence-based practices to present their rich experiences in plenary
sessions; and (3) announcement of open call for abstracts and papers for contributors in which
close to sixty abstracts were collected and twenty eight of them were chosen for parallel session
presentations. Thus, all in all, a total of thirty papers in both plenary and three thematic areas (in
parallel sessions) were presented in the conference (see the papers and the themes in the table
below).
The conference was attended by about 120 participants that included professors and researchers
from different universities, MoE representatives and policy makers, regional education bureau
representatives, graduate students, invited guests from relevant NGO’s and universities, and CEBS
academic and support staff members.

Conference themes, papers and deliberations

After a brief introductory speech about the Conference by Dr. Abraha Asfaw, Dean of the CEBS, AAU,
an opening remark was delivered by His Excellency Dr. Tilaye Gete, State Minster of the Federal
Ministry of Education and the 7th National Educational Conference of the College of Education and
Behavioral Studies, AAU, was officially opened.

Of the total of 30 papers presented (six in plenary sessions and 24 in three syndicate rooms), the
following table depicts the titles of papers, presenters and sessions organized during the three days
conference.
 Papers Presented in Plenary Sessions

No. Papers Presenters

1 Developmental Appropriateness and Cultural Relevance of
Early Childhood Care and Education Program in Ethiopia:
Reflection on Current Practices Dr Girma Lemma
2 Quality of Early Years Education in Ethiopia: A Meta Dr Abraha Asfaw
Analysis
3 Early Child Care and Childhood Education in Ethiopia Prof Tirussew Teferra
5 A Comparative Study on academic achievements of primary ChildFund EthiopiaRepresen-
students (grade 1-4) with pre-school education experience tative
and without: Empirical evidences from selected ChildFund
assisted primary schools
6 The Challenges of Government Preprimary Education: A fo- Ato Hailu Dinka
cus on Schools/Centers in Addis Ababa

Papers Presented in Syndicate Room I Theme: Approaches and Experiences

No. Papers Presenters

1 Peace Education as a Missing Piece in Early Years Education Prof Habtamu Wondimu
in Ethiopia: Foundation for the Development of a Peaceful
Personality at Risk
2 Early Years Education, Care and Support within the Oromo Dr Firdissa Jebessa
Gada System: Implications for Later Life Experiences
3 Apparent Paradoxes in Professionalizing ECCE Dr Setegn Arasaw

4 Study on Best Practices on Community Based Early Azmeraw Belay

Childhood Development Program in Ada’aWoreda
5 World of Child Labor or World of established Early Child Taye Alamirew
Education? International perspectives and experiences of
Education before formal schooling
8 ECCE for Primary Schooling: Cases from Selected Dr Fozya Tesfa
Government and Private Pre-primary Schools in Addis Ababa
 Papers Presented in Syndicate Room II
Theme: Inclusion and Community Participation
No. Papers Presenters
1 Parent/Community Engagement and Children’s Play and Learning
in Selected Preschools of Ethiopia
Dr Daniel Desta et al
2 Differentiated Instruction (One size-does not-fit-all approach): Tadesse Melesse
Perceptions, Practices and Challenges of Primary School Teachers
of the Amhara Region
3 The Effect of Universalization of Primary Education (UPE) Campaign Getachew Robo
on the Accessibility of Primary Education to Manjo Minority Children
in Kaffa Zone: The Case of Post 2015 Report and Achievement
Dilemmas in Chena and Adiyo woredas
4 Status of Parental Involvement in Preschool Education and its Simegn Sendek
Influence on Children Developmental Outcomes
6 A Critical Review on Policy Environment and Practice of Inclusion Tewodros Habte
in Ethiopian Early Childhood Education
7 Community-School Partnership for Improved Learning Dr Wossenu Yimam
Environment: Lessons from the Community-School Partnership
Program/CSPP Initiative in Ethiopia
8 The misleading onset of Autism and parental reaction: implication Dr Yirgashewa Bekele
for early intervention

Papers Presented in Syndicate Room III

Theme: Teaching learning and children’s literature

No. Papers Presenters

1 Behavioral Intervention for Pre-School Children with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) :
Implications for Quality Early Childhood Care and Ahmed Esmael
Education
2 Integration of computers in early childhood classroom: Dr Ayalew Belay
Teachers’ Skills and Practice
4 A Better Start a Better Future: Preschool Attendance and Mebratu Belete
Developmental Outcomes
5 Practice of Early childhood education and care in Tigray Mengesha Eyasu
Regional state: challenges and opportunities
6 Preschoolers’ Mastery Motivation and Its Role in Acquiring Dr Moges Ayele
Learning Tasks at Some Selected Preschools in Addis
Ababa: Implications for Care giving
7 The Practice of Learning through Play and Developmental Dr Sewalem Tsega
Milestones of Children in Ethiopian ECCE Centers.
8 A Review of Evidence Based Strategies to Improve Self- Dr Carlos Valiente
Regulation, Classroom Interactions, and Developmental
Outcomes
Following presentations and subsequent discussions in each paper in the plenary as well as
parallel sessions, summary of the conference was presented by conference rapportuers and some
outstanding issues have been identified and presented for further deliberation in the closing plenary
session. Conference participants have actively participated and candidly expressed their concerns
and ideas, and forwarded their suggestions. Kindly refer the conference summary attached with
this report.

Sponsors/partners
The following organizations contributed to the 7th national educational conference of the CEBS
bursary fund: Ministry of Education, Education Strategy Center (ESC), UNICEF Ethiopia, ChildFund
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa Education Bureau, Tigray Development Association (TDA), VPRTT Office,
Addis Ababa University, and College of Development Studies (CDS), AAU.

Way forward
Four important outcomes are expected to emerge from the conference:

(1) Conference proceedings- All the papers presented in the conference will be
carefully edited and published in the conference proceedings

(2) Edited Book- some papers will be selected and peer reviewed and published
as edited book

(3) Policy Brief- based on the reflections and deliberations made on the
conference, a policy statement will be prepared and delivered to relevant
stakeholders

(4) Research and intervention plan- the CEBS will develop a comprehensive proposal
on extending research and intervention in the area of early child care and education
together with other relevant stakeholders.
 PAPERS PRESENTATIONS
PAPERS PRESENTED IN PLENARY SESSIONS
Developmental Appropriateness and
Cultural Relevance of Early Childhood
Care and Education Program in Ethiopia:
Reflection on Current Practices
Girma Lemma
Abstract: Research into the development of
young children, and the process by which it is
configured in early childhood care and education
programs has transformed our knowledge
and understanding of the importance of
developmental and cultural appropriateness of
services over recent years. This theoretical and
experiential learning has helped to devise new
policy initiatives and evaluate whether or not
programs are age appropriate and responsive
to individual child differences to effect holistic
development. The landscape of this change
ranges all the way from international child
rights conventions and declarations to policy
formulations in individual countries and
further goes down to micro developmental
niches promoting children’s developmental
milestones. The purpose of this theoretical and
empirical review was to reflect on the current
practices of programs in delivering combination
of age appropriate practices and freely chosen
individual child initiated activities in preschool
centers. It starts with a brief review of Early
Childhood Care and Education landscape in
the Ethiopia context with regard to features of
access, quality, efficiency and policy initiatives
since 1900 with the opening of the first
kindergarten center in the country. The paper
argues that over those years the sector has
been crawling and at times deadly stagnating
without making meaningful move despite recent
policy developments ushering a glimmering
opportunity for young children. The theoretical
reflection begins with the conceptualization
of developmentally and culturally appropriate
early childhood development substantiated
by empirical evidences documented from
researches conducted locally and internationally.
It goes on arguing that early childhood care and
education teaching has dramatically changed
as a result of new entitlements ascribed to
teachers and discusses to what extent lack
of the-standard professional development
program impacted care givers’ pedagogical skill
and the implementation of the developmental
curriculum. The paper further attempted to
reflect on the developmental appropriateness
of the curriculum in enhancing children’s
free exploration of their environment and
their contribution in constructing meanings
and understandings via well planned adult-
initiated activities. Implications for program
improvement in the light of developmental
sciences and child rights conventions are
stated.
An overview of the current status of Early
Childhood Care and Education in Ethiopia
In strict sense public interest in modern early
childhood care and education started as early as
1900 with the opening of the first kindergarten
center in Dire Dawa (Demeke, 2003). Since
then, there is a lapse of over one hundred years.
Over those years the sector has been crawling
and at times deadly stagnating without making
meaningful move in terms of access and quality
compared to other levels of the educational
sytem. As Pence and Nsamenang (2008)
commented, Early Childhood Development
(ECD) was paid low recognition compared
to its ‘older siblings’: primary, secondary and
tertiary education. Aido (2008) also stated
that “Sectorial priorities and activities override
ECD needs” (p.38). This disproportionate and
skewed attention to the primary and secondary
education was also commented by UNESCO
report (cited in Woodhead, 2005) labeling
Ethiopia as “the only young lives country with
no official program targeting children under the
age of 3 years” (p.14).One could possibly argue
that the sector has been cornered, marginalized
and children in this age group have been denied
of their child rights for decades.
Kindergarten program is a preprimary education
program that caters service to children four to
six years old. According to Education Statistics
Annual Abstract (2009-2010), the gross
enrollment ratio for the nation was only 4.3%.
The efforts to expanding access to ECCE have
been impressive for the last couple of years.
This resulted in increasing Gross Enrollment
Rate (GER) from what was only 1.8 % in 1999
to 39% (40% boys and 38% girls) in 2015.
Over the last sixteen years (1999-2015), ECCE
enrollment has had an increasing trend. Overall,
it has increased by 37.2 percentage points-
representing annual average growth rate of
9.79 percent. Whether or not these droplets of
changes trickling for the last so many decades
can be taken as an outstanding achievement
is a theoretical and practical dilema. Although
much has been done to expand access, there
are children in the cohort group that still lacked
the opportunity to get the service.
Empirical studies and baseline surveys
conducted by academic institutions and
philanthropic organizations (e.g., UNICEF,
2007), for example, advocated the importance
of need-based child care services as part and
parcel of the overall child rights. Very recently
regions have started to run preschool classes
(commonly called O-grade programs) within
the primary school premises with the intent
of mitigating the problem of access. It is true
that the current mainstreaming of ECCE into
the first cycle of primary education is reported
to effect increased enrollment. In terms of
access this approach has drawn thousands of
preschool children from low income families
to these enter. This state-initiated preprimary
education program, though, its purpose and
implementation strategies are not explicitly
outlined, it is supposed to implicate multiple
positive effects for Ethiopian children. Apart
from paving the way for smooth transition
to the formal education by bridging the gap
between children that had access to the
service and the ones that are denied of this
opportunity, it is expected to increase school
success by reducing the high dropout rate
and the diminishing efficiency observed
in the first cycle of the primary education.
Absence of clear guideline on how to run this
program, however, is the other side of the
coin. The primary schools that operate under
serious budget and logistic constraints are
expected to host these centers. Whether or
not this resource sharing scheme would yield
better result in preparing out of preschool
children for the formal school system is open
to empirical research. Whether or not this
modality is meaningful and promising in terms
of providing developmentally appropriate care
and education service to children is a point of
argument.
A fast growing increment in preschool
enrollment domestically and the upsurge for
enforcing child rights conventions globally can
be attributed to changes in population structure
in the age group, and to some extent related
to family variables such as income, educational
and employment status of parents especially
mothers. Maternal employment statistics,
for example, showed increase in mother’s
involvement into the work force (source).
As a matter of fact, these working mothers
especially in the urban areas rely more and
more on center-based care and education
services. The changing public attitude towards
the importance of early years of life is also
one possible push factor for parents to send
their young children to kindergarten centers as
viable option. Ethiopian families these days
seem to invest on their children unlike the
previous times in which children’s fate was left
to luck and the deity.
A land mark that can be considered as
a promising breakthrough and opened a
glimmering opportunity for Ethiopian children
is the endorsement of the National Policy
Framework and Strategic Operational Plan
and Guidelines for Early Childhood Care and
Education (MoE, MoH, & MoWA, 2010). After
its “long incubation period” (Boakye, 2008),
the policy document might be considered as
a triggering factor for ECCE to take off. It has
also created a sense of professionalism among
the academia and practitioners working in the
area.
The development of ECCE policy documents
cannot be taken as a miraculous event in the
history of early childhood care and education
in Ethiopia. Rather it is a natural outcome
of socio-historical events that took place
domestically and globally. A number of push
and pull factors prompted the development of
the policy documents. The 1998 conference
by African Ministers of Education(UNESCO,
1998), the steady and unprecedented support
and advocacy for the well being of children by
international development partners such as the
UNICEF and the World Bank created sense of
urgency in Ethiopia to launch sector wide ECD
policy that involved main stream ministries.
The crisis Ethiopian education system is facing
in terms of efficiency especially at primary
level, the situation of orphans and vulnerable
children for instance due to HIV/AIDS, and
recurring drought in the country spurred the
government to promote the well being of
children and enforce child rights in light of
MDG and EFA goals are all push factors that
contributed to the inception and endorsement
of the policy framework.
If the 1998 conference by African Ministers
of Education is a landmark, the Ethiopian
government responded to the development
of a policy framework after a lapse of about
five years. Many African countries developed
and adopted ECD policy long ago. Although
aggressive course of actions have not been
taken to put into practice the National Policy
Framework so far, one could perceive the
endorsement of the policy framework as a
starting point from which ECD might awaken
from its long hibernation.
The synergy among the three ministries (MoE,
MoH, and MoLSA) is especially a corner stone
that would enable to undertake systematic
and holistic interventions. As Boakye (2008)
noted, such holistic approach would shift the
status of early childhood care and education
from “survival to development, from need
to rights, and from sector-based thinking to
cross-sectional” (p.175).
Before the onset of this policy framework
structural and process issues pertinent to
ECD have been swinging from one ministry to
another or from one department to the other
within the Ministry of Education. Historically,
these sector ministries have been acting as
“territorial ministries” as noted by (Boakye,
2008) than acting synergistically for the well
being of Ethiopian children. For the last two
decades the ECCE program has been rambling
in pursuit of sound early childhood philosophy,
policy framework, and organizational structure
and implementation guidelines. What is new
about this policy framework is that it clearly
stipulates vision-mission statements, guiding
principles of the policy framework, goals and
strategic objectives as well as the structural
framework for its implementation
There existed a problem of conceptualizing
the proto types of early childhood care and
education services and the modalities adopted
in the various centers. Nurseries, kindergartens,
preschool education and very recently O-grade
programs are nomenclatures associated with
early childhood care and education programs
delivering service to age groups three to six. One
possible explanation for this bizarre idea could
be lack of comprehensive policy framework
and operational guideline that could be used
as a frame of reference for distinguishing the
type of programs and the age groups they are
instituted for.
Variations are not only in nomenclature.
Public reaction to each of these institutional
types vary from perceiving the different
programs as centers providing custodial and
protective services to the belief that these
centers are places with enriched learning and
stimulating environment for cognitive and
social development of children. The National
Policy framework for Early childhood Care
and Education document (2010) stipulates
the four basic pillars of ECD service delivery
comprising: parental education, health and
early stimulation program (prenatal to 3+years)
preschools: community based kindergartens
(4-6+years), and community-based Non-formal
school readiness programs.
The modalities of early childhood development
services vary considerably. They range from
the long standing traditional Church and Koranic
early childhood care and education institutions
to modern preschool programs crafted
along the Euro-American types. They vary
considerably in terms of philosophy, structure
as well as process variables .Whether these
centers operating at federal and regional
levels are crafted along Rousseau’s lazes-faire
approach, Froebel’s notion of supervised play
or Montessori’s modality of environmental
exploration is not clear and properly
documented.
A number of early childhood care and education
centers here in the capital and the regions
especially in the urban areas, for example,
claim that their programs are crafted along the
Montessori approach. Though this approach
emphasizes the development of academic
concepts, practical life skills, development of the
senses, and character (Epstein etal., in Walsh,
& Petty, 2007), it is not clear to what extent
the physical environment and processes in
these centers are developmentally appropriate
and responsive to age variations and individual
interests of children and contributing toward
holistic development in a natural and culturally
relevant way. The Montessori approach presets
the availability of sand trays, chalkboards, and
language cards to enhance imagination which
many centers in the Ethiopian context are
lacking (with the exception of few private ECCE
centers)(Girma,2014). Ministry of Education
has set standards for preschool centers in
terms of size of the compound and classrooms,
facilities, offices, toilets, dining rooms, and
first aid kits. However, according to UNESCO
Cluster office Addis Ababa (2006) report, none
of the preschools visited by the office met the
standard set by the Ministry of Education. The
newly developed curriculum (MoE, 2009), is a
means towards standardization of programs.
However, exaggerated differences in structural
and process variables in the centers could
result in significant variations among children
in terms of immediate learning experiences
and lasting cognitive and social outcomes.
The overall objective of preschool education is
to make children ready for the formal school
system. When children join the formal school
curriculum they are expected to demonstrate
age appropriate developmental milestones.
Due to wide variations in age and preschool
environment, there is marked difference
among grade one students in terms of their
cognitive development and social adjustments.
Lack of standardization is an impediment to
the provision of developmentally appropriate
quality early childhood education. Hence,
this critical reflection attempts to explore
the developmental appropriateness and
cultural relevance of early child hood care and
education in terms of teachers’ profile, care
giver–child interaction, children’s involvement
in the discourse and appropriateness of the
overall environment in nurturing children’s
developmental milestones articulated in
the national policy framework and ECCE
curriculum. It attempts to review program in
the limelight of their cultural relevance backed
by empirical evidences documented from
developmental sciences empirical researches
conducted domestically and elsewhere in
other settings. The paper mainly relies on
secondary sources of data secured from official
government documents including policies, and
MoE statistical abstracts and reports as well
as personal reflections to analyze features of
ECCE program.
Conceptualizing developmentally
appropriate and culturally relevant
ECCE program in the Ethiopian context
Decades of research in early childhood care
and education and international-regional
child rights conventions and declarations
are triggering factors that gave rise to the
development of the concept of developmental
appropriateness of Early Childhood Care and
Education programs. Historically, issues such
as access, equity and efficiency seemed to be
areas of research, policy and practice but these
days the issue of program quality understood
from the perspective of its appropriateness
has become a priority agenda. Hence, ECCE
in Ethiopia seems to be notably characterized
by ingredients such as access, equity, quality,
relevance and efficiency. Currently a new pillar
“unity with diversity” as part and parcel of its
cultural appropriateness is being promoted that
gave it a unique flavor in the Ethiopian context.
The concept of developmental appropriateness
is an umbrella construct which places these
vital features on a plane view without ignoring
their peculiar features. In view of these new
trends, the concept seems to get acceptance
among stakeholders and has become an area
of early childhood care and education practice
and research. The Education of Young Children
(NAEYC, 1987) in a position statement on
developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in
early childhood programs serving children from
birth through age eight defined the concept as
having two dimensions: age appropriateness and
individual appropriateness. An age appropriate
curriculum is meant to meeting the physical,
social, emotional, language and cognitive
development of children through the provision
of appropriate materials and equipment by
teachers. An age appropriate curriculum enables
ECCE teachers to plan and implement activities
as per developmental levels of children. In
addition to age appropriateness, tapping the
unique potentialities of each child and to unfold
development in multifaceted ways is a feature
of developmentally appropriate curriculum.
The new paradigm of the sociology of childhood
aligns itself with the constructivist perspective.
This approach takes into account
the child’s “world of diversity” (Pence &
Nesmenang, 2008), instead of looking at the
child as a biological entity whose development
is constructed in isolation detached from the
systems within which the child is growing.
The new paradigm recognizes childhood as
a social construction whose environment is
constructed for and by children, within an
actively negotiated set of social relations.
Dahlberg, Moss, and Pence (2005) noted the
importance of examining social processes
taking place in the child’s everyday life.
At the outset the concept of developmentally
appropriate program was crafted along
Piaget’s universal stages of development. This
universalization of development has become
a point of discussion among researchers
and program practitioners because of its
insensitivity to multiple social and cultural
contexts under which children grow and
change (Woodhead, 2006). The conception
that development is governed by universal
biological laws irrespective of cultural diversity
homogenizes children and disregards individual
differences. It debilitates or ignores social
roles played by children and the socialization
process that varies from one culture to the
other. For countries such as Ethiopia with multi-
cultural heritages, assuming development as
progressing in a predetermined way does not
give much sense. The very idea of developmental
appropriateness of ECCE program is worthy in
its responsiveness to age and individual child
variability within the broader cultural context.
In spite of that a developmentally appropriate
curriculum is supposed to be rich and diverse
in its coverage to address children’s interest
coming from diverse family backgrounds. The
diversity and flexibility of the developmentally
appropriate curriculum provides immense
opportunity for children, care givers and the
overall environment to interact in multiple and
reciprocating ways.
A new alternative acronym CAP, “Contextually
Appropriate Practice” has come to the arena
as anti-theses to the earlier conceptualization
of developmentally appropriate practice.
According to Woodhead (2006), the alternative
acronym underlines the importance of tuning
aspects of ECCE policies, services, curricula and
practices in light of circumstances and children’s
lives, the material and cultural resources
available to socialize children and parental and
community expectations for young children.
Recent theories of child development are in
line with this new paradigm shift from DAP to
CAP. Accordingly, the new conceptualization
CAP has three key themes that have important
bearings for ECCE policy: (i) diversities in early
childhood; (ii) development is a social and
cultural process; (iii) early childhood is socially
constructed (Woodhead, 2006)
The social constructivist theory of Vygotsky,
Bronfenbrener’’s systems theory and the
notion of developmental niche are increasingly
getting appreciation in their rigorousness and
plausibility to interpret child development in the
realm of the physical and social settings children
develop; the culturally regulated customs
and child-rearing practices; and the beliefs or
‘ethno-theories’ of parents teachers and others
responsible for their care and development.
As reviewed by Woodhead et al, (2003) on
the work of Vygotsky’s social constructivist’
theory, the young child’s development is as
much cultural as it is natural.
Barbara Rogoff’s seminal cross-cultural work
introduced the concept of guided participation
and appropriation has strong implication for
early childhood education. It was indicated
that guided participation’ and appropriation of
children is a natural, social, and cultural and
indeed that may lead to cognitive and social
skill development and heavily relies on the
developmental path ways children are inducted
into communities of learners (Rogoff,1990;
2003). In light of the aforementioned discussion,
children’s engagement in variety of tasks
under different settings and more over their
relationship with adults are developmentally
appropriate lee ways by which they acquire
competences in early childhood care and
education centers. According to Wood head
(2006), development is about the acquisition of
cognitive tools and cultural competencies which
are themselves products of human civilization
- forms of discourse, literacy, numeracy, and
more recently information technology – that
are adaptive to particular socio-economic
contexts and historical epochs.
Not only are the social constructivist
developmental theories but the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) and
the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child (OAU, 1990) too contended the
combined role of the biological and social
processes in shaping child development. As
quoted by wood head (2006) Article 31 of the
African Charter states that: ‘Every child shall
have responsibilities towards his family and
society…The child, subject to his age and
ability, …shall have the duty: to work for the
cohesion of the family, to respect his parents,
superiors and elders at all times and to assist
them in case of need…etc”.
In the African context the acculturation of
the child which Pence and Nesamenang
(2008) termed as “indigenous pedagogy”
is based not on instruction but participatory
self-education. This can be achieved through
“guided participation” as noted by (Rogoff et
al., cited in Vogler, Crivello and Woodhead,
2008) by care givers and peers. In this view,
children contribute to the construction of
their cognition in a given developmental
niches through their own expectations and
through their interaction with their caregivers.
Nesamenang and LO-UH (2010) advised not
to be desperate in “destroying too abruptly
the traditional background of the African child
which is still the best guarantee of the child’s
welfare and education” (p.393).
The concept of developmentally appropriate
early childhood care and education gets meaning
in the Ethiopian culture in its consistency with
the view that children have socially constructed
potentials that can be demonstrated in self-
generated activities and learning. According to
Cushner (1990) cited in Gardner and Kosmitzki,
2008:67) “The responsibility for learning falls
mainly on the learner, making it rather personal.”
Citing various sources Woodhead (2006:p.)
identified major themes that have implications
for making early childhood care and education
programs developmentally appropriate and
culturally relevant.
• Early childhood settings, pedagogies and
practices are shaped by generations of
human activity and creativity, shaped
by circumstances, opportunities and
constraints and informed by multiple
discourses about children’s needs and
nature. In consequence, any particular
specification of early childhood services,
curriculum and pedagogy will inevitably
reflect particular combinations of cultural
assumptions and aspirations, as well
as patterns of power and relationship
between governments, children, families
and professionals.
• Acceptance of the view that children’s
behavior, thinking, social relationships
and adaptation, are cultural as much as
biologically constituted, has profound
implications for the ways quality in ECCE
is understood, defined and monitored.
The ‘developmental appropriateness’ of
children’s experiences, the ‘harmfulness’
or ‘benefits’ of their environment cannot
be separated from the social and cultural
processes through which they develop, the
values and goals that inform the ways they
are treated and understood, and the political
context within which their lives are shaped.
Unlike frameworks that emphasize absolute
(or ‘taken for granted’) criteria for judging
the quality of children’s development, as
 well as the appropriateness of a particular
environment or professional practices,
cultural approaches argue that these
criteria can be (and must be) contested.
Dominant policies and practices are based
on specific, standardized quality criteria
that originate in a narrow range of cultural
contexts, values and practices. It becomes
important to recognize multiple stakeholder
perspectives (politicians, teachers, parents,
children etc), as well as inequalities in
power amongst these stakeholders.
As a conclusion for the aforementioned
discussion the reason for highlighting the
basic tenets embedded in developmentally
and culturally appropriate care and education
theoretical framework is to sensitize
professionals on the complexity and challenges
they may encounter in due process of making
programs relevant and increase efficiency to
optimize children’s holistic development. It
would enable to look into child development
in a new lenses and the possibility of tapping
indigenous child development knowledge and
contribute towards the flourishing of Ethio-
Centric developmental science. The new
understanding of developmentally appropriate
care and education would enable us to take
an eclectic approach and perspectives of child
development capturing the major tenets of
main stream psychology and expend more
resource to satisfy the best interests of
Ethiopian children in conjunction with child
right conventions vowed by the government
for its implementation.
Are staffs well-qualified to understand the
nature of children’s development?
Early Childhood Care and Education teaching
in the 21st century evolved as one of the
professions with new responsibilities and
entitlements. Legal, policy and societal
entitlements have made the profession
more complex and sophisticated unlike
the previous times in which children’s care
and education was exclusively left for luck
and the deity or more narrowly to parents.
These entitlements especially have practical
implications for teachers’ classroom activities
and their competency to scaffold and guide
children’s development in general. In light of
the current multi-faceted entitlements and
responsibilities early childhood educators
are expected to possess child development
knowledge and early education issues
and provide rich, and developmentally
appropriate care and educational experiences
for all children from diverse backgrounds.
Hargreaves (cited in Yelland and Kilderry, 2005)
argued that postmodernism has drastically
changed the teaching profession in which
the working environment in which teachers
exercise their profession has changed
profoundly and the demographic composition
of teaching is turning over dramatically. New
theoretical underpinnings that emerged
from developmental and Neuro-science
research enabled early childhood teachers and
professionals to reframe the profession in the
lime light of new findings in the twenty first
century.
According to Sot (2000, cited in Yelland and
Kilderry, 2005), new developments in practice
and theory would create the passion among
ECCE teachers to make a shift in child pedagogy
by demonstrating the connection between
real-life teaching scenarios and the art of
teaching. Studies have revealed that teacher’s
content, pedagogical, and technological
knowledge is strongly related to their ability
to facilitate children’s learning. Research
findings for example, show the relationship
between student technology achievement to
teachers’ opportunities to develop their own
computer skills (Yelland and Kilderry, 2005).
Early childhood teachers therefore, face the
challenge to develop technologically rich
learning environments for children to prepare
them for life as adults in the era of globalization.
Developmental psychology has been the major
discipline that marked not only advances in
human knowledge about child development
but also a dominant discourse in understanding
the interplay between the child’s multi-layered
milieu and more specifically the importance
of quality care and education. Lubeck (cited
in Dahlberg, Moss, &Pence, 2005) stated that
“child development knowledge has been so
foundational to the field of early childhood
care and education that erasing it would seem
to leave us in a mindless limbo”(p.100). The
relation between the two can be understood in
the area of research and teachers preparation
as an important indicator of the developmental
appropriateness of ECCE programs. This
relation between developmental psychology
and the discourse of early childhood care and
education has become a major interest area
in academic undertakings as well as part of
the child’s life in institutions (Dahlberg, Moss,
&Pence, 2005; Walsh, 2005). Vygotsky’s
theory was found to be relevant in early
childhood care and education programs both
in terms of practice and research. His notion
of zone of proximal development, for example,
underlined the importance of tuning early
childhood care and education programs to the
interest and needs of individual child through
careful identification of developmental missing
elements. Synthesizing the works of Vygotsky’s
assertions, Essa (1990) stated that “in addition
to providing a stimulating environment in
which young children are active explorers
of and participants, early educators need to
promote discovery by modeling, explaining,
and providing suggestions to suit each child’s
zone of proximal development.”(p.117)
When an individual teacher is better prepared
through pre and in-service trainings about
the physical, social, emotional, language, and
cognitive development of children, then that
teacher will have the skill in translating the
curriculum within the framework of an age-
and -individual appropriate developmental path
ways. A teacher who does not have the basics
of the main stream developmental psychology
and child pedagogy will have difficulty in
planning and implementing activities that
are developmentally appropriate for children
coming from different socio-economic
background (Miller, Regina, 1996).
Child development knowledge affords teachers
the opportunity to see the uniqueness in
each and every child. Although we know
that children develop along predictable
patterns and timetables, there is considerable
variation within each individual child. Diversity
among ECCE children presupposes the
implementation of the curriculum not in a
fixed and rigid manner rather responding to
background characteristics and learning styles
of children in multiple ways. According to
Miller, (1996) there is no one magic prescription
that makes all things right for all teachers and
all children. If that were the case, life in the
classroom would be static, dull, and boring.
What makes the early childhood environment
an exciting and vibrant is the fact that each
day is a challenge due to the very differences
presented by individual children who come to
classrooms with varied experiences. Every child
brings unique experience to the classroom.
The ECCE curriculum can be properly tapped
and enriched if teachers make use of these
lived home and community experiences of
children to the classroom. In order to make the
curriculum responsive to individual and group
interest teachers must be keen observers of
children’s behavior in their classrooms and play
grounds under a variety of conditions in order
to learn about individual differences in children
and their special ways of doing things. This
diversity in the classroom calls for shaping the
ECCE environment in such a way that every
child gets the opportunity to progress in his/her
own pace. Miller (1996) writes:
Any early childhood classroom will find children
who are operating at different developmental
levels; no two children develop at exactly the
same rate. Thus, teachers need to provide
varying levels of complexity as well as a variety
of activities for children within the framework
of the same curriculum topic. Since children
learn by observation as well as by doing, many
children learn from watching other children
work with materials and concepts that are a
little beyond their own current personal reach.
It does not have to frustrate children when they
cannot yet engage in something that other
children can. Within the correct nurturing,
responsive environment with adults supporting
any growth and development, children come
to admire their peers’ abilities while they
themselves continue to grow and develop.
Responsive adults create an accepting, sharing
environment.
According to Woodhead (2006), the most
significant quality indicator of child’s
environment is closeness of the relationships
established with parents, caregivers and peers.
It is through the interaction of these proximal
micro-systems that the child constructs
meaning from the environment and is
introduced to the wider culture. This symbiotic
relationship is reached when children are
engaged in socially meaningful activities such
as goal directed play and creative works in ECCE
centers. Hence, the presence of well-qualified
staff that understands the nature of children’s
development and who could deliver age and
individual appropriate care and education for
children coming from diverse backgrounds is a
standard by which we ascertain that teachers
have met their professional, legal and policy
entitlements afforded by the society.
Teacher’s pedagogical practices are
developmentally and educationally appropriate
if they address all categories of learning goals
in a balanced manner. Pedagogical practices
are not appropriate if they emphasize the
acquisition of knowledge and the mastery
of skills without simultaneously ensuring
the development of social and emotional
dispositions. Child-based pedagogical approach
is one which strikes the balance between the
three domains of educational goals namely the
cognitive, affective and psychomotor through
developmentally and didactically appropriate
care and education curriculum.
Developmental milestones indicated in the
ECCE curriculum are facilitated by teachers in
different ways. Knowledge, skills, and attitude
based objectives can be achieved through
classroom and out of classroom activities aided
by instruction as well as by other child-centered
activities. Teachers can make the pedagogical
practices developmentally appropriate when
they relate the knowledge to be constructed
to the child’s own first-hand direct experiences
and when it is contextualized and indigenized.
With increasing age and experience, children’s
cognitive development shows progression and
concrete thinking gives way to imaginative
thinking and the tendency to acquire knowledge
and skills from secondary sources such as
books and the media gradually develops.
Pedagogical practices are appropriate if they
provide young children with ample opportunity
to interact with adults and children who are
like and unlike themselves, with materials, and
directly with real objects and real environments
(Yelland and Kilderry, 2005).
The 1974 socialist revolution in Ethiopia
created unprecedented opportunity for the
expansion of preschool education in Ethiopia.
As early as the 1960’s and 70’s Primary and
Preschool Teacher Training Department in MoE
was responsible for the training of preschool
teachers. The 1960’s and 70’s were golden
decades for the expansion of kindergarten
education in the country. The flourishing of
kindergartens in kebeles and cooperatives
supported by states in the socialist camp
especially by the Democratic Republic of
Germany and the neighboring communities
during the Derge regime can be taken as a
land mark in the history of preschool education
in Ethiopia. Right after the overthrow of the
Derge regime MoE was restructured and
the department responsible for the training
of kindergarten teachers was relinquished
leaving no organ accountable in the ministry to
undertake preschool teachers’ training.
The Education and Training Policy (1994)
document has stipulated important statements
on the importance of early child hood care and
education. Issues such as the relevance of
delivering quality education to speed up human
development, the need for an integrated
research undertaking to address cross cutting
educational issues, and the contribution
of teachers competency at all levels of the
education including kindergarten education
to promote equity, quality and relevance. The
document in its specific objectives section
clearly puts the role of kindergarten education
in making the child ready to meet the demands
of formal schooling. It states “kindergarten
education will focus on all round development
of the child in preparation for formal schooling”
(Education and Training Policy, 1994: 14)
As a matter of fact the private kindergarten
teacher training institutions opened here
and there in the capital and regional cities.
Following that a centralized curriculum was put
in place and regulatory mechanisms devised to
monitor the exercises of these private training
centers. Variations in training period and wide
gaps in trainees profile at entry and exit levels
enrolled in these private institutions could be
attributed to lack of centralized regulatory and
supporting mechanism in the ministry.
Data obtained from seventy classrooms in Addis
Ababa (Girma, 2014) showed that preschool
teaching is not prestigious job. Care givers who
joined the job were either jobless or those who
were unable to pursue to the second cycle of
secondary education or failed to join the tertiary
level education. Although the majority of the
care givers passed through privately owned
preschool teacher training programs, they had
less than one year of training. Some of the
younger care givers in the sampled schools
had as little as three months training. About
4% of the care givers in the sampled preschool
centers were bare-foot teachers without any
formal training on preschool teaching. This same
problem haunted many ECD programs in the
African context particularly in the SSA context.
Ngware (2004:233), for example, stated that
one of the main issues facing ECD teacher
training is the low academic qualification of the
teachers joining the training.
Observation data from this similar study
showed shortage and high turnover of
preschool teachers that could be attributed to
the discontinuity of the training and absence
of policy framework that backs ECCE teachers’
professional development program by the
Ministry. The undergraduate and graduate
ECCE programs launched in the College of
Education and Behavioral Sciences at Addis
Ababa University and other higher education
institutions in the country are expected to
make a practical impact in mitigating the
problem of skilled manpower in the sector
and enable Ethiopian children to be guided
and scaffold by trained practitioners. The
launching of these programs opens a window
of hope to address ECCE issues in a better
way in terms of capacity-building programs
and influencing policy formulations with regard
to care givers training. The launching of these
programs will also enable to tap the abundant
and rich indigenous knowledge of child care
and socialization process practiced in many
parts of the nation and gear programs in a
developmentally and culturally appropriate
path way.
A survey on Quality of Early childhood Care
and Education in Ethiopia (Teka, Daniel, Daniel,
Girma & Yekoye, 2015), that has covered five
regions, two city governments and seventy
two preschool centers representing private,
government and faith based center types
showed that teachers lacked the knowledge
and skills to handle children’s behavioral
problem and especially those with special
needs. Although preschools covered in the
study, particularly the private ones reported that
they employ teachers with special training on
preschools education, the quality of the training
and performance of the teachers appears
inadequate. The problem is more serious at
government owned preschools. Teachers that
are assigned to work at the newly established
O-grades functioning in the premises of
primary schools have been trained as primary
school teachers not as preschool teachers.
This new assignment of primary school
teachers assumes primary school pedagogy
and the training they got from teacher training
institutions are equally applicable to teach in
the preschool program. This horizontal shift
from the primary school teaching to preschool
teaching is one possible contributing factor
for low quality of care giving and down-push
formal school pedagogy to these centers. This
argument is consistent with Nyamweya and
Mwaura’s (1996) assertion about the situation
prevailed in Kenya. They stated:
Because primary school teacher training
does not include training in early childhood
education and the primary school curriculum
is not harmonized with that of ECDE, there is
a disconnection between primary schooling
and ECDE. Many of the observed pre primary
classrooms do not make use of child-centered
and activity-oriented learning environment
(p.234).
A developmentally appropriate ECCE program
calls for configuring the physical environment
to be age appropriate. An age appropriate
environment takes into account the shaping
of the physical environment for effective
interaction between care givers and children
as well as among children...Classroom
observations in the private kindergartens and
government supported preschool centers
(Girma,2014) showed that the type and quality
of interaction between care givers and children
was limited to the development of numeric
and literacy abilities with little or no attention to
other aspects of development such as prosocial
behavior and communication skills. Extreme
adherence to the cognitive outcomes at the
expense of other developmental domains can
be attributed to care givers lack of adequate
training and knowledge on the importance of
holistic approach to early child hood care and
education program.
To what extent programs deliver combination
of freely chosen child-initiated activities and
well planned adult-initiated activities?
Early Childhood Care and Education curriculum
is a policy document meant to achieve the
development of pre-literacy and numeracy
skills and emotional development through
well planned adult initiated activities and play.
The path ways for realizing the preschool
curriculum objectives can be enriched through
indoor and outdoor activities by which
children and care givers involve in meaning
full interaction. The emphasis the curriculum
ascribes to play- dominated activity does not
necessarily mean that the ECCE curriculum is
being implemented haphazardly in a vacuum
without explicit achievable objectives.
Developmental theories and UN child rights
conventions strongly articulate the importance
of responding to children’s choices and care
givers’ scaffolding role in the implementation
of the curriculum in developmentally
and culturally appropriate way. Piaget’s
constructivist theory (Miller, 1996) emphasizes
the importance of environmental exploration
for children to construct cognitive schemas.
Young children in the early childhood years,
who are in the preoperational period according
to Piaget’s stages of development, learn
through reciprocities with their social milieu
and physical environment. It is through self
initiated interaction with the environment that
their imagination and thinking develops. ECCE
programs need to provide with ample and
diverse opportunities for children to share their
lived experiences to peers and care givers in a
meaningful way.
The general comment 7 in the UN child
rights convention is in congruence with the
importance of appreciating children’s views
and their entitlement to express their interests
in socially acceptable way rather than ignoring
and subjugating to adult interests. The general
comment 7 is founded on three principles
that have practical implications for delivering
combinations of freely chosen child-initiated
activities and well planned adult-initiated
activities (Woodhead,2006).These are:
(a) The child’s right to be consulted in matters
that affect them should be implemented from
the earliest stage in ways appropriate to the
child’s capacities, best interests, and rights to
protection from harmful experiences;
(b) The right to express views and feelings
should be anchored in the child’s daily life at
home, within early childhood health, care and
education facilities, in legal proceedings, and in
the development of policies and services; and
(c) That all appropriate measures should
be taken to ensure that all those with
responsibilities towards young children listen
to their views and respect their dignity.
Empirical researches as well support the
importance of children’s participation for
their cognitive and social development. As
reviewed by Woodhead (2006), involving
children as partners in social interaction,
reciprocal exchange and transactional patterns
of mutual influence would enhance their social
development. The international IEA Pre-primary
Project (Montie et al., 2006) found that children
were likely to have higher language scores at
age seven if they attended centers where less
time was spent in whole group activities, and
where teachers allowed children to choose
their own activities, compared to children who
had attended centers where personal care and
group activities predominated. The authors
suggested free choice activities may be more
interesting and engaging to the children, than
those that are proposed by teachers. In addition,
these activities allow opportunities for children
to interact verbally with other children, and for
teachers to engage in relevant conversation
and introduce new vocabulary
Another research done by Huffman and
Speer (2000) showed when activities are
child initiated, and children are engaged in
problem-solving and inquiry-oriented learning,
their academic skills excelled compared to
children cared and educated through didactic
instruction such as teacher directed planned
tasks focusing on acquiring and practicing of
academic skills. Recent evidences indicate
that ECEC curricula tuned according to the
principles of developmentally appropriate care
and education involving play and cooperative
learning is important for the development of
cognitive and social development augmented
through peer interaction and guided
participation. In order to smooth the transition
from home environment to the preschool
environment and subsequently to the formal
school system, the developmentally appropriate
curriculum is more promising compared to
the didactic curriculum. The developmental
curriculum bridges the gap between the home
environment and the preschool environment
by approximating the two micro-systems in
terms of time and space. Rather than making
the change between the home and the ECCE
environment abrupt it is a gradual process
that prepares children to cope up with new
demands in a new setting.
In quite many instances however, the problem
is striking the balance between freely chosen
child-initiated activities and adult initiated
activities. In the division of center based
activities the lion’s share goes to the care givers.
Children’s role is minimal or in some cases nil.
This tendency emanated from the traditional
belief that young children are underdeveloped
and they lack the capacity to understand and
communicate with others and always their
preferences and choices are subordinate to
adults in the family and the society at large.
Another explanation for limited opportunity
for children’s to make choices arises from
the notion that young children in a cohort
group have similar interests despite their
varied backgrounds. The common adage
“children are always children “regardless of
the environment they grow is a preconceived
sentimentality that is implicated in our day-to-
day interactions with children. Early childhood
care and education teachers cannot be immune
from this traditional belief. The tendency for
teachers to interpret and define the ECCE
curriculum narrowly entails superimposing
of their interests at the expense of children’s
interests. Miller. Regina (1996) described the
situation as “force feeding curriculum” which
of course does not serve much purpose.
One way towards delivering the ECCE
curriculum by combining freely chosen
child-initiated activities and well planned
adult initiated activities is through play. A
number of writers ascertained that play is
uncontested means by which care givers can
make the ECCE curriculum developmentally
and culturally appropriate. Play is the royal
road for young children to learn, grow, and
develop. Play affords children opportunities to
explore, discover, attempt varying roles, relate
to others, and exercise creativity. Play should
be child initiated, child directed, and teacher
supported. Play is developmental and is not
only an integral component a developmentally
appropriate curriculum and practice but
also provides a lee way for implementation
(Smilansky, 1990; Bakken, 1990 cited in Miler,
1996). Hence, teachers need to be convinced
that play is essential to the healthy and all round
development of all children. Free and guided
play in center-based setting is a pedagogical
avenue for combining freely chosen child-
initiated activities and well planned adul-
initiated activities.
An alternative path way for practicing child
driven developmentally appropriate ECCE
curriculum is accessing children to outdoor
experiences. The ECCE curriculum can be
enriched by allowing children to spend a
substantial amount of the daily schedule out of
the classroom. Confining children for the entire
morning or afternoon within the four walls is
not only monotonous but also deprives them
from developing optimally.
A survey conducted in seventy preschool
centers in Addis Ababa (Girma, 2014) showed
that activities performed during devotion
time were episodes by which the curriculum
can be linked to outdoor activities. During
devotion time, for example children echoed
like wild or domestic animals. At times they
flipped their hands mimicking flying birds.
This kind of pretension was not only physical
movement but also a mental activity. Such
activities were developmental path ways by
which the preschool teachers could make a link
between the curriculum and children’s lived
experiences. The dance and movements were
primarily meant to fulfill certain goals set in
the curriculum materials. As noted by Lorenzo-
Lasa, Ideishi & Ideishi (2007), preschool
movement and dance brings a multi-layered
experience to children of all abilities and can
also reinforce math and logic concepts through
rhythm and patterns of beat and tempo.
Physical movements that start with warm up
exercises and progressively mounting into the
development of complex cognitive abilities
and social skills such as awareness about body
organs, counting and rhythm, language and
emotional expression during devotion time
are avenues by which children can interact
with their environment in an entertaining and
imaginative way.
Verbal communication was seen to be the
overwhelming discourse in the interaction
process in many of the centers observed. It is
true that children can learn through observation
and modeling of care givers. But such kind of
learning by no means guarantees children’s
learning. The chalk-talk method does not give
equal opportunity for the child in the same way
as the discovery oriented, hands-on method.
According to Miller (1996) “What a child does,
a child learns. The more often a child engages
in an experience, the more the learning is
cemented.
A number of early childhood care and education
centers here in the capital and the regions
especially in the urban areas, for example,
claim that their programs are crafted along the
Montessori approach. Though this approach
emphasizes the development of academic
concepts, practical life skills, development of
the senses, and character (Epstein etal., in
Walsh, & Petty, 2007),it is not clear to what
extent the physical environment and processes
in these centers are contributing to these
aspects of development in a natural and orderly
manner. The Montessori approach presets
the availability of sand trays, chalkboards,
and language cards to enhance imagination
which many centers in the Ethiopian context
are lacking (with the exception of few private
ECCE centers). Ministry of Education has
set standards for preschool centers in terms
of size of the compound and classrooms,
facilities, offices, toilets, dining rooms, and
first aid kits. However, according to UNESCO
Cluster office Addis Ababa (2006) report, none
of the preschools visited by the office met the
standard set by the Ministry of Education. The
newly developed curriculum (MoE, 2002), is a
means towards standardization of programs.
However, exaggerated differences in structural
and process aspects in the centers could
result in significant variations among children
in terms of immediate learning experiences
and lasting cognitive and social outcomes as
they progress to the formal schooling.
Many of the care givers in the Ethiopian
context assume that knowledge is something
that is poured into the child’s mind. Many of
the care givers assumed that knowledge is not
something that is constructed by the child or
something the child has to construct for her
or himself. Many of the observed classrooms
either lacked interactive materials or they didn’t
make use of the existing materials effectively
and efficiently. Except sliders, Merry Go Round,
and Swinging, other equipments that enhance
gross motor development were either not in
place or developmentally inappropriate. Games
and puzzles that trigger children’s thinking and
fine motor activities were not found as part
and parcel of the preschool environment. This
situation indeed seemed to limit the scope and
quality of child initiated activities and made
the process to take place in monotonous and
repetitive pattern.
Age-appropriate equipment provides children
with opportunities to safely practice gross
motor skills without putting them at risk for
unnecessary injury. Climbing equipments
up to 60” high, Merry go-rounds, Slides, done indicates that the teacher in the classroom
Swings, Ramps, Spiral slides up to 3600 are really does not understand child development
recommended equipments for preschool or classroom management. According to
children from 2 to five years. Protective Miller (1996), the focus of a developmentally
surfacing is required around a fall zone area appropriate curriculum is:
and under gross motor climbing, sliding, or
Children learn through interaction with children,
swinging equipment to prevent injury from falls.
materials, and adults. In developmentally
The surfaces under and around play equipment
appropriate curriculum, children learn
should be soft enough to cushion falls, which
through direct experiences not by learning
are the most frequent causes of injuries on
about persons, places, and things from
playgrounds. Common indoor surfaces such as
someone always telling them about them. In
rugs, tumbling mates, or carpet and common
a developmentally appropriate environment,
outdoor surfaces such as grass or dirt are not
children learn science, social studies,
adequate cushioning for gross motor equipment
language arts, and math through reading
with a fall height greater than 18” even when
books and listening to stories, engaging in
the equipment is not anchored. It is true that
sensory experiences, participating in cooking
many kindergartens and few newly operating
experiences, being involved with art activities,
O-grade preschool centers have Merry go-
taking part in dramatic play, using manipulative,
rounds, Slides, Swings, Ramps, Spiral slides.
taking field trips, building, creating, and sharing
However, standards are not set when planting
all of these experiences with their peers and
these equipments before they give service to
the adults in their classrooms (p.14)
the children. One could easily observe that the
surfaces under these equipments are over-used The collective life style typical to the Ethiopian
and it is not uncommon to see children harmed. culture exemplifies itself in a number of
Mere presence of these equipments does not ways. The sharing attitude, religious and
necessarily mean that they are age appropriate cultural festive, the caring network right from
.Like any other standard control measures, pregnancy to the birth of the infant are platforms
regional and Woreda educational bureaus and in which the child exercises togetherness. In
experts in discharge of maintaining quality in fact except in rare cases, care givers in ECCE
ECCE program need to develop age appropriate centers seem to be highly affectionate, caring
guidelines for play ground equipments. and loving which was often reciprocated by
children. The ECCE curriculum, however,
A typical classroom in the observed ECCE
requires not only imparting knowledge and
centers was characterized by highly structured
skills to children but approaching holistically and
and didactically segmented smaller units of
addressing developmental milestones for the
activities. Daily and weekly plans showed that
age group. In addition to ensuring quality care
the care giver child interactions were taking
giving, the curriculum emphasizes practicing
place along these didactic elements planned
early stimulation and learning through the use
early at the beginning of the week or semester.
of play, learning materials and active learning
Scheduling the flow of daily, weekly, monthly
methods such as exploration, experimentation,
activities is merely taken as good sign of
observation and discussions in multiple ways
practice. It always served the care givers as
with children and among children themselves
hard and fast guideline to exercise the ECCE
to enhance school readiness.
curriculum. However, what matters is the
Lack of standardization is a bottleneck for
quality of the activity and the extent to which
making the curriculum developmentally and
children’s interests are served as a result of
culturally appropriate and relevant. Wide
the plan. Rigidly sticking to the schedules does
variations among urban, rural, government,
not pay much to promote quality care giver
private center types in the development and
child interactions for positive experiences of
implementation of the curriculum, more over
children. According to Miller (1996) sticking to
inaccessibility to indoor and outdoor facilities
a schedule to make sure that everything gets
and resources resulted in wide variation among
preschool children in their readiness to meet
the demands of the formal school curriculum.
An extensive survey on quality of early childhood
care and education that covered five regions,
two city governments, and major towns in the
respective administrative regions in Ethiopian
showed that there is lack of standardization
in the preparation of ECCE curriculum. The
majority of center heads involved in this
survey (45.8%) indicated that the greater
portion of curriculum preparation was carried
out by either the regional educational bureaus
or the schools themselves and 25% of the
respondents described that the Ministry of
Education prepares the curricula. On the other
hand, 8% of center heads stated that curriculum
preparation is the duty of school directors. Very
few center heads (4.2%) had the view that
the preschool centers prepare the curricula
for themselves and one center head (1.4%)
responded that individual teachers prepare
curricula for preschool education(Teka, Daniel,
Daniel, Girma &Yekoye,2016). Standardization
in curriculum does not necessarily mean the
use of one and same centralized curriculum
across all centers in all regions. In multi lingual
society like Ethiopia where there are rich and
diverse cultural heritages, the “one jacket
suits all” is not only inapplicable but also
deprives children from enjoying their rights
and privileges embedded in their respective
cultures. Regional and center type disparities
in terms of facilities, resources, learning and
stimulating materials is obviously a stumbling
block for making the curriculum culturally
relevant and misdirects the very objective of
preschool program in preparing children for the
formal school system.
Do children have the opportunity to construct
meanings and understandings with adults?
One of the dimensions of early childhood
professional practice articulated by NAYEC
about the developmental appropriateness
of programs is creating a caring community
of learners. This dimension is mainly
about maintaining positive relationship
between children and care givers, among
children themselves, and children and the
early childhood physical environment in a
reciprocating and multiple developmental
paths. From the socio-cultural perspective,
development is not external to the child
rather takes place as a function of negotiated
relationship between partners taking part in the
process. When children interact with adults and
get the opportunity to play together, work on
projects in child-to-child small groups, learning
is enhanced. Interacting with other children in
small groups provides a context for children to
develop prosocial behavior and communication
skills, enables children to construct meaning
and make sense out of this interaction.
Children respond positively to care givers for
the simple reason that they spend more time
in centers and through time have built trust
relationship with each other. When care givers
are sincere and show interest in children’s’
activities they seek support and are encouraged
to share their views and preferences in a
socially acceptable manner. The constructivist
caregiver is one who tunes in and picks up
children’s reactions and ideas rather than trying
to impose his/her own predetermined goals.
It is the quality of the relationship created
by the sensitive care giver that provides the
framework for assistance and encouragement
and promotes development (Carl, 2005).
The so far empirical works demonstrate that early
years learning are built around five overlapping
practice principles that are congruent with the
conceptions of developmentally appropriate
early childhood care and education. The
attributes that make the early years learning
efficient and relevant are : building strong early
relationships(Relationships), a more active
role for adults in children’s learning during play
(Participating), a greater focus on concept
formation within early learning contexts
(Equipped), the importance of engaged,
responsive and reciprocal learning relationships
with children (Engaged in learning and thinking)
and professionals and families working together
to build programs for the diverse cultural
contexts of learners (Connected)( source----).
Unlike the traditional thought that debilitates
children’s active role in constructing their
environment, the new sociological approach
conceives childhood not only as biological
entity but also a developmental stage that is in
a constant evolvement as a result of negotiated
relationship with adults. Malaguzzi (1993 cited
in Woodhead, 2006) stated that“Our image of
children no longer considers them as isolated
and egocentric…does not belittle feelings or
what is not logical. Instead our image of the
child is rich in potential, strong, powerful,
competent and most of all, connected to adults
and other children” (p. 10).
Earlier thoughts ascribed the caring of
children mainly to parents. However, the
emerging transactional model conceptualizes
childhood as a developmental stage emerging
from a triad interaction involving care givers,
parents, children and factors such as policies
and guidelines at macro level. Hence, “the
new paradigm of the sociology of childhood”
(Prout and James; cited in Dahlberg, Moss,
&Pence, 2005:49) conceives childhood as not
marginalized stage; but an integral part of the
social structure of the society. Mayall (cited in
Dahlberg, Moss, &Pence, 2005) stated that
“Children are considered to be a social group:
psychological individualization of children gives
way to sociological consideration of how as
a group their lives are affected by large-scale
socio-economic factors” (p.49). The traditional
view that ascribes the well being of children
at home and center-based settings to either
care givers or parents seems to be out mode.
The new modality re-conceptualizes early child
hood care and education program as a dynamic
process involving children themselves and
the society at large to effect developmental
outcomes in the cognitive, social and emotional
domains.
Research findings documented in the literature
of early childhood development have shown
the importance of building mutually satisfying
relationship between children and adults. This
has been attested by early and modern theories
of child development (Osofsky and Thompson,
2009). The idea of “affect attunement”
coined by Stern (1985 ; cited in Osofsky and
Thompson,2009) to describe the ability of
both partners in bringing feelings, images and
memories to their mind, for example, would
help to predict the behavior of one another and
a means to monitor one’s behavior. The concept
of “emotional availability” developed by Emde
(1980; cited in Osofsky andThompson,2009) to
illustrate the instrumental role of reciprocity for
optimal emotional development emphasizes
adult’s capacity to read the emotional cues
and work towards meeting these needs.
Hence, the presence of a consistent care giver
that values and appreciates the well being of
a child in ECCE centers is not only the most
determinant factor in the child’s development
but also a protective element against risk
factors.
The concept of equilibration in Piaget’s
cognitive developmental theory presupposes
the importance of active interaction between
children and their environment. Accordingly,
children assimilate new actions into existing
schema and accommodate them into new
groupings through active transaction with
the environment. The forces that implicate
development in children according to Piaget
originate from within and without. These
forces that explain developmental processes
in children according to Piaget are four. Baldwin
(1980) summarized Piaget’s hypothesis of the
developmental processes as follows.
The process of development are, first, certain
maturational ones, although their exact role is
not clear; second, the results of experience
with the environment itself; third, the result of
explicit and implicit teaching of the children by
other people in their environment; and fourth,
the process of equilibration, which is set in
motion whenever the children’s belief system
develops far enough to begin to contain self-
contradiction (p.254)
Vygotsky (1978, cited in Carl, 2005) contends
that the gap between what a child can do alone
and what he/she can do with someone’s help
(zone of proximal development) is reduced
when children develop their competencies
through interactions with others. According
to Vygotsky (cited in Essa, 1990), “Social
interaction, especially dialog, between
children and adults is the mechanism through
which specific cultural values, customs,
and beliefs are transmitted from generation
to generation.”(p.115). Children’s direct
experience in the centers and their interactions
with care givers: described as “the engine of
development” by (Bronfenbrenner& Morris,
1998 cited in Howes et al., 2008) was found to
be important quality correlate of developmental
outcomes. Classroom interactions between
children and care givers in a state of positive
social and emotional atmosphere promote
early literacy and language development.
Effective interaction built around instructional
content areas was found to be predictor of
children’s general knowledge and academic
skills (Howes etal, 2008). Classrooms and play
grounds in early childhood care and education
centers are developmental niches in which
preschool children’s developmental outcomes
are configured through the process of child-
care giver-setting triad interactions. Analogous
to the child’s home environment, ECCE
classrooms are “the most proximal settings
nested within child care centers” (p.303)
for predicting quality of child care services
(Pillipsen, Burchinal, Howes & Debby, 1997).
The child-adult interaction process that shapes
school readiness is based on the contention
that neither the child nor the environment
alone would contribute substantially in
smoothening the transition period. Rather,
“child-by-environment model” (Palerno, et al
2007), provides a comprehensive picture of the
factors that shape children’s school readiness.
Birch and Ladd (1997), Palermo et al., (2007),
showed that teacher-child closeness was
positively associated with kindergarteners’
self-directedness, and greater competency
behavior such as assertive social skills, and peer
sociability at the end of first grade. Emphasis on
the quality of the interaction among preschool
teachers, children, and materials reflect the
widely accepted view that the effects of early
care and education settings derive from these
exchanges (Howes, & Richie, 2002; Pianta,
199; Cited in Crouch et al., 2006).
The child’s behavioral tendencies to use the
preschool care giver as a social reference
builds not only mutual emotional bond but also
encourages optimal environmental exploration
for cognitive and social development.
Important factors that mediate care giver-child
interaction include behavioral repertories of
both the child and the caregiver and the quality
of bi-directional flow of information governed
by the give-and take principle. In summarizing
research findings, Kelly and Barnard (2009)
reported that care giver characteristics such as
looking at, smiling at, vocalizing to, and physical
proximity are adult behavioral repertories that
enhance cognitive and social development and
environmental exploration.
Child centered pedagogy in the ECCE curriculum
underlines the importance of children’s
intrinsically motivated activity and initiative and
scaffolding and guided participation by care
givers.The responsibility of the care giver is
not limited to creating conditions for optimal
implementation of the ECCE curriculum. It goes
beyond practicing the didactic curriculum and
accommodating learning experiences from the
wider culture. The very idea of developmentally
and culturally appropriate ECCE program is
respecting developmental principles advocated
by mainstream developmental sciences and
allowing children to take initiatives in activities
channeled through different kinds of play and
collaborative work in small groups. This being
the rule early childhood care and education
programs still suffer from over emphasis to the
development of literacy and numeric abilities ,
teacher centeredness and more or less similar
to that of the formal school system in form
and content. According to (Dickinson, 2002;
Marcon, 200) in many countries, pressure by
policy makers to produce immediate results
in easy measurable domains as literacy and
mathematics forced preschool teachers to
emphasize the didactic approach curriculum
and undermine the developmental approach
curriculum which of course has a lasting effect
on children’s’ development.
A survey in seventy two classrooms at Addis
Ababa showed that almost little less than half
of the classrooms observed were found to fall
below the mean quality value as measured by
the Care giver Child Interaction Scale. Results
from quantitative data analysis have shown that
quality of care giver child interaction has been
found significantly affected by the interaction of
class size and care givers teaching experience.
Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)
results showed that16 % of the generalized
variance in the dependent measures of care
giver child interaction was accounted for by
the interaction of class size and care givers’
teaching experience (Girma, 2014). The study
further indicated that much emphasis was
given to the development of numeric and
literacy with little or no attention paid to other
aspects of development such as prosocial
behavior and communication skill. Classroom
sessions were didactically structured in a
rigid and fixed manner like that of the formal
school system limiting the quality and scope of
interaction.
Data gathered from classroom observations
also showed that care givers use a number
of strategies to appreciate individual
performances. It was possible to observe
that care givers using different strategies
ranging from the use of verbal appraisal to
material rewards in recognition of children’s
unique potentialities. In some of the observed
classrooms children’s art works and best
practices were posted on the wall so that
other children and parents could see and
appreciate. However, care giver-individual
child interactions were found to be minimal.
Gross interactions appeared to overwhelm the
overall process in the observed classrooms.
Non-responsive behavior to the child’s cues,
inadequate one-to-one, face-to-face, eye-to-
eye interactions, and above all inadequate
individual support to the needing ones seemed
to dominate the interactions. Appreciating
the child’s uniqueness means to get into the
child’s inner world and tune the interaction in
a way that his/her interests are addressed to
enhance development in multiple ways. The
traditional one way teacher child interaction
predominantly observed in the primary schools
was unwittingly pushed down and exercised
in the ECCE centers. Care givers commonly
opted to put all children in one melting pot and
attempted to exercise ECCE in more or less
similar fashion as practiced in the primary level
classrooms.
According to Pence and Nesamenang (2008) the
major impediment to early child development
in Africa is failure to blend the cultural
heritages into the existing service systems.
Like other societies, Ethiopian families have
their own way of inculcating values, beliefs
and behaviors in the minds of the children.
This indigenous pattern of childcare has its
own “organizational coherence that is usefully
oriented toward purposes different from those
of foreign origin” (Nesamenang, 2005b, cited
in Pence and Nesamrnang, 2008:21). In the
Ethiopian context, however, parents seem to
grade the standard of ECCE centers in terms
of the emphasis they give to English language
skill at the expense of all other competencies.
Competency is ascribed to children’s ability
to converse in English. Richness in English
language vocabulary and spelling are seen as
marks of competency in learning. Little or no
attempt has been observed to indigenize the
preschool curriculum. De-emphasizing the
traditional values and exclusive adherence
to the “western imposed ontology and alien
epistemology” Misra &Gergen (1993) might
instills not only knowledge dependency but
in the long run threaten children’s identity.
Lanyasunya and Lesolayia(2001 cited in
Nsamenang,2008),advised the necessity of
making indigenous approaches compatible
into the modern situation in terms of child
stimulation and play materials, songs, lullabies,
and poems that are too often ignored or
obscured in the effort to respond to donor-
identified needs.
Classroom observations demonstrated that
care givers tended to expect children to be
highly loyal and obedient regardless of time
and space. In many instances the interactions
were bracketed by ‘do’s and don’ts’. Care
givers’ behavior such as placing high value on
obedience, for example, saying ‘don’t talk’,
‘cross your hands on your chest’, ‘Hands on
chest’ and the ‘don’t move’ orders could be
considered as all lack of proper scheduling
of activities and lack of knowledge about the
meaning of developmentally appropriate care
giver child interaction. Unfortunately many of
the care givers assumed quieter classes and
quieter children as signs of discipline and
desirable behavior. As commented by Miller
(1996), such care givers assume that good
care giving is making the classroom quiet
and enforce children to be confined to their
seats. Care givers were seen appreciating
those children showing docile behavior. The
concept of developmentally appropriate care
giver child interaction, however, presupposes
the avoidance of care givers’ behavior that
threatens the child’s ego. In strict sense
ignoring the child’s intentions and interests
or not reciprocating to cues elicited from the
child can be considered as punitive behavior.
According to Miller (1996):
Developmentally appropriate practice
prescribes that adults may never engage in
the neglect of children; scream at children
in anger; inflict physical or emotional
pain; criticize a child’s person or family by
ridiculing, blaming, teasing, insulting, name
calling, threatening, or using frightening or
humiliating punishment. Adults should not
laugh at children’s behavior, nor discuss
it among themselves in the presence of
children or non-teaching adults. Adults
should nurture, care, praise, support, guide,
redirect, and discuss things with children
(Miller, 1996, p.15).
Positive interaction is not limited to emotional
attachment. It is not limited to showing feeling
of warmth, sincerity, enjoyment and patience
to children. Positive interaction engulfs care
givers behavior such as provision of choices,
facilitate opportunities for self-development,
encourage children to exhibit prosocial
behavior, and provide the opportunity to work
in small groups. Miller (1996) characterizes the
preschool teachers’ personal and professional
qualities in the following paragraph.
The early childhood educator is the key
to integrated curriculum because of his
or her role as an observer, facilitator,
organizer, and innovator. Since this person
is the one to develop, implement, and
evaluate what occurs in his or her own
classroom, this educator is in the right
place at the right time in order to see what
is and what is not working. Success in the
classroom according to this approach is
measured by observing the following in
the children: involvement, productivity,
enthusiasm, self-esteem, social skills,
literacy development, both oral and written
communication skills, problem-solving
skills, and independence in a social and
learner sense (p.84)
Conclusion
A review of the current status of Early Childhood
Care and Education in Ethiopia shows that the
sector has been crawling and at times moving
at a very slow rate without making meaningful
difference in terms of access and quality and
enabling the age group beneficiaries of child
rights. This can be evidenced from the fact
that ECCE was paid low recognition compared
to its older siblings; primary, secondary and
tertiary education for the last decades. A land
mark that can be considered as a promising
breakthrough and opened a glimmering
opportunity for Ethiopian children is the
endorsement of the National Policy Framework
and Strategic Operational Plan and Guidelines
for Early Childhood Care and Education
Acceptance of the view that children’s behavior,
thinking, social relationships and adaptation,
are cultural as much as biological has profound
implications on staff’s competency to
understand the nature of children’s development.
When an individual teacher is better prepared
through pre and in service trainings about
the physical, social, emotional, language, and
cognitive development of children, then that
teacher will have the skill in translating the
curriculum within the framework of an age-and
-individual appropriate developmental path
way. A teacher who does not have command
of the main stream psychological knowledge
and pedagogical skill will have difficulty in
planning and implementing activities that are
developmentally appropriate for children coming
from different socio-economic background.
This being the rule empirical findings from
classroom observation showed that variations
in training period, wide gaps in trainees profile
at entry and exit levels and more over the fact
that preschool teaching is not prestigious job
in view of the 21st entitlements are found to
be contributing factors for low quality care
giving in preschool centers. Over emphasis
to the cognitive outcomes at the expense of
other developmental domains by preschool
teachers can be attributed to lack of adequate explore the environment, provision of choices
training and knowledge in making programs for self-development, encouraging children
developmentally appropriate and culturally to exhibit prosocial behavior, and providing
relevant. the opportunity to work in small groups were
This paper also showed that in quite many not well taken by care givers. This situation
instances there appeared the problem of indeed seemed to limit the scope and quality
striking the balance between freely chosen of interaction and made the process of care
child-initiated activities and adult-initiated and education to take place in monotonous
activities. Verbal communication and the and repetitive pattern. In general, the
chalk-talk method were considered as developmental appropriateness of preschool
overwhelming discourses in the interaction programs
process. A typical ECCE classroom in the when viewed in terms of teachers competence
Ethiopian context is characterized by highly to discharge their care giving responsibilities
structured and didactically segmented , on the developmental appropriateness of
smaller units of activities. Many of the care the curriculum in enhancing children’s free
givers in the Ethiopian context assume that exploration of their environment and children’s
knowledge is something that is poured into contribution in constructing meanings via well
the child’s mind. Many of the care givers planned adult-initiated activities seem to be
assumed that knowledge is not something inadequate.
that is constructed by the child or something
the child has to construct for her or himself.
This tendency emanated from the traditional
belief that young children are underdeveloped
and they lack the capacity to understand and
communicate with adults and always their
preferences and choices are subordinated to
adult family members.
Although a number of early childhood care and
education centers in the capital and the regions
claim that their programs are crafted along the
Montessori approach evidences showed that
the physical environment and processes in
these centers do not lend themselves to the
development of academic concepts, practical
life skills, development of the senses, and
character. Many of the classrooms either
lacked interactive materials or they didn’t make
use of the existing materials effectively and
efficiently. Except sliders, Merry Go Round,
and Swinging, that enhance gross motor
activities, equipments that enhance fine motor
development are missing.

The traditional one way teacher child interaction

predominantly observed in the primary schools
was unwittingly pushed down and exercised
in the ECCE centers. Positive interaction is
perceived by care givers in its narrow sense
limited to showing feeling of warmth, and
sincerity, to children. The opportunity to freely
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 Quality of Early Years Education (EYE) in Ethiopia: A Meta-Analysis
Abraha Asfaw
Abstract:The purpose of this paper was to analyze the status of quality indicators of Early Years
Education (EYE) in Ethiopia - preschool up to grade 4. To realize this objective, three sets of documents
were analyzed: (a) National policy/curricular documents; (b) International documents; and (c) Local
research reports. The first two were used to understand the policy provisions and practical and
thereby produce operationally functional analytical framework for the analysis of quality indicators
extracted from studies in the area under discussion. Thus, the method employed in this study falls
under the category of meta-analysis that helps to reorganize existing data to give meaning and
understand trends of the prevailing situation. Results showed that: (1) despite the establishment of
minimum standards and policy documents by the MoE, Early Childhood Education is not only mainly
is limited in scope to urban areas and the instructional process focuses on letter identification and
mastery of numbers instead of on stimulation and enhancement of school readiness. Socialization
and play do not characterize the ECE classrooms but technical skills regarding writing, “fidel”
identification and numeracy, sometimes beyond their age specific learning capacity. (2) The studies
conducted on grades 1-4 so far focus on reading ability, number competence and assessment of
curricular based objectives. Generally, almost all studies indicated that the mean scores of students
are far below the policy expectation (50% and above in each subject). This informs that quality of
education is relatively low and needs re-engineering to change the situation. It is time to analyze not
only the relevance of policy, research and practice but also test specific intervention mechanisms to
come up with feasible and context responsive solutions.

Keywords: Quality of education, Early Years Education, Quality of Early Years Education.
Introduction
It has been over a century since the introduction of secular education in Ethiopia. In those years of
experience, areas of concerns varied from time to time. For about six decades (from 1900’ to 1960’s),
the idea of contextual relevance stood at the front line and instigated debates over the relevance of
the curricula and classroom instruction. As the system was imported from French, the curricular at
the time reflected European cultures and system of knowledge without much consideration to the
cultural, social, political and economic elements of the country. Teachers, headmasters, medium of
instruction, examinations were copies of the French society and the curriculum was dominated by
language subjects, probably for diplomatic purposes (Work, 1934; Tekeste, 1990; Richard Pankhurst,
1962). The scope of educational opportunity was also limited and when the Italians invade the
country in 1935, there were only 4,200 students in 21 government schools (MoE, 1984).

It is difficult to assume formal education for Ethiopians during the invasion of the Italians. The
type of education was rudimentary and limited to the lower ages, just as an activity rather than
as a process of human development. After the expulsion of the Italians and the start of school
reconstruction in 1942, history identifies two major challenges of the education sector at the time:
(a) there was no coherent and uniform educational practice in the country; and (b) in the 1940’s
and 1950s, the influence shifted towards Britain and USA respectively, and same as that of French,
teachers and curricular materials were imported and medium of instruction at all levels became
English (Teshome, 1979; MoE, 1948). In general, “Ethiopia adopted the policies and practices of
Britain and USA in the 1940’sand 1950‘s respectively until it shifted to the USSR side during the
Derg time (1974 – 1991)” (Abraha, 2015).
As a result, Ethiopian scholars at the Ministry of Education developed and piloted Ethiopianized
curriculum, called third curriculum , from 1956 – 1961 (Maaza, 1961). This new curriculum was
developed to Ethiopianize the education system and was piloted in five schools (Ameha-Desta,
Medhane-Alem, and Asfa-Wossen schools from Addis Ababa; Model school attached to the TTI in
Harara; Atse Zera-Yacob from Debre-Berhan) from 1956 – 1961. As per the report by Ayalew (1964),
it showed better relationship to the contextual issues of the local school situation at the time.

However, it became difficult to implement this newly designed system because of the outgrowth of
the Addis Ababa Conference proposal intended universalizing education in Africa by 1980 .

1. The first curriculum was a 6-6 system (six years of primary followed by six years of secondary education) designed in
1947; the second functioned on the principle of 8-4 system and the third (the pilot one) was a 6-2-4 type.

2. Towards the beginning of early 1960’s many African countries were securing independence from colonialism. Thus,
UNESCO organized education conference in 1964 for African Education Ministers in Addis Ababa aimed at ensuring
universal
Thus, though it never meant issues such as relevance and quality were not critical problems,
priority shifted to increase enrolment and realize universal access as promised at the Addis Ababa
conference. The Jomtien (1990) and Dakar (2000) declarations also focused on EFA issues for the
same purpose - providing educational opportunity for all. Thus, from less than 30% in the early
1990s, lower primary education (grades 1-4) Net Enrolment Rate (NER) passed 90% since the
academic year ending in 2007. Similar growth has been observed in secondary and tertiary levels
(MoE, 1994a; 1994b; 2009).

Concern over quality of education as measured by student learning, thus, started to get public
attention in the country in the first decade of the 21st C. Especially, the findings of the four years cyclic
assessment called National Learning Assessment (NLA) introduced in 2000 at grades 4 and 8, and
that of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) research (RTI, 2010) heightened the attention
towards students’ learning outcomes. Accordingly, government conception seemed changing from
input and process orientation depicted in Education Sector Development Programs I-III (ESDPs I-III)
to learning achievement based conception, as the case in ESDP IV & V. Thus, this paper focuses on
the analysis of current research findings on the level of student learning (achievement) at the level
of KG through lower primary grades (1-4) to define quality of EYE in Ethiopia.

education by 1980. This conference is named as the Addis Ababa Conference. Unfortunately, Emperor Haileselase rejected
the locally designed curriculum at the expense of adopting the the Addis Ababa Conference recommendations.
Defining quality of education
The work of Pirsig (1984) seems to give basis for
the formal conception of quality in general and
quality of education in particular. Pirsig argued
that quality exists for comparative discourses
are common and we tend to say school A is
better than school B. However, according to
Pirsig, quality is not the characteristic of the
object (school), nor is it limited to what the
viewer understands. It is rather a result of
the interaction of the two - the nature of the
object (standard) and the value judgment of
the viewer. This could be categorized as basis
for the philosophical discourses prevailing this
time and determine between what is accepted
and what is not.
As listed by Watty (2010), Harvey and Stensaker
(2008) gave five alternative definitions in line
with the conceptualization of Pirsig (1984):
a) Quality as exceptional -
performances comparatively beyond
the set standard for common
schools.
b) Quality as perfection - performances
with hun dred percent correct and no
defect observed.
c) Fitness for purpose - performance
levels that fit the mission identified
by common understanding of
stakeholders.
d) Quality as value for money - a line of
fitness between expense of
education and its returns.
e) Quality as transformation - this
conception views education as an
agent of social change such as
income level and employment
opportunity of graduates, improving
harmful practices, etc.
In practice, however, the systems approach
seemed to be the favored model in measuring
quality of education in many countries. As
described by Schreerens, Luytn and Ravens
(2011), this systems model can be represented
as follows:
Context
Process or throughput
Out puts
Inputs System Level
School Leve
Classroom Level
Fig. 1: The systems model of education quality
enhancement
(Source: Schreerens, Hans Luytn and Jan van Ravens,
2011, p.5)
The systems model indicates that input and
process issues justify outputs, including
learning outcomes. However, we cannot be
certain about the outcomes simply by looking
at the inputs (such as teacher qualification) and
process (like instructional methods). School
effectiveness is affected by various factors and
there may not be a direct connection (functional
in all contexts) that ensures learning results
through the observations of quality of inputs
and process. Thus, since the EFA declarations
in 1990 (Jomtein, Thailand) and 2000 (Dakar,
Senegal), there is a clear move from input-
based quality conception to learning outcomes
and even highly likely to continue shaping
future agendas in education (Kellaghan &
Greaney, 2001; Kellaghan, 2004). The Dakar
declaration stated this in defining quality
of education: “Improving all aspects of the
quality of education and ensuring excellence
of all so that recognized and measurable
learning outcomes are achieved by all,
especially in literacy, numeracy and essential
life skills” (UNESCO, 2000: 17). The post 2015
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
is not different either. It rather strengthens
the prevailing views because of its focus
on equitable leaning among all children
(United Nations - Secretary General, 2012).
This conception of quality of education is in
coherent with the principle of globalization
that gives priority to standardization, testing
and competition for employment in the market
oriented context (Hyslop - Margison & Sears,
2006).
Why quality at the EYE is critical then? Quality
at EYE is getting attention because of the
following reasons:
a. Not only quality of education at the
early ages gives foundation to
learning potentials but also affects
children’s future success in education
and even in life.
b. Research on learning at the early
years helps to identify learning
potentials (strengths & difficulties)
and take appropriate measures on
time.
c. Intervention schemes are found
effective and cost effective at the
early years than otherwise and
children with learning difficulties at
the early ages, unless supported
properly, are likely to stay behind
those with a relatively better start
(RTI, 2009).
d. Besides, the issues of quality at
EYE are issues learning and life
skills. For example, abilities in
reading and numeracy give basis for
independent learning and life
competency development outside
schools. If we fail to ensure at
this level, children are likely to
develop dependency characteristics
at later age.
Therefore, the analysis of quality in this
paper is limited to research reports that use
status of learning as an indicator and testing
or assessment as a procedure to reveal such
data.
Objectives of the study
The major objectives of this paper include the
following:
1. Document studies conducted on
status of early years education for
ease of utilization as appropriate;
2. Analyze the level of quality of
education as measured by learning
outcomes and compared with policy
standards;
3. Analyze the trend in the status of
quality of early years education in
Ethiopia;
4. Prioritize factors affecting the
quality of early years education in
the Ethiopian context; and
5. Identify future agendas of policy
making, research and practice in
schools
Conceptual framework and
methodology
As described above, the conceptualization
of quality of education has changed to the
measurement of learning outcomes since
the EFA declarations. In terms of focus and
perspective, this is completely different
from the systems model that served quality
of education research for years before the
introduction of EFA declarations. It is true that
context, input, process, and output (learning)
are inseparable. The difference between
input/process and outcome perspectives is
a difference of focus and priority. While the
systems perspective tries to predict the status
of learning from the nature of the educational
environment, the outcome-based one argues
back in search of critical factors contributing to
the situation established. Thus, high, average,
and low assessment scores of students are
used to: (a) label education systems as best,
medium and poor respectively and even, as
we are learning from the reports of the global
testing schemes such as PISA, TIMSS, and
PIRLS, to predict development prospects of
countries in the sample.
In using test scores as quality indicators, two
approaches seem prevalent in practice:
Curriculum-based measurements - studies use
established minimum learning outcomes
or competencies, identified by respective
educational systems, to measure how well
students are learning. This is best for system
performance monitoring purposes but not
for normative analysis. The four year cyclic
National Learning Assessment at grades 4
and 8 in Ethiopia can be cited as one example
in this case. The usual procedure includes
identification of level specific competencies
subject area, operationalzing indicators, item
development, collection and systematic
analysis of data. Thus, comparison of scores
with policy or curricular standards leads to
conclusions on status of quality of education
where the pass mark in Ethiopia is an
For competencies or objectives at policy level in Ethiopia,
see MoE (2010). Curriculum Framework from Ethiopian
Education (KG-grade 12). Addis Ababa; and Moe (2008).
Minimum Learning Competencies. Addis Ababa:
achievement 50% or above (Transitional
Government of Ethiopia, Office of the
Prime Minister, 1993). This approach helps
to judge the status of educational returns
(compared with costs) around the nation or
area of implementation and effectiveness of
the system to bring about desired changes.
However, it has also shortcomings paramount
importance to consider ahead of time including
disregarding contextual variations, overlooking
important outcomes because they were
not part of the curriculum, and the need for
whether the findings show mastery of past
experiences or readiness to the next level.
Developmental appropriateness - Such research
practices are guided by human growth standards
(Deno, et al, 2001) or brain research outcomes
assumed universal in the theory of learning.
In fact, these are linked to generic academic
learning outcomes in school curricular. In this
sense, The Early Grade Reading Assessment
(EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment
(EGMA) and the International Development
and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) model
at Early Childhood Education (ECE) are three
examples that clearly indicate the current trend
in EYE quality measurement practices. In all
the cases, there is the idea of competence (the
integration of knowledge, skill, and interest to
execute desired action (Tiana, et al., 2011)),
measured by accuracy and fluency. Whereas
accuracy refers to correctness, fluency is an
ability to give a correct answer within a given
time.
EGRA EGMA
1. Letter Name knowledge · 1. Oral Counting (OC) ·
2. Phonemic awareness 2. One-To-One Correspon-
dence (OTO) ·
3. Letter sound knowledge 3. Number Identification
(NI) ·
4. Familiar word reading ·
4. Cardinality (C)
5. Unfamiliar word reading ·
5. Quantity Discrimination
(QD)
6. Oral reading fluency ·
6. Missing Number (MN)
7. Reading comprehension
7. Add & Sub
8. Listening comprehension
8. Multiplication & division
9. Dictation
9. Geometric figures
10. Student background ques-
10. Background Question-
tionnaire naire
· The sub-test is timed to one minute.
Fig. 2: Some of the major components of EGRA and EGMA
It should be noted that the main components
of EGRA and EGMA matches developmental
standards with sequence of knowledge and
considers research findings on learning theories
such as the nature of working memory theory
and its effect in learning. Thus, some subtests
are timed to enhance thinking development
but others are not. IDELA also adopts similar
assessment approach to that of EGRA and
EGMA except the focus on preschool education
with due attention on four internationally
recognized domain areas: (a) gross and fine
motor development, (b) emergent literacy
and language, (c) emergent numeracy, and
(d) socio-emotional development. While such
assessments provide the opportunity to value
both accuracy and fluency as elements of
learning, the implementation is too technical
and favors children of rich educational
environment than those from poor families.
Thus, it is up to the educational researchers
to analyze the situation and decide on the
appropriateness of the approach for purpose.
The presentation of approaches in measuring
learning achievements as quality indicators
is not exhaustive but intended to provide
instances on the variations in the area. Nor is
this paper to compare how well each of the
approaches works in the Ethiopian context. The
intention here is rather to include all research
findings that measure learning achievements
to judge quality of education.
In line with the conceptual framework at this expansion in the past few years, this sub-sector
level, the analysis techniques include the still calls for more endeavors to contribute its
following steps: share to the realization of quality enhancement
• Identification of relevant reports in the intentions in the nation.
Ethiopian educational context and textual
The literature in quality of Early Childhood
analysis of respective findings in view
Education (ECE), as measured by the status of
policy directions and assumptions;
learning, is thin. However, the available ones
• Identification of factors that enhance or
indicate important implications to the nature
hinder the status of learning as indicated in
and problems of ECD in Ethiopia. In many
the research reports;
cases, reports show that pre-school education
• Evaluation of the trend overtime; and
is not getting appropriate attention from the
• Identification of policy, research and
government. Mulugeta (2015) analyzed the
practice implications and action areas.
situation and indicated that not only preschool
Thus, this research uses a meta-analysis
is limited in scope and is characterized by:
technique on research reports on quality of
• Inequalities - gender, socio-economic and
education with the intention of looking into
urban-rural differences are obvious;
coherences, differences and implications of
• Most preschools do not have appropriate
the findings so far in context.
location and space for academic activities;
Major Findings • Access to potable water and age appropriate
materials is limited;
Research findings on quality of preschool • It is operated by untrained teachers; and
education in Ethiopia • Curriculum lacks similarity and coherence
Historically, Early Childhood Education (ECE) with government suggestions. An MA
in Ethiopia is still predominantly an urban thesis study conducted by G/Egziabher
phenomenon, operated by NGOs, the private (2014) on practices and challenges at Arada
sector, local communities, and faith-based sub-city, Addis Ababa, with a sample size of
organizations. Up until the academic year 11 governmental preschools, 11 principals,
ending in 2011, education statistics annual 77 teachers, and 44 parents, showed similar
abstracts published by MoE showed that the findings.
government task was limited to developing
curriculum, training of teachers and supervisory
support. In other words, the scope of the
services was so limited and Gross Enrolment
Rate (GER) even by 2011 covered only 5.2% of
the 4-6 years age children in the country (MoE,
2009; 2010a; 2010b; 2011).
In 2010, Ethiopia established a policy framework,
and strategic operational plan and guideline to
that identified four main program components
(parental education, health & early stimulation,
preschool/kindergarten, & non-formal school
readiness) to enhance appropriate development
in the sub-sector. Since then the Child-to-Child
programs and the ‘O’ class are being integrated
into the formal system and contributing their
share in increasing educational opportunity
even in remote rural areas. As a result, GER
jumped from 5.2% in 2010/11 to 21.6% in
2011/12 and to 39% in 2014/15 (MoE, 2012;
2016). Notwithstanding the developments in
The above studies focused not on measuring
performance as quality indicators but on overall
operation the ECD institutions. The following
two studies, on the other hand, included
interpretations on levels of student learning as
a function of selected variables. Fozya (2016)
studied the effectiveness of ECCE in terms
of contributions to enhance preparedness
in physical, intellectual, social and emotional
aspects of children. It was a comparative study
between government and private institutors
that included 223 children (103 males & 120
females). Findings (especially the performance
data) showed that the association of KG
programs with physical and intellectual is
stronger than with the social and emotional
aspects. Besides, the contribution was found
to be better in private preschools, though sex
based difference was not consistent.
Under the assumption that Early Childhood
Care and Development (ECCD) enhances
the realization of learning potentials, Dowd,
et al (2016) designed an impact evaluation
of early childhood intervention quality in
emergent literacy and math in government and
community supported ECCDs (O classes. The
design included treatment and control groups
using the IDELA model and tests administrated
twice to the two randomly selected groups in
seven months time. Those in ECCD programs
(government and community supported) were
also compared with out of ECCD children in
the same environment for longitudinal study
purposes. The study covered a total of 360
children and their caregivers in 36 Save the
Children supported ECCD centers in Oromia
region. Results showed statistically significant
contributions of the intervention (impact of the
IDELA implementation) in emergent literacy,
numeracy, socio-economic (equity) domains.
Especially, the improvements of children from
lower socio-economic status were significant
as compared to those from better backgrounds.
This implies that there is a need for appropriate
interventions to bring desired changes in the
quality of education (at preschool) as measured
by the status of learning in the domains of
the program. In general, the impacts of the
input and process problems indicated in the
above studies show a correlation with the
status of learning in the ECCEs in Ethiopia.
Though studies that directly measure learning
outcomes at this level are rare, the lessons
from the available ones are consistent in their
implication towards quality of EYE.
Apart from the direct measures of learning
outcomes, there are studies (though not
very systematic and common) that indicate
predictive values of KG program to lower
primary education - an indirect measure of
quality. Ethiopia EGRA 2010, for example,
analyzed the relationship between attendance
in KG/preschool and ERGA results at grades
2 and 3 (RTI, 2010). This student level factor
supported the policy assumption that KG
experience enhances student learning
readiness and stimulation at the early grades
of primary.
Research findings on quality of EYE in
Ethiopia
Studies on students’ achievements in Ethiopia
in general can be treated in three categories.
First, in the studies of scholars like Tilaye
and Bedru (2006), Tamirie (2006; 2009),
Muluemebeat (2007), Tatek (2007; 2008),
Poluha (2004) and Camfield (2011) the focus
appeared to be on the determinants of learning
such as domicile, gender, and socio-economic
status at different levels of the education
system. Thus, they were mainly guided by the
principle of comparison than status description
(Abraha, 2015).
Around 2000, Ethiopia started the four year
cyclic learning assessment scheme at grades
4 and 8 and reports were produced by the
Federal Ministry of Education (Ethiopia) in
2000, 2004, 2008, and 2013. In all the cases,
over 10,000 randomly selected grade four
students were included in the national sample
sizes. Results, by subject, were as indicated in
Figure 3 below.

Note: 1. FiNLA/SNLA/TNLA/FNLA stand for First/Second/
Third/Four National Learning Assessment
2. Sample sizes: - FNLA= 10,495; SNLA=13,346;
TNLA=12,220; FNLA=10,787
Fig. 3: Mean scores (%) of grade four students in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd
and 4th National Learning Assessments
Figure 3 shows that the areas of assessment
for quality checking at grade four were reading
comprehension (in mother tongue language),
English, Math, and Environmental Science.
Thus, the findings indicated can be summarized
as follows:
• Except for reading comprehension in
mother tongue language in 2000 and 2004,
and environmental science in 2008, mean
scores of students in each subject area
over time fell below 50% and were below
the expected parameter set at policy level.
• The mean scores show a trend of decline
over the years in each area of assessment
and the composite mean declined from
47.54% in 2000 (FiNLA) to 40.60% in 2013
(FNLA). This seems considerable declines
and requires an explanation to address the
problem.
• Though we are not sure whether the
assessment focused on summative
evaluation of effects (from grade1 through
4) or on readiness to grade5, results show
problems in the development of learning
skills (literacy and numeracy), the bases for
further learning.
• The findings seem informative and realistic
as the trend finally showed convergence to
the same point (about 40% average score)
and it is sending the message it is time to
act for impact.
While the National Learning Assessments tend
to measure curriculum-based outcomes, the
findings of studies guided by the principle of
developmental appropriateness do not seem
different. In fact, such research seems to favor
assessment of reading skills and the information
from other developmental areas is still thin.
The first Early Grade Reading Assessment
(EGRA) was conducted at Woliso area in 2009
as a measure of school effectiveness. Data
were collected from 24 government and nine
community schools to understand how grade
3 students were able to read in their mother
tongue language (Afaan Oromo). Finding
obtained from a sample size of 456 indicated
that only 15% read at 40 words per minute
(viewed by the researchers acceptable). On the
contrary, 36% of the students could not read a
single word correctly and this situation sent a
signal to both MoE and USAID (DeStefano &
Elaheebocus, 2009).
In 2010, a nationwide EGRA was conducted
with a sample size of over 13,000 grades 2
and 3 in five languages (Tigrigna, Amharic,
Afaan Oromo, Af Somali, and Siama Afu) in
seven regions (Tigrai, Amhara, Oromia, SNNP/
Sidama zone, Harari, Benshangulgumuz,
Ethiopia Somali, and Addi Ababa). Findings
were extremely frustrating for everybody-
MoE/government, community/parents,
academicians, practitioners, NGOs, etc. For
example, there were considerable number
of children who could not read a single word
properly and the percentages of zero scorers in
reading comprehension were alarmingly high
as indicate in Figures 4 & 5 below (RTI, 2010).
Note that it is not possible to compare across
language areas because of variations in script,
language structure, language development,
etc.
Fig. 4: Children who were unable to read a single word in their mother tongue
language
Figure 4 shows proportion of children who,
after two and three years of schooling, could
not read even a word correctly in their own
mother tongue langue. This ranges from 3.8%
for grade 3 in Addis Ababa to 69.2% of grade 2
in Sidama zone. Such a limitation is critical and
highly likely to affect negatively, at least, the
motivation of parents to send their children to
school, the independent learning possibilities
of children and reading comprehension
competencies in schools.
Fig. 5: Percentage of children who scored zero in reading comprehension
The data on Figure 5 indicated higher
proportions of low scorers in reading
comprehension in each of the languages and
regions. This is expected as word reading is
the prerequisite of comprehension. If we fail
to read passages, it is obvious that we cannot
provide appropriate answers to questions
from the passage. Both speed and accuracy
elements affect the achievement scores not
only because students will not finish the test
in the given time but also conceptualization of
passage reading depends on time span and
accurate reading of the words to understand
their meaning. If such a problem continues,
students’ ability to study other subjects such
as environmental science will also be affected.
Thus, reading problem is a learning problem
and hence a determinant of quality.
Abraha (2015) also conducted a regional study
in Early Grade Mathematics Competence
(EGMC) as a measure of quality. The data
collection instrument included subtests
including oral counting, number identification,
one-to-one correspondence, cardinality,
quantity discrimination, missing numbers,
and addition and subtraction. The study cover
randomly selected 840 graces 1 and 2 students
from 21 primary schools. Findings showed that
the overall average achievement fell at about
38%. Zero scorers in the subtests ranged
from 8% to 33% though improvements were
observed as a result of increase in grade level.
Since the distribution of such evidence,
interventions have been taking place, most
commonly in reading but limited in numeracy,
by MoE and NGOs to redress the problem.
The notable one from the Federal Ministry
of Education side, with funding from USAID,
is the improvement of the national mother
tongue curriculum, development of improved
textbooks in seven languages, and upgrading
of teachers for effective implementation.
However, it is too early to discuss on the
intervention outcomes.
NGO led intervention schemes are also
designed and taking place in many corners
nations of the nation. Though some evaluation
reports indicate marginal improvements (IQPEP,
2013; Save the Children, 2015; 2015b), there is
no breakthrough solution is not yet achieved
in early years of education in general and in
the focus areas (reading and numeracy). This
might be partly because we seemed focusing
on problems rather than on root causes and
solutions.
Concluding Remarks
From the findings in this study, the following
major concluding remarks are identified.
1. ECCE in Ethiopia is at its infancy
stage from the point of view of
policy implementation, infrastructure
development and academic
organization. It has been dominated
by the private sector and many of the
centers (KGs) were likely run in
a business model. This situation
has limited its scope to urban areas
and the system wide experience in
this regard is limited. Hence,
the quality related investment
seemed challenged to get enough
attention because of the expansion
investments.
2. There are many forms of the ECE -
KG/preschool, O class, Child-to-
Child, and so on. Each of these
programs has different operational
duration and setting. ‘O’ class is
for one year and is in the compound
the primary schools to increase
readiness; KGs/preschools operate
mainly in rural areas and the
duration is, on average, three years;
Child-to-Child is a kind of non-formal
program. Thus, it seems difficult
to make conclusions about quality of
education of the sub-program.
3. Despite variations in models,
available literature indicates that
interventions improve quality of
preschool education.
4. Assessment results (with from
the curriculum-based perspective or
developmental appropriateness)
found to be consistent in indicating
that students’ performances at
grades 1-4 are below expectations.
In this regard, it is possible to
conclude that quality of education
at the early grades is limited to the
extent failing to identify letters,
words, and numbers. In other words,
both mastery of grade level learning
competencies and level of readiness
for upper grades are challenged.
1. Implications and the way forward
2. There are different models for ECE
in Ethiopia in which KG, ‘O’ class
and Child to Child are the typical
ones. Each could serve its own
purpose for the time being.
However, there should be context
related comparative studies on
their effectiveness to shape policy
and practice in the future for there
are subtle issues that require
appropriate decision. The system
of assigning students to coach
others in the Child to Child model,
for example, may raise a question
of inequality in the system
3. From the analysis of the data from
documents and findings identified,
the following implications and
action points are forwarded:
4. Research in EYE in Ethiopia
suggests that quality is low. So far
we are well informed about the
problem but not about the causes
and workable solutions. Why
student performances in reading,
science or any area of learning are
low? What is/are the appropriate
solution (s)? Such questions
remain unanswered. It seems time
to design experimental studies on
the causes and solutions to come
up with workable solutions. Even
current intervention schemes
implemented are not tested but
guided by logical consequences of
the problems observed. Hence, it
seems time for professionals,
NGOs,
MoE and other stakeholders to
collaborate and redirect efforts to
bring solutions.
5. There are different models for ECE
in Ethiopia in which KG, ‘O’ class
and Child to Child are the typical
ones. Each could serve its own
purpose for the time being. However,
there should be context related
comparative studies on their
effectiveness to shape
policy and practice in the future
for there are subtle issues that
require appropriate decision. The
system of assigning students to
coach others in the Child to Child
model, for example, may raise a
question of inequality in the system.
6. The developmentally appropriate
research models are guided by
lessons from developed world.
For example, there are variations in
achievements as quality indicators in
EGRA results across the languages.
We need to question the low,
medium and high benchmarks that
may depend on language structure
and cultural issues rather than only
on brain functions
 (working memory theory).
7. The practice of learning assessment
is good and is brining relevant
system information on student
learning. However, there is no clarity
in the reports how indicators of
mastery of past experiences
(curriculum objectives) and readiness
for next curricular expectations are
integrated for purpose.
8. Researches in Ethiopia are one time
activities and do not have continuity
on the basis of developing lasting
solutions. Thus, it seems time to shift
from project approach to strategic
system perspective to see the bigger
picture and ensure long lasting
solutions to educational priority
issues. This requires strategic
thinking from policy makers
and collaborative approach from
other stakeholders of
the education system.
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በኢትዮጵያ የሽግግር መንግስት፣ የጠቅላይ
ሚኒስትር ፅ/ቤት፤ (ሰኔ 1985 ዓ.ም)፤ አጠቃላይ
የትምህርት ስልጠና ረቂቅ ፖሊሲ ማብራሪያ /
ጥራዝ ሁለት/፤ ኣዲስአበባ፡፡
Early Childhood Care and Education in
Ethiopia
Tirussew Teferra
Abstract: This article highlights early care
and education experiences in Ethiopia. It
looks into the main features of early care and
education in the traditional and modern school
systems in the country. The current situation
is examined, whereby policy and research
documents are reviewed; achievements and
gabs are identified. Finally, interventions to
improve access, quality and learning outcomes
are suggested.
Keywords: early care, early childhood
education, child rearing practices, traditional
practices, school readiness
Introduction
Development theories of the mid-20th century,
lots of other miniature models, empirical
investigations, and practical interventions
have all consistently documented that early
childhood experiences are critical for rapid
brain, cognitive and language development.
The human brain develops most markedly in
the first five years of life as almost 85 percent
of the “sculpting” of the brain’s neurological
architecture happens between birth and age
of five (Heckman, 2011 in Blondin, 2011).
Learning in the 21st century is defined as skills
and abilities that (a) enable children to reap the
benefits of education and (b) are central for
social and economic development (Robinson,
2011). A large body of data from economics,
biology, and psychology shows that educational
equity is more than a social justice imperative;
it is an economic imperative that has far
reaching implication for a nation (Heckman,
2011). An examination of the predictors of
learning achievement in primary and secondary
school clearly indicates the importance of early
childhood development (Britto, 2012). Research
from high, middle and low income countries
has clearly demonstrated that children who
are prepared for school or who enter school
“ready to learn” are more likely to succeed in
school, achieve higher learning outcomes, and
less likely to drop out or repeat a grade and
hence reduce budgets (Consultative Group on
Early Childhood Care and Development, 2008,
Naudeau, et al., 2010).
There is today, a growing interest in early child
care and education in Ethiopia both by the
government and the general public. In this
article, attempt is made to offer an overview
of early care, the historical development of
early childhood education, the present country
context and reflect on future perspectives. The
main focus of this exercise is on assessing
the policy environment and the practice on
the ground, identifying gabs, and suggesting
possible interventions to improve the quality
of early childhood care and education in the
country.
The article is based on a cursory review of
secondary data, and the teaching and research
experience of the author in the field. It attempts
to cover the period from birth to the first sixth
years of life. The first part deals with the early
care (from birth to third year) while second
treats early childhood education (fourth to six
year). The discussions under early care and
early traditional education are delimited to data
easily accessible to the author and his own
experience.
An overview on early child care in Ethiopia
Social scientists know that a major ingredient
in human developmental process is the quality
of the relationship between children and
their parents or caregivers in the family or
community (Klein et al, 2001). Young children
naturally reach out for interaction through
babbling, facial expressions, and gestures and
adults tend to respond with the same gestures.
In the absence of such responses or if the
responses are unreliable or inappropriate the
brain’s architecture does not form as expected,
which can lead to disparities in learning and
behavior (Harvard University, Center on
Developing, 2017).
In Ethiopia, studies in early care and development
are fragmented and negligible. The main
focus of these studies is on health, nutrition
and early disabling factors. The psychosocial
component has not been addressed in most
of these studies. Generally, early child care
and management mainly fall on the shoulders
of the mothers, even though siblings and
grandmothers have a share in the role of child
upbringing. Especially, health, nutrition and
sanitation tend to get focus and preoccupy
most of the time of the mother. Early child care
which among others include feeding, washing,
clothing, keeping the child safe, healthy and
clean are predominantly carried out by the
mothers (Klein et al, 2001). Along this exercise,
grandmothers also indulge in guiding and
assisting the mothers to develop the necessary
skills how to handle the newborn in such tasks
as embracing, dressing and washing. The skill
of development training is especially important
for fresh mothers. Until the first and half years
before the child starts to walk independently,
the mothers in rural areas are usually observed
embracing or carrying their children on their
backs and chest belly. They carry their children
and perform household chores, go to market
places, or undertake farm tasks. However,
whenever there are grandmothers or younger
siblings particularly girls at home, they share
the responsibility of caring for the child.
The range of engagement and participation
of the fathers in early child care is generally
limited, but studies indicate that the role and
involvement of fathers is gradually increasing
from time to time.
Whatever the case may be, there is still
the need to raise the degree of fathers’
engagement to support mothers in early child
care and management as it is an essential
period to establish the necessary emotional
attachment through physical contact and
sharing of feelings. Studies also indicate that
creating an effective communication cycle
such as smiling, eye contact, exchange of
feelings, physical contact, body languages and
other forms of non-verbal communications
are all important ingredients for child brain
development (Fuglesang, 1994, Klein et al,
2001). Ethiopian mothers and caregivers
need to be sensitized that the mother-child
interaction component is essential for the child
development like nutrition, health and hygiene.
This does not mean that some of these
elements do not at all prevail in the typical
mother-child dyad, but to make them aware of
its contribution to the development of the child
so that they can intentionally practices it in their
day-in and day-out interaction. A longitudinal
home-based meditational intervention study
which was conducted with mothers of young
children in one of the ‘Kebeles’ in Kechene
Community in Addis Ababa was able to identify
the presence of such a gab in mother-child
interaction(Teferra in Klein et al,2001).
In Ethiopia, it generally seems to be true that
the impact of the quality of early childcare
and management on the subsequent years
of development is understood by the society
at large. For instance, the following Amharic
metaphors illustrate the importance of early
experience in later behaviorsof children (Teferra
in Odom et al, 2003);
‘Lejen betut ehilen be t’kimt’[ The time of
breast-feeding the right time for molding a
child’s behavior, as the month of October is
the right season for crop harvest ]
‘Zaf belejenet yetarekal’ [It is easy to straighten
a tree during its nursery stage]
‘Sayek’atel bek’etel’ [The need to intervene
before it starts burning]
These culturally embedded sayings have far
reaching implications on the importance of
early child care and management. Besides,
there are invaluable traditional practices such
as storytelling ‘Teret-Teret_Yemeseret’, puzzle
which is a question and answer session known
as ‘ Enkok-Elish_Men-Awk’elish’ and different
kinds of children games and plays at home
and in the neighborhood, which in one way or
another, have impact on child development.
These are joyful events and voluntarily carried
out among children themselves and with
parents, grandparents or relatives; and usually
take place during the evening at home or
leisure time in the neighborhood. These useful
communicative traditions tend to wither away
with the change of the lifestyles of the family
which is accompanied by the urbanization
process and modernization. Actually, they
these practices seem to disappear in the
present day community especially in towns
and cities.
On the other hand, it is also worth- noting that
there are culturally embedded misconceptions
which discourage interactions with children,
and undermine their capabilities or skills. The
following metaphors, for example, depict the
unfavorable situation that may happen if adults
interact with children (Teferra in Odom et al,
2003);
‘Kelejatch’awetyewogahalbench’et’ [Don’t play
with the child; if you do he will poke your
eyes]
‘Kelej yewale lej akle’[One who associates
with child will become a child]
‘Lejyabokaw lerat aybek’am’[ Undermining
the child’s ability or child is child ]
‘Lejena fit ayberdewum’[Children alike human
face can resist cold]
Along this line of thought, one also observes
mixed feelings about traditional child rearing
practices in the country that they tend
to fall into two major areas as useful and
harmful traditional childrearing practices. For
instance, among others, the engagement
of grandparents, the extended family, the
community and siblings particularly girls in
sharing the responsibility of child care and
management, and the interactive sessions
mentioned above could be considered as
valuable ingredients that the child upbringing
traditions which need to be retained for the
coming generation. Last but not least, the
longstanding and extended breastfeeding
tradition of the Ethiopian mothers should be
cherished and uphold for the years to come.
In contrast, there are different forms of harmful
traditional practices such as female genital
mutilation (UNICEF, 2015), uvula cutting, milk
teeth extraction, eyebrow et al,2013), preventing
newborns from having colostrums (Christian
Children’s Fund Canada,2016)and corporal
punishment which is still practiced across the
different corners of the country (Ogando et al,
2015). According to a study conducted on the
parenting styles of four ethnic groups which
include; Oromo, Amhara, Gurage, and Harrari,
the findings the authoritative parenting style
was found to be most prevalent in all areas
(Zeleke &Tadesse, 1998) , and other studies
such as Abesha (1996), Berhanu (1996) and
Markos (1917) cited in (Zeleke &Tadesse,
1998) yielded the same result. Indeed, it
is encouraging to know about the gradual
improvement in the parenting style of parents
from a more controlling to more democratic
type of child management. This change
could be attributed to several factors such as
education, awareness child development and
availability of health education.
Whatever the case it may be, there is a
need to undertake a national cross cultural
interdisciplinary study on child rearing practices
in the country. This exercise, not only helps
to identify, understand and compile the
state and art of multi-cultural child-up bring
practices, but will be instrumental to retain
and promote the useful traditional practices,
avoid harmful practices, and develop culture-
sensitive intervention strategies. Above all, it
gives us the space to look inwardly, appreciate,
cross-fertilize and share indigenous knowledge
among parents and caregivers to bring-up well
established culture sensitive generation.
Traditional education in the traditional church education whose main
objectives were mainly to give religious servic-
The development of education in Ethiopia can es. Indeed, currently there are females who
be characterized by traditional and modern are among renowned educators of church
school systems. The traditional system is deeply education in the county. On the other hand, it
rooted in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which is worth noting that persons with disabilities
is recognized as one of the oldest educational such as the blind were never excluded across
systems in the world (Punkhurst, 1955; Wa- all levels of church education and were able to
gaw, 1979). The traditional church school sys- compete and demonstrate high level of aca-
tem was originated in the Aksumite Kingdom demic excellence in their studies.
with the introduction of Christianity about the
Following the introduction of modern education
4thcentury. Churches and monasteries were
the role of ‘Nebab Bet’ or ‘House of Reading’
then gradually spread out in the different parts
expanded by catering the needs of children
of the country and became centers of learning
for developing writing and reading skills in
for centuries. The church school system has
‘Amharic’ serving as preschool education for
been instrumental for preserving the tradition-
preparing for formal education. In the absence
al learning of Ethiopia transferring it faithfully
of access to modern pre-primary schools in the
to the succeeding generations. The traditional
country, the traditional early childhood schools
church school system has different levels from
“Nebab Bet” have made notable contribution
the lower level of ‘School of Reading’, (‘Nebab
as a feeder for primary education in the county.
Bet’ in Amharic) where reading is mastered
Among others, the following are some of the
to the highest level of scholarship ‘School of
distinct features of the traditional preschools;
Commentaries’ _‘Metshaf Bet’ in Amharic)
found in different locations (that is, in the
where church books are rigorously read and
compound of the church, in the village under
critically commented. The intermediary levels
shade or alongside of the road), thinly spread in
include ‘House of Holy Mass’_‘Qidasse Bet’,
the rural and urban areas, their school size does
House of Hymns_ ‘Zema Bet’, and House of
not exceed 20 children and facilitated by one
Poetry_‘Qene Bet’ with their own further sub-
teacher known by the popular name ‘Yeneta’
divisions ( Dagne, 2015, Dagne ,1970).
(Dagne, 1970). What is more, the traditional
preschools are affordable and easily accessible
The traditional church education begins with
for the rural and urban poor. As it holds true to
mastery of the ‘Amharic’ alphabet and phonol-
every level of the traditional church education,
ogy learning the alphabet), reading and reci-
the traditional early childhood education
tation of religious texts followed by theology,
employs child-centered, flexible multi-grade
philosophy, computation, history, poetry and
and peer teaching pedagogy (Teferra, 2011).
music (Punkhurst, 1955; Wagaw, 1979). While
The duration of completion of the different
it is difficult to exactly say when early formal
levels depends on the pace and performance of
education began in Ethiopia, studies indicate
each learner. In short it is outcome based. That
that the importance of early childhood care and
is, there is no under or overtaxing of children,
education was long recognized in the 17th cen-
some may require less time and some may
tury by Ethiopian philosophers Zär’aYa’aqob
require more. The teacher decides whether
and his disciple WäldäHaywat (Sumner, 1992).
the learner should be promoted to next higher
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has for cen-
stage or not (Dagne, 2015). There is a belief
turies been training the priesthood in Ge’ez
that those who completed the traditional
(Amare and Mikael, 1970) as well as impart-
preschools tend to perform better than those
ing ‘Amharic’ reading and writing skills in the
who directly joined formal education. Indeed,
20th century. Evidences suggest that during
it is interesting to note that are still children
the medieval period only male children at age
who are concurrently attending regular schools
4 were allowed to pursue church education.
and traditional church schools during their
That is, girls were excluded from participating
out of school time. The contribution of these
early learning centers is not limited to the
development of the reading and writing skills
but also it served as a base for children’s moral
and ethical development. Last but not least, it
is worth noting that that traditional preschool
program has become more utilitarian (Teferra,
2005) with a focus on reading and writing skills.
In some parts of the country, you will find
children coming from Christians’ and Muslims’
families attending these early learning centers
to prepare themselves for formal education.
Currently, it has become a serious concern
to note that these traditional early learning
centers are in the verge of collapsing with their
pedagogical potentials, economic advantages
and cultural heritages.
Finally, evidences suggest that the beginnings
of Koranic schools in Ethiopia can be traced back
to the 7th century. The Koranic schools like the
traditional education, they begin learning the
Arabic alphabets and goes up to the highest
level of Koranic education. Generally , Koranic
education broadly covers three levels ; ‘
Tehaji or Mejelis’ where children learn Arabic
alphabets and reading Arabic, ‘ Elim’ where the
Arabic language and teachings of the religion
and social norms are delivered, and Koranic
education which among other involves high
level of translation and interpretation works
(Dagne, 2016). This segment of the traditional
education, which has contribution in reading
and writing Arabic, is an area which requires
further investigation in the country.
Modern education
In the beginning of the 20th century, the
first public school Menelik II School was
established. Evidences indicate that modern
early childhood education started as long time
as the 1900 for French children, whose parents
worked as railway consultants in the country
Perham, 2007 cited in Mwamwenda, 2014).
This was followed by English, and German
schools intended for affluent families in Addis
Ababa (Mwamwenda, 2014).
From 1908-1974 there were 77 ECE schools
for children whose age ranged from 4-6 years.
Most of such schools were in urban areas, and
there were hardly any in rural areas. Those
responsible for schools were missions, private
organizations and the Ministry of National
Community Development and Social Affairs
(MNCDSA). Accordingly, the MNCDSA took
up an immediate task of training preschool
workers and daycare center supervisors and
also exploring possibilities for establishing
an ongoing training program. Following this,
a six-month training program was proposed
in 1967 to train preschool workers. In, 1971,
the MNCDSA established the first six months
model training course for preschool workers
at the Ras Desta Sefer Community Center in
Addis Ababa, with the promise that this training
center would be transferred to DebreZeit for
the second batch of trainees (MNCDSA Report,
1972 in Teferra et al, 2008).The Ministry of
Education was involved in the administration
of Early Childhood Education (Mwamwenda,
2014). During this period the traditional church
and community-based preschools were visible
and accessible in the rural as well as the urban
corners. All along, the Koranic schools have also
made their contribution in enabling children
and youth to learn and write Arabic. However,
as mentioned earlier it was not uncommon
to find children coming from Muslim families
attending the traditional church preschools in
the neighborhood to learn reading-writing skills
in Amharic to prepare themselves for formal
education.
Following the socialist revolution of 1974, as a
result of the increased involvement of women
in economic activities, the need for facilities to
care for children becomes increasingly evident.
The turning point in Early Childhood Education
started in 1981, with the establishment of
The Ethiopian Children Commission, whose
primary function was to care and educate
Ethiopian children (Mwamwenda, 2014,).
Following this, activities involving awareness,
workshops and seminars were conducted and
Early Childhood Education became part of the
education policy. Subsequently, curriculum
for teacher education was developed for
Early Childhood Education was developed
and The Menen Preschool Teacher Training
Center was established in Addis Ababa with
support from UNICEF (Mwamwenda, 2014,)
In addition to these major changes, three
separate departments were established within
the Ministry of Education to support (1) the
specialized training of teachers (2) curriculum
and textbooks appropriate for very young
children, and (3) supervision and evaluation of
preschool programs Along with these changes,
the number of preschools and preschool
children enrolled in these programs rapidly
expanded.
The number of preschools grew from 1975-
1990, 77 to 912 with the enrollment growth
from 7,573 to 102,000. During this period, there
was a noticeable expansion of preschools to
the rural areas of Ethiopia (Teferra et al, 2008).
Current policy and practice
This section assesses the early childhood
care and education policies and other related
documents as well as the ongoing practices on
the ground as of 1991. Early care, education
and development require the provision of
appropriate nutrition, stimulation, social
protection and education to ensure the
holistic development of children. Accordingly,
Ethiopia’s, Health Policy (1993), the Education
and Training Policy (1994), the Developmental
and Social Welfare Policy (1996) and the
Revised Family Code Proclamation (2000)
underscore the promotion of the holistic
development of the child. The Health Policy
(1993) “Encouraging early utilization of available
health care facilities for the management of
common childhood diseases...” (Article 10.6)
and has further incorporated some domains
of health care services, such as, “maternal
health care” (article 10.1); “family planning”
(Article 10.2); “maternal nutrition”(article
10.3); “optimization of access and utilization of
immunization services” (Article 10.5); that are
related to the wellbeing children. This Policy
further underlines the active involvement of
parents in protecting and maintaining family
health (article 10.8).
The Education and Training Policy (1994)
under its general objectives section (article.
2.1.1) aims to develop the physical and mental
potential and the problem-solving capacity
of individuals by expanding education and in
particular by providing basic education for all.
It further underlines that “Kindergarten will
focus on all-round development of the child in
preparation for formal schooling” (article. 3.2.1)
to ensure the smooth and holistic development
of children during their formative years. The
policy under article 3.4.5 further states that
teachers from kindergarten to higher education,
will be required to have the necessary teaching
qualification and competency in the media of
instruction, through pre-service and in-service
training. (ETP, 1994). Furthermore, under article
3.5.3, it underlines that the language of teacher
training for kindergarten and primary education
will be the nationality language used in the
area. However, the policy leaves the ownership
and responsibility of pre-primary education
for the community and the private sector and
dilutes the role of the Ministry of Education.
What is more, the Education and Training
Policy and Its Implementation document of
the Ministry of Education indicates that pre-
primary education should not be mandatory
and top priority though there will still be the
indirect involvement of government. According
to this document the role of the Ministry of
Education is limited to the provision supports
such preparing curriculum, training preschool
teachers and offering land at nominal lease
rates for private investors (MoE,2000-2001).
The five-year Education Sector Development
programs (ESDP I & ESDP II, 1996 & 2002)
have little to say about this sub-sector. ESDP
III considered early childhood education as
one of its important areas in the educational
sector. It further states that Government
Policy for this sub-sector is not to establish
and run preschools but only limited to policy
development, curriculum design, standard
setting, and supervision (ESDP III, 2005).
Following the findings of the National Study
on Early Childhood Care and Education
(ECCE) in Ethiopia (Teferra et al. 2008), before
the launching of the ESDP IV, the Ministry
of Education came up with a new initiative
and drafted National Policy Framework for
Early Childhood Care and Education which
was subsequently endorsed and signed by
three sector ministries, that is, the Ministry
of Education, Ministry of Health and the
then Ministry of Women’s and Children and
Youth Affairs in 2010 (MoE, 2010). The policy
underscores the provision of a comprehensive
program from pre-natal to the seven years
of life to promote the holistic development
of children. The vision of the policy is to
ensure the fulfillment of every child’s right to
a healthy start in life, to grow in a nurturing,
safe, caring and stimulating environment, and
to develop to the fullest potential. In order to
facilitate the implementation of ECCE National
Policy Framework, the Ministry of Education
developed Strategic Operational Plan with
the aim of achieving the Policy’s vision by
increasing access and improving the quality
of ECCE. The ECCE Program is be based
on the 4 basic pillars, namely; (i) Parental
Education,(ii) Health and Early Stimulation
Program,(iii) Pre-schools (community-based
kindergartens) and (iv) Community-based Non-
formal school readiness (MoE,2010). There is a
strong synergy between the policy framework
and strategic operational plan elaborating the
health, nutrition, care and educational activities
to be carried out from prenatal period till the
child starts formal education.
At the same time, ESDP IV (MoE, 2010)
emerged with relatively a comprehensive
understanding on the importance of ECCE with
clear and well pronounced statements on the
role of the Government as well as the direction
of the development of ECCE in the country.
It considered ECCE as one of the priority
areas for the education sector underlining the
potential of ECCE for the overall improvement
of quality and efficiency of education, increase
for higher enrollments to primary school,
bedrock of Education for All (EFA) goals and the
right of the child. Furthermore, it showed its
commitment to play a leading role to establish
a coherence governance structure of ECCE in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health and
Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs.
However, it reconfirms that the Government’s
direct involvement in the provision of ECCE
will remain limited, but deepens its role in
maintaining the improvement of quality of
ECCE and its governance through supervision
and inspection (ESDP IV, 2010).
Subsequent to the development of the
operational strategic plan, there were new
initiatives in the expansion of early childhood
education on the ground through two main
avenues which comprise the O-Class and the
Child to Child programs. The O-Class is a school
readiness one-year program (actually 9 months)
hosted in the premises of primary schools.
Whereas the Child to Child is an informal
out of school program carried out older girls
of grade six and above in the community. In
spite of its shortcomings, the O-class program
which is administered and organized under the
primary school tends to have the potential to
be scaled-up at country level. It is found to be
cost effective and innovative approach which
has opened broader accessibility by drastically
changing the national gross enrollment of pre-
primary education from 4.8 percent in 2009/10
to 39 percent by 2014/15 (GTP II,2015). Indeed,
this figure sums up all children attending in the
new programs as well as the already existing
programs those run by the community,
faith-based, private and non-governmental
organizations. It is also important to note that
there has been a growing interest by public
universities, colleges of teacher education as
well as the private sector in opening preprimary
teacher train and education programs ranging
from 6 months certificate to diploma, degree
and graduate programs in the country.
According to ESDP V, 2015; GTP II, 2015) the
educational system is expected to achieve an
average 80% GER in pre- primary education by
2020. To this effect, a mix of modalities, that is,
three-year kindergarten program for children
of ages 4–6; one year O-Class for children of
age 6, Child to Child Program; and two months
Accelerated Child Readiness program will
be explored to reach target (MoE, 2015). It is
also underscored that in the years to come
priority will be given to equal opportunities and
participation for all, with special attention to
disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, according
to the Sustainable Development Goal, by
2030 it is targeted to ensure that all girls and
boys have access to quality early childhood
development, care and pre-primary education
so that they are ready for primary education
(SDGs 2015).
Generally, the interest on early childhood care
and education seems to be part of the global
movement where many countries around the
world have also made remarkable progress
in preprimary GER from 1999 to 2010. For
instance, World average GER improved from
32% to 48%, whereas for low income countries
it was from 11% to 15%. (UNESCO and UNICEF
(2012). Furthermore, global trend indicates
the emergence of multi-sectoral policies and
expansion of preprimary education like that of
Ethiopia. A research report highlights the trend
as follows:
“Increasingly, countries have multi-sectoral
policies that encompass education, nutrition
and social protection; 76 countries in 2014.
Forty countries have instituted compulsory
preprimary enrolment. It remains the case;
however, that (on a limited database) gross
enrollment in preprimary education in low
income countries is 19%, while in lower
middle-income countries it is 50% (weighted
averages). Private provision accounts for 31% of
this enrollment. However, patterns vary. Some
countries have expanded their preprimary
provision significantly in recent years, for
example, Vietnam 77% and Kasakhstan 58%”
(QESSP, 2016).
The present policy environment, the sector
development programs, the ongoing new
initiatives on the ground and the commitment
of the Ethiopian Government to make early
childhood education accessible and equitable
for all, sets a firm foundation for building an
inclusive and just society. It is also necessary
to underline the importance of the quality of
early care from the prenatal the period until the
child is for years old where the child starts early
childhood education. As it is clearly indicated
in the National Policy Framework of Early Care
and Childhood Education (2010) and, should
equal attention by closely collaborating with
the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of
Women and Children Affairs.
2.2 Challenges of the O-Class Initiative
Preliminary assessments in Ethiopia have
underscored that the O-class modality has a
high prospect of scalability and feasibility in
the Ethiopian soil (Britto et al., 2012). Studies
suggest O-class as one of the most feasible,
useful, and relevant early years’ program for the
greater majority of marginalized urban as well
as rural children in Ethiopia. These innovations
are well received but come with drawbacks in
terms of consistency and appropriateness of
instruction, which are not generally apparent
in kindergartens (ESDP V, 2015; GTPII, 2015).
These new and encouraging initiatives in
the area are not free of limitations; there are
gabs that need to be systematically fixed in
the years to come. Recent research findings
indicate alarming concerns on the practice
which compromise the quality of the O-class
programs (Teferra & Hagos, 2016). Among
others, the following are pertinent issues that
deserve the attention of the government and
relevant stakeholders;
• Governance and accountability, that is,
absence of responsible body to monitor
and follow-up O-class,
• Curriculum is focused on developing pre-
literacy and pre-numeracy skills,
• Limited space, indoor, outdoor facilities and
services,
• Teacher’s profile, there is no standard guide
line for recruitment, qualification & salary of
teachers across regions,
• Exclusion of under-six children and/or
keeping 4, 5 and 6 year olds together in
the same program,
• Limitations in including children with special
needs,
• Variation in the duration of daily programs
among O-classes, and
• Lack of annual budget earmarked for the
program.
2.3 The Way Forward
Several studies have confirmed that early care
and education are the prime movers and the
base for the cognitive, social-emotional and
physical development of children. It is the time
when the brain is sensitive to the external
influence, the fundamental attitudes and values
are formed, pre-literacy, pre-numeracy skills and
socio-emotional skills are developed. These are
all crucial for the well-being and success of the
child in the subsequent years of development.
The Ethiopian Government has also shown
its commitments to expand and improve the
quality of early childhood education program
in its Education Sector Development V (2015-
2020) and Growth and Transformation Program
II (2015-2020).According to the UN Sustainable
Development Goal 4, ensuring inclusive and
equitable quality education is the foundation
to improving people’s lives and sustainable
development (SDG, 2015).
Following the assessment of the situation of
early care and education in the country and
cognizant with the national and international
growing interest in the area, the need to mobilize
all relevant local and international stakeholders
is in order. Accordingly, the government
should apply an open, flexible and inclusive
policy to encourage different modalities of early
childhood care and education in the country
without compromising the quality of the
service. However, it is important to underscore
the main focus of the intervention area should
be on the O-class initiative (School Readiness
Program) as its prospect for scaling-up in the
Ethiopian context is believed to be potentially
high. Indeed, this is primarily because of its
accessibility and affordability for children of the
urban poor and the rural areas.
I. School Readiness Program
1. Curriculum
a) Design the curriculum so that it covers
the holistic development of the child,
which should include cognitive, socio-
emotional and physical development
of the child,
b) Extend the duration of the program
to three years to cater the
developmental needs of children of
ages 4, 5 and 6,
c) Contextualize the content of the
curriculum through using local
learning materials such as children’s
games, songs, stories and puzzles,
and
d) Conducting interactive play-based
learning environment.
2. Location, space, facilities and services
a) Consider appropriate location for the
O-class,
b) Allocate adequate space for indoor
and outdoor activities, and
c) Provide safe and child friendly facilities
such as child-sized chairs and tables,
water pipes and toilets.
3. Teachers
a) Develop attractive and competitive
ECCE teacher recruitment and
preparation,
b) Conduct need-based continuous
professional development,
c) Ensure that teacher training
institutions are training ECE teachers
in the relevant mother tongue, and
d) Design attractive retention and career
development structure.
4. Inclusive environment
a) Create an accessible and equitable
academic, social and physical
environment,
b) Accommodate the needs of children
with special needs, and
c) Provide technological support to
familiarize and advance children’s
learning.
5. Governance and accountability
a) Assign Head Teacher who would
be in charge of the School
 Readiness Program, III. Early child care and management
b) Make her /him accountable for the
primary school principal, and a) Develop parental education program
c) Create supportive working for prospective mothers or
conditions for teachers. caregivers on child care and
6. Parent and community engagement development with a focus on
a) Ensure parents’ involvement in nutrition, health, early stimulation,
the care and follow-up of the and on child’s and right.
children’s participation and
progress in School Readiness b) Promote functional inter-sectoral
Program, and collaboration among Ministry of
b) Engagement of the community in Health, Ministry of Women and
mobilizing human and material Children Affairs and Ministry of
resources by for example inviting Education.
elderly persons to come and tell IV. Research on child development and
stories to children or participate in child rearing practices
care giving fund raising activities.
7. Quality assurance a) Undertake cross-cultural
a) Developing minimum standard for interdisciplinary study on child care
the School Readiness Program and development across cultures,
across the country , and and
b) Setting-up monitoring and b) Collection of children’s stories,
evaluation to improve the quality indoor and outdoor games, and
of the program. systematically compiling to serve
8. School feeding program as resource materials for early
a) Introduce school feeding programs, learning centers or preschools across
as most of the children are coming the country.
from low income families, and
b) Initiate innovative approaches
such as income generating
schemes to mobilize resources.
9. Budget
a) Allocate annual budget to run the
program,
b) Make early child childhood
education free, and
c) Introduce flexible cost sharing
schemes.
II. Non-governmental and private
preschools
a) Encourage and support the
expansion of non-governmental
community-based, faith-based and
private preschools in the country,
b) Ensure that they are accessible for
children with special needs, and
c) Monitor the quality of their
programs.
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 A Comparative Study on Academic
Achievents of Primary Students
(Grades 1-4) swi Pre-School Education
Experience and without: Empreical
Evidences from Selected ChildFund
Assisted Primary Schools
ChildFund Ethiopia
Abstract: Attending pre-school education
is considered as the first step in child’s
educational journey and it is among the major
factors determining later success of students
in the academic arena. This study examines
the association between attending pre-school
education and academic achievement of grade
1-4 students. The academic performance of
students in key subjects (English, Math and
Environmental Science as well as mother
tongue languages) with and without pre-school
experience was compared.A cross sectional
survey method was employed. Data from 998
randomly selected students was obtained from
25 primary schools of five ChildFund assisted
Local Partners. Teachers, principals, preprimary
school facilitators and community members
were participated in the study. Standardized
tests, questioners, interview and observation
were the instruments used to collect authentic
information from the research participants. The
collected data were analyzed quantitatively
using various statistical techniques and
qualitatively categorizing it in to different
themes to substantiate the numerical data.
Five basic research questions were formulated
and analysis was undertaken using percentage,
mean, Chi-square test, independent-samples
t-test and linear regression. The result revealed
a statistically significant mean difference
between students with and without pre-school
education experience favoring the former.
Attending pre-school education has statistically
significant association with students’ academic
performance in 3 key subjects namely English,
Mathematics, and Environmental Science
which are the core subjects in all basic
education levels of the country. Moreover,
there was immense gap among students
in areas of life skill and mother tongue
languages (Amharic, Siltigna, Gedeofa, and
Afan Oromo) in terms of letter identification,
word recognition, reading fluency per minute
and comprehension. The composite students
result in key subjects (grade 1-4) compared
with and without pre-school education
experience, and found a statistically significant
mean difference between the two groups. The
mean of students with pre-school education
was significantly higher (m = 64.9) than the
mean of students without the experience (m =
43.6). Similarly, comparison by performance in
mother tongue languages composite revealed
statistically significance mean differences. In
mother tongue languages; letter identification,
phonology, word recognition, reading fluency
per minute and reading comprehension were
tested. The propensity of attending pre-school
education is high for students from better-off
and educated families. Since the program in
Ethiopia is largely left for the private sector,
reconsideration is needed to allow children
from low and middle classes to have the
opportunity of pre-school education. Strategies
that provide standard pre-school education
for rural people should be designed as well.
Students’ background (family socio-economic
status and educational level) mother tongue,
students’ interest and attitudes towards key
subjects, availability of learning resources and
support from school and the families/guardians
were the major reasons identified. Based
on the findings and conclusion, appropriate
recommendations were made.
Keywords: Pre-school education, Academic
achievement, Pre-school experience, Early
Childhood program.
Backrround
In the life cycle of human development the
early childhood period is a critical period. It
requires concerted effort and a great deal of
investment. The investment made by society at
this stage benefits later through the productive
contribution of its citizens. If children at this
stage of development are not provided with
good nutrition, health care and education
they are deprived of their right to develop as
productive citizens and to enjoy a better quality
of life.
It is recognized by the Ethiopian government
that ECD is one of the priorities for the
education sector because it is one of the inputs
to the overall improvement of the quality of
education and may lead to the reduction of
drop out and repetition rates in primary grades.
ECD also leads to higher enrolment in primary
education, particularly for girls (MoE, 2016).
The positive effects of ECD programs on school
readiness, academic progress and psychosocial
well-being have been documented in hundreds
of research studies and in dozens of research
syntheses (Reynolds and Temple 2008 as cited
in Rossiter, 2016).
A critical review of the long term effects
of Early Childhood program on children in
poverty was made by Barnett. The outcomes
were examined for IQ, achievement, and
academic success as measured by grade
repetition, special education placement and
high school graduation. The results indicated
that early childhood education is found to
produce persistent effects on achievement
and academic success, reducing dropouts and
grade repetition (Barnett, 1998).
Similar results were observed in Ethiopia
in a study conducted by Woldehanna and
Gebremedhin on the effects of pre-school
attendance on cognitive development of
children. The result showed with children who
had enrolled in kindergarten programmes, at
age 8, scoring 32% higher in cognitive tests
than those who had not and with a higher
probability of grade completion (Woldehanna
and Gebremedhin 2012).
While ECD has such immense benefits
especially in enhancing children’s academic
achievement, and reducing dropouts and
grade repetitions, in Ethiopia the enrollment of
children in to ECD/pre-primary education is very
low. Currently, the national gross enrollment
rate is only 39% (MoE, 2016) which is in fact a
rapid increase from 26% in 2012/13 academic
year (MoE, 2013).
One of the children’s academic successes
that ECD has contributions is lowering grade
repletion and dropouts as found in different
literatures. The repetition rate for primary
education for Ethiopia according to the recent
government data is 7.3% in 2013/14 which is
slightly lower than the previous year (MoE,
2014). The repetition rate is highest for grade 1
and 8 which is 8.7 and 8.8 respectively. Similarly,
the dropout rate is also higher for grade one
when compared to other primary grade levels.
At the national level, 19% of pupils enrolled
in grade 1, in 2006 E.C. (2013/14), have left
school before reaching grade 2 in 2007 E.C.
(2014/15) (MoE, 2016). The reasons for high
repetition and dropout rates especially in grade
one could be because many children go to
primary education without passing through or
experiencing preprimary education.
ChildFund Ethiopia supports community based
early childhood development and government
initiated preschools through its implementing
local partners. The support to ECD centers and
government preschools are to give children the
opportunity to early learning and stimulation
and to prepare them for primary education.
The supports mainly targets children from
marginalized communities who have low access
to preschool and early learning opportunities.
In the ECD centers children receive integrated
holistic ECD services including pre literacy
and numeracy, health screening and referrals,
indoor and outdoor play, corner learning and
learning through play. ChildFund has been
implementing ECD program for long time in
four regions namely Addis Ababa, Amhara,
Oromia and SNNPR. Currently, the organization
is interested to conduct an evidence based
action research to explore achievements of
children on Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skill
among children who are exposed to pre-primary
education and not – with particular reference to
selected ChildFund supported primary schools
(Grade 1-4)
Introduction
Education being an indispensable tool in nations
building is a process of systematic training and
instruction designed to transmitknowledge
and acquisition of skill, potentials andabilities
which will enable an individual tocontribute
efficiently to the growth anddevelopment
of his/her society and nation. It involvesall
round development of anindividual physically,
socially, morally, intellectually, and mentally,
(Osakwe 2006). Pre-primary education as
definedby Omozeghian (1995) is the education
meant forchildren between the ages of 3 to
6 years. That is to say that early education
is a specialkind of education provided in an
institution forchildren, prior to their entering
the primary school.Early childhood education,
in the context of formaleducation is said to
be “a formalizededucational process to which
children betweenthe ages of 3 through five
plus are subjected toin designated pre-school
institutions” (Mezieobi, 2006).
Learning, according to Osakwe (2006) is
anatural process of pursuing meaningful
goals, discovering and constructing meaning
frominformation and experience filtered through
thelearners’ unique perceptions, thoughts
andfeelings. Hence, when a child is born into
theworld learning commences immediately
to enablehim get adapted to the new system.
The childlearns to feed, hear, see and respond
to stimuli, before learning to sit, walk, talk
and behave likepeople around him/her. Day-
to-day fluctuations in achild’s behavior may be
expected as he strives between dependency
of infancy and thedependency of childhood.
He/she goes further toexpose the world
around him/her curiously seekingto acquire
knowledge. The drive for curiosity isinnate in
every child and can be developed toyield greater
results by given him early education.Early
childhood education experiencesaccording
to Barnard (2001) positively affect laterhome
and school involvement in education.
Achild who fails to acquire early education
maysuffer emotionally, socially, intellectually
and evenphysically if he/she is trusted into
the primary schoolwithout a sustainable
early childhood educationexperience that will
give him/her a solid foundation inthe primary
school. Therefore, for the effective and efficient
unlocking and development of a child’s latent
abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior
of positive values in the society in which he/
she lives, early childhood education becomes
very imminent.
This is of utmost importance because
researches on early childhood education
have shown that early childhood education
experiences have great impact on all areas of
a child’s development and had suggested that
the first teacher is an extremely important
person in the child’s life. According to Feeney,
Christensen andMoravick (1987), early
childhood education is an asset of immense
value in the later academic pursuit of a
child and much more lately in life.This early
experience exposes the child to all fieldswhich
make him/her more apt to learn in the primary
level as the confidence in his/her learning
capabilities which he/she acquired from the
nursery school is liftedto the primary school.
This eventually aids and facilitates his/her
learning. The early childhood institution aims at
developing the cognitive and affective potential
at an early age. Anderson (2002) is of the
view that when children are exposed to early
childhood education, theydevelop superior
communication skills, necessary physical
ability and social unity needed in adultlife and an
increased cognitive and effective educational
balance.Miedel and Reynolds (1999) are of the
opinion that when families are involved in their
children’searly education, children experience
greater success once they enter primary school
and evenin later life. The formal school setting
in earlychildhood education is a supplement
to the homeand a substitute. It promotes the
completedevelopment of the child that the
houses can easilyprovide.
Most parents are limited in what theycan
give such as space, variety of equipment,
educational materials and experiences of
their children. Many parents are burdened
with theirown concerns that they are unable
to provide theguidance that a child needs as
he faces problemsand frustrations especially
where mothers are thesole support or
breadwinner of the family. Childrenmay be left
in the care of untrained and unhealthypeople
in crowded apartment devoid of playmaterials
and playmates that children need leading to
neglect and deprivation which may result to
lasting severe and negative effects in the life
of the child. If however the formative years are
characterized by exposure to a wide variety
of learning activities and social contacts,
skilledteaching, and intelligent guidance, then
healthy growth and adjustment occurs. An
early childhood education gives child a group
experience which extends values of family
given them a total experience in democratic
living in which cooperation is strengthened and
competition minimized. Piaget (1956) spoke
on the different effects ofthe environment
on the growth of mental structures of the
child which facilitates learning.He said that
the environment stimulates learning and the
development of the cognitive domain tha tthe
early years hold the key to learning. There is,
therefore, the need for special attention to be
given to the sensitive nature of early learning
by affording the child the right environment
where he/she will develop the potentials and
skills for later life experience and education.
Rationale
Pre-school education encompasses the
education system given for children with age
group of three to six and is also called nursery
school education and kindergarten education.
Pre-school education in Ethiopiacaters
for children aged 4–6 years, but it is not
compulsory (Woodhead et al., 2009). Even
though early childhood care and education
has been identified as one of the priorities
for the education sector due to its role for the
overall improvement of quality of education
and reduction of drop out as well as repetition
rates in later stages of formal schooling (MoE,
2010), the coverage of pre-school education
in the country is very low (Tassew, 2011;
Young Lives, 2013). The enrollment rate has
increased only from 2 to 6.2 percent from
2001 to 2013; a change of 4.2 within 13 years
(MoE, 2001/2013). This low enrollment rate
in pre-school education implies that, most
students in Ethiopia join primary education
without having any preschoolexposure. The
program is chiefly left for the private sector
(Tassew 2011) where low and middleincome
classes have little capacity to afford the
payment. According to Woodhead et al. (2009),
the opportunity toattend pre-school in Ethiopia
is almost entirely restrictedto urban children;
nearly 58% of children in urban communities
had attended pre-school at some point whileit
was less than 4% for rural children. Also private
preschools are the main option (over 70%)
for all groups and that access to private pre-
schools strongly favors themore advantaged
urban groups. Being unable to pay feeswas the
main reason for not sending their children to
preschool.Young Lives (2013) also confirmed
that fewEthiopian children attend pre-school
and those who doare typically in urban areas
from better-off families.
Recently, a new modality has been introduced
where elementary schools are expected to
handle pre-school education (‘O’ level) side by
side withthe primary level.Though many writers
have argued for the multifaceted advantages of
pre-school education, there are fewstudies in
Ethiopia (see Tassew, 2011;Young Lives, 2013)
and the argument in Ethiopia is no tsufficiently
supported with empirical evidences. Evidence-
based research provides information for
policy makersand practitioners so as to give
due emphasis for expansion of pre-school
education. The purpose of thisstudy, therefore,
is to critically look at the impact of attending pre-
school education on the academicperformance
of primary education (grade 1-4) students’
in areas of key subjects, reading fluency and
reading comprehension with mother tongues
and life skills.
Research questions
To direct the thrust of this study, the following
basic research questions were formulated and
tested:
1. Are there difference in academic
achievements in basic subjects
(Math, English, and Environmental
Science); mother tongues’ languages
reading fluency and comprehension
(Afan Oromo, Amharic, Siltigna,
 and Gediofa) and life skillsamong
primary school children (Grades 1-4)
with and without pre-primary
education?
2. What factors (students related,
parental and home related, teachers
related and school related) affect
primary school children’s academic
achievement?
3. What are the most important factors
that influence academic
achievement of those who have
passed through pre-primary
education and those who did not?
4. What are the good practices that
promote children’s academic
achievement in the target schools?
5. What are the views of school
principals and pre-primary
education facilitators, parents on
children’s readiness for learning?
Objectives
The general objective of the study is to assess
the difference in achievements of literacy,
numeracy and life skill among pupils who had
pre-primary education and those without;
in selected ChildFund supported 1st cycle
primary schools. In specific terms, the study
attempts to:
• examine academic achievements and life
skills difference between children who
have passed through pre-primary education
modalities (KG, O-class, child to child or
accelerated school readiness) and those
without.
• explore students factors, parental and
home related factors, teachers factors and
school factors that affects the students’
academic achievement of primary school
children;
• identify the most important factors that
contribute to achievement variation
between those who are exposed for pre-
primary education and not.
• identify good practices that promotes
enhancement children’s academic
achievement in the target schools.
• examine the views of school principals, pre-
primary education facilitators, and parents
on children’s readiness for learning.
Significance
This study will provide information to
administrators and teachers who may use the
information derived from this study to modify,
enhance, the “O” class program in government
and/or public schools; in order to afford all and
better prepare students for the preparation of
primary school.
Limitations
The following limitations should be taken into
considerations while using the findings of the
study. The first limitation is that, there are
other factors not controlled which actually have
an impact on academic achievement while
examining the effect of pre-school education
on academic achievement. All primary schools
in all ChildFund program operational areas
were not included in this research. Lastly,
generalizations should not be made for other
grade levels solely based on the finding of this
research.
Research design
The research design for thisstudy was
descriptive survey type, designed tolook into
the effect of early childhood educationon the
academic performance of primary schoolpupils.
Sample and sampling procedure
The sample study comprised of 1000 pupils
drawn from 25 primary schools in five selected
partner organizations. The selection was based
on multistage stratified sampling technique.
However, complete data was generated from
998 due to the fact that 2 questionnaires
were found incomplete and rejected.The
information obtained from this selection would
provide some insigh tinto the general nature
of how early childhood education experience
would affect academic performance of primary
school children.
Table 1: Survey descriptive statistics
Particulars Sample
size/session
Individual child level (Quantitative)
Supervision areas (schools) visited 25*
Total children to be interviewed and 998
tested
Community level (Qualitative)
Key Informant Interviews with primary 75
school teachers
Key Informant Interviews with primary 25
school directors
Key Informant Interviews with 25
pre-primary facilitators
Focal Group Discussion (FGD) with 10
parents
Physical observation 25
Document review 5 1 in each Local Partner
Instrumentation / data collection
The data for this study were mainly generated
from students, teachers, principals, pre-
primary school facilitators and the community.
Standardized tests, questioners, interview and
observation were the instruments used to
collect authentic information from the research
participants.
Survey implementation
The survey is entirely implemented by internal
staff in collaboration with respective local
partners. Data enumerators were recruited,
trained, and supervised during the survey by
ChildFund National Office team. They followed
a strict protocol to ensure sensitivity to the local
context and media of instruction/language.
Almost all the enumerators and/or test
administrators were teachers in target schools.
The training encompasses explanations about
the purpose and background of the study as
well as review of the child level questionnaires
and standard tests. The research team has
worked with the trainees, using their input
from the questioners review exercise to
improve and finalize the survey instruments.
The survey was carried out in January 2017.
Detail
5 in each woreda/LP
• 40 children per school have been asked in grade 1-4
i.e., almost 10 children from each grade level (with a fairly
mix of boys and girls)
3 teachers in each school (4*25)
1 director in each school (1*25)
1 facilitator in each pre-primary school (1*25)
2 FGDs/woreda or LP
5 in each Local Partner
The data collection was supervised and the
recorded questionnaires were verified and
taken over timely by ChildFund staff.
Data analysis and interpretation
After the necessary data was collected
and cleaned, tabulation and analyses were
carried out using SPSS version 20. Simple
statistical descriptive statistical methods
(like frequencies, cross tabs, mean, SD etc)
were employed for analysis purpose (e.g., to
test the mean difference in academic result
with key subjects, mother tongue languages
and life skill between students who had
attended pre-school education and who had
not). In order to substantiate the quantitative
analysis, qualitative data obtained from key
informant interview was incorporated. Finally
interpretations of the results and plausible
recommendations have been drawn based on
the major findings of the study.
Result and discussion
This section examines the impact of attending
pre-school education on the performance of
primary education (grade 1-4) students in key
subjects, mother tongue languages and life
skills. In addition, it assesses the association
between educational level and occupational
status of parents with the degree of enrollment
of their children in pre-school education. In
table 2, the characteristics of the 998 students
(49.5% males and 50.5% females) are shown.
The gender disparity in enrollment was 1.0
favoring females.99.2 % of the students were
below the age of 14 years while 0.8% of them
were above 15 years old. The average age
was found to be 12.07 years old (SD= 1.87).
Of all sampled students, 57.1% had pre-school
education experience and the remaining 42.9%
have joined primary grades without having any
pre-school education.

Gender
Frequency Percent
Valid Male 494 49.5
Female 504 50.5
Total 998 100.0

Table 2: Demographic characteristics of respondents

As shown in Table 3, the mean of students

with pre-school education was significantly
higher (m = 57.1, SD =11.8) than the mean of
students without the experience (m = 42.9,
SD = 10.5) in grade 1-4. Similarly, comparison
by performance in different subjects revealed
statistically significance mean differences in all
subjects.

Frequency Percent
Valid No 428 42.9
Yes 570 57.1
Total 998 100.0
 Table4: Attended pre primary edu by genderand local partner
Valid Frequency Percent Valid No
No 428

Yes 570 Yes 570 20.6

Valid Total
Frequency
No
Yes
998 Total 998 25.5
Percent Frequency Percent 18.7
428 Valid No 428 21.0
570 Yes 570 14.3
Total 998 Total 998
Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 19.5
Valid No
Valid Yes
Total
Frequency
428 Valid No 428 15.8
570 Yes 570 21.1
998 Total 998 19.3
Percent Frequency Percent 24.4
No 428 Valid No 428

As shown in Table 4, the composite students result (grade 1-4) compared with and without pre-
school education experience, and found a statistically significant mean difference between the two
groups. The mean of students with pre-school education was significantly higher (m = 64.9) than
the mean of students without the experience (m = 43.6) in grade 1-4. Similarly, comparison by
performance in different subjects and mother tongue languagescomposite revealed statistically
significance mean differences (as shown in table 6 below). In mother tongue languages; reading
fluency per minute and reading comprehension were tested.

Key Subject Preschool N Mean SD

Average Yes 570 64.9 11.8
No 428 43.6 10.5
Amharic Yes 570 67.4 10.5
No 428 59.5 8.59
English Yes 570 68.8 10.6
No 428 40.1 7.8
Math Yes 570 60.4 7.4
No 428 48.5 5.98
Environmental Yes 570 33.1 7.48
Science
No 428 26.8 8.08
 The study Preschool N Key Reading Reading
area subjects fluency per Comprehension
min
TesfaBirhan Yes 111 75.7 62.9 66.6

No 88 43.8 48.7 53.4

Dugda Yes 90 58.2 58.9 53.7

No 109 45.9 44.2 42

Fentale Yes 120 66.4 66.9 56.4

No 80 40.9 49.4 47.8

Aynage Yes 110 88.7 69 62

No 90 66.6 55.8 51.7

Balaya Yes 139 69.9 64 64

No 61 52.4 44.8 53

Table 6: Average scores by LPs

The findings are in agreement with research
findings that pre-school experiences have
significant impact on later grade academic
achievements. The highest mean differences
were observed in English subject. The effect
is relatively strong for English but moderate
for remaining subjects. School principals and
head of the educational office agreed with
the result. According to the views of these
individuals, students who had pre-school
experiences are outpacing their counterparts.
Their competencyto do English task is
especially admirable. Generally speaking, pre-
schooleducation has more effect on language
performance. Theresult supports the finding of
Yoshikawa et al. (2013) and Bibi and Ali (2012)
whoasserted that early childhood education
enabled toimprove children’s early language
skills. A statisticallysignificant mean difference
in English languageperformance was also
found in Nigeria between pupils with formal
kindergarten experience and those withoutsuch
experience (Eweniyi, 2012). Melhuish et al.
(2012) also found that attending high quality
and effective preschoolbenefited students for
English and mathematics attainment at age 11
in England.
Students with preschool education were
more likely to be represented in the top and
less likely to be the bottom than expected
and the opposite was true for those students
without the experience. This is good evidence
supporting the findings of research (Bibi and Ali,
2012) who disclosed that preschool education
contributes to better academic achievement
of students in their later grades. YoungLives
study (2013) also found that 18% of the
children who attended pre-school in Ethiopia
were reported toperform excellently in primary
school as compared to10% of the children
who had not.Linear regression analysis was
undertaken to examinethe effect of attending
pre-school education with students’average
result when other factor slike parent education,
personal and school related factors are taken
in to account. The variables were coded
as:attending preschool (2 = yes; 1 = No);
Mother and fatherseducation (1 = no formal
education, 2 = grade 1 up to 8, 3= grade 9 up
to 12 and 4 = certificate, 5 = Diploma graduate,
6 = Degree, 7 = Master and above); sex of
student (1 = male , = female); Furthermore,
attending preschooleducation,educational
status of parents, werefound to be statistically
significant (p < 0.05) indetermining students’
academic result. This result clearly revealed
that, having preschool education experience
has an impact even whenother factors are also
taken into consideration. Other things being
constant, attending preprimary education will
increaseaverage result in primary education
performance by a factor of0.097 (p < 0.05).
Socio-economic status of parents has been
worthmentioned often (Woodhead et al., 2009;
Tassew, 2011;Farooq et al., 2011; Al-Matalka,
2014) as a major factoraffecting the enrollment
rate of children in pre-schooleducation.
Analyses were conducted to investigate
theassociation between parents’ educational
level andoccupation status (most commonly
mentioned socioeconomic indicators) and
propensity of enrollment of theirchildren in
pre-school education using chi-square test
ofindependence. As depicted in table 7 and
8, a statistically significantassociation was
found in for both fathers and mothereducation
with extent of enrollment of their children
inpre-school education. The propensity of
sendingtheir children to pre-school education
increases withincreasing of the level of
education of mothers and fathers.

AttendedPrePrimaryEdu Total
No Yes

Mothers No Education 258 266 524

EduLevel
Primary Education 128 197 325

Secondary Education 32 86 118

Certificate Graguate 10 14 24

Diploma Graguate 0 4 4

Degree 0 3 3

Total 428 570 998

Table 7: Attended pre-primary edu * Mothers’ edu Level cross tabulation

 AttendedPre PrimaryEdu Total
No Yes

Fathers No Education 187 185 372

EduLevel
Primary Education 156 215 371

Secondary Education 83 138 221

Certificate Graguate 2 17 19

Diploma Graduate 0 10 10

Degree 0 4 4

Master and above 0 1 1

Total 428 570 998

Table 8: Attended pre-primary edu * Fathers’ edu levelcross tabulation

Similarly table 9 below shows, there is a significant association for parent’s occupation with extent
of enrollment of their children in pre-school education. The propensity of sending their children to
pre-school education with salaried occupation and for self-employed is higher than other groups.

Attending preschool
Parent Occupation
Yes No Total
Civil Servant/ 338 80 418
Salaried employment
Self employed 57 123 180
Other 175 225 400
Total 570 428 998

Table 9: Parents’ occupations and pre-school attendance

 Reading fluency and comprehension scores
All sample students of Grade 1-4 (with and without preschool experience) participated in three
components of the assessment tests: reading fluency per minute, reading comprehension, and
mathematics (Numeracy skill). The reading fluency ranges from 38 words per minute to 71 words
per minute. The mean is 56.6 WPM which is very close the expected standard of 60 WPM with
relatively small SD of 9.89. As can be understood from the median, 50% of the students scored
above 58 WPM.

 Subjects N Min Max Median Mean SD

Reading fluency 998 38.0 71.0 58.0 56.6 9.89
per min
Reading 998 46.7 93.3 60.0 62.9 10.35
Comprehension
Math 998 40.0 100.0 60.0 66.9 15.99
Composite* 998 43.3 96.7 63.3 64.9 12.28

Table 10: Summary of sescriptive Statistics

Comparison of achievements among students with and without preschool experience

Three areas of assessment (i.e, reading fluency per minute, reading comprehension and numeracy
skills…math) were also made to investigate the learning performance of Grade 1-4 students among
those with and without preschool experience.

As can be seen from Table 6, the mean WPM is about 56.6, which is very close to the expected
standard of 60 per minute. Comparing the students’ results with and without preschool experience,
those with preschool experience have performed better, as can be seen in the ratio of 1.03. In other
words, a student attendedpreschool do have a better accuracy and speed by about 3% as compared
to a student with no preschool experience.

Subjects Current Mean

Non-attended

Non-attended
Attended pre

Ratio of at-
preprimary
Aggregate

tended to
primary
Mean

Reading fluency per min 56.6 57.1 55.3 1.03

Reading Comprehension 62.9 64.2 59.5 1.08
Math 66.9 68.2 63.5 1.07
Composite 64.9 66.2 61.5 1.08*

Table 11: Learning performance of Grade 1-4 students (comparative statistics among
students with and without preschool experience)
As it can be also seen from Table 12, comparing the students’ results with and without preschool
experience, those with preschool experience have performed better in letter identification, word
recognition and phonemic awareness.

The difference on achievements of Grade 1-4 students with and without preschool experiences
revealed that early childhood education has a positive effect on learning competency of children in
later life and encouraged ChildFund to continue its effort particularly at lower Grades.

LPs Mother Letter Identification Word Recognition Phonemic Awareness

tongue
Attended Non-attended Attended Non-attended Attended Non- attended pre-
preschool preschool preschool preschool preschool school
TesfaBirhan Amharic 47.7 35 73.6 58 44.7 32
Dugda Afan 52 41 65 49 31.7 27.8
Oromo
Fentale Afan 62 47 73 52 43 34
Oromo
Aynage Siltigna 61.5 53 61.7 51.7 35.5 25
Balaya Gedeofa 57.5 48 61.2 50.5 30 27
Average 56.1 44.8 66.9 52.24 36.98 29.16

Table 12: Mother tongue reading score (per minute) by LP

Education and life skill

ChildFund helped children, including the most vulnerable, access quality education and attain
functional levels of literacy, numeracy and essential life skills. When children can read, they can
better advocate for their rights and help provide for their families.

ChildFund uses a lifecycle approach in its programmes that focuses on the needs of children at
all stages of development: early childhood, basic education, and adolescence and youth. In order
to examine the impact of preschool attendance on students’ life skill, sample children were asked
how they behave in school and the difference revealed as follows between the children with and
without preprimary school experience. As indicated in table 13below the percentage stands for
those studentsreported as these characters do like them a lot.

Students behavior in school Attended preschool

InSchoolWaitInLinePatiently 53.4 46.6
AStudentMayBehaveInSchoolISitWhenIamSupposedTo 52.6 47.4

ICanWaitForMyTurnToTalkInClass 51.6 48.4

IcalmdownquicklywhenIgetupset 65 35
IcandoeventhehardesthomeworkifItry 55.5 44.5
Icanfigureoutdifficulthomework 59.4 40.6

Table 13: Education and life skill

The difference among grade 1-4 students with
and without preschool experiences revealed
that early childhood education has also a
positive effect on life skill competency.
The qualitative assessments and judgments of
students, principals, teachers, ECD facilitators
and community on the efficiency, problem and
solutions concerning students learning factors
in the schools
Student factors
Age, gender, distance from home to school,
time spend on study at home every day,
inadequate preparation of students for learning
at different grade levels, study environment at
home, number of textbook at home, types of
educational materials, parents support, the
influence of technology and drugs (in urban
settings), student reading outside the school,
absenteeism.
Discussions on response of students
Among teacher’s factors, demoralization of
the students (7%), lack of commitment and
responsibility (20%), unfair evaluation (30%),
incapability of teachers (15%), and missing
class (10%), lack of teacher motivation (10%)
and others like lack of controls of students were
most determinant factors for the academic
performance of primary school students.
Among school factors, student discipline
(53%), lack of student management and follow-
up, lack of responsibility (10%), shortages of
books (30%), lack of giving attentions for quality
education(10%) and assigning inefficient
teachers were most determinant factors
that affects for the academic performance of
primary school students.
Among parental factors, shortage of
supporting materials (20%), lack of controls
and follow-up (15%), lack of support both
morally and financially (40%), workload (20%)
and others were most determinant factors for
the academic performance of primary school
students.
Parent`s factors
Family type, family size, education level,
occupation, and monthly household income.
Response of parents
Among teacher factors, low salary, unfair
evaluation, lack of skills and capacity to teach,
problem of explain and speaking English and
lack of students controlling mechanisms were
determinant factors that affects academic
performance of primary school students in
the surveyWoredas. Among school factors,
unwanted activity around the schools, there
is no rules to take measure the schools and
the teachers, female student harassment,
discomfortable school environment, lack of
controlling mechanisms for the students, lack
of management problems. Among parent’s
factors, missing of meeting, lack of controlling
and follow-up mechanism for their children, lack
of support of teaching materials and illiteracy
were determinant factors for the academic
performance of primary school students.
Teacher factors
Academic qualification, training in education/
pedagogical skills, in-service training to increase
your skills, earlier measured achievement, in-
service teacher training, subject knowledge,
experience, salary, instructional time, class
preparation time, frequent homework, teacher
effectiveness, the practices of continuous
assessment, professional support, lack
of incentives, professional competence,
motivation and commitment, and student’s
interest for learning.
Response of teachers and ECD
facilitators
Among teachers factors, lack of pedagogical
and capacity building training, lack of capacity
of the teachers, lack of readiness to teach,
frustration of teacher’s due to low salary, lack
of language proficiency, lack of preparation,
lack of coordination between the school,
the teachers and the students, evaluation
problems due to large number of students,
lack of motivation and commitments were
most determinant factors for the academic
performance of primary school students.
Among parental factors, poverty, lack of
follow-up, lack of communication with the
schools as well as the teachers, illiteracy, lack
of responsibility for their children and lack of
commitment were most determinant factors
for the academic performance of primary
school students.
School factors
Leadership roles, assessment, resources,
curriculum, average class size, availability of
textbooks, supplementary readers, teaching
guides, desks, instructional media, quality of
facilities, school library, science laboratories,
child nutrition and feeding, school cluster
membership, principal’s staff assessment
principal’s training level, school inspection
visits, school type and school environment.
Response of school directors
Among teacher factors, lack of skills,
inappropriate way of course delivery, lack of
use of teaching aids, language in proficiency,
lack of preparations, fears of speaking English,
teacher centered lecturing method, lack of
pedagogical certificate, lack of commitment and
carelessness, addictions, misunderstanding
between the teachers and the students,
missing class and low profile of teachers were
most determinant factors for the academic
performance of primary school students.
Among school factors, shortages of text books,
library and laboratory materials, limitations
of implementations of policies (students
are forced to learn without their interest,)
lack of power and lack of commitment to
measure action by students specially naughty
students were most determinant factors for
the academic performance of primary school
students. Among parental factors, lack of
support and follow-up, lack of responsibility
and commitment, unwillingness of attending
meeting, poverty, and lack of controlling
mechanism were most determinant factors for
the academic performance of primary school
students.
Observation results with interview on the
availabilities of the necessary learning facilities
Principals and teachers were asked to reflect
on the efficiency, problems and solutions
related to student learning in schools and their
views were compiled as follows.
The researchers gathered relevant data
focusing on the availabilities of educational
facilities through direct observation of the
schools facilities and interviews conducted
with principals and teachers from the schools
under study. Accordingly, learning resources
such as availability of text books, teachers’
guide, other reading materials (reference
materials), teaching aids, and other related
resources were checked for their availability
through direct observation and interview
guide. The result showed that these learning
facilities are insufficient in both preprimary and
primary schools as the participants compared
with urban areas. However, the respondents
also clearly pointed out that there is limitation
in using the available resources. Supporting
this idea, one of the principal’s statements is
quoted as follows:
“Though the government and NGOs are
allocated text books and other resources
(admitting the scarcity) to the schools that
are necessary in facilitating students learning,
they are not well utilized”. He further claimed
that availability of resources is not the sole
determinant of schools’ improvements. Rather
the development of human capacity in using
the resources is the wherewithal of the change
which we are looking for.
Regarding this, all interviewed participants
supported what the aforementioned principals
said though we took this as a sample. In
addition to the aforementioned facilities, class
rooms facilities like chairs, tables, boards,
lighting system, and toilet for girls and boys,
play grounds distance from the classroom, and
school fences were areas of emphasis in our
study since they contribute a lot for students
learning. The findings show that these facilities
are not well established to support the teaching
learning process as educational institutions
require hospitable environment for learning to
happen. The response of principals, teachers
and ECD facilitators interviewed also confirm
this.
Good practices and contributions of childfund
in enhancing children’s academic achievement
in the target schools
Overview
ChildFund International began working in
Ethiopia since 1971 and currently implements
education projects with 13 Local Partners in four
regions reaching over 37,185enrolled children
and 396,098 families directly; and 1,080,293
community members through sponsorship
and grant (Source: Actual Participant count
2016). In FY16 alone, ChildFund Ethiopia has
invested ETB 165,819,301.10 or 8,290, 965.05
USD in programs aiming to realize long-term,
sustainable change for children and youth.
Figure: ChildFund operational areas
ChildFund’s strategy and approach to education
ChildFund Ethiopia is committed in addressing
the underlying causes of low and late enrolment,
school dropout, and low rate of promotion
from primary to secondary level, poor quality
and educational performance which are still
the main features of the basic education
system of the country. Through our Education
program, ChildFund strives to improve access,
quality and equity in education for DEV Boys
and Girls. ChildFund, with this end, child
friendly andresponsive learning environments
promoted to children’s gendered and age-
defined developmental capacities and learning,
child friendly schools model adopted in and
expanded by 100% in partner communities; Girl
Hubs methodology adapted and implemented
in 25 schools; identified and promoted training
on teachers professional development in
line with government policies and programs,
technology innovations introduced to improve
quality of education and life skills for children;
education and finance skills adapted and
implemented in primary schools; alternative
basic education strategy to create access to
quality education for out of school children.
This leads to educated and confident children
who are competent to be, to do, to know, to
have, to share, and to transform.
Child-centered instruction and protection
Following gap analysis and individual schools,
ChildFund Ethiopia provides training on
participatory learning methodology for primary
school teachers and promotion of peer learning
arrangements. Child right and protection clubs
are used as a hub for reducing child abuse, child
labor and early marriage. Promotion of girls’
education to reduce the gender gap involves
schools, parents, children, PSTAs and the local
community. Appropriate teacher/pupil relations
and improved hygiene facilities help girls to
stay attending school, while promoting of girls
education has discouraged early marriage within
the wider community. Children’s Parliaments
increase communication channels and through
persistence efforts, corporal punishment has
seen to be abolished in numerous schools.
Child friendly courts have been constructed
in four areas (Silti, Fentale, Siraro and
Dillazuriaworedas), accompanied by separate
social worker, psychologist and child friendly
investigation room supported by CCTV as well
as a separate bench for child abuse cases. The
child friendly court is one of its kind not only at
the districts, zones or regional levels but also at
the national level.
Early childhood development
Child Fund’s Ethiopia’s programs have
established a total of 116 Early Childhood
Development Centers (ECDs) reaching
approximately more than 85,000 children aged
0 to 6 years. These ECD centers have been
used as centers for sensitizing and offering
trainings to caregivers, teachers, parents and
families on creating a protective, nurturing and
stimulating environment that supports children’s
growth and development. Children who attend
the centers receive crucial early stimulation
through learning materials that develop their
language/cognitive, social, emotional and
physical skills before they begin their primary
school education.
Commitment and capabilities of
community actors
Working with 78 primary schools, ChildFund
has supported and facilitated communities
to engage with local school. This involves
direct support from communities in the form
of construction labor, money for supplies and
even following up of the children’s attendance
through Parent, Students and Teachers
Association (PSTA) structures. Families,
especially parents and siblings played a very
key role in encouraging and supporting their
child’s learning with special emphasis on girls.
Communities have become key advocates for
education and children’s agency. Community
schools could be an alternative to ensure
access for excluded children and adolescents.
This work has been shown to improve the
readiness, retention and performance of the
children in school. ChildFund and our local
partners have also supported the education
system by strengthening school clubs,
providing mini media materials, equipping
libraries, laboratories and promoting reading
habits in these schools.
ChildFund Ethiopia promoted early grade
reading initiatives as foundation of the
subsequent grades like in primary first cycle
in target schools. Teachers in demonstrating
their creative skills in motivating their students
and using proper instructional materials have
brought significant changes. Target primary
school classrooms and walls are made very
attractive in stimulating early reading practices.
The relation between teachers and learners
are also very positive in these schools. Though
teachers are playing crucial roles in facilitating
learning, children can stay and learn from the
classrooms that are rich in teaching aids and
illustrations.
Capacity building of schools
ChildFund realizes that school facilities do
play an important role in improving learning
outcomes and so has provided support to
local government to construct or renovate
classrooms, start reading libraries and provide
water points and separate toilet for girls and
boys. New structures are always accessible
to children with disabilities. Following
improvement, ChildFund has noted that
retention rates improve dramatically, up to as
high as 98% in urban areas and 94% in rural
areas. Some schools have become model
schools for the surrounding area in improving
their learning outcomes.
Improving child-friendly school environment in
primary schools
ChildFund has contributed to improvement
of learning environment. Library in each of
target primary school equipped with different
reference books, furniture. The libraries are
expected to give service to more than 15600
children. Target schools provided with mini-
media equipment; the mini-media is giving
an opportunity to the students to transfer key
messages about educational information. 221
teachers trained on child-centered teaching
methods and school governance. The training
has also enriched students-teachers class
room interaction. More than 650 care-givers
trained to follow their children’s academic
performance. As a result of project contribution,
it has been noted that:
• School dropout has decreased from 6.23%
(2015) - 0.56% (2016)
• Promotion to next grades rate has increased
from 92.3% (2015) - 95.8% (2016)
• Repetition rate has decreased from 7.7%
(2015) – 4.2% (2016)
• The student’s academic result was found to
be above average and moved up to 88%
(end of 2016) from 76 % (in 2015).
Promoting children’ learning in active
supportive school environment
ChildFund, with its partner organizations, has
contributed in applying child center learning
approach, application of appropriate teaching
aids, gender responsive approach, attractive
physical infrastructure and basic service in
clean and tidy spaces. The teaching learning
process has been supported by well-built
learning rooms, well-furnished classes,
libraries appropriately organized with sufficient
collection of reference books.
Empirical evidence on the support of childfund
in target schools
In the previous sections, comparison of
students’ performance between with and
without preschool experiences revealed that
the achievement scores are greater for those
who have been attended the preprimary than
the non-attended almost in all subjects. In this
section, the writer will present empirical findings
of the qualitative responses obtained through
Focus Group Discussions and Key Informants
to confirm how far ChildFund’s support was
important to make an intermediateresulton
students’ learning performances in target
preprimary and primary schools.
School facilities
This set of variables is the most frequently
mentioned element by students from
ChildFund’s assisted schools that it is what they
most like having in their schools. The specific
elements mentioned by the FGD participants
are library, playground, staff room furniture,
football court, and child friendly latrine. School
facilities such as library, playground, laboratory,
latrine, class room expansion are some of the
major contributions of ChildFund Ethiopia.
Materials
Students’ access to essential educational
and related materials affects both school
participation and academic achievement in
both preprimary and primary schools. Similarly
material support (such as uniform, sanitary
materials, school supplies, playing materials
and sleeping material) were most frequently
mentioned by the respondentsas the major
contribution of ChildFund.
The survey participants were also asked
what they think that could have happened
if the support had not been in place. The
main anticipated outcomes mentioned at
the scenario of the absence of ChildFund’s
support would have been lack of necessary
materials and facilities, which in turn leads to
high absentees and dropout. Furthermore,
the qualitative data from the PTSA also show
that financial and material supports to the DEV
children were important determinants to bring
the existing change in learning performance.

Supported Items Frequency

High Medium Low
In fulfilling school facilities and materials
Student Desks 14 11 22
Learning/teaching aids 10 18 19
Text books 0 25 19
Additional classrooms 11 22 10
Play materials and grounds 20 19 8
Toilets separate for girls 19 18 10
Teachers’ rooms and facilities 10 19 9
Reference materials for teachers and students 8 16 23
In other child focused supports
Life skills trainings for students 9 19 19
Involving children in classroom activities 17 18 12
Increasing participation of deprived, excluded and vulnerable children 14 18 15
Direct financial support to students 8 18 21
Meeting children’s physical, emotional and cognitive needs 15 23 9
Introducing new approaches to children development 10 18 19

Table 14: Importance of ChildFund contribution in terms of school facilities and materials Assisted by school Principals

As depicted in Table 15, a separate analysis on teachers’ responses has also confirmed that most
of school related facilities have been given a great importance butwith limited support in terms of
additional class rooms, play material and grounds, text books.The rate from both sides (principals
and teachers) is medium which definitely tells us that there are still areas need further efforts
to bring holistic improvements in school academic performance both at early and primary levels.
Among the school facilities, few of them such as class rooms, text books and teachers’ room rated
as low or medium by most key informants the fact that they may require an effort of other actors
other than ChildFund. Similarly, areas like life skills trainings for students need further integration
with stakeholders.
ChildFund-Ethiopia Support Items Frequency
High Medium Low
In fulfilling school facilities and material      
Student desks 19 16 20
Learning/teaching aids 28 11 15
Text books 7 19 18
Additional classrooms 19 25 11
Play materials and grounds 20 30 4
Toilets separate for girls 15 22 17
Teachers’ rooms and facilities 12 30 10
Reference materials for teachers and students 25 12 18
Other teaching learning focused supports
Life skills trainings for students 5 31 19
Involvement of children in classroom activities 7 34 12
Increasing participation of deprived, excluded and 10 27 16
vulnerable children
Direct financial support to students 4 21 28
Meeting children’s physical, emotional and 4 30 20
cognitive needs
Introducing new approaches to children 14 24 17
development

Table 15: Importance of school facility, material and child-friendly support of

ChildFund-Ethiopia as rated by sample teachers

In addition to school facilities and material Conclusion

supports, broad strategic areas like training for
teachers on active learning methods werealso
important pieces of support delivered by
ChildFund-Ethiopia.
Priority areas from the perspective of school
community
• Improve school facilities (buildings, play
grounds, laboratories, latrine- childhood education has a positive effect on
boys and girls friendly)
• Teaching and learning aids (tutorial
• classes, counseling etc)
• Material support for students (books,
clothes, sanitation materials, and bicycles
particularly for coming from distant)
• School feeding for the DEV children
• Support PTSA
• Training for teachers
• Facilities for child friendly school environment
Various researches in Ethiopia disclosed that
pre-school attendance is negatively associated
with poverty, strongly discouraging the poorest
groups. Mothers’ and fathers’ own education
levels are associated significantly with enrolling
their children in pre-school.
Available evidences suggest that early
educational development of children in later life.
Pre-school educationin Ethiopia is found in its
infancy stage with a highconcentration in urban
areas. This study found thathaving pre-school
education has a significant association with
academic achievement. On average, students
with pre-school education have outpaced
their counterparts by scores even allowing
for background factors. On the other hand,
the proportion of being in the top achieving
group of students with pre-school education
was significantly higher as compared with
students who had no experience. Families
with high socioeconomic status have more
success in preparing their young children for
school because they typically have access to
a wider range of resources to support young
children’s mental and physical development.
In contrast, parents with low socioeconomic
status find themselves struggling to augment
financial resources and lack time for their
children in imparting values. In this study,
socio-economic statuses of parents (mainly
educational level and occupational status) were
found to be a determinant factor for sending
children to pre-school education. Children from
better-off and educated families had better
opportunity to harness the benefits of pre-
school education. In association with the initial
research questions, the findings confirmed
thatacademic achievements and life skills of
children who have passed through pre-primary
education modalities (KG, O-class, child to child
or accelerated school readiness) are better than
those children without pre-school education.
Students’ factors, parental and home related
factors, teachers’ factors and school factors
affect the academic achievement at primary
school level.
This study has shown that there is a significant
difference in the cognitive ability between
pupils with pre-primary education and those
without. This is not surprising as several studies
have shown that early childhood education has
significant impact on the academic performance
of pupils.Early childhood education has been
observed to impact and influence the pupils’
performance in spoken and written English,
Mathematics, Environmental Science, and
mother tongue languages as shown in the
assessment records.
As described in findings section, the
achievements of students in key subjects with
preprimary education were the least score
compared to those without. The results across
Local Partners also corroborate the least mean
score for those students without preprimary
experience.
Recommendation
Considering the multifaceted benefits of pre-
schooleducation for the overall development
and academic performance of students in their
later life, there is the need of coordination
among stakeholders at all levels toexpand and
deliver quality preschool service mainly for
the rural and poorpopulation. The following
recommendations were made from the
findings and conclusion of the study:
• Education is the only arms to change the
world, so, the Governments should focus
on quality instead of targeting to quantity.
• The teacher’s capacity must be built by
providing training and also there must be a
forum which consists from the community
principals, the teachers, the parents, the
schools and other concerned body to
create common understanding to enhance
the quality of primary education.
• To improve the students’ performance, the
schools must arrange Tutorials class.
• In this study, not only the students but
also the teachers can`t speak English, they
can`t communicate each other specially in
government schools, so, to improve the
capacity of English speaking for students
as well as the teachers, video lecture must
be prepared and give for them.
• Government must give attention for
teachers because they are serving their
country within a minimum price.
• Create awareness of parents to keep their
children inside and outside of the schools.
• Early childhood education should be
encouraged by the government by
providing pre-primary educational facilities
(classrooms, instructional materials, and
equipment) needed for the success of the
programme.
• There should be proper enlightenment
campaign on the importance of early
childhood education.
• Parents should be involved in their children’s
early education experience by providing the
necessary materials.
• Educational Planners should provide
adequate programmes, policies and
curriculum for early childhood education.
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 The Challenges of Government Introduction
Preprimary Education: A focus on Complex social forces such as a rise in the
Schools/Centers in Addis Ababa number of single parents, increased number
Hailu Dinka of women with young children entering the
labor force, families with two working parents,
and the step by step termination of traditional
Abstract: Addis Ababa City Government
systems of child care and extended family
Education Bureau has embarked on opening
support systems have served as push factors
preprimary centers in government primary
for the emergence and expansion of early child
schools. The purpose of this study is to
care and education (ECCE) in the world (EFA,
examine the challenges currently prevailing in
2007, 2002, Graves, Gargoyle, and Slider, 1996,
these establishments. The study was guided
Driscoll & Nigel, 2002).
by three basic questions: (1) what are the
major challenges facing pre-primary schools
The Millennium Development Goals, and
in Addis Ababa? (2) To what extent did the
the resolutions of education for all summit
planned government ECCE programs work
in Dakar Senegal in 2000(EFA), coupled with
well as intended? (3) How can the challenges
other international resolutions like the Beijing
of government ECCEs be overcome? Mixed
international conference on women education,
methods design was employed to conduct
and the conference attended by Ministers of
the study. Fifty three government preprimary
Education of African member states (UNESCO,
schools were randomly selected for data
1998), among others, could be taken as one of
sources and 416 teachers in these sample
the push factors that motivated governments
ECCEs provided data through questionnaires.52
to establish ECCE centers in Africa. In
ECCE coordinators and 53 parents responded
Ethiopia, the development of the National
to structured questionnaires. Observation
Policy Framework and strategic guideline to
checklists were also utilized to collect data
officially launch early child Care and Education
pertaining to basic school facilities and
in the education system of the country for the
resources. The data collected were analyzed
first time in the history of education can be
using percentiles, means, t-tests and ANOVAs.
considered as the outgrowth of these regional
Findings revealed that lack of decentralized
and International deliberations in the turn of
leadership, unqualified teaching staff, and lack of
the century.
basic resources, lack of facilities, and shortage
of budget were the main challenges impeding
Globally, the demand for ECCE has never been
the functioning of government ECCEs in Addis
without a reason. ECCE helps to develop the
Ababa. It was recommended to put in place
physical and mental wellbeing of children
decentralized administration system, avail
in the early years. It promotes children’s’
separate budget for ECCEs, set systems for
emotional and educational development,
preschool teachers’ professional development;
and improves the socialization process both
through-flexible training programs for ECCE
at school and at home during the formative
coordinators.
ages (NT, 2011). Various studies conducted on
Keywords: Challenges, Basic resources, Play, ECCE showed that high quality early care and
Participation. education programs for children can have a
lasting positive effects such as greater school
success, higher graduation rates, lower juvenile
crime, decreased need for special education
services later, and lower adolescent pregnancy
rates (EFA, 2007). On the other hand, lower-
quality ECCE can have harm full effects on
language and social development and school
performance that are more difficult to reverse
in later stages(Katz and Chard,1989 as cited in
Haile,2010),
The development of ECCE programs in Addis
Ababa is long overdue although the private
sector championed in its provision. The majority
of the establishments belonged to the private
investors and faith based organizations, while
few ECCE centers have been mushrooming
in some of the schools in Addis Ababa.
Nevertheless, as compared to the rest of
the regions, ECCE programs in Addis Ababa
have been said better in terms of human and
material inputs. However, observations have
shown that the coverage and service delivery
of ECCE centers in Addis Ababa are reported
to be full of challenges that require immediate
action.
Until recently, the net enrollment in ECCE was
about 78% indicating 22% of the children in
the age proper (4-6years) with no access to the
program (EMIS, 2014/15). Besides, about 18%
of the share of ECCE provision goes to the
government while the highest share goes to
the private and other sectors (81.21% and 0.2%
respectively). In light of the poor residents of
Addis Ababa who cannot pay for the education
of their children, the limited share of the
governments’ role in ECCE provision calls for
a serious attention to be considered and close
the existing gap.
The City government Education Bureau
has been striving to open ECCE centers in
government primary schools with enough
spaces to accommodate additional children for
school readiness programs. This had drastically
helped to increase the number of government
ECCE establishments and enrollments to
36,597 in this academic year (EMIS, 2009 E.C).
In view of the efforts made to open ECCEs in
primary schools, studies conducted on the
status and challenges of ECCE centers in
Addis Ababa appear to be small. Furthermore,
periodic supervision and education conference
reports indicated persistent problems existing
in the government ECCEs in Addis Ababa.
Therefore, this study sought to investigate
the major challenges phasing ECCE programs
in Addis Ababa with the view to capitalize on
future prospects. The study was carried out in
view of the following basic questions:
1. What are the major challenges facing pre-
primary schools in Addis Ababa?
2.To what extent did the planned
government ECCE programs work well
as intended?
3. How can the challenges of government
ECCEs be overcome?
Moreover, the study has the following specific
objectives:
a. To find out the effectiveness of pre-
primary programs in ECCEs centers
in easing the smooth transition of
children to primary grades.
b. To identify the major challenges that
currently prevails in the government
ECCEs.
c. To provide suggestive solution that
could help to minimize the problems
that set back the working of the
preprimary centers.
Benefits of the study
This study is expected to be significant in
identifying the present challenges of ECCEs in
Addis Ababa. It is expected that the results of this
research will come up with workable strategies
that could help combat the challenges so as
to facilitate the smooth transition of children to
primary schools. It is also believed that it will
serve as a foundation for further studies that
attempt to throw light on the issue and address
the interests of different stakeholders.
Scope of the study
This study particularly focuses on the recently
established preprimary education centers/
schools attached to the government primary
schools in Addis Ababa. Other preprimary
schools run by private investors, civil society
organizations, religious institutions and
philanthropic organizations were not included
as they are considered better off in terms of
human and material resources.
Literature review
Early Child Care Education in Ethiopia
The history of education in Ethiopia goes as
far back as the fourth century, and is closely
associated with the introduction of Christianity
that marked the founding of the Ethiopian
Orthodox church (Pankrust, 1955). Since then,
the church took the lead in expanding Amharic
and Geez scriptures by opening church schools
that gradually gave rise to village schools
which later developed into private school
establishments in the 1930s (Wagaw, T. 1956).
Atse Zeria Yakob was considered as the great
religious philosopher of the time, became an
activist in traditional church education in the
16th century and embarked on opening various
church schools (Demeke, 2007:154-155).
Nevertheless, the first modern preprimary
center was opened in Dire Dawa eight years
before the opening of the first public school-
Menelek II School. The preprimary school was
established to nurture and care for the Ethio-
French rail way workers (Hoot,, et.al., 2004:4).
Later, the preprimary education program was
established in Asmara in 1923 by Catholic
Missionaries and in Addis Ababa in 1950 by
the welfare and international organizations
(Shewakena, 1997:13). Gradually, more
preprimary schools were attached to the
then formal education institutions such as
the German school, the British school, Lice
Gebremariam and others to serve children
of the nobility in Addis Ababa. Since 1971,
few preprimary schools were constructed in
the form of pilot projects in major towns of
the country under the Ministry of National
Community Development and social affairs.
However, the withdrawal of legitimate ECCE
policy of preprimary education had to wait until
the period after 1994 when private investment
in education was officially declared possible in
the country.
The rationale for early child care education
Studies on early child care and education have
shown that the early years of life are so critical
for the acquisition of concepts, skills, and
positive attitudes of life that lay the foundation
for lifelong learning (Cunah, et.al, 2006,
Cornelio and Hackman, 2003). It is a sensitive
period marked by rapid transformations in
physical, emotional, cognitive, language and
social development. According to UNESCO,
the early year’s education and socialization
represent a window of opportunity for a lifetime
development of a person (2010). Education at
this stage is a dynamic process in which early
learning begets later learning and the sooner
it begins, the greater the returns from it
(Heckman and Klenow, 1997, Cunahetal, 2006).
ECCE has a number of benefits both to
the individual child and the society at large.
It introduces children to basic learning
proficiencies that are considered necessary
in primary schools as well as enhance their
chance of better achievement in the future
(APAP, undated). Warm and responsive care
at the early years has a protective function of
immunizing young children against the stress
effects to be experienced later in life. Moreover,
it is believed that early years is a decisive stage
in the education system in terms of laying the
foundation for the holistic development of
children, in developing basic learning and life
skills and in preparation for smooth transition
and integration of children to formal schooling.
Quality preprimary education
Quality education has become the Moto of the
day all over the world. It is also the same in
Ethiopia at present. As a first quality imperative,
the MoE of Ethiopia developed the national
ECCE policy framework that embedded
quality issues, that is, contained a holistic,
comprehensive, and feasible development
of ECCE in the country. The framework
puts emphasis on the importance of ECCE,
and marked the early years of children as a
critical period that requires due attention and
a great deal of investment. Failing to provide
children at this stage of development with
better nutrition, healthcare and education
deprives them of their right to develop as
productive citizens, enjoy a better quality life
and eventually contribute to the development
of the nation. The framework could be taken as
a commendable functional input to preprimary
programs. However, if not implemented as
desired, it could have a negative bearing on the
quality of ECCE program.
Quality entails multiple factors. But, quality
curriculum has no substitute. Preschool age
education calls for a curriculum that involves a
variety and a balance of activities for children
(Katz and Chard, 1989, as cited in Haile, 2010).
A good curriculum provides activities that
include opportunities for children to learn by
watching and seeing, experimenting with real
objects, balance of child and teacher initiated
activities, group projects that enhance mutual
cooperation and a range of activities requiring
the use of large and small muscles, exposure
to good literature and music of children’s own
cultures and of other cultures represented in the
class. Preschool curriculum should incorporate
play as a major method of teaching. Playing
and growing are often synonymous with life
itself (Chazzan, 2002). Play helps children to
explore their immediate environment, develop
self confidence and evokes creativity. Early
childhood curriculum should incorporate play
as a vital method of socializing children.
Quality preprimary education provision requires
qualified teachers. Qualified preprimary
school teachers influence the development
of children more than any specific curriculum
(Feenei, et al.1987, cited in Yalew, 2011,
Choudhury and choudhury, 2002). Teachers
of young children need to have multiple child
rearing skills that enable them to involve in
the social, emotional, intellectual and physical
development of the child. Teaching in the
preprimary schools demands basic knowledge
in the area of health and nutrition, pedagogy,
curriculum differentiation, knowledge of
interpersonal and group relations with children-
parents, specialists and, and colleagues(Miller
&MacDowell,1993, Margarita&Cohen,1984).
In view of these teachers competencies, the
Ethiopian government gave due emphasis to
the importance of careful training of teachers
in the medium of instruction from preprimary
to higher education under article 3.4.5 of the
1994 education and training policy(MoE,1994).
Equally important for quality ECCE provision is
the location and physical environment of the
centers. The area must be located away from
the crowed areas of the city, burial ground,
and main traffic for safety measures. The
land area should be dry, have natural drainage
free from water, clean, pleasant, and in a well
maintained building. Enough space for children
to move freely is essential. Moreover, the
rooms, floors, walls and windows, sanitary
facilities and ventilation need to be available
(Chowdhary& Chowdhury, 2002, Feeney, et.al,
1978). A preschool need to have outdoor play
equipment: swinging, merry ground, slide,
balance, boxes, cowling tunnels and climbing
equipment.
Parental involvement in early education of
children has been another avenue of concern
for effective ECCE programs (Chowdhary&
Chowdhury, 2002,:155). Parents and guardians’
have the biggest role to play as the first and
most important teachers. To this effect,
parents and teachers must work together for
better understanding of children’s needs and
aspirations. Open communication with parents
is essential throughout the early years. The
improvement of children’s day to day learning
should be communicated to parents using
telephone calls, sending homework samples,
notes, conferences and report cards. For this
to be effective, homeschool relationships need
to improve through home visits, interviews,
meetings, parent participation in school
programs, and training.
Design
This study was descriptive survey in that it
aims to identify and describe the challenges
prevailing in the government ECCEs. Mixed
methods research design was employed. Thus
quantitative and qualitative data were utilized
to secure more comprehensive evidence to
investigate ECCE challenges (Creswell & Plano
Clark, 2007).
Population
Currently there are 8785 preprimary school
teachers in Addis Ababa. Of these 1563
teachers serve in the government ECCEs.
Teachers, ECCE coordinators, and parents
were the target population for data sources for
the study.
Sampling
Of the 10 Sub cities in Addis Ababa, five were
randomly selected using simple probability
sampling method (Lottery method). The sub
cities selected were: Akaki, Arada, Bole, Lideta,
and Nefas silk. There were 53 government
preprimary centers in these sub cities in total. All
teachers working in these preprimary centers
(416) were taken as source of data where all
filled out a questionnaire. 53 coordinators in
these ECCEs and 53 parents were purposely
selected to provide information. In total, 522
data sources participated in the study.
Instrumentation
Four different types of data collection
instruments were used to secure information.
These were questionnaire for teachers,
structured questionnaires for both ECCE
coordinators, and parents and observation
check lists to scan the situation of school
facilities and equipment. The questionnaire
was self-developed after consulting relevant
literature. It consisted of 22 close ended
items to be rated on 5 point Likert scales with
responses ranging from 1=strongly disagree
to 5= strongly agree. The questionnaire was
commented by 40 data collecting experts
at face value. On the basis of the valuable
comments obtained from the experts, some
of the items were edited to make the final
version of the instrument.
Data collection
Forty data collectors were invited (4 experts
from each sub city) with consents of the sub
city heads. Data collectors were trained and
sent out with hard copies of the questionnaire
for field data collection. Upon their return, data
collected were checked and data cleaning was
performed to exclude defective responses. The
final data were coded and processed using the
SPSS software.
Data analysis
Percentages, mean, and standard deviation
were used to describe the data while
independent samples t tests and ANOVA were
also carried out to see if there were significant
differences between male and female teachers
in participating parents and the impact of.
Results
A total number of 416 questionnaires were
distributed to 416 ECCE teachers. In total 410
(98%) filled out questionnaires were received
back. 51 ECCE coordinators (96%) and 52
parents (98%) provided information through
a structure questionnaire. Thus, as the rate
of questionaire return was very high it was
analyzed as follows.
Profile of participants:
Frequency and percentages were utilized to
present the specific personal information of
the respondents.
Table 1 presents sex and qualification of
respondents. Consequently, 96.8% of
the teachers were female while very few
were male (3.2%). But, when it comes to
ECCE coordinators, the proportions of the
sexes appear to be better in terms of equity
(60.8% female and 37.2% male coordinators).
Regarding parents, the majority were female
(75%) while male accounted for 25% of the
total. When it comes to the qualification of
respondents, 85.4% of the teachers and 37.3%
of the ECCE coordinators hold certificates. A
considerable number of teachers and principals
have diplomas (12.4% and 45.1% respectively).
Similarly, 46.2% of the parents are reported to
have certificates while the rest hold diplomas,
but 20 parents did not indicate their literacy
level. On the other hand, 3 teachers and 8
Principals were reported to have degrees and
masters. On the whole, the majority of the
preprimary school teachers were below the
qualification standard set at national level.
 Teachers Coordinators Parents
Sex
Male 13 3.2% 19 37.2% 13 25%
Female 397 96.8% 31 60.8% 39 75%
Total 410 100% 50 100% 52 100%
Qualification
Certificate 350 85.4% 19 37.3% 24 46.2%
Diploma 51 12.4% 23 45.1% 8 15.4%
Degree 3 .7% 8 15.7% 0 0%
Masters 3 .7% 1 2% 0 0%
Missing value 3 .7% 1 2% 20 38%
Total 407 99.3 51 100% 32 61.5%

Table 1: Respondents background.

Enrollment

Figure 1: Preprimary enrollment.

The establishment of preprimary centers began 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 >60
in 2003 E.C. Since then, enrollment has been Teachers (9%) 36% 26% 17% 12%
Principals 4% 30% 30% 18% 10%
improving as the service provided was free of
charge and the ECCEs have also been locate in Table 2: Classroom Child ratio
neighborhood areas very close to the residents.
Taking 2003 E.C (2011) as the base year, It is expected that schools and classrooms
enrollment in preprimary education increased should be situated in such a place where
by 1.7% (1978 students) during the year 2004. teaching-learning activities can take place in a
In 2005, the increase in enrollment rose by peaceful and child friendly environment. With
15% (17,589) and reached the highest, while regard to this, over half of the teachers (52%)
in 2006 it dropped by 7.5% (8,946 students) and principals (58.8%) indicated the location of
which may be due to lack of awareness that the preprimaries to be convenient and safe for
free government preprimary education centers children to learn. On top of this, in response
have been opened in the neighborhoods. In to the question whether or not the “in school
2007 enrollment rose to 9% (11270 students) area” is enough for children to learn and play,
and this may be due to the launching of the 55% of them said that the school compound
school feeding program for the first time in was enough to accommodate children to play
Addis Ababa by the first lady: her Excellency and/or learn while 45% of them appeared to
w/o Roman Tesfaye in collaboration with the disagree to this. In this regard, respondents
Addis Ababa City administration education showed varied opinions.
bureau. It is important to note that, had the
city administration education bureau, failed to
open preprimary centers in primary schools,
158,723 students could have remained without
any school readiness for primary grades.

Pupil- cclassroom ratio (PCR)

Classroom child ratio and information on the
capacity of these classrooms was collected.
As can be seen from table 2, only few teachers
and principals (9% & 4% respectively)
endorsed that the class room child ratio meets
the standard of 20-30 with two care givers in a
class (2010). The majority of teachers indicated
that the number of children per classroom
ranges from 30 to 60 (79%).The opinions of the
ECCE coordinators appear to conform to the
views of teachers regarding the PCR (78%). In
many classes, however, the classroom-student
ratios were found to be significantly higher
than the suggested or desirable ratio (20-30
students per class).
Responses Teachers ECCE Coordinator
Freq. % Freq. %
Yes 213 52.0 30 58.8
No 197 48.0 21 41.2
Total 410 100.0 51 100.0

Table 3: Location of pre-primaries

Curriculum
The quality of curriculum and learning provision is important for quality care and education for pre-
primary grades. In line with this, information on the relevance of the syllabus was sought for the
study. As can be seen from table 4 below, the mean scores of teachers

Statements Teachers
N Mean Std
Encourages active learning 408 3.8897 1.10842
Encourages group work 408 3.7010 1.06948
Includes art, drama, dance, songs 408 3.8284 1.0609
Uses play as a method of teaching 408 4.1520 1.06079
Contains balanced activities 408 3.4093* 1.06155

* Key: Decimals were rounded to the nearest numeral, 1= Very inadequate, 2= inadequate, 3= undecided, 4= adequate, 5=
Very adequate.

Table 4: Quality of the Syllabus

Shows that , the majority of the teachers rated the syllabus as relevant for pre-primary grades in
that it encourages active learning and group work (mean=3.8897, and 3.7010 respectively), play is
incorporated in the syllabus as it ought to be(mean=4.1520) and balanced activities both for teachers
and students have been incorporated in the syllabus (mean= 3.4093). The teachers further reported
that art contents like drawing, drama and songs are well included in the syllabus.

Freq. % Valid Percent

Valid Yes 277 67.6 67.6
No 133 32.4 32.4
Total 410 100.0 100.0

Table 5: Children’ books

Teachers were asked to report if they used other
children’s books. In response to this majority of
teachers (67.6%) confirmed that they use other
children’s books while a considerable number of
teachers said they use no other materials (table
5 above). An interview conducted with the head
of ECCE at the Education Bureau revealed that
teachers use additional materials prepared by the
education bureau and these included the teacher’s
guide prepared by the MOE for the three levels
(play group, nursery group, and Kindergarten
group, 2012), In addition to these, teachers use
supplementary books prepared at national level
(2014), and different story books developed by
the Education Bureau (2016). However, 32.4% of
the teachers disagreed to these statements.
ECCE materials
Educational materials that give children first-hand
experience are essential for ECCEs. Information
on the use of these materials was collected. As
indicated by teachers and the school principals
(Figure 2), a few of the ECCEs have playing
materials (26.6% & 23% respectively), and the
lowest proportion (10.5% and 11.8%) had physical
exercise items. Materials like number chart,
wall charts, picture charts and the like seem
to be inadequate when compared to the
proportion of other materials (20.9 & 30%).
Of the other category of materials, chart
materials were reported to be moderately
available in the preprimaries (15.7% & 25.4%).
Toys, irrespective of the type (wood, clay,
plastics, and jute) were reported to be found
and used in the ECCEs (23.2%, & 9.8%). It
seems that some materials were inadequate
to serve all children. It is also interesting to
note how teachers manage teaching in the
classroom with inadequate materials. Overall,
the government ECCEs had one or more of
these materials.

Figure 2: Educational Materials

Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities (WASH)
Friendly learning environment for preprimary school children also requires the accessibility of
sanitation; and availability of drinking water for the health and safety of children. To this effect, the
mean response of the teachers and ECCE coordinators were compared (table 6).

Separate drinking Suitable available Toilet facilitie Hand wash

water in place water tap available facilities exist
Teacher Cordinatorors Teacher Coordinal Teacher Coordina Teacher Cordina
Mean 2.5585 2.8125 3.0951 3.1250 2.8854 2.7917 2.9463 2.6939
N 410 48 410 48 410 48 410 49
Std. 1.4577 1.4240 1.4153 1.4235 1.30601 1.33621 1.40452 1.38750

As shown above the availability of separate drinking water for children in the ECCEs was indicated to
be inadequate (mean=2.5585, & m=2.8125 for both teachers and ECCE coordinators respectively);
Water taps appear to be suitable to the age and maturity level of children (mean>3). As the mean
shows, toilet facilities appear to be insufficient in the ECCEs (m= 2.8854, 2.7917 respectively).
Besides, hand wash facilities were confirmed to be in short supply in the ECCEs (m= 2.9463, &
2.6939 respectively).
Parents’ participation in ECCEs is a powerful way of establishing continuity between the family and
school environments. In light of this, the data in figure 3 revealed that parents’ involvement is low
in some of the ECCEs (33.7% & 33.4 % respectively).

Figure 3: Parent involvement.

However, majority of the teachers & principals indicated that a modest participation of parents exist
in the ECCEs (26.8% & 39% respectively). Furthermore, there was also a considerable number of
teachers and principals who indicated that parent’s participation was high in the government ECCEs
(38.3% & 27.4 respectively). This indicates that the level of parents’ involvement in the ECCEs varied
across the schools.
An independent samples t-test was performed to find out which of the teachers, males or females,
in the government ECCEs involved parents more in the education of children, by assuming that
there is no significant difference between males and females teachers to involve.

Variables N Mean SD df Sig t tabulated

Male 13 3.2308 1.23517 407 0.485 1.96

Female 396 2.9975 1.18321 407

Table 7: Independent samples t test

p<0.05
The results (table 7) indicated the existence of no significant differences (P<.05) in male and female teachers in involving parents.

The ECCE program has two goals for young children: to increase their school readiness and to
facilitate their on-time enrolment in primary school. In light of this, analysis of data obtained from
ECCE coordinators, and parents showed that a large proportion of the ECCE principals and parents
(74.5%, 86.5% respectively) confirmed the positive impact of the ECCE program in promoting the
readiness of children to join primary grades, and 48.8% of the teachers acknowledged the program
as well. On the other hand, a considerable number of the teachers (40%) indicated that the impact
of the ECCE program was low.

Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 361.849 4 90.462 70.707 .000

Within Groups 518.154 405 1.279

Total 880.002 409

Table 8: Relevance of the ECCE program to prepare children for grade one
Teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of
government ECCE program was tested using
ANOVA, with the assumption that there exist
no differences among teachers from all the
sub-cities (table 8). The results indicated that
(F= 70.707) there exist a Significant difference
between teachers perceptions’ of the impact
of government ECCEs across the sub cities
(p<0.05). Teachers, as seen in the above table,
did not equally acknowledge the role of the
government ECCEs in Addis Ababa.
Analysis of qualitative data
Additional information has been secured
from parents and school principals through
interviews. The qualitative data obtained were
coded and organized under the themes: ECCE
setting, Resources, and capacity building.
Parents were asked to report the proximity
of the location of the ECCE centers. All the
parents interviewed said that the ECCEs were
located in the same neighborhoods as their
residence, except a parent who reported that
the ECCE his daughter attended (Nefas silk)
was in the adjacent neighborhoods. These
ideas of parents were supported by the school
principals. It appears that ECCEs locations
were not problems both for parents and their
children. Parents and head teachers said that
some of the primary schools in which the
governments ECCEs were opened were
situated along streets full of traffic noises that
disturb attentive learning. Besides, in some of
the pre-primaries no separate arrangements
were made (separate toilettes, separate & safe
gates to the schools, separate areas/building,
etc.).
Cleanliness of floors and walls of classrooms
were looked at. In many of them, the walls
and rooms of the ECCEs were reported to be
unclean and full of dirt, and in some cases the
walls of some of them were reported to be
shared with private residents (Akaki). As the
head teacher from Arada explained, the ECCE
was not spacious enough to accommodate
the growing number of children every year.
Outdoor activities for children were becoming
impossible, and play materials like toys,
and equipment are in short supply. Large
classrooms characterize almost all of the pre-
primaries in the sub city. A small number of
schools had classes with only around 20-30
students, but many ECCEs in the sub cities
had classes with as many as 80 students, and
this conforms to the results of the quantitative
data (table 2). Furthermore, as the head
teacher from Bole indicated, the classrooms, in
major part, were narrow to accommodate the
large number of children flowing in to join the
ECCEs every academic year. Consequently,
the absence of a dedicated classroom for pre-
primary classes did not allow for the creation
of the necessary physical ambiance, including
play space, activity corners and placing of
decorations on the walls. Thus, playing with
stimulating objects and physical games,
practice and participation in play activities had
been low. This, they said, is an impediment to
providing high quality pre-primary education.
Preschool education program cannot be
successful in the absence of sufficient
instructional materials and equipment. To this
end, parents and the head teachers noted
several challenges associated with resources
and facilities. Some school heads felt that
insufficient teaching and learning materials had
been allocated to each pre-primary. A school
head from Lideta sub city noted that while the
program usually took place out of doors, the
materials available were not always enough for
children. Besides, the play grounds could not be
smoothened as the ECCE center was working
with zero budget. Other ECCE centers have also
endorsed that no separate budget is allocated
to the ECCEs except for the primary school.
Activities like matching, sorting and comparing
things using color, shape, size and function
require sufficient materials and equipment.
Visual and audio materials and equipment
that the children can learn by touching were
required. For example, the head teacher from
Akaki explained that Television was required
but was not available until the interview. Thus,
if with no budget budget allocation, these
facilities can not be availed in schools. Teachers
are time and again considered to be the single
most important external factor contributing
to quality education (Peter, 2006). Dedicated
classrooms and teachers with specialized and
appropriate training, provision of educational
materials and increased supervision and
feedback mechanism may help improve their
present situation in terms of preparing children
for quality pre-primary education.
In services training of teachers is important for
updating teacher’s qualification. In connection
with this, the head teachers from Nefas silk
lafto Sub city indicated that no on job training
for teachers was inadequate while the principal
from Lideta indicated that in-service training
for teachers was none- existent. Besides,
the parents interviewed explained that they
have never attended any training. This shows
that continuous professional development for
ECCE teachers’, according to the interviewee,
has not been given due attention.
Discussion
Research in the field indicates that effective
implementation of curricula may prove to be
easier with well trained, younger and more
flexible teachers in the ECCEs (EFA, 2007,
McMullen, 1998, 1999). With regard to this, the
study revealed that teachers were adequate
in number, majority of them had certificates,
and did not meet the minimum qualifications
requirements (85% certificate and only 10%
diploma) as stipulated in the Ethiopian per-
primary education strategy (MoE, 2007).
Although the national strategy puts teachers’
licensing as a requirement for teaching in
the ECCEs, this has not been in place yet.
Besides, in-service training of teachers and
principals was lacking, and Parental education
that focuses on awareness-raising and training
on the roles and responsibilities in bringing up
children had been lacking.
The curriculum for ECCEs was organized under
the major themes: Language development,
Social and Emotional development, and
Mathematical skills relevant to the age level of
students (MoE, 2010). However, the strategic
operational plan developed by the MoE stresses
teachers’ licensing mechanisms to be ensured
for proper implementation and effectiveness of
the ECCEs. In this regard, all the government
preprimary schools in Addis Ababa followed
and utilized the official Syllabus prepared by the
Ministry of Education (MoE, 2010). The quality
of the curriculum in terms of including active
learning and group work, balanced activities
and play as a method of engaging children,
drama, music, and drawing were found to be
well accepted by ECCE teachers. However,
a considerable number of government pre-
primaries did not have other supplementary
children’s’ books than the syllabus (32.4%).
The opening of government pre-primary centers
in the primary schools helped to accommodate
children of the disadvantaged families’ to
provide the necessary readiness for the regular
primary classes. In this regard, the situation
in Addis Ababa appeared to be promising. A
dramatic increase in pre-primary enrolment
rate was observed since 2011, as this was the
year the Education Bureau decided to enhance
preprimary education. The increase was more
than a quarter of annual enrollment since 2011
(15%). The rate of increase in enrollment was
noticed at a similar pace for the children of
both genders until 2013. However, the rate of
increase in enrollment declined until 2015 for
unknown reasons.
Studies have shown that pre-school must
be located away from the crowded areas of
the city/town, burial ground and main traffic
for the purpose of children’s safety and the
vicinity must also permit future expansion,
a raised area, dry, and have natural drainage
free from water logging clean, pleasant, and
well maintained building (1998 cited in Haile,
2011; Chowdhury and Chuoldhury, 2002).
However, the study revealed that some of the
preprimaries were situated along main streets
exposed to traffic noises that disturb attentive
learning. In the neighborhoods one observes
waste containers and open drainages unsafe
for children to walk along and this was another
challenge identified.
The physical environment of classroom has a
profound effect on individual child; the group
as a whole and on others needs to meet
standards (Haile, 2010 Feeney et.al, 1987).
But, this study disclosed that the class rooms
were too narrow to accommodate the large
number of children. Problems of large classes
also existed. In many cases, the absence of a
dedicated classroom or space for pre-primary
classes hindered the creation of the necessary
physical ambiance; Further, problems related
to adequate spaces, neatness, napping rooms
and safety of the playgrounds in the preschools
were other major challenges of government
ECCEs in Addis Ababa.
Preschool education program cannot be
successful in the absence of sufficient
instructional materials and equipment. However,
lack of basic facilities and materials necessary
for the holistic development of children
especially in the areas of socio-emotional,
motor, creativity, thinking and problem solving
skills coupled with uncomfortable playgrounds,
insufficient WASH facilities and unclean toilets
characterized the government ECCEs
(figure, 2).
A substantial body of research pointed out that
the interconnection between the home and
the school and parental involvement is highly
critical to promote preschool children’s success
in multiple dimensions of development
including academic achievement (Cardona et
al., 2012, Chowdhury & Chowdhury, 2002,
ECCENPFE, 2010).However, parent-ECCE
relations appeared to be low in Addis Ababa
(Figure 3).
Conclusion
This research could have its own limitations
in terms of the sample population, time,
instruments, and others.. But, it did reveal
interesting findings relating to the challenges
of government ECCEs in Addis Ababa.
The highest percentage of teachers and ECCE
Coordinators were not qualified to teach in
the ECCEs as per the national qualification
standards. Lack of basic facilities and materials
that contribute to their holistic development
(especially in the areas of socio-emotional,
motor, creativity, thinking and problem solving
skills) were some of the challenges. Shortage
of basic infrastructures (lack of and narrowness
of classrooms, napping rooms), facilities (lack
of tables, chairs and shelves), and teaching,
learning and playing materials such as books,
toys, blocks, puzzles and other related supplies
necessary to teach children about all domains
of development and lack of adequate spaces,
neatness, and safety problems were found to
be the main challenges of the preschools.
Low level of parental involvement, inadequacy
of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and
absence of budget and lack of decentralized
leadership were identified as major challenges
of ECCEs in Addis Ababa that impeded the
working of government ECCEs to the required
standard.
Recommendation
In light of the preceding findings and
conclusions, the following recommendations
were forwarded.
1. The findings of the study showed that
pre-primary education centers were
directly responsible to the primary school
leadership, and this was not convenient
for the centers to plan and budget their
preprimary education routines as required.
Thus, there is a strongest need to establish
a decentralized administration and
allocate separate budget for the ECCEs,
and set systems for preschool teachers’
professional development and motivation
to retain them in the preschools.
2. This study revealed that most of the ECCE
Coordinators and teachers did not meet
the qualification standards stated in the
2010 ECCE strategy. Teachers’ professional
commitment with knowledge from
pedagogy and child growth and development,
skills in structuring curriculum for flexible
use, and knowledge and understanding
on the potential of parent school relations
are essential for the success of the ECCEs
programs. Therefore, flexible training
programs for ECCE Coordinators and
teachers are earnestly required (summer,
weekend, afterschool, Distance education
programs, etc.).
3. One of the central findings of this study was
lack of basic facilities and materials helpful
for children’s holistic development. These
included, among others, classrooms, and
availability of other needed spaces coupled
with large classes which could impede
proper sitting arrangements for learning.
With inadequate physical facilities and
teaching materials, early child readiness
for primary school education might not
be successful. It is necessary that the
Education Bureau, in collaboration with
parents and stakeholders work to construct
additional classrooms and, or establish
new ECCE centers and furnish them the
necessary facilities and materials.
4. The findings from this study showed that
most of the schools did not have adequate
drinking water facility and sanitary latrines.
In some cases, these were common to all
students (pre-primary and primary) which
sometimes created difficulty since they
failed to conform to children’s age and
height. Thus, age and height appropriate
water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities need
to be availed in the government ECCEs.
5. Educating children has never been an easy
task without sharing the task with children’s
parents and siblings. Hence, parents and
teachers need to work cooperatively
for the better achievement of children.
Hence, it is recommended that teachers
should enhance the awareness of parents
on the importance of their involvement
in preschool and home based children
learning activities through different means:
such as reading stories and books to their
children and assisting in doing home tasks,
and others.
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PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM I
THEME: APPROACHES AND EXPERIENCES
 Peace Education as a Missing Piece
in Early Years Education in Ethiopia:
Foundation for the Development of a
Peaceful Personality at Risk
Habtamu Wondimu (Prof.)
Abstract: Peace education (PE) is the process
of promoting the knowledge, skills, attitudes
and values needed to bring about behavioral
and personality changes that will enable
children and others to prevent conflicts and
violence, resolve conflicts peacefully and
develop respect for self and others, appreciate
diversity, have sense of fairness and justice,
respect basic human rights, and be aware
of universal interconnectedness. UNESCO,
UNICEF and other competent authorities have
recommended that PE, sometimes also called
human rights education, values education,
or citizenship education should start at early
childhood stage. Several researchers argue that
early childhood experience is highly influential
in the child’s later capacities for peace such as
empathy, emotional and behavioral control, and
peacefully living with different others. Children
should learn skills of communication, playing
together with divers groups, cooperation,
solving problems peacefully and by negotiation,
and critical thinking. Many researchers argue
that PE needs to be integral part of quality
education. The objective of this study was to
make a critical thematic analysis of the contents
of grades one and two Akababi Science
textbooks (Addis Ababa Education Bureau,
2006E.C.). {Please note that there is no social
sciences course/textbook till fifth grade}. The
thematic analysis shows that the books focus
on the composition of human body (parts,
basic needs, diseases), the family (members
and household utensils), school (compound,
environment, rules and regulations, social
interaction, not playing on asphalt roads
and care in crossing roads, cleanliness and
community environment), we/man and healthy
living (food, being healthy, personal hygiene),
Kebele (location, addresses, environment) and
woreda or sub-city (location, historical places/
institutions and socio-economic institutions).
Only about 3 pages are given to Tiru ginignunet,
mainly polite greetings. About 13 pages are
given to child rights issues in the Second grade
textbooks. I have not come across mention of
peace/selam, culture of peace (selamawi baahil)
or other relevant topics or concepts related
to the development of peaceful behavior,
personality, and culture. We have adequate
evidence that Ethiopia and many African
countries are facing various challenges such as
violence, corruption, ethnocentrism, nepotism,
intolerance of diversity, abuse of human rights,
and poor work ethics. Concerted efforts have
to be made starting from the early childhood
to work toward the development of peaceful
personality and culture of peace. As Blumberg,
Hare and Costin (2006) state, ‘peace does not
come with our DNA—to reach peace we need
to teach peace.’
Introduction
Quotations on the Significance of Peace
1. It is not enough to talk about peace. One
must believe in it. And it is not enough
to believe in it. One must work at it. E.
Roosevelt
2. Peace is costly, but it is worth the
expense: African Proverb
3. When you find peace within yourself, you
become the kind of person who can live at
peace with others—Peace Pilgrim
4. An eye for eye only ends up making the
whole world blind. M.Gandhi
Peace is often defined as the prevalence of
harmony and tranquility, concord, serenity,
state of justice, cooperation and mutual
understanding, and respect for each other. It
is also the absence of conflicts, violence or
war. Some others define it as the eradication
of poverty, economic wellbeing, absence of
violence and war, prevalence of law and order,
prevalence of social harmony, health and social
justice. Though there are some agreements on
the basic elements, peace is a very complex,
and also culture and context bound concept
that operates at various levels (intrapersonal,
interpersonal, inter-group, etc. levels). Casual
observations and the author’s other studies
indicate that there is some amount of violence
in the Ethiopian society, respect of some rights
at interpersonal levels are low, some amount
of ethnocentrism exists, etc. (Habtamu,
2002,2005, 2008, & 2016 ; IPSS,2012/13/14;
Alagaw, 2012; Abebe, 2015 ). Hence, there
is a need for peace education and the
development of culture of peace in Ethiopia.
Promoting tolerance, integration and inclusion;
elimination of “tribalism” (chauvinism and
narrow ethnicism); encouraging appreciation
for diversity; teaching the skills, values and
attributes of peace and peaceful persons, and
promoting the respect for human rights are
called for. Blumberg, Hare and Costin (2006)
clearly state and argue that peace does not
come with our DNA, and human beings have
the tendency to devalue the out-groups and
have the tendency to use destructive means
to resolve conflicts and resort to aggression
when frustrated. Hence, they argues that PE
is beneficial to children at KG and above levels
as it could play some roles in the prevention
of violent behaviors, reducing aggressive
behaviors, and in the transformation of the
thinking and values of children/students.
Besides, Ethiopia is a signatory of the UN
Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948), the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (1966), The Convention on the
Rights of the Child (1989), the African Charter
on Human and Peoples Rights, etc. which
encourage the respect for human rights, peace
and nonviolence in all walks of life.
The UN (1999) Program of Action on a Culture
of Peace encourages member states to take
action for prompting a culture of peace at
national, regional and international levels. It
state that the aims of education should be to
promote the development of the culture of
peace and children are to be taught attitudes,
values, modes of behavior and ways of life free
of violence and in respect of human dignity,
and of tolerance and non-discrimination. The
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989) states the following (Article 29):
1. States Parties agree that the education
of the child shall be directed to:
(a) The development of the child’s
personality, talents and mental and
physical abilities to their fullest
potential;
(b) The development of respect for
human rights and fundamental
freedoms, and for the principles
enshrined in the Charter of the
United Nations;
(c) The development of respect for the
child’s parents, his or her own
cultural identity, language and
values, for the national values of
the country in which the child is
living, the country from which he
or she may originate, and for
civilizations different from his or
her own;
(d) The preparation of the child for
responsible life in a free society,
in the spirit of understanding,
peace, tolerance, equality of
sexes, and friendship among all
peoples, ethnic, national and
religious groups and persons of
indigenous origin;
(e) The development of respect for the
natural environment.
We can easily note that the education of the
child shall be directed to the preparation of the
child for responsible life in a free society, in
the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance,
equality of sexes, and friendship among all
peoples.
Children are to learn (to be educated) the
knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes required
to be able to survive, to develop full capacities,
to live and work in dignity, to participate fully
in development, to improve the quality of
their lives, to make informed decisions, and to
continue learning (Arigatou, 2008; UNESCO,
2001; Fountain, 1999; Navarro-Castro & Nario-
Galace, 2008; Habtamu, 2008). The skills of
communication, negotiation, problem solving,
critical thinking and listening are to be learned.
Children learn what they experience and live.
This requires the existence of the curriculum
for “peace education”.
Though there are “civics and ethical education”
curricula and textbooks for the senior high
schools, the primary and KG curricula seem
to lack the key aspects or elements of peace
education. Though this is not the place to
comment on the civic education curricula
of secondary education, there is a lot to be
desired in those levels too. Some of the core
elements for peace or human rights education
are missing, most topics are redundant and
the learning objectives are mostly irrelevant or
inappropriate.
In this paper, efforts are made to critically
review the literature related to PE in schools,
particularly at early stages; to point out the key
elements/topics often covered in PE sessions/
lessons; to evaluate the contents of the Addis
Ababa Administration Education Bureau’s First
and Second grade students’ Akababi Science
textbooks; indicate the problems with the
expected learning outcomes/objectives listed
in the text books, and suggest the way forward.
Review of related literature
The key program and focus areas specified by
the UN Declaration on Culture of Peace (1999)
are: Non-violent resolution of conflicts, gender
equality and empowerment, social justice and
social cohesion, democratic participation, open
and free information, respect for females’
rights, understanding, tolerance and solidarity
and international peace and security (UN, 1989,
1993 & 1999; Danish, 2011; UNICEF, 2014; de
Rivera, 2015). Some of the broad international
indicators have included the prevalence of the
following in a specific society or country (de
Rivera, 2015; GPI, 2014).
1. Education for conflict resolution – directed
to non-violent solutions for conflicts
(education expenditure and homicide rates
could be used as the indicators);
2. Sustainable development – GDP per capita,
life expectancy at birth (GDP per capita, life
expectancy, Gini index of income inequality
are the main indicators);
3. Respect of human rights - imprisonment,
torture, murder, etc (HR index);
4. Gender equality – percentage of seats in
parliament held by women (percentage of
women);
5. Democratic participation – degree of
elections contested, voting (Democracy
index);
6. Understanding, tolerance and solidarity
– absence of internal turmoil, number of
refugees generated and internally displaced
persons (tolerance for refugees);
7. Free flow of information – restrictive laws
and regulations, repressive actions against
journalists, press freedom (press freedom
index);
8. International peace and security – relations
with neighbors, military expenditure
(military expenditure as percentage of
GDP).
Assessing the prevalence of culture of
peace, using the above and other dimensions
(economic, violence, security, etc. indicators)
would be a major/huge study that would require
vast resources. One also has to be selective
and skeptical in the usage of the indicators
developed by the West (question of cross-
cultural relevance) and the notion that the North
is more peaceful than the South (Habtamu,
2016). As the concepts of peace and culture
of peace are complex and perceived differently
in different cultures and even within a given
society, one has to be limited to some aspects
of these concepts (Adams, 2014; UNESCO,
2001; Habtamu Wondimu, 2008).
Habtamu Wondimu (2005 & 2008), Ephraim
Isaac (2008), Alagaw Ababu (2012), Abebe
Mulat (2015) and other researchers have
reported that the Ethiopian dominant culture
reflects both peaceful (e.g., hospitality, mutual and accommodation of differences (De Leo,
cooperation, humility and tolerance) and 2010). Terminologies used for PE include
violent (e.g., aggression, patriarchy, distrust, Education for peace, Human rights education,
domination, and ethnocentrism) values and Values education, Life skills education, Global
characteristics. citizenship education, Multicultural education,
Those major elements which are mainly and Citizenship or Civic Education (UNESCO,
social, cultural and psychological tend to 2015).
revolve around peaceful societal/communal
The learning-teaching is to start as early as
norms and values (cooperation, dialogue,
possible and continue throughout life (KG
negotiation, fairness/social justice), respect for
to universities and later). Of course the
human rights (equal treatment, inclusiveness,
contents, complexity, approaches, processes
prevalence of freedom of expression), gender
of facilitation, etc. differ with the age, level of
equality where women and children are valued,
education, experience, etc.
tolerance and solidarity (social cohesion, trust,
understanding, accommodating diversity), Alfonso (2014: 168) indicates that the “curricular
democratic participation and communication framework for early childhood” should rest
(involving, listening to all, people having voice, on “four pillars: value and respect for self,
sharing information and knowledge), feelings appreciation of diversity, sense of fairness and
of security and safety (levels of security, press justice, and awareness of interconnectedness”.
freedom, free flow of information), and culture In agreement with others, such as B.Reardon
of violence (domination, force, prejudice and (2009) she states that inclusion of PE in the
discrimination, exclusion) (Habtamu, 2016;de curriculum, “can be extremely influential in
Rivera, 2004). Since our focus is on peace building a child’s later capacities for peace
education, particularly at early child hood, we such as empathy, emotional regulations,
will limit ourselves to those directly related and behavioral control which will prove to be
issues. important pieces” (Ibid,:170). Early childhood
education must recognize the importance
As indicated earlier, PE mainly refers to the
of creating a positive self-image built on love
process of imparting the knowledge, values,
and respect for oneself. From this, the love
skills, and attitudes necessary for enhancing
and respect for others starts developing. The
peace. Fountain (1999) defined PE as, “ the
belief and striving that they deserve a just
process of promoting knowledge, skills,
and peaceful society starts from this stage. If
attitudes and values needed to bring about
fostered properly, the social interaction at early
behavior change that will enable children,
stage can help in the development of peaceful
youth and adults to prevent conflict and
relationships, cooperation, empathy, caring,
violence, both overt and structured; to resolve
and respect. Children also learn appreciation
conflicts peacefully; and to create conditions
of diversity in language, religion, skin color and
conducive to peace, whether at an intra-
gender. Hence cultivation of the understanding,
personal, interpersonal, inter-group, national
awareness, respect and appreciation for
and international level” (p.82). The Hague
difference can easily take place at early stages.
Appeal had defined it as, ”a participatory
Creating settings where equal opportunities
holistic process that includes teaching for
are provided to girls and boys, to those from
and about democracy and human rights,
different cultures and ethnic groups, etc. will
non-violence, social and economic justice,
send the message of equality, fair treatment
gender equality, environmental sustainability,
and respect for rights (Ibid.).
disarmament, traditional peace practices,
international law and human security” (Cited
in Wilson,2007:87). Quite a large number
of studies and reports indicate that PE
promotes alternatives to violence, creates
safe schools and promotes social cohesion
What can we do to create a peaceful world,
to make our relationships peaceful and to find
inner peace? An important part of the answer
to this question is that we should learn how to
foster the development of peaceful personality.
The concept of ‘peaceful personality’ is defined
here as a characteristic of an individual involving
the consistent manifestation of peaceful
states/feelings, attitudes, and behaviors over
time and across relevant contextual domains
(Sims, Nelson & Puopolo, 2014, p. 8).
Peace is defined by Anderson, Nelson and
others as, “a condition in which individuals,
families, groups, communities, and/or nations
experience low levels of violence and engage
in mutually harmonious relationships” (Nelson,
2014:8). Nelson has provided simple definitions
peaceful behaviors, emotions and attitudes:
Peaceful behavior is defined as actions that
create and maintain nonviolent and harmonious
relationships. Cooperation and kindness are
examples of peaceful behavior. Peaceful states
include emotions such as calmness, serenity,
and security as well as conditions of inner
harmony between aspects of self. Peaceful
attitudes are defined as beliefs and values
that facilitate the creation and maintenance of
nonviolent and harmonious relationships.
The relevant domains where peaceful behavior,
states/feelings, and attitudes may occur
involve a wide range of relationships within
individuals, between groups, and between
individuals and other persons, groups, and
entities. All of these relationships have
potentials for conflict, violence, and harmony.
Anderson (2004) identified seven specific
contexts where a condition of peace could
be experienced. These contexts are within
individuals (intrapersonal peace), among
individuals (interpersonal peace), among social
groups (social peace), within the community
(civil peace), within the nation (national peace),
among nations (international peace), and with
the natural world (ecological peace). Each of
these contexts can be seen as domains in
which individuals may behave peacefully, hold
peaceful attitudes, and/or experience peaceful
states. One can easily put these in to Bloom’s
domains of learning objectives (cognitive/
knowledge, psychomotor/skills, and affect/
attitudes) (Armstrong, 2016).
As Arigatou (2008) and other indicate the
objectives of PE should be to strengthen the
capacity of children to make ethical decisions,
to promote respect for other cultures and
beliefs, to encourage them to engage in
dialogue(listening, talking to each other),to be
committed to social justice and the respect for
human rights.
Objectives and research questions
The main objective of this study is to assess
the level of inclusion of peace related topics in
the First and Second grade textbooks in Addis
Ababa Administration’s primary schools. The
specific objectives include:
1. Identification of topics included and
excluded in the text books;
2. Analysis of the domains of learning/
education emphasized by the textbooks;
3. Suggesting measures to take to improve
the situation.
The main research questions are:
1. What peace related topics are included in
the text books under consideration? What
topics are missing?
2. Which domains of learning/education are
emphasized in the textbooks?
3. What can be done to improve the situation
in the preparation of the textbooks for
the better coverage of peace education
elements?
Method of Study
The method of study is mainly qualitative,
since it allows some interpretation of data
using some categorical and thematic analysis.
The Addis Ababa Education Bureau and
the schools in the city use Akababi Science
textbooks for the teaching learning facilitation
of various social science issues including
peace and human rights topics. The First and
Second grades’ text books are in Amharic and
have four topics each and 114 and 154 pages,
respectively. The list of the topics covered
is provided in Table 1 below. The books are
mainly for 7 and 8 years old children.
The contents of the chapters/units in each book and the learning objectives of each chapter are
thematically analyzed. Efforts are also made to put the learning objectives in the Bloomian learning
categories or domains of knowledge, psychomotor skills and attitudes/affect. The author put the
stated learning objectives into one of the categories/classification. The translation of the verbs was
done by a PhD student in the English language teaching program, at the
AAU.
Findings and discussion
The topics covered by the textbooks are provided in Table1.

No. Title – Grade 1 &2 No. of Key Subtopics Peace related

Respectively Page Sub-topics
1 Egnanetachin (us, our being) 38 Naming of body parts, our needs, --
senses and common diseases
2 Betesebachin (Our family) 26 Naming family members and their --
roles, household utensils, sources of
food.
3 Timhiret betachin (Our school) 19 Units and activates in schools, traffic Rules of School (1 page)
rules, good relationships Positive relationship (3
pages)
4 Woredachine (Our distinct) 31 Natural resources, names of animals --
and plants, types of transportation,
(114) types of work.

1 Egna (us) 32 Food, Nutrition, Health and Sanitation --

2 Mahiberesebachin (Our 49
community)
3 Yetefetro Akababiyachin (our 43
natural environment)
4 Kifle ketemachin (our sub-city)
Members of the community, roles Child rights (13 pages)
played, some child rights, planning
daily work, uses of labor and making
artifacts
Natural resource, animals and Protection of the
plants, land, etc. taking care of the environment (1 page)
environment, naming & classification
30 Directions, naming sub cities Relevance of work ( 1
and institutions in AA, names of page)
(154) government structure, types of
transportation , etc.

Table 1: Major Topics /Themes Covered in Grade 1&2 Akababi Science Text Books (AA)
As could be observed from the table, only
one chapter on First Grade textbook has
rules related to the school and on positive
relationships (4 pages long). In the Second
Grade text book, three chapters have some
topics related to peace/human rights. The
chapter on Our Community discusses child
rights (13 pages), the chapter on Our Natural
Environment has a unit on the protection of
the environment (6 pages), and the Chapter
on Our Sub-city has a unit on the relevance of
work (1 page). Hence we can calculate that the
share of topics directly related to peace/human
rights is only about 9% of the pages. One can
argue that it is only child rights that has taken
the lion’s share, and other topics could also be
grouped as related to peace.
The descriptor words used for the listing of the
learning objectives are the following: List, state,
name, identify, demonstrate/show, explain,
describe, demonstrate and differentiate. Out of
the 89 learning objectives listed in the books,
90% are in the knowledge domain with listing
and explaining taking the lead. Activities of
demonstrating and evaluating are indicated in
three units only.
It is to be noted that the cognitive domain itself
moves from simple recall of facts (the lowest)
to comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis and then to evaluation (creating)
(Armstrong, 2016). Listing, identifying,
showing defining, stating and explaining are
in the recall and comprehension categories.
Designing, estimating, justifying, evaluating
and criticizing are in the higher categories
of synthesis and evaluating. These latter
higher levels of learning are not the learning
outcomes/objectives of the units.
Skills of communication such as listening and
paraphrasing, assertiveness, problem solving,
ability to cooperate and critical thinking
can be categorized in to skills domain. Self
respect, tolerance, acceptance of others,
respect for differences, respect for rights and
responsibilities, bias awareness, empathy and
reconciliation can be categorized as attitudes
domain which can be listed as learning
objectives in PE sessions. Unfortunately, we do
not find the higher level cognitive or the skills
and affective domains descriptors in the text
books. One needs to consider that Ethiopia and
Addis Ababa in particular have diverse ethnic
groups and religions. The Oromo, Amhara,
Gurage, Tigre, Sidama, Wolaita, Hadiya,
etc. ethnic groups and Orthodox Christians,
Moslems, Protestants, and Catholics reside
in AA and children of all these diverse groups
attend schools together. Learning of the key
elements of PE would be highly beneficial to
the peaceful coexistence of these and other
diverse groups.
With regards to the types of topics to be
included, the following are often suggested:
Communication, identity and culture, family
and community, cooperation, problem
solving, respect for differences, human
rights, tolerance, democracy, gender equality,
negotiation, dealing with peer pressure, coping
with emotions, empathy, and conflict resolution
in non-violent ways. Obviously, these are too
many and too broad areas/issues to cover in
the primary or even in the secondary levels’
education at ones. Some aspect and/or some
topics can be addressed at lower primary level
of schooling. As UNESCO (2001), UNICEF
(2014), Fountain (1999) and many other have
indicated that the teaching-learning should
be active and child-centered, participatory
and experiential. In general, the promotion of
participation, cooperation, problem solving in
non-violent ways, and respect for differences
should dominate the teaching-learning
activities. Quite a large number of teaching-
learning techniques such as role playing, telling
stories, making observations, experience
based learning, team/group work, watching
and discussing relevant videos, and playing
relevant games are recommended for the
younger ages.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Many international organizations such as the
UN, UNICEF, UNESCO and several researchers
argue that the aim of education should be to
foster the development of a culture of peace
and children are to be taught attitudes, values,
modes of behavior and ways of life free from
violence and in respect of human dignity
and tolerance. The development of peaceful
persons requires parental modeling, safe
schools and communities, and well-structured
peace education curriculum. Several studies
and casual observations indicate that we are
far away from the development of a large pool
of peaceful persons who accept and respect
others, sympathize with the feelings of
others, accept own weaknesses and failures,
solve problems/conflicts in non-violent ways,
calm and secure, work hard, love justice and
fairness, are tolerant and cooperative, take
responsibility for ones actions, and with the
attitude of reconciliation.
We can only expect peaceful personality
(behavior, skills, attitudes and values) when
family, community, educational and the general
sociopolitical circumstances are conducive.
In this regard, the role that the education
system plays is immense.
The textbooks being used by the Addis
Ababa city schools to teach social sciences in
general are inadequate, using various criteria
and dimensions of evaluation. Peace related
topics covered are very few, the space/time
allotted is also very little, and the learning
outcomes are of only simple cognitive level
(mental skills, knowledge). The Psychomotor
(manual or physical skills) and the affective
(feelings, attitudes) aspects are not addressed.
As a matter of fact the learning outcomes
expected are mainly the recall of facts, which
is the lowest level of cognitive domain. As
peace education mainly teaches compassion,
cooperation, nonviolence, equity, love, trust
and respect for humanity (Wilson, 2007;
Alfonso, 2014; Habtamu, 2006; Nelson, 2014),
it should get the due attention in the curricula
of primary schools in Addis Ababa, and perhaps
in Ethiopia. Also, the learning outcomes/
objectives and the methods of teaching-
learning should be appropriate to the age and
the subject matter, which emphasizes affect
more than the knowledge aspect.
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 Early Years Education, Care, and
Support within the Oromo Gada System:
Implications for Later Life Experiences
Firdissa Jebessa
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to
investigate early years of children education,
care, and support within the context of the
Oromo Gada System, which assigns different
roles for different age groups (from birth to
old age) and the sexes (male and female)
associated with economic, social, cultural
and political duties. In doing so, the study
attempted to: 1) assess the duties associated
with the early years of children portraying socio-
economic, cultural and political roles within
the Oromo Gada System; 2) identify the roles
assigned to the sexes; 3) find out the likely
positive and/or negative effects that the roles
may have on later life experiences of children;
and 4) investigate parental perceptions of child
care within the Gada system of Oromo. The
study employed qualitative approach. Data
were collected by reviewing extant literatures
and by conducting interviews with purposively
selected 8 individuals. The results have
shown that children within the Gada system
get matured culturally, socially, economically,
morally, and ethically endowed with the
Oromo concept of reality and the desirable
values including honesty, confidence, bravery,
transparency, accountability, fairness, respect
for rule of law, service delivery, merit-based
practices, selflessness and inclusiveness,
all of which eventually shape them for the
latter social, cultural, economic, political and
humanistic roles and responsibilities. There,
however, are concerns regarding females’
views of themselves; mismatch between the
prevailing pseudo epistemological claims/
assertions to draw Oromo identity, and the
Oromo’s culturing of their offspring with their
concept of reality and values; variations of
the practices and naming of the gada classes
and grades; and the almost latent roles of the
system vis-à-vis the dynamism of the world,
all implying the need for reform within the
Gada System, among others, by invigorating
the gada values and aligning the way roles are
assigned to children in line with the world of
life and work environments.
* Institute of Educational Research, Addis Ababa
University Mobile: 0911546847;
Email: firdisa@gmail.com
Conceptual and theoretical
background of the study
Features of the Gada system
The Gadaa System of the Oromo is an
indigenous democratic, egalitarian, and
powerful constitutional form of governance and
socio-political institution. It has been shaping
and guiding the lives, mode of governance,
socio-economic conditions, and philosophical
outlooks of the people for the main purpose of
ensuring unity and solidarity among the people
and resolving conflict peacefully and amicably
(Ardaa Jilaa nd; ORCTB, 2015). As Ardaa
Jilaa (nd) further indicates Gadaa is an age
grade system combined with sophisticated
and extremely efficient socio economic and
political system.
The system is based upon the principles of
equality among mankind-regardless of age,
sex, ethnicity, and religious affiliations. Under
the Gadaa System the power to administer the
affairs of the nation and the power to make
laws belong to the people being shared among
different bodies to ensure check and balance.
All the people have the right to air their views
in any public gathering without fear. Gadaa
has immense amount of influence on Oromo
society up to date instituted by founding
fathers. Each Gada class remains in power
during a specific term (Gada) for eight years,
which begins and ends with a formal power
transfer ceremony.
During the period when a party stays on power,
it is bound by the principle of rule of law.
Moreover, transfer of power is made smoothly
and peacefully among parties (ORCTB, 2015).
The System has a distinct distribution of
political authority among male member of the
society in leadership. The well-known Gada
officers include:
1. Aba Gadaaa (Father of the Gadaa), or Abbaa
Bokkuu (carrier of the scepter holding a
position similar to that of a magistrate), an
elected “chairman” who presides over the
Caffee (assembly) and proclaims the laws.
He is the head equivalent of president in
modern governments.
2. Abbaa Caffee (father of legislative
assembly),
3. Abbaa Alangee (attorney general),
4. Abbaa Sa’aa (ministry of economy/finance),
5. Abbaa Seeraa (a parliamentarian), and
6. Abbaa Duulaa (war leader or defense
minister) who directs the army, and
7. A council known as shanee or salgee and
retired gada officials also help the abba
boku to run the government.
All gada officials are elected for eight years.
The main qualifications for election include
bravery, knowledge, honesty, demonstrated
ability, and courage. The system’s distinctive
characteristic of distribution of power across
generations and age groups is by far superior to
the western democracies that have deficient in
as the practices show that those who assume
the position control most of the authority and
wealth of the country; and the young, poor
and the elders are politically and economically
marginalized in most western democracies
(Asmerom, 2001).
The Gada system greatly believes in rigorous
practical or actual testing of the candidates
before they assume office unlike western
democracy which in most cases exclusively
relies on election. The system defines the rights
and obligations of each classes and initiations
of and period of work and performances. The
roles and rules attached to the age grade system
are the most important elements that regulate
the Gada system. When one passes from one
grade to the other, his roles and responsibilities
in the community also changes, in such a way,
an individual or group of individuals who are
assuming the office will be critically tested in
the system.
The gada government works on local, regional,
and central levels. The political philosophy of
the gada system is embodied in three main
principles: terms of eight years, balanced
opposition between parties, and power
sharing between higher and lower levels.
The government’s independent executive,
legislative, and judicial branches also are a way
of balancing power (Asmerom, 2001). Whereas
the system is currently rejuvenating, just some
elements of gada persisted the last regimes of
Ethiopia mainly in southern Oromia.
The System has the principles of checks and
balances (through periodic succession of every
eight years), and division of power (among
executive, legislative, and judicial branches),
balanced opposition (among five parties), and
power sharing between higher and lower
administrative organs to prevent power from
falling into the hands of despots. These checks
and balances are created to prevent misuse of
power. Other principles of the system include
balanced representation of all clans, lineages,
regions and confederacies, accountability of
leaders, the settlement of disputes through
reconciliation, and the respect for basic rights
and liberties (Asmerom, 2001).
As ORCTB (2015) indicates the democratic
practices of the Oromo people as manifested in
the Gada system provides an exemplary system
of social functioning to the world. Political
leaders within the Gada system of Oromo are
elected by the men of the community every
eight years. Corrupt or dictatorial leaders would
be removed from power through buqisu (recall)
before the official end of their term. Oromo
women had a parallel institution known as
siqqee. This institution has been in place by
promoting gender equality in Oromo society
(Encyclopedia of World Cultures 1999).
The Gadaa system of Oromo is a result of
many years of experiences of self governance
of the Oromo people at different levels (Dirribi,
2009:206). In the same vein, Arda Jila (nd)
indicates that the Gadaa system of Oromo has
been developed from practices, experiences
and knowledge gained by community over
generations. After long years of informal
practices, it was formally established in 14th The declaration of the Oromo people’s traditional,
century under a rule of Gadaayo Galgalo Yayyaa socio-political governance system (‘Gada’) as
(Ardaa Jilaa, nd, Dirribi, 2009). Based on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage could
information obtained from Arero Ramadan attract much-needed international attention
(Borana), Adam and Musa have indicated that and help raise awareness of the Oromo’s plight
the Gada System had been the governance of for years.
the Orom for over 4000 years. As the same
source citing the information obtained from The Gadaa Roles
Haji Abdurahiman Cirri in 1972 indicate, the
The Gada system gives equal chances to all
Gada system of governance at Madda Walabu
classes and grades of genealogical generations
had 1400 years of existence.
that succeed each other every eight years
assuming political, military, judicial, legislative
Whereas formerly the Oromos have been under
and ritual responsibilities (Asmarom, 2001). The
one rule for over 25 abba gadaas after Gadaa
system serves as an inexhaustible fountain of
was instituted, the Borana Oromo have already
knowledge and wisdom to the contemporary
71 aba gadas as of this year. This shows that,
generation; as a mechanism for enforcing
the Borana Oromo has 576 years of indigenous
moral conduct, building social cohesion, and
democratic and egalitarian governance
expressing forms of community culture; and it
system. Despite unprecedented challenges
has been governing the direction and day-to-
they encountered, the Borana maintained this
day lives and guiding the political and socio-
sophisticated and extremely efficient system
economic functions of the Oromo people
as it was instituted by founding fathers up-to-
majorly during the time when the people
date (Adam & Musa, and Dirrib, 2009).
were governing themselves independently,
After several years of injustice made to it,
and currently too, it has more power than the
the Gada system of the Oromo has been
contemporary governance practices (ORCTB,
inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List
2015; Hallpike, 1976). As Encyclopedia of
as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as
World Cultures (1999) indicates the system
of November 30, 2016. The inscription event
has helped the Oromos maintain democratic
took place from28 November to 04 December
political, economic, social, and religious
2016 when Ethiopia hosted the 11th session
institutions for many centuries. The gada
of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee
political system and military organization
(representatives of 24 State Parties) for the
enabled Oromos defend themselves against
Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage,
enemies who were competing with them for
(article published by walta info). The event
land, water, and power.
and the case demonstrate to the rest of the
As ORCTB (2015) lists out, the Oromo
world that the country is not only the cradle
Gada system has roles such as: 1) Political:
of mankind but also the mother of an age-old
Democratic System, Respecting Human
democratic system (ORCTB, 2015).
Rights, and Respecting Women’s Rights; 2)
Economic Aspects: The role of all members
including women in economic sector,
cooperation, transfer of wealth, wealth
sharing, on UNESCO’s representative list as
intangible cultural heritage of humanity, and
the tradition of helping one another; 3) Social
Aspects: Increasing the role women play in
the community, ending of hostilities, prayer
to ‘Waaqaa’, cleansing of sin, adoption; 4)
Figure 1: Gada fathers on the occasion of UNESCO’s
Environmental Conservation; 5) Sustaining the
decision of the Gada System as World Herit
age (source: Ethiopian News Agency 2016 @al Irreechaa Ceremony; and 6) Arbitration.
lAfrica)
T Oromo gada system is an effective contains provisions guaranteeing an effective
institutional system to manage any source of system of ‘checks and balances’, the separation
conflicts among the Oromo so that harmony, of powers and an institutionalized opposition
peaceful co-existence and smooth relations – all of which provides safeguards against
have been maintained in the society following totalitarianism and a governmental abuse of
clearly delineating steps of conflict resolution power.
through the use of the system to finally arrive
at reconciliation. Gada classes
In the Gada System, there are five groups/
In short, the Gada system regulates:
parties/classes or luba (gogessa for Borana),
political stability, economic development,
in which the ten to eleven age sets of the
social activities, cultural obligations, moral
Gada grade run into hemicycle (Jeylan, 2004,
responsibilities, the philosophical and religious
Hallpike, 1976, Encyclopedia of World Cultures
order of the society, military purposes, ritual
1999; Dirribi, 2009). As Ardaa Jilaa (nd) indicates
responsibilities, conflict resolution, reparation
the gadaa classes are recruited on the basis of
and protecting women’s rights, enforcing
genealogical generations. Luba can be defined
moral conduct, building social cohesion,
as a segment of a generation that assumes
and expressing forms of community culture
power for a period of eight years, whereas
(Hallpike, 1976).
gadaa is the years when the members of the
Overall, the Gada system comprises regulatory
class stay in power as the rulers.
measures pertaining to issues such as
The names of the gada classes vary from place
conflict resolution, questions of religion and
to place. Based on the data from Dirribi (2009)
to women’s rights. In contrast to the modus
and Adam and Musa (2011), the five groups/
operandi employed by the current, authoritarian
classes are presented in Table 1 below.
government, the Gada form of governance

Fatehrs’ Gadaa Children’s Gadaa Fatehrs’ Gadaa Children’s Gadaa

1. Meelbaa Harmufa Birmaji Aldaada

2. Muudana Roobalee Vis-à-vis Malba Horata

3. Kiilolee Birmajii Muudana Biifolee

4. Biifolee Mul’ataa Roobale Sabbaaqa

5. Michille Jabanaa Dullo Kiilolee

Table 1: Gada Classess for fathers and Children

Source: Dirribi (2009:261, 413,456) Vis-à-vis Source: Adam & Musa (2011:61)
Various socio-political functions and As Dejene (2009, citing Asafa, 1993) indicates,
responsibilities are associated with each party. the Oromo Gadaa system is unique in developing
Of the parties, one functions as the ruling the use of generation called gogeessa (forty
class consisting of a chairperson (Aba Gadaaa/ years gap between father and son) as an
Abbaa Bokkuu), officials and an assembly. element of its organization. Whereas the
Each class progresses through a series of names of the Gadaaa grades vary from place
grades before it can function in authority with to place as evidenced in Encyclopedia of World
the leadership changing on a rotational basis Cultures (1999), Dejene (2009), Dirribi (2009),
every eight years. Class membership is open Adam and Musa (2011), and Yoseph (2016),
to men, whose fathers are already members, a synthesis has been taken also considering
while women have consultative roles on all the naming by Dirribi (2009:211) for the central
matters and decisions including their rights. Oromia with the addition of Jaarsa after 88
The classes are taught by oral historians years as shown in Table 2 below.
covering history, laws, rituals, time reckoning,
cosmology, myths, rules of conduct, and the
function of the Gada system. Meetings and
ceremonies take place under a sycamore tree
(considered the Gada symbol) while major clans
have established Gada centres and ceremonial
spaces according to territory. Knowledge about
the Gada system is transmitted to children in
the home and at school (Jeylan, 2004; Hallpike,
1976, Encyclopedia of World Cultures 1999;
Dirribi, 2009)

Gada grades
As different sources show, the Gada System
contains ten/eleven sequential grades that
occur in eight years interval and correlate
with chronological ages beginning at birth.
Particularly, boys in the first grade are the sons
of men in the 6th grade; in the 2nd grade, of
men in the 7th grade, and so on-the generations
being divided by five grades or forty year
interval, all brothers being in the same grade.
Not all grades are in fact of 8 years’ duration:
the 5th grade lasts 3 years, the 6th 8 years,
and the 7th 3 years, while the 8th grade is of
normal duration, but the basic symmetry of
the system
is preserved nonetheless. There is an eleventh
grade, gadamojji, whose members assume
ritual responsibilities of purity and special
sanctity, in many ways resembling that of the
youngest boys in the first grade, who are the
grandsons of gadamojji. After gadamojji men
become jarsa (Burckhardt, G. 2000, Asmerom,
2011, 1973).
 Grades Aga Grades features
1 1-8 Dabballe the grade of the uninitiated boys
2 9-16 Ittimako Mixing with others
3 17-24 Foollee readiness for responsibilities
4 25-32 Qondaala junior warriors
5 33-40 Raaba Dori senior warriors
6 41-48 Gadaa the stage of political and ritual leadership
7 49-56 Yuuba 1ffaa stage of partial retirement
8 57-64 Yuuba 2ffaa stage of partial retirement
9 65-72 Yuuba 3ffaa stage of partial retirement
10 73-80 [Yuuba 4ffaa]1 stage of partial retirement
11 80-88 Gadamoojjii the terminal sacred grade
After 88 Jaarsa at which care & support is rendered

Table 2: Gada Grade names, ages and feature

(Footnotes)

1 This Grade is considered as Gadamojji by Yoseph (2016:24), Adam and Musa (2011: 63), Dejene (2009: 95)

Figure 2: Alignment of Gada Classes and Grades vis-à-vis Fathers’ and Childers’s ‘Gogessa’
Whereas the first of all grades is Dabballe (sons
of the gadaa class who are in power as leaders
of the society), the last is Gadaammojji the
stage at which one retires from responsibilities,
followed by jarsaa after 88 years of age. All
the rest grades, namely Ittimako, Foollee,
Qondaala, Raaba Dori, Gadaa, Yuuba 1ffaa
Yuuba 2ffaa, Yuuba 3ffaa, and Yuuba 4ffaa have
clearly defined roles and responsibilities within
the society. There, however, are variations in
age categorizations. For instance, whereas
Dirribi (2009:211) classifies almost as presented
in Table 2, slight valuations are observed in
classifications made by Yoseph (2016:24),
Adam and Musa (2011: 63), and Dejene
(2009: 95). Communalities, nevertheless, are
inherent in all the classifications. Particularly,
the 6th grade is commonly “Gadaa”, which
is the stage of political and ritual leadership.
It is the age group that assumes the political
power in the system. The transfer of power
(balli) from one gadaa to other occurs in the
specified month and weeks. For instance, in
Borana Oromo, the month of Gurrandhala
is common. It is performed at the shrine of
Nura in the eastern corner of Borana land. In
Borana, the most senior man is referred to as
Abba Gadaa “arbora” and the other two are
Abba Gadaa “kontoma” called collectively
Gadaa Saden. The class is required to perform
four major ceremonies in the fourth and fifth
years of the period. These ceremonies are
named Ginda, Gumi Gayyo, Oda and Muda.
The gumi Gayyo ceremony occurs in the fourth
year of the gadaa period, but it is a ceremony
that concerns all Borana, not merely the class
in power. The “raba” and all the four-yuba
classes are expected to attend. In the fifth year
of the gadaa period the class goes once again
to the eastern district (Liiban) to perform the
muda ceremony. Muda is the occasion when
the gadaa class in power makes an offering
to the ritual leaders of the moieties, the qallu
of the Oditu and the Karrayyu. Customary law
prohibits the Gadaa leaders from traveling
beyond a defined perimeter within Dirre and
Liban. The specific law that constrains the
movement of Gadaa councilors is known as
Sera Dawwe or Sera Goro. The Abba Gadaa
himself is subject to the same punishment as
all other Borana if he violates laws. This shows
that the law is above everybody, including the
Abba Gadaa. To assure the continuation of
agendas started during outgoing government
(Luba), Garba councilors are elected from
outgoing luba to serve with the incoming
government. One of the junior councils of the
Gadaa institution, known as the Garba council
(hayyu garba) is elected by the outgoing
government and serves with the incoming
government. This contributes to continuity
from one Gadaa assembly (ya’a) to the next
and this may help to finish the unfinished job
(Ardaa Jilaa, nd, Hallpike, 1976).
Overall, the Gadaa system assigns rights,
responsibilities, rules and obligations to the
members of the Oromo generation in the age-
graded manner. Every Oromo of specific age-
grade is expected to perform a certain function
according to the specified rules and regulations,
which demand leaning the customary law and
law of Waaqaa (Hallpike, 1976; Dereje, 2012)
Activities and social roles are formally defined,
both in terms of what is permitted and in terms
of what is forbidden (Tadesse, 1995). Social
development (finna) stands for “ the legacy of
the past which each generation inherits from
its forefathers and which it transforms; it is the
fertile patrimony held in trust by the present
generation which it will enrich and bequeath to
future generations…”(Asafa,2010).…”
Children within the Gada system, as Hallpike
(1976) indicates, are taught by oral historians
covering history, laws, rituals, time reckoning,
cosmology, myths, rules of conduct, and the
function of the Gada system. Knowledge
about the Gada system is transmitted to
children in the home and at schools. Jeylan
(2004) also indicates that at a very early stage,
the Oromo boys and girls engage in cognitive
self-categorization (Hallpike, 1976). This is
later enhanced by other intensive process of
socialization in the society.
As Adam and Musa (2011:49) indicate, parents
have obligations to train their offspring through
riddles, storytelling, etc. They teach how
people with good deeds become respected
and those with wrecked deeds degraded. AS
the same source indicates: Ilmaan samuu gaarii
fi naamusa dansaa qabaattee akka guddattu
gochchuu…Ilmaan kabaja hojiin qabuufi bu’aa
isaa barsiisuu hojii maatii tauu…”. This is to
mean, children are expected to grow with
good behavior, to be honest, to respect elders
including father and mother, neighborhood,
adopted other children, clan acceptable
character, open-minded, and optimistic
personalities.
Problem statement
Due to various internal and external factors,
the sweeping and acculturation, religious
expansions, emergence of statehood and
economic landscape, it has become blur to
precisely tell the duties (portraying socio-
economic, cultural and political roles) that are
associated to the early children yeas life within
the Oromo Gada System. Different sources
also present differently the roles that the
Oromo Gada System assigns to the sexes and
consequently, it has become difficult to gauge
the positive and/or negative effects do the
roles within the Oromo Gada system have on
later life experiences of children. This could be
mainly due to the ruining of the Gada System,
which created a widespread socio-political
imbalance, one of which could be the wearing
a way of socio-political leverage including
the Atete ceremony and other beautiful
Oromo cultural heritage that were seriously
endangered (Jeylan, 2004:109-110). As a result
and also with the intrusion of the modern age,
it seems that parental perceptions of child care
within the Gada system of Oromo is changing
calling for investigation, rehabilitations, and/or
reforms.
Objectives
The overall purpose of the study was to assess
early Years Education, Care, and support
within the context of the Oromo Gada System.
Specifically, the study intended to:
1. investigate the duties (portraying socio-
economic, cultural and political roles) that
are associated to the early yeas life within
the Oromo Gada System;
2. identify the roles that the Oromo Gada
System assigns to the sexes;
3. find out the likely positive and/or negative
effects that the roles within the Oromo
Gada system have on later life experiences
of children;
4. investigate Parental Perceptions of Child
Care look within the Gada system of Oromo.
Research questions
With the purpose to achieve the aforementioned
objectives, the study attempted to answer the
following questions.
1. What duties (portraying socio-economic,
cultural and political roles) are associated to
the early yeas life within the Oromo Gada
System?
1. What roles does the Oromo Gada
System assign to the sexes?
2. What positive and/or negative
effects do the roles within the
Oromo Gada system have on later
life experiences of children?
3. What does Parental Perceptions of
Child Care look like within the Gada
system of Oromo?
Methods and procedures of the study
The study employed exclusively qualitative
approach. The data for the study were collected
by conducting interviews with purposively
selected 8 individuals and by reviewing extant
literatures available on the area.. The data
sources were drawn from five colleges: One
from the College of Law and Governance
Studies; one from College of Education and
Behavioral Studies; three from College of
Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and
Communication; two from College of Social
Sciences, one from College of Development
Studies. As shown in Table 3 below, coding
has been used to protect the identity of the
interviewees.

The eight interviewees Code
Interviewee One Int1
Interviewee Two Int2
Interviewee Three Int13
Interviewee Four Int4
Interviewee Five Int5
Interviewee Six Int6
Interviewee Seven Int7
Interviewee Eight Int8
Both sorts of data-obtained from the interviews
and reviewing literatures have been brought
under pertinent themes- supplementing each
other and serving triangulation purposes.
Analyses and Results
In Chapter, analyses of the data obtained
through interview and from literatures have
been made followed by presentation of results.
The analyses as well as the presentation of
the results have followed the sequence of the
themes identified in Chapter one.
Duties/roles (portraying socio-economic,
cultural and political roles) associated to the
early yeas life within the Oromo Gada system
Questions pertaining Duties/roles (portraying
socio-economic, cultural and political roles)
associated to the early yeas life within the
Oromo Gada System have been presented
to the interviewees. Different literatures have
also been reviewed related to the issues.
Social duties /roles
As the data from different sources show,
children within the Gada System are motivated
to fit into social structure of the Orom. As Int1
and Int5 indicate, all clans and family members
have responsibilities to culture their children
by creating visiting events, ceremonies, caring
for them, looking after them, and letting them
count genealogy and neighborhood through
riddles, folktales, etc; and encouraging them
to play “Hibbo” (riddle), all of which prepare
them for the later social responsibilities. In
Gada System, children are seen as having
great values, which are celebrated with the
hope that each newborn child will someday
become a a responsible member of the society
(Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1999; Dereje,
2012:92). In the same vein, the data from
literatures, mainly from (Dereje (2012, p. 92)
indicate that the Gada system has orientations
to enable children:
a. learn Problem solving skills, about
the world, values, and how to do
some activities;
b. obtain employment,
c. aspire to be a better husband/
father or wife/mother,
d. read and write letters,
e. categorize himself/herself as boy/
girl,
f. engage in sport, and
g. Engage in recreation activities.
Moreover, Int1 and Int3 indicate that problem
solving skills of children within the Gada
system develop mainly through Riddles and
Brain Teasers. Riddles and Brain Teasers take
place mostly at home. Particularly, Riddle is
common in all parts of Oromia. After dinner,
children form divisions and play it. It has its
rules whereby the requester raises and later
on is obliged to guide the requested to come
closer to the answer.
Eg. 1. Hangafa Maandhaa ta’e, naa himi?
Gogaa jiidhaa caale naa himi?
[tell me: elder becomes small, a dry
that becomes greater than a wet?]
Deebii/Answer: Ear, Horn.
Eg. 2. Ijoollummaan dheeradha, dullom
naan gabaabbadha. Ani Maali? [I’m
tall when I’m young and I’m short
when I’m old. What am I?]
Deebii/Answer: Shaamaa [A candle]
Eg. 3. Kan fiiguu danda’u garuu deemiuu
hin dandeenye maali? [What can run
but can’t walk?
Deebii: facaatii bishaanii [A drop of
water]
Eg. 4. Kan olmalee gad hin buune mali?
[What goes up and doesn’t come
back down?]
 Deebii/Answer: Umurii kee [Your
age].
Eg. 5. Yeroo hunda nan dhufa, hardha hin
dhaqabu. Ani eenyu? [I will always
come, never arrive today. What amI?]
Deebii/Answer: Bori[Tomorrow]
Children also learn values like respecting the
rights of others including women and children,
conservation of environment, peaceful conflict
resolution, mutual assistance, and the provision
of asylum to seekers (ORCTB, 2015).
As Dejene (2009) and Jylan (2004) indicate,
Children are prepared for their later roles such
as: 1) later subtle cultural and economic rights,
2) active participation in the ritual aspect of
the Gada generation grade system, and 3) to
provide an important service to their society
as links between communities and peace
negotiators during and after conflicts.
They are also, introduced to gender-based
division of labor. The practices show that in
most cases, daughters are cultured to domestic
tasks while men dominate those activities in
the public domain (Dejene, 2009). That means
for Jeylan (2004) Children are introduced to
…cultural attitudes and practices that reflect
gender construction. The first is the differential
treatment of boys and girls from the moment of
their birth. At birth, parents are asked whether
they have a gurbaa (baby son) or intala (baby
daughter). Indoctrinating boys into masculinity
and girls into femininity is conscientiously
practiced, for example, by selecting gender-
appropriate clothing and hairstyle. Whereas
among the Borana Oromo, boys may not be
indoctrinated into masculinity unless they leave
their dabbale grade, (this is not the case in
others including the Arsi, where the midwives
declare the sex of the child, usually by ululating
five times for the new baby son and four times
for the new baby daughter… (p. 108).
In some cases, girls and boys follow commonly
some ceremonies for their later roles, as can
be seen from Figure 3 below.
Figure 3: Observation by girls and boys
on communal ceremonies
Whereas sons are prepared for modeling the
males’ roles, daughters model that of females’
roles.
Furthermore, children are encouraged to
engage in any sort of sports including unting.
Though the case is being changed, children are
prepared for the later role that the Oromo men
used to hunt large animals as a test of manhood.
Hunting was seen as training for warfare for
young Oromos. It helped them learn how to
handle their weapons and prepare themselves
for difficult conditions (Encyclopedia of World
Cultures, 1999). As the same source indicates,
children observe and prepare for the popular
sports among children and young adults in
Oromo society include gugssa (horseback
riding), qillee (field hockey), darboo (throwing
spears), waldhaansso (wrestling), utaalu
(jumping), and swimming. Children are also
encouraged to model the renowned Oromo
athletes, among others, Wami Biratu, Ababa
Biqila, Mamo Wolde, Ababa Makonnen, Daraje
Nadhi, Kalacha Mataferia, Daraartu Tullu,
Fatuma Roba, Tirunesh Dibaba, Kenenisa
Bekele, and many more others.
Furthermore, children participate in observing
different recreational engagements that take
place during ceremonies such as weddings,
holidays, and harvest festivals, during the
events that the Oromo eat, drink, sing,
dance, and talk together. Jumping, running,
swimming, wrestling, and other sports
activities are recreation for boys and young
adults. Children also observe and listen while
Oromo adults sit and chat during weekends,
after work, and on holidays (Encyclopedia of
World Cultures, 1999).
These all show that within the Gada System
any age set strictly provides its members
with values and motives with which they
should guide their lives. Particularly, such early
engagement of children in social affairs relieves
the Gada System-oriented Oromo identity
confusion, which is one typical problem of the
technologically sophisticated societies of the
current world (Shaffer, 1994; Westen, 1996,
Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1999; Jeylan,
2004). A synthesis from different sources,
mainly Baxter (1994) and Dejene (2009 indicate
that mainly sons are needed as exemplified
hereunder.
• Bara boqqoolloon bade, Ijoolleefi saretu
bade;
• Bara caamni dheerate, Dullootaaf jabbitu
bade;
• Bara waraanni hammaat, Hadha ilma
tokkootu bade;
• Haati mucaa tokkittii Alas! Gaafa du’aa
fokkifti.
A translation of the message is:
When the maize has failed, children and dogs
have ruined;
When drought has prolonged, the herds have
ruined;
When war has become rampant, the mother
of a single son has ruined;
The mother of a single son, becomes ill-looking
on the day of her death.
Moreover, the Oromo culture their children to
healthy relationships by encouraging them to
be friendly to all people, and to express their
feelings openly. Children learn early to greet
one another by shaking hands; to talk to one
another warmly. Ashama? (How are you?) ,
Fayaadha? (Are you healthy?), and Matinkee
atam? (Is your family well?) are common
greeting phrases or questions. The other
person answers, Ani fayaadha (I am fine),
Matinkos nagadha (My family is o.k.), and Ati
fayaadha? (What about you, are you fine?)
(Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1999).
Cultural duties /roles
As the data from almost all the interviewees
show, Children are cultured through different
events including “Tabore” and Walale
(children’s days). On these days, they ensure
their rights, and are respected. Tabore and
Walale are annual rituals and events for boys
and girls respectively in which they make
cultural performances. Beyond these, children
are exposed to different kinds of weedu, such
as weedu fuudha (a marriage song), weedu
lola (a war song), and weedu hoji (a work
song). Particularly, girls are exposed to the
Oromo women song, called helee that they
use to express their love for their country,
children, and husbands. Boys are also exposed
to songs through which they at adolescent
and beyond age invite girls to marriage
ceremonies by singing hurmiso. Both girls and
boys are exposed to men’s dhichisa (a dance
to celebrate the marriage ceremony) and to
women’s shagayoo (singing and dancing)
during marriage ceremonies. Moreover, both
sexes participate in prayer songs called shubisu
and deedisu. They are also encouraged to
listen to and/or participate in values expressed
in geerarsa or mirisa (singing), storytelling,
poems, proverbs, weedu, and different cultural
activities. Geerarsa is used to praise good
behavior and discourage inappropriate behavior
(Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1999) one of
which teaches children good behavior.
As part of the cultural roles, children do not
go far away from homes unless otherwise
attended by anyone of the families and/or clan
members. In such away, Children are cultured
in respecting their elders and value social
responsibility, helping others, bravery, and hard
work. Among the Oromo, knowledge of history
and culture is admired. Children are, therefore,
encouraged to count their family trees through
ten generations or more (Encyclopedia of
World Cultures, 1999).
Children are also encouraged to engage in
different folklore. They are made to acquire the
Oromos belief that Waaqa Tokkicha (the one
God) created the world, including them. They
call this supreme being Waaqa Guuracha (the
Black God). Most Oromos still believe that it
was this God who created heaven and earth
and other living and non-living things. Waaqa
also created ayaana (spiritual connection),
through which he connects himself to his
creatures. The Oromo story of creation starts
with the element of water, since it was the only
element that existed before other elements
(Hallpike, 1976; Dereje, 2012; Encyclopedia of
World Cultures, 1999). Consequently, children
learn from the early age that Uuma includes
everything created by Waaqa, including ayaana,
and Saffu, which is a moral and ethical code
that the children will be able to differentiate bad
from good and wrong from right. The Oromo
religious institution, or qallu, is the center of
the Oromo religion. Qallu leaders traditionally
played important religious roles in Oromo
society. Many have tried to ban the Oromo
system of thought by eliminating Oromo
cultural experts such as the raagas (Oromo
prophets), the ayaantus (time reckoners), and
oral historians (Encyclopedia of World Cultures,
1999). Above all, cildren are taught that the
original religion sees the human, spiritual,
and physical worlds as interconnected, with
their existence and functions ruled by Waaqa.
Through each person’s ayaana (spiritual
connection), Waaqa acts in the person’s life.
Children are also introduced to Oromo military
leaders (heroes & heroines), Oromo cultural
experts such as the raagas (Oromo prophets),
the ayaantus (time reckoners), oral historians
who have done something important for the
community (Encyclopedia of World Cultures,
1999).
As the same source indicates, in addition to the
original Oromo religion (Waaqa), children are
also introduced to the Islam, and Christianity
(including Protestant Christianity). Basically,
three Oromo concepts explain the organization
and connection of human, spiritual, and
physical worlds: ayaana, uuma (nature), and
saffu (the ethical and moral code). From the
early age, children are introduced to celebrate
and respect major holidays including: ireecha,
buuta, ateetee, as well as Islamic and Christian
holidays.
Economic duties /roles
As part of Economic duties /roles, children in
Oromo gada system are encouraged to keep/
look after calves, goats, sheep, farms, and
home; fetch water, and firewood (Int1, Int2).
The Oromo parents need sons for multiple
roles including: for maintaining their lineage,
and for economic or social survival. Among
the Oromo parents, ilmaa (son) is considered
as the prime source of economic and physical
support. As an ilmaa, one is supposed to
fulfill the socio-economic responsibilities of
supporting the parents, particularly in their
old age. Hence, the Oromo parents’ common
prayer is: Yaa Waaq, ilma malee na hin ajjeesin!
(Waaq, don’t destine me to die without a son)
(Jeylan, 2004).
As Encyclopedia of World Cultures (1999)
indicates, children and teenagers participate
in agriculture and other activities needed for
survival. They are also encouraged to observe
and then participate in crafts and hobbies
including making musical instruments such as
siinxoo (ulullee), the kirar (five-stringed bowl-
lyre), masanqo (one-stringed fiddle), and drums.
Iron tools such as swords, spears, hoes, axes,
and knives which are important for farming,
fighting, and hunting; and woodworking/
carpentry for making platters, stools, spades,
tables, plows, bows and arrows, wooden
forks, and honey barrels.
Though not commonly acknowledged, in
some parts of Oromia, children are exposed
to goldsmiths to specialize in making earrings,
necklaces, and other gold objects. There are
Oromos who specialize in making other utensils
from horn, pottery, and leather. Mugs, spoons,
and containers for honey wine are made from
horn. Basins, dishes, water jars, and vessels
are made from pottery. Various kinds of bags to
hold milk are made from leather (Encyclopedia
of World Cultures, 1999).
Roles that the Oromo Gada system
assign to the sexes
Roles that the Oromo Gada system
assign to males
The Oromo Gada System assigns different
roles to the sexes. As five of the interviewees
indicated, males are prepared for political
administration and to practice to participate in
wars which commonly comes at the Foolee
(age 24-32), and Qondalaa (age 32-40). They,
therefore, are encouraged to get prepared
their later roles to: a) control military and
political activities, b) engage in warfare, c) take
part in the elections of leaders of camps or of
age-sets and Gada classes, and d) lead and
participate in male specific ritual activities. On
the other hand economic, social and cultural
roles seem common for both sexes.
Basically, Oromo male children between
the ages of one and eight do not participate
in politics and have little responsibility
(Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1999). They,
however, are given chances to prepare for the
next, just to practice between eight and sixteen
years old without taking full responsibility.
Between ages sixteen and twenty-four, they
take on the responsibilities of hard work.
They learn about war tactics, politics, law and
management, culture and history, and hunting
animals. When young men are between
twenty-four and thirty-two years of age, they
serve as soldiers and prepared to take over
the responsibilities of leadership, in peace and
war. Men thirty-two to forty years old have
important roles. They share their knowledge
with the qondaala group and carry out their
leadership responsibilities (Jeylan, 2004:108),
whereby children are exposed to anticipate
their future roles.
Apart from participating the Oromo parents
empower their sons for the aforementioned
roles through proverbs that communicate male
dominance in the culture, enforcing hegemonic
masculinity, and encoding patterns of household
socialization that reflect an institutionalized
masculinization and feminization of roles in the
society (Jeylan, 2004:124-128). Examples:
• Dhiirti eebooyyuu ni obsiti (males endure
even the pains of spear).
• Dhiirti utubaa sibiilaati, intalti karra ambaati
(males are an iron pole of a house, while
females are the outside gate that belongs
to others).
Similarly, Oromo male children are introduced
to Oromo geerarsaa (warrior boast song) which
implants the attitude that a baby son is the
embodiment of the family line. Example.
• Dinnicha maalif qotu? Birraa ittiin ba’uuf
malee?
• Ilma maaliif dhalchu? Maqaa abbaa dhahuuf
malee?
This is to mean,
• Why does one farm potato? Is that not just
to help live through the dry time?
• Why does one bear a son? Is that not just
to extend the father’s name?
The above proverbs as well as the geerarsaas
communicate empowerment of sons for their
roles within the family and life after family.
As Jeylan (2004) indicates, Oromo Children are
required to fulfill many
obligations of comforting their mothers. The
message of a mother in the following Oromo
lullaby expresses the reciprocity.
• Haati ilma qabdu baddu: Barbaada qabdi,
Dhibamtu badada qabdi, Dulloomtu
soorama qabdi, Duutu awwaala qabdi;
• Awwaalli soodduu qaba, Soodduun
dhibaayyuu qaba, Soodduunuu walii lama,
Kan haadha boonaa galma.
This is to mean:
A mother who has born a son is looked for,
when she is lost; treated well when she gets
sick; sustained well, when she gets old; her
mortal remains is rested when she dies.
Then her burial has a monument; the
monument also has sacrifice; the monument is
of two types; and that of proud man’s mother
is temple.
Roles that the Oromo Gada system assign to
females

Though no strict age-based division as
for males in the gada system, the Oromo
females have a socially recognized ways of
categorizing their roles and status that are
associated with childhood, youth, adulthood
and old age (Jeylan, 2004). As Int1 indicated,
girls prepare to influence the administration
through “siqqe” institution. They are exposed
to religious roles like “atete”, ekerdubbistu. Int2
also indicated that females have social, cultural,
ceremonial, and economic (generating) roles,
the rights and privileges of which women in
Oromo gada system enjoy according to their
seniority. Consequently, as Jeylan (2004:108)
indicates, daughters are introduced to the
“the symbolic value of womanhood within the
System. Regardless of the spatial variations
and the barriers of patriarchal power, the
Oromo females have [had] better socio-political
position in the society.
They are also introduced to their future roles
both in the household and in their society
(Dejene, 2009), though some have been
changed over time: domestic tasks, preparing
food, making coffee, collecting firewood,
fetching water, caring for children, making
beds, milking cows and churning milk, cleaning
the house and goree (calves and goats’ kraal),
residential areas, mowing grass for house
covering and for fodder, going to the market
to sell animal products and purchase foodstuff,
and others.
Other than this, girls are informally encouraged
to keep their Virginity which for girls is valued
and any sexual relationship before marriage is
discouraged in Oromo culture, particularly Guji
and Borena. Related to this, Jeylan (2004:108)
indicates that the Oromo introduce their
daughters early to one of the twelve cardinal
laws, mainly known in the Borana Oromo:
the Law of Feminine Modesty that checks
the indecently dressed woman. According
to this law women have taken to wearing
cloth so thin as to leave them virtually nude.
Henceforth, they must wear gorfo (ceremonial
leather dress) at all times. Should a woman be
improperly dressed, the husband is responsible
and shall be punished (Asmerom, 1973: 97,
Jeylan, 2004).
Moreover, the Oromo Girls are exposed to:
a) consultancy roles in decision-making on
protecting women’s rights; b) blessing warlords;
c) later subtle cultural and economic rights;
and d) active participation in the ritual aspect of
the gada generation grade system to provide
an important service to their society as links
between communities and peace negotiators
during and after conflicts; and e) later “siqqe”
and Qanafa roles (see picture below) ((Dejene,
2009; Asmerom, 1973; Encyclopedia of World
Cultures, 1999). Siinqe is stick that Oromo
women bear as a symbol of their authority and
right.
Figure 4: Oromo girls exercising bearing Sinqe
Bearing Sinqe, the Oromo women solve
conflicts, stop war, avert any catastrophe,
etc. Siinqe is, therefore a parallel institution
known for women, which promotes gender
empowerment (Encyclopedia of World
Cultures, 1999).
Equally, Qanafa is a symbol of sacrosanct for
Oromo women who wear it on heads during
delivery. It has remained in women’s domain,
especially in a ceremonial period around birth.
The women fiercely defend this time sacred
to Atete and, militantly confront men who
commit abuse during the Qanafa seclusion. The
Oromo daughters are, therefore, introduced to
“the religious and political values of the atete
ritual for the Oromo women (Dirribi, 2009:157;
Jeylan, 2004:110-115). As Jeylan (2004)
indicates, Atete ritual has social, political,
cultural, religious, and economic roles in the
Oromo society. Implied within the Atete ritual
is the fact that in the traditional Oromo society,
men are functionally dependent on women in
many ways (Asmerom, 1973).
The Oromo girls are also introduced to
the proverbs that communicate the values
women are accorded in the Oromo society.
The following Proverbs suggest the society’s
unreserved acceptance of the irreplaceable
contribution women provide for the society
and depict the positive attitude the Oromo
society holds towards women. Example:
Haadha dhabuu mannaa haadha dhabduu
wayyaa; Hadhaa fi bishaan hamaa hin qaban
(mother and water have no evil) (Jeylan,
2004:129-131).This is to mean,
Having a destitute mother is better for one than
not having a mother at all; mother and water
have no evil (Jeylan, 2004:129-131).
Positive and/or negative effects of the roles
within the Oromo Gada system on later life
experiences of children
Positive effects of the roles
The data obtained from interviewees and
literatures, show that the duties (portraying
socio-economic, cultural and political roles)
that are associated to the early yeas life
within the Oromo Gada System prepare
the children for the world of life, work, work
and responsibilities. The System imbues the
children with desirable principles and rules of
conduct that situate them rightfully within the
societal roles and responsibilities.
Requested to tell the positive effects that the
roles within the Oromo Gada system (indicated
above) have on later life experiences of children,
almost all the interviewees appreciated the
positive effects of the roles. Particularly Int1,
Int5, INt7 and Int8 indicated that in all the eleven
gada grades and five gada classes there are
freedom and responsibilities through which all
children pass. Int2 added that children practice
participatory, achievement and success-based
promotion whereby all generations have
fair access to exercise and practice political
powers. As the same interviewee underscored
“No generation is dominated”.
Inasmuch as the Gadaa system assigns rights,
responsibilities, rules and obligations to the
members of the Oromo generation in the age-
graded manner, every Oromo of specific age-
grade is expected to perform a certain function
according to specified rules and regulations,
which demand leaning the customary law
and law of Waaqaa. Children are, therefore,
endowed early with the desirable values and
principles that the people of Oromo have
been putting into practice since long which
eventually serve as a symbol of ensuring unity
and solidarity of the people. The values and
principles include respecting the rights of all
people with special focus on that of children
and females’, conservation of environment,
peaceful conflict resolution, mutual assistance,
and the provision of asylum to seekers (ORCTB,
2015; Hallpike, 1976;
Dereje, 2012:91-93).
Above all, children in Oromo Gada system
are equipped with the values inherent within
the Oromo concept of Reality embedded
with primordial truth (Dhugaa ganamaa)
underpinning activities and existence of the
people (jiruufi jireenyaa), all of which are shaped
by the Oromo philosophy: ilaafi ilaamee. Ilaafi
ilaamee for Yoseph (2016:31) deal respectively
with objective knowledge of an entity and one’s
understanding and interpretation of the entity.
Negative effects of the roles
Requested to tell the positive effects that the
roles within the Oromo Gada system (indicated
above) have on later life experiences of children,
the majority of the interviewee did not dare say
any. Int2, nonetheless, indicated that the roles
have aftermath consequences on females as
they are mostly involved in serving the political
success of males, their husbands; not on their
own political competition. Int7 also indicated
that the way the Oromo culture their offspring
(with honesty and desirable values) may
endanger their kids when they grow up as the
environments where they later on work and live
are different, particularly now a days. Particularly,
whereas the oromo encourage their kids to
be brave naturally-not necessarily depending
on artillery, the current world environment is
ruled out just by modern artilleries and artificial
manipulations. Equally, whereas the Oromo
promote in their kids a spirit of inclusiveness
and openness, the environment is sometimes
the opposite. Similar to this Int5 indicated that
the environment for the Oromo generation
who are cultured with gada values is counter.
There is a practice of self proclaimed pseudo
assertions to draw the identity of the Oromo
generation without having the mandate and
the persona to do so. This shows that it is
not the culturing of the Oromo generation
that is negatively counter but lack of similar
or equivalent desirable values within the
environment where the children will live and
work. Other than this, there are variations in
practices and namings of the gada classes and
grades at different places and times. This may
dampen the spirits of children to resolutely go
for viewing Gada system as a panacea for the
world governance and socio-political chaos.
Moreover, Int4 and Int3 hinted that the long
lived Gada system practices seem static and
almost barely align with the dynamism of the
world affecting all walks of life.
Parental perceptions of child care
within the Gada system of Oromo
Parental Perceptions of Child Care within
the Gada system of Oromo has a unique
character. Oromos depend mainly on family
and community education to transmit
knowledge to the younger generation, and to
care for the children (Encyclopedia of World
Cultures, 1999). As Int1 indicated “Ijoolleen
qananii dha, akkuma “gadamoojjii”. The same
interviewee further indicated: “Children have
the right to milk. No child is malnourished/
undernourished… ‘Handhura Guarantee’ is
children’s economic right”.
Similarly, Int2 indicated that “Priority is given
to childcare-children are fed first children are
encouraged to achieve their roles successfully
in all aspects”. The same interviewee further
indicated that “children should be successful to
be rewarded and recognized in Gada System,
to be ranked and come to power from among
the existing sisters and brothers…Elders
choose the one who is successful. All will not
come to Gada power of different grades”.
It is also learnt that older family and
community members have a responsibility to
teach children about Oromo culture, history,
tradition, and values. In Oromo Gada System,
Children belong to the clan. As Adam and
Musa (2011:48) indicate: “….dhalootaan ilmas
ta’e intalli ta haadhaa fi abbaa ti… Namumaan
ta warraa, ta gosaa, ta biyyaa ti….Dhalootaa
ykn ilmaan kunuunsuun ka hawaasaati…..”
As the same source further indicates, those
who do not have children also have a right to get
from clans through adaptation: “Maatii ilmaan
hin qabneef, kan qabu guddisaan kennuun
dirqama amummaati Ilmaan Guddisaan
kwennaman jala deemani of barsiisuun hidda
dhaloota sanyii ykn gosa isaa barsiisuun
dirqanma maatii ti.”
Furthermore, Int1 enumerated the following as
conclusion of his thoughts on the issue:
• In gada law, even during war times, children,
women and elderly people on the enemy
side are not considered enemy. They have
instead the right to be protected and be
adopted to have full membership in the
Oromo nation.
• Children become members of one of the
five parties (Gogessa gada) upon birth.
For instance children born during the reign
of Birmaji become members of Birmaji
(named Aldaada, or Kiilolee) ruling party.
These children will compete power when
Birmaji (may be different name) returns
to power after 40 years as power rotates
between the five parties in Gada System.
Those born in Melbana also have the same
rights, etc. That is why no generation is
dominated or left out from Gada Politics.
• Children in Oromo people are guaranteed
to the right of fair competition to become
members of the ruling Gada after their ages
becomes 40 years.
• Ijoolleen qananii dha, jaalalaa fi annaanitu
isaaniif mirga akka sirna Gadaatti.
• Ijoolleen warra hin qabne mirga warra
godhachuu qabu, guddifachaadhaan.
Conclusions and Implications
The study had a purpose of investigating
early children years’ education, care, and
support within the context of the Oromo Gada
system. Formal and informal observations
had shown that various internal and external for saffu, which is a moral and ethical code that
factors had made blur to precisely tell the Oromos use to tell bad from good and wrong
duties (portraying socio-economic, cultural and from right.
political roles) that are associated to the early
As their economic duties /roles, children
yeas life within the Oromo Gada System calling
engage in keeping calves, goats, and sheep;
for investigation, rehabilitations, and reforms.
and participating in agriculture, fetching
The study, therefore, intended to identify the
water, collecting firewood, and other activities
roles that the Oromo Gada System assigns to
needed for survival. These all shape children
childhood and to the sexes; to find out the likely
differently: males for political administration,
positive and/or negative effects that the roles
and for male specific ritual activities. Females,
may have on later life experiences of children;
on the other hand, are prepared for influencing
and to investigate what parental perceptions
the administration through “siqqe” institution,
of child care look within the system. Analysis
“atete, and other religious and desirable
of the data collected by reviewing extant
values, and are prepared for motherhood,
literatures and by conducting interviews with
routine household chorus, and decency within
8 individuals purposively selected for their
the society.
knowledge and expertise in the area have
The role assignments within the Oromo Gada
shown that the Gadaa System of the Oromo
system have both positive and negative effects
is an indigenous democratic, egalitarian, and
on later life experiences of children. The positive
powerful constitutional form of governance
effects are manifested and are inherent in all
and socio-political institution that, among
the eleven gada grades and five gada classes
others, assigns different roles for different age
that enhance freedom and responsibilities
groups (from birth to old age) and the sexes
endowing children with participatory, honesty,
(male and female) associated with economic,
confidence, responsibility, inclusiveness,
social, cultural and political duties.
fairness, moral values and a sense of
The results have shown that children within
accountability.
the Gada system get matured in all-rounded
personality (culturally, socially, economically,
Overall, the duties associated with the early
administratively, morally, etc) that endow them
years of children portraying socio-economic,
with the Oromo concept of reality and the
cultural and political roles within the Oromo
desirable values including honesty, confidence,
Gada System have both positive and negative
bravery, transparency, accountability,
effects on later life experiences of children.
fairness, respect for rule of law, transparency,
Parental perceptions of child care within the
serving, merit-based practices, selflessness
gada system also gives pride of children to
and inclusiveness, all of which eventually
desirable rights, endowed with the values
shape them for the latter social, cultural,
indicated above, by way of participating in
economic, political and humanistic roles and
multiple activities and rituals.
responsibilities.
On the other hand, the roles have aftermath
consequences. In the first place, girls observe
These values are enhanced within the
that females are mostly involved in serving the
orientations that the Gada system endow the
political success of males, their husbands; not
children by exposing them to problem solving
on their own political competition. This leads
duties, to the later world of work and life, to
them to view their latter roles are limited to
values, to aspirations to be a better husband/
domestic tasks while men dominate those
father or wife/mother; to engage in sport, in
activities in the public domain. Second, the
recreation activities; and to assimilate theme
prevailing pseudo epistemological claims to
with the environment. From cultural duties /
draw the Oromo identity without merit barely
roles point of view, children are cultured
align with the Oromo’s culturing of their
through different events including “tabore”,
offspring with their concept of reality and
walale, weedu, hurmiso; shagayoo, decency
values. Whereas the environment is inundated
with self proclaimed pseudo assertions and
pilfering practices, the Oromo concept of reality
is founded on its ontological and metaphysical
views of: 1) cosmology (uumaa), 2) Supreme
being, “undifferentiated being” (Waaqa), and 3)
Human ontology (Safuu) all of which equip the
generation with moral accountability (Yoseph,
2016:8). The mismatch due to the unfounded
claims and assertions create displacement
of the cultured children with some sort of
discomfort at work and living environments.
Third, variations of the practices and naming of
the gada classes and grades at different places
and times may dishearten to resolutely go for
viewing Gada system as a panacea for the world
governance and socio-political chaos. Fourthly,
the long lived economic, cultural, gender, and
political roles within the Gada system seem
not dynamic with the changing landscape of
development following the current science and
technological detonation.
All these, namely females’ views of
themselves; mismatch between the prevailing
pseudo claims of knowledge and assertions to
draw the Oromo generation, and the Oromo’s
culturing of their offspring with their concept
of reality and values; variations of the practices
and naming of the gada classes; and the almost
latent roles vis-à-vis the dynamism of the world,
all imply the need for reform within the Gada
System, among others by invigorating the gada
values and aligning the way roles are assigned
to children in line with the world of life and work
environments.
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Apparent Paradoxes in
Professionalizing ECCE Setegne Arasaw
Abstract: As the adage ’it takes the entire village
to cultivate a child’ entail, Early Childhood
Care and Education (ECCE) is fundamentally a
social experience. The issue of ECCE shouldn’t
be perceived as discourse of the privileged.
Hence, this paper presents the apparent
paradoxes prevalent in the professionalization
process of EC Development, Care, and
Education. The methodology employed is
review of cross cultural literature on EC
Development, Care, and Education. The
procedures and the emerging discourses of
the review are described with rhetoric and
discussions of the themes to highlight the
complementary and supplementary needs,
interests, demands, and expectations that
parents, Early Years Professionals (EYPs),
and facilitating partners (FPs) bring to their
mutual relationships. The overall emerging
theme is that ECCE service provision is like ‘an
accordion pleat’; i.e. all who are concerned with
ECCE service provision should accommodate
the diverse developmental needs, interests,
services, resources, and demands despite
their inconsistent contraction and expansion.
The ECCE setting is a holistic site for every day
practice where cultural values, government
policies, family systems, EYPs expertise and
EC Development (ECD) theories are integrally
combined.
Introduction
Should ECCE’s goal be “connecting the
child’s internal world to external context,
the vice versa, or a transduction process?”
This paper presents the apparent paradoxes
prevalent in the professionalization process
of EC Development, care, and education.
The methodology employed is a review
of literature on EC Development, Care,
and Education. Reviews across cultural
experiences on dynamics of EC development,
public-government integrity in ensuring holistic
development of the child, assessment and
standard, curriculum and course designing
issues are presented. The objective is raising
major discourses that trigger concerned EC
care and Education (ECCE) partners to have
a professional discourse so that common
foundation and consensus shall be set on policy
formulation, curriculum designing, pedagogy,
expectations, proliferation, accreditation, and
assessment of EC Development (ECD) issues.
The paper concludes with a discussion of
policy and research implications.
The discourses in the paper extend to EYPs,
families, and child development FPs so that
the field is envisaged in new eyes. Manifest
and latent contradictions ECD programs and
FPs are confronted with in their attempts
to create conducive developmental and
educational environment to early children are
highlighted. The evolving themes are revealing
to ECD programs, families, and ECCE partners
who are involved in establishment, course
designing, assessment, and management
of ECD programs at different degrees of
concern. EC development, care, and education
programs not only benefit children and families,
they also benefit communities, government,
and society at large. Planned well and early,
they have a positive impact, the potential to
reduce social inequality and inefficiency, to
all parties (children, families, communities,
government, society, other ECD FPs) (Aubrey,
2008; Vasconcelos, 2005).
Noticeable paradoxes among the FPs are
highlighted. Government regulation, for
example, is criticized for either ‘setting
regulation standards too high’ or for its ‘sheer
reluctance’. Accreditation, on the other hand,
is demonstrating the ability to lead and support
others (Hallet, 2013). Realizing the high pay-
offs in human capital, i.e. understanding that
EC stimulation, well-being and education
influences development positively into youth
and adults, there is an increasing intervening
tendency from the public (Abeyot, 2013; Tassew,
2011). In other words, earlier investment and
intervention will have good returns in improved
health, boosted productivity, closing gender
pay gap, improved public services, and reduced
crime in the later parts of human life. Hence,
how should an ECCE program be established,
professionalized, practiced, and accredited so
that it plays the role it is instituted for?
Professionalizing Attempts and Apparent
Paradoxes: Public-Government Integrity
in ECCE
The early years of life are critical for the
acquisition and/or learning of concepts, skills,
aptitudes, and attitudes that lay the foundations
for lifelong learning (Abeyot, 2013; Tassew,
2011). In the context of EC Development:
Care and Education (ECD-CE), child growth
and development refers to quantitative and
qualitative changes of children from prenatal
[conception] to average age of six years (Parke
& Gauvain, 2009). While growth refers to
the quantitative, development refers to the
qualitative functioning of the child.
The crux of the matter is, not on why ECCE (ECD-
CE) is for, but how/who should provide the EC
service(s)?’ Brooker (2014) visualizes a triangle
of ECD service provision among child minders,
parents, and policy. Parents make ECCE center
decisions based on their assumptions about a
kind of childcare environment, resources, and
routines which child minding offers[EC policy],
and child minders [non-parental educarers]
have emphasized the extent to which they
are willing and able to meet parents’ needs’,
p.71. The development of graduate-led early
years workforce is central to improving the
knowledge, skills, and competencies of those
working in the early years sector to raise the
quality of children’s lives (Hallet, 2013; Douglass
& Gittell, 2012). Proliferation and standardization
of ECCE may have unintended negative
consequences for parent-teacher relationships
(e.g. litigation, increased bureaucratic
procedures) if professionalization of the field
is not an effect of public-intellectual integrity
(Douglass & Gittell, 2012). Professionalizing
ECCE is a current necessity for at least two
reasons: many parents and grandparents play
a significant role as educators and carers of
children in the preschool years; sole-parent and
grandparent-headed households increasingly
have become an economic and social
issue (Nyland, Zeng, Nyland, & Tran, 2009;
Vasconcelos; 2005). ECCE, therefore, deserves
more professionalized and sustained attention
from parents, policy makers, and educators
in considering the child’s developmental
environment (Douglass & Gittell, 2012; Nyland
et al., 2009). Then, how professionalization,
systematization, and bureaucracy of ECCE
integrate, with internal and external lines of
control, to result in an ECCE that is efficient
and effective?
For much of its long past, child care in Ethiopia
existed in the informal sector, away from public
eye and the structure of bureaucracy (Tassew,
2011). Caring, education, and intervention
attempts had been traditional and authoritarian
rather than being facilitative. Over time, child
care is making its way into the formal market
giving rise to a complex, fragmented, and
sometimes competing array of standards,
regulations, and policies related to both
program operations and work force training
and credentials accountability (Douglass &
Gittell, 2012). This fragmentation, and the
increasing recognition of the importance of
high quality EC education, prompted efforts to
coordinate, systematize, standardize practices,
and increase accountability (Douglass & Gittell,
2012). Professionalizing ECCE, for Douglass and
Gittell (2012) is ‘addressing the staff turnover
rates, low wages, poor working conditions,
and societal de-valuation of this largely female
profession’ (p.268). Is not professionalism
at odds with the ‘[culture] art of teaching’,
development (nature & nurturing) and caring of
early children in
Ethiopia? Will not professionalizing the field
face the same fate that teaching, nursing and
social work are in?
Douglass and Gittell (2012) have listed four
elements as characteristic of professionalization:
‘systematic base of knowledge, a professional
association, a code of professional ethics, and
a regulation that include career ladder’ (p. 269).
Caring, securing, and educating (as integrated
activities) are the statutory requirements of
relational partners in ECCE (Brooker, 2014;
Macfarlane, et al., 2014)
Academic scenarios, in contrary to market-
oriented ones, make care, education,
intervention, stimulation, and support of ECD
program mitigate its for-profit temptations
and boomerang effect. By academic and
educational standards the child’s development,
care, education, and rights naturally cannot
be exchanged for child service providers’
and facilitators’ ulterior motives (Penn, 2011;
Campbell-Barr, 2009). Business mindedness is
likely to erode caring, education, ECCE setup,
and pedagogy; entrepreneurial and economistic
strategy in ECCE is like ‘commodifying’ the
child’s fundamental rights, needs, and interests
(Campbell-Barr, 2009).
Care and education for early children should not
be expensive so that it can be accessed by the
many. Primarily, the home and the community
are expected to be the centers of care and
education. This indicates that ECCE cannot
be left entirely to the market; in Sweden, for
example, all children under twelve have a
legal entitlement to the provision of enough
spaces in EC centers or on school premises;
staff engaged to look after the children are
trained at higher education level (Bennet,
2003; Macfarlane et al., 2014). Hallet (2013)
phrased such political acumen, emotional
understanding, connections, and future thinking
for the foundation of a generation as ‘culture
of the Scandinavia’, p.315. This conception and
arrangement of ECD-CE can work for societies
where families and communities have enough
share of land that affords ample natural stimuli
to early children.
On the other hand, there is a view that
perceives ECD-CE as private and public
investment. Arguably, the private sector is
economically efficient and provides more
flexible and responsive services (Aubrey,
2008). Her argument justifies why ECCE has
not been part of the public policy, and why
governments in some developing counties
have generally limited capacity for developing
policy and regulation systems. The for-profit
sector presses hard as long as it ensures
existence of ever-growing demand where
family roles are challenged by marketization,
urbanization, and industrialization (Nyland et
al., 2009). The for-profit private sector service
providers are suspected of justifying education
and other service provision in instrumental
and economistic ways. As such the service
provider is serviced at the expense of the
service recipient along a range of resources
and educational benefits. The ‘current push
towards professionalizing has been driven by
the belief that ECD-CE has the potential to close
the school readiness gap, cost effectiveness of
EC interventions, and the federal governments
pursuit of standard-based education and
accountability measure (Douglass & Gittell,
2012, p. 269).
Dynamics of Child Development and
Education: Curriculum and pedagogy in
ECD-CE
Curriculum and course design for an ECD
program should consider all the factors that
relate to the child. These factors include
physical factors, growth rate, level of maturity,
cognitive and motor skills, health, school, family,
community relationships, emotional reactions,
peer group interactions, concept of his/her self
socialization process, adjustment processes
(Parke & Gauvain, 2009; Bar-On, 2004; Cleghorn
& Prochhner, 2003). Balanced and quality
ECD programs influence the developmental
trajectory of the child. It, not only affects the
cognitive development of young children, but
also a number of non-cognitive skills such as
motivation, self-discipline and socialization
(Vengopal, 2015; Abeyot, 2013; Kington, Gates
& Sammons, 2013; Tassew, 2011).
The apparent paradoxes and contradicions
in views on ECD-CE lead to its fragmatation
which in turn leads to long standing
inequatable changes in power distribution
among partners, unproprortional division of
resources, responsibility, agency, and practice
(Macfarlane et al., 2014). Of course, diverse
opnions lead to more complete information
about EC curriculum, course design, children,
families, and FPs. Pedagogywise, there is
an argument promoting ‘children should be
educated from an individualized and flexible
approch to a prescribed approach’ (Douglass
& Gittell, 2012). There is also heightened
emphasis on scientific knowledge and
standardized practices (Lahman, 2008). EC
curriculum and pedagogy should integrate the
cultural diversity impacting a child’s gender
identification and vulnerabilities. Gender
socialization, charity, humility, perspective
taking, and many other social-adaptive
skills start at home. The cultural meanings,
culural objects, family communication style
(gender-role modeling) influence children’s
interpersonality; ‘it is far more acceptable, for
example, for girls to cross the gender-role lines
than it is for boys’ (Servos, Dewar, Bosacki &
Coplan, 2015, p.329).
Despite the many benefits of professionalizing
ECCE, the current trend towards formalization
and standardization of the field may increase
‘bureaucratic characteristic of EC programs,
leading to unintended negative consquences
for family-centered practices’ (Douglass &
Gittell, 2012, p.269). An attempt should be
made to integrate issues across health,
education, wellbeing, and service matters. This
integration is required because, early, the child
is powerless; potetially, she/he is the mother
of a generation.
Current scenario of ECCE in Ethiopia
Who is concerned with the study, education,
health, safety and well being of the child in
Ethiopia? In Ethiopia, a country its history
interpreted as ‘unjust relationships’ of nations
and nationalities, ethnic identity is treated as a
rampant ‘social re-construction’ (Haile Gabrael,
2007, p. 349). Predominant limitation of all
parties (EYPs, the public, government, NGOs,
religious institutions and other FPs), currently,
is lack of grounded research on ECD area. The
drive to empirically search for the root cause of
poor performance in learning is hampered by
the deep rooted attitudes of which [early years]
teachers are not aware of (Haile Gebrael, 2007, p.
343). Skills formation or cognitive competency
is a life-cycle process where maturational or
educational input at one stage is an influence
for a next stage; skills and competencies are
self re-enforcing. Infants’ and children’s early
behaviors are not random and disorganized;
ways of promoting and assessing health, well-
being, maturity, capabilities, and capacities of
EC can be designed (Parke & Gauvain, 2009).
On the other hand, some EYPs argue that socio-
emotional development should be the primary
goal rather than development and assessment
of the cognitive skills and capabilities; i.e. they
are of the view ‘academics should be saved
until pediatrics takes shape in the nursery and
kindergarten levels’ (e.g. Platas, 2015). How
does the professional’s service outreach to the
early child, then?
Home visits and readiness assessment could
serve as means of getting reliable data so that
children are in ECCE centers on time. Home
visits enabled ECCE teachers and practitioners
to compare behavior at preschool with that of
home (Greenfield, 2011). ‘Parent-professional
partnerships, the corner stone of family-
centered practice, are relationships that reflect
shared power, reciprocal, responsive and caring
relations’ (Douglass & Gittell, 2012, p.269).
For Douglass & Gittell (2012) family-centered
approach is characterized by ‘developing
collaborative relationships with each child’s
family, building mutual trust and respect with
families, and supporting and involving families
to foster child and family well being’ (p.270).
Studying the perspectives of care
givers, families, and children in isolation
limits understandings of child care and
educationalization experiences. Since
ECCE experience is shaped by continuous
interactions among participants; ethnography,
for example, views the child care center as a
cultural reality embedded deeply in the social
fabric of everyday life (Buchbinder, Longhofer,
Barrett, Lawson & Floersch, 2006). In brief,
ECCE requires emphasizing on the centrality
of cultural and linguistic competencies, the
honors, strengths, traditions, and expertise
that the ECCE bureaucracy brings to the ECD-
CE setting relationships.
Assessment and standard in ECCE
As ECD-CE’s establishment and practice is an
integrated experience, so is its assessment
and evaluation. Notion of a decent and non-
humiliating society requires socially just
policies and professional trust to present a
useful way forward; a regulation system that
humiliates dismisses all knowledge, wisdom,
experience teachers and other FPs have
(Fenech & Sumsion, 2007).
Assessment and standard needs to be
designed in line with both cultural and national
context. Both quantitative and qualitative
functioning of the early child needs to be
assessed. Generally what has to be assessed
and evaluated is the early child’s biological
attributes and socio-emotional competency.
The infant’s gradual sequence and pattern
of absorbing and reactions to environmental
stimuli, coordinating, combining, analyzing,
synthesizing, reasoning of sensory information,
percepts, and concepts in integration with his/
her chronological and mental age has to be
assessed. Fundamentally, EC assessment
should progress in a non inter-comparison
manner. Children who had high quality
preschool experiences are identified by their
developed language skills, mathematical
skills, reading skills when being observed for
their direction follow ups, interactions with
peers, and their styles of activity engagement
(Winterbottom & Jones, 2014; Abeyot, 2013;
Tassew, 2011). There might not be perfect
consensus on definition, assessment criteria,
and standard of ECCE quality. Despite this
the concreteness and developmentality of the
measures or assessment methods should be
a shared reality. Assessment, standard, and
accreditation procedure should also attend
to both structural and process components
of the ECD program (Winterbottom & Jones,
2014). Whoever is accrediting, the procedures
followed and actual practices implemented
should reveal that children have the best care
and education possible.
What needs to be done?
Who should be blamed for malfunctioning of a
child? Although the issue of ECD is primarily a
public one, it has implications to government,
business, NGOs, and family (Aubrey, 2008).
In a politicized environment, ECCE struggles
to artificially separate education from caring
(Bennet, 2003). Governmentality intentions
may emphasize ‘educationalization’ at the
expense of developmetality and caring.
Governmentality is about systems of power
and control that shape child development and
relationships. Developmentality, on the other
hand, is following the child’s lead in entering
the child’s world. However, the latter doesn’t
mean positioning the child in a ‘cultural black
hole unbounded by adults’ influence; emotional
labor of significant others is inclusive to child-
centered perspective (Buchbinder et al., 2006).
Program and course design should integrate
families’ and partners’ expectations with the
child’s chorological age (infancy, kindergarten,
preschool age) and developmental domains
(physical and motor, socio-emotional, cognitive
& language, and creativity). Recognizing the
integration enables designing of relevant
profession-, research-, and subject/content-
related courses for an ECD program. With
the paradoxes integrated and/or perceived as
‘legitimate adversaries’, an ECD-CE program
is likely to achieve the following as potential
outcomes or goals:
• Improved FSP (Family Support Programs)
• Improved CfC (Community for Children)
projects
• Structured EYPs (Early Years Professionals)
preparation, and
• Informed FPs (facilitating partners)
To meet these goals, concerned EC FPs
should make researched contributions
through direct observations of ECD program
settings; observation of children, and ECD-
CE centers. Interviews should be held with
parents, child-led talks (observation of child-
child conversations), and interviews with
FPs. Documentation or recordings (audio
and/or video), and field notes should be kept.
Prolonged engagement in ECD-CE setting,
triangulation of data sources, methods, and
results through inter-invistigator dialogues are
all essential for establishment of firm platform
for ECD program. Developing parnerships with
families is critical in ECCE services. Families,
EC educators, and EC service providers bring
to settings different cutlural backgrounds,
experiences and expectations of their roles
and the role of the child careservice (De Gioia,
2013).
In addition to qualitative data sources, data can
be accessed quantitatively through developed
or adapted scales, belief scales, for example.
Reason for development of beliefs assessment
scales is neccessary for beliefs generally
believed to affect service providers practices
and efficacy from curriculum implementation
to changes in pedagogy, generation locus,
stimulation, and evaluation modalities (Platas,
2015). Item development and sample number
specifications could be made after preliminary
understanding of activities that have been
observed and/or reported in observed ECD-CE
settings. Finally, EC Research (ECR) data should
be analysed using relevant statistics. Findings
should give suggesions, tips, experiences, and
practical recommendations to ECD programs,
families, and child service FPs from arround
Ethiopia. While accomplishing all reseach
procedures, EC researchers are expected to be
abide by ethical considerations that benefit the
child, families, commmunities, government,
NGOs, religious institutions, and the research
as awhole.
Conclusion
The early ages are critical and sensitive
for socio-emotional, language, cognitive,
creativity and skill formation processes. Early
learning and skill acquistion reinforces later
development. EC service providers have to
serve the transduction development of the
child. New (2008) has rhetocially expressed
the reciprocal foreward and backward spread
of educaring as ‘what if… “knowers learned to
do and doers learned to know?”
Unfair balance made early in couse designing,
establishment of ECD program, assessment
and standard issues will not be conponsated
via late corrections and amendments as the
EC ages are critical to set the foundations for
life. ‘Whoever is establishing where’, ECCE
shouldn’t be stripped its cultural, social, and
psychological meanings of. Sally Lubeck (2001)
in Aubrey (2008) and Sara Ahmed (2004) in
Bown and Sumsion (2016) warns every EC
service provider to be critical of globalization’s
increasing influence on EC educational goals
and practices. Current context of Ethiopian
ECCE - translating the widespread and diverse
needs, interests, and mandates of the child,
family and family partnerships - into action at
a program level has fallen into what Douglass
and Gittell (2012) called ‘rhetoric rut’ (p.270).
Considering the child and EYP’s relashinship
and partnership patterns as the simplest
and weakest componet of the entire
‘quality improvement endeavors’ will not be
resolved easily. There is still an inadvertent
acknowledgment that small home-based family
childcare programs do a better job building
relashinships with supporting families than do
more formal or institutionalized programs such as
childcare centers, kindergartens or preschools.
The problem with professionalization and its
accompanying bureaucracy begins when it
interfers with child and family relathinships
and partnerships in two ways: ‘discouraging
caring and the use of feeling or individual
circumstances to guide decisions and actions;
and positioning the professional as the expert
with power over the parent or client’ (Douglass
& Gittell, 2012, p.271).
The entire field is a relational service work.
ECCE involves making decisions and judgments
about the best course of action to take in a given
situation, often based on personal knowledge
of individual circumstances rather than on
application of a ‘one size fits all’ notion (Douglass
& Gittell, 2012, pp. 271-2). Professionalizing
ECCE is creating a system explaining how
multiple elements (power centers) at each
level combine to result either opportunities or
risks for children’s development from family
to societal levels. Despite bureaucratic nature
of ECCE and profesionalism, it shouldn’t
exclude emotion or individual circumstances
as an element of caring, educating, and
other decision making activities. Traditionally,
EC teachers believe that they must give
up caring to become professional;i.e.there
is a tempting tendency of bracketing the
importance of caring and concious practice of
emphasizing on job race, materialistic training,
and educationalization – the non-humanistic
aspect of the entire ECD-CE process. It should
be the possession of the expertise power that
elusively positions the professional over the
parent or client - mitigation of rigid protocols is
an essential ethic. Professionalization at ECCE
level is also a ‘diminished experimentation’ and
an ‘orientation to wards doing for others’ rather
than doing through or to others. It is culturally,
aesthetically, and ethically wrong to exploit the
vulnerable. Finally all EC researchers, discourse
agenda setters, and service providers should
question their underlying moral assumptions,
their political, ethical implications, and their
equitable treatment of diverse children,
including children with special needs and their
recepective settings.
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 Study on Best Practices on Community checkup after intervention and 86.7% of women
Based Early Childhood Development reported that they started taking their kids to
modern heath institutions after intervention
Program in Ada’aWoreda compared to 13.3% before intervention.
They have improved feeding practices for
Azmeraw Belay
their children in terms of quality and pattern;
improved parenting skills, increased knowledge
Abstract: The objective of this research is
of parents on harmful customary practices and
to document and share good practices of
promoting children’s rights, and significantly
community based Early Childhood Care and
reduced harmful traditional practices. Children’s
Education (ECCE) program in Ratson-the then
gain from early childhood programmes in
Save the Children Norway supported project
both social and cognitive aspects has been
in six rural villages of Ada’a district targeting
significant. As rated by teachers and parents,
1200 households. Major interventions include
children promoted from ECCE centers to
child and maternal health and nutrition, positive
primary schools are assertive, better in social
parenting focusing on increasing knowledge
skills, neat and clean, respectful and obedient,
and skills on child care and child rights, and
easily understand classroom lessons, and
Early Childhood Care and Education. The
active participants in classroom activities. They
study was conducted in four Kebeles (Godino,
are self-assured, capable and highly motivated.
Goaworko, Hidi, and Ude) in Ada’a Woreda in
Their academic and social readiness is better
East Showa Zone of Oromia Region. Using
than their non-ECCE classmates. Almost
random sampling, 60 out of 200 ECCD program
all children who attended ECCE have joined
participating women whose children are
primary schools at appropriate age and their
enrolled in ECCE Centers were selected and
school attendance is better than the non-ECCE
interviewed. 60 children with ECCE experience
peers. Primary school records revealed that
and 60 children with no ECCE experience from
ECCE children have better performance, higher
primary schools, 40 primary school teachers, 4
pass rates, lower repetition and drop out
children’s care-takers and 8 ECCE facilitators,
rates compared to their non-ECCE peers. Key
and 28 ECCD management committee
implications include: strengthening partnership
members were also selected using purposive
with communities, school leaders and district
sampling. Primary quantitative and qualitative
education officials in sustaining ECCE centers
data were collected through questionnaire,
and expansion planning; linking ECCE program
focus group discussions and observation.
with other components such as women’s
Secondary data were collected from primary
economic and social empowerment, health and
schools, ECCE facilitators and children’s care-
nutrition, child sponsorship and family support
takers. Moreover, review of studies, project
programs; and ECCE program is proved to
documents, project reports, and primary
be effective in local communities with little
school records served as secondary sources
knowledge and skills on positive parenting and
of information for the study. The finding of
low economic background. Finally, both the
study revealed that both the community-based
implementing organization and researchers
ECCD and early childhood care and education
need to follow up the impact of ECCE program
programmes have brought significant positive
on school outcomes in upper grades.
impacts on targeted children and families.
The intervention has contributed to improved Importance of early intervention
health, hygiene and nutrition of children and
mothers. Impact/outcome indicators for The science of developmental psychology clearly
participating mothers include, preventive indicates that early childhood is a critical period
medical monitoring, timely treatments, of development that requires investments. The
improved child and maternal health, hygiene investments made by society at this stage of
and nutrition. 83.3% of women affirmed that human development pays back later through
they started undergoing prenatal medical the productive contribution of children to the
society. If children at this stage of development
are not provided with better nutrition, health
care and mental stimulation from education,
they are deprived of opportunity to develop
as productive citizens and to enjoy better
quality of life and to eventually contribute to
society’s growth. This assertion is supported
by the experiences of practitioners in the
field of diverse cultures. Scientific findings
from variety of fields have demonstrated the
support of early development yields benefits,
not only in immediate ways for the child and
its parents, but also over time in terms of the
child’s ability to contribute to the community
(UNESCO, 1999).
Children are entitled to basic care and
education as a fundamental right. Families,
communities, institutions and governments
within their spheres of responsibilities, among
other things, are expected to provide basic
care and education to children. Early childcare
and development activities at home or outside
home have impacts on the personal, social and
intellectual development of children. Studies
indicate that early childhood is the most
effective and cost-efficient time to ensure
that all children develop their full potential, by
preventing negative impacts of deprivations
during the most formative life-phase as well
by positively strengthening young children’s
capacities. The returns on investment in early
childhood care and education are substantial.
They increase the efficacy of investments in
primary schools and human capital formation,
foster beneficial social behavior and thereby
reduce social welfare costs (Engle et al. 2011).
There is a clear connection between the
quality of parent-child togetherness and
social-intellectual development; and a child’s
ability to settle in school and school results
and the quality of time the child has spent
together with his/her parents. Children need
to feel secured, be stimulated, and should
have opportunities to explore, to question, to
experiment, to play and to symbolize. Lack
of proper early intervention will result in an
increased number of children, youths and
adults who cannot effectively participate in
the socio-economic development of society,
increased school repetition and drop out, poorly
educated and unmotivated workforce as well
as the escalation of delinquency and antisocial
behaviors (Bernard van Leer Foundation, 1994).
Other researchers such as Young (1996) also
supported the idea that health, nutrition, and
psychosocial processes interact in influencing
human development in early years of life.
Early childhood interventions enhance the
child’s chance of primary school enrollment,
readiness to settle in school, school progress
and academic performance. Improvements
are seen in reducing grade repetition and
drop-out, and with growing evidence of life-
transforming outcomes emerging in studies
with longitudinal evidence (Anderson et al.
2003; Rao et al. 2013). This has already been
observed in Ethiopia with children who had
enrolled in kindergarten programmes, at
age 8, scoring 32% higher in cognitive tests
than those who had not and with a higher
probability of grade completion (Woldehanna
and Gebremedhin 2012).
The Ethiopian Government has developed a
National Policy Framework on Early Childhood
Care and Education built around four pillars.
The first two pillars-parental education and a
comprehensive programme of early child health
and stimulation-are focused on children from
the pre-natal period up to age 3 and fall under
the Ministry of Health. The third and fourth
pillars have been more targeted for children
aged 4 to 6, comprising non-formal school
readiness (notably Child-to-Child) initiatives
and the establishment of pre-schools of various
kinds, including community-based pre-schools,
private pre-schools and pre-schools attached to
primary schools (Orkin et al. 2012).
During the period from 2010-15, the
Government of Ethiopia, through the Ministry
of Education and Regional Education Bureaus,
has supported large-scale implementation
of pre-primary education, in all areas of the
country, via a combination of government,
community, non-governmental (NGO), church
and private sector initiatives. In 2015, the
Ministry of Education set ambitious targets
for the next five years (2015/162019/20), which
are elaborated in its fifth Education Sector
Development Programme (ESDP V, Ministry of
Education 2015). ESDP V now leads national
planning and implementation in the education
sector and highlights pre-primary education as
a priority, with the goal: “to provide all children
with access to pre-primary education for school
preparedness”.
In view of this, this research adds to the body
of knowledge for developmental psychology
by verifying the importance of early childhood
years and programmes for children’s overall
development. The research finding will serve as
a tool for sharing the evidence based practice
on ECCE to parents, teachers, practitioners,
and policy makers, as well as to replicate the
good practices at national level.
Background to the current early
childhood care and development
intervention
The early childhood programme was initiated
based on the survey conducted in 2004, the
experience gained from an exposure visit to
Christian Children Fund Kenya, and experience
shared by an ECCE expert from Save the
Children Nepal in 2003. The outcomes of the
visit and experiences enabled Ratson and
the then Save the Children Norway Ethiopia
Program to see the different intervention
approaches that could be adapted locally.
The finding of the baseline survey (2006)
revealed that there was no any form of ECCE
programmes (traditional or modern) in Ada’a
woreda. The major highlights of the finding
were the following.
• There was little or no awareness on positive
child rearing practices. Parents had little
knowledge on proper feeding and health
care of their children. Many families used
to practice traditional method of treatment
to modern treatment.
• The prevalence rate of harmful traditional
practices including Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM), tonsillectomy, uvulectomy, and milk
teeth extraction was reported to be 80%.
Children did not get proper feeding. Older
and younger children’s food type was not
different from adults in quality (even lower
quality). It was the same type of food day
in and day out given to children and children
were exposed to malnutrition and different
types of diseases. Babies used to get breast
feeding more than eight months with no
supplementary food.
• Many parents had the belief that parent-
child interaction should be formal, strict,
and authoritarian in nature and they did not
encourage verbal give and take (discussions).
The child plays with other children but not
with adults. Parents used to apply different
forms of physical punishment as a means
of disciplining their children and respect
parental orders.
• There were no any child care establishments
that provide safe space for children below 4
years during the day while women engage
in work force. Parents used to leave their
kids below 4 years under the care of older
siblings, their neighbors, grandmothers,
and carrying on their backs while working
at home and farmland, and go to market.
The ECCE intervention was initiated in 2004.
The intervention had three project phases.
Phase one was from 2004-2006 and the
second phase was from 2007-2009/10, and
the consolidation phase was from 2011-
2013/14.The first intervention phase focused
on assessing the situation for the ECCD
programme, building capacity of implementing
organization (Ratson) on early childhood
programme; training and organizing parents;
establishing and strengthening community
based ECCD centers and Early Childhood
Care and Education (ECCE) Centers; training
of caretakers and early childhood education
facilitators; and supporting the programme
through income generation activities.
The second intervention phase focused
on establishing additional ECCE centers;
improving the quality of ECCE centers
through providing on the job refresher training
for caretakers and education facilitators;
developing teaching manuals for facilitators;
strengthening research and documentation;
follow up health and nutrition situation of
children; strengthening the management of
the ECCE centers; strengthening the linkage
between community-based ECCD programme
and ECCE centers; and district and regional
level advocacy to influence the government to
allocate budget for ECCE centers, training of
teachers/facilitators, monitor and follow up and
finally takeover the program. The third phase
focused on consolidating and working towards
sustaining the program.
Research objectives
The research has both general and specific
objectives.
General objective
To document and share good practices
on community based early childhood
programming/intervention in Ratson-the then
Save the Children Norway Ethiopia program
supported project in selected rural communities
of Ada’a Woreda.
Specific objectives
The research has the following specific
objectives.
• Document and share evidence based
practices on early childhood care and
education to relevant stakeholders.
• Measure the impact (contribution) of
community-based early childhood care
and education program on the overall
development of targeted children as well
as families.
• Recommend possible areas of
improvement of the existing intervention
for implementing organization, and
implications for government and other
relevant stakeholder to scale up the good
experiences within the framework of the
existing ECCE policy framework.
Basic research questions
Having the above objectives in mind, the
research tries to answer the following basic
research questions.
• What are the different approaches of early
childhood care and education interventions
for children at different ages (children below
4 years and 4-6 years)?
• What are the contributions of early
childhood care and education intervention
on children’s overall development?
• Is there a difference in children’s school
outcomes between those children with
ECCE experience and without?
• What are the impacts of early childhood
programme intervention on knowledge,
attitude, and practices of targeted parents
and the community on parenting skills,
prevention of harmful traditional practices
and promoting children’s rights?
Operational definitions of variables
• Early childhood: In this study, it is defined as
the period of a child’s life from conception
to age 7.
• Care: Is the process of creating an enabling
environment to meet the holistic needs of
children that support their psychosocial and
cognitive development, health, nutrition,
and protection.
• Development: Is a process of qualitative
and quantitative changes in all aspects of
developmental domains i.e. physical, social,
emotional, cognitive, and moral/spiritual.
• Early childhood care and education:
Preparatory education that involves the
whole child covering the child’s physical,
cognitive, psychosocial development and
the child’s interest and learning styles.
Education in the context of early childhood
refers to preparation of the child for life not for
learning academic subjects or concepts. It
is a set of educational strategies specifically
designed to children below 7 years old for
their preparation to join primary education.
• Dropout rate: The ratio of students to the
total number of enrolled children who
quitted their schooling in a given academic
year.
• Repetition rate: The ratio of students who
repeated class in a given grade in a given
academic year.
• Pass rate: The ratio of students to the
total number of enrolled children in a given
grade promoted to the next grade in a given
academic year.
• Academic performance: Average score of
student in given subjects interpreted as per
the Ministry of Education standard.
Methodology
This section deals with the design of the
research, participants of the study, sampling
techniques, the type of instruments used for
data collection, procedure of data collection,
and method of data analysis. The research
has employed both quantitative and qualitative
methods, which constituted the major design
of the study. The methodology includes
participatory techniques which involved children,
parents, children’s care-takers, early childhood
education facilitators, primary school teachers,
ECCD management committee members,
CBOs and community leaders, health workers,
Kebele officials, and Ratson’s project staff. The
researcher reviewed secondary data about
Ratson’s interventions, related researches,
and study findings pertinent to this study.
Consultative discussions were conducted with
Ratson to agree on data collection procedure.
The instruments for collecting primary and
secondary data were developed, pilot tested
and improvised for final administration.
Design of the study
Both qualitative and quantitative research
designs were employed in this study.
Data collection tools/instruments and quality
assurance
Four types of instruments were developed
and administered to obtain primary and
secondary quantitative and qualitative data.
The overall structure of the instruments was
framed into the core thematic areas related
to the objectives of the research. Instruments
developed and used include the following.
• Questionnaire for teachers and parents:
Questionnaire was developed and
administered to children’s parents and
primary school teachers. This tool helped
to obtain primary quantitative data for
the study. This instrument enabled
the researcher to assess knowledge,
awareness and practice of parents on
parenting skills, HTPs, child rights, child
health and nutrition (feeding practices) and
their overall perception on the impact of
the ECCE intervention on children’s overall
development. Data obtained from teachers
enabled the researcher to get teachers’
views on the contribution of the ECCE
intervention on children’s school outcomes.
• Checklist for interview and discussion:
Checklists for interview as well as
discussion were prepared to guide the
interviewer flexibly probe relevant questions
with primary school teachers, caretakers,
early childhood education facilitators,
and members of ECCD management
committee. Major discussion points
were structured in the guide to help the
researcher lead and moderate discussions.
• Observation checklist: observation checklist
was prepared to guide observation of
children in the ECCE centers during different
episodes such as classroom, play, feeding,
etc, and the different activities of the ECCE
centers.
• Secondary data collection format: This tool
was prepared and administered to primary
school teachers. This instrument helped
to obtain secondary data on children’s
school outcomes to compare children with
ECCE and non-ECCE experience in primary
schools.
The questionnaire which was originally
developed in English was translated into
Amharic language. Content validity of the
items was checked by sharing with ECCE
experts who have knowledge and experience
in the area. The questionnaire was pre-tested
and improved based on the pre-test results
to increase the validity of the items. Besides,
every day after data collection, the filled
questionnaires were reviewed and checked for
completeness and relevance by the researcher.
Sampling
Selection of study sites
The study was conducted in four Kebeles
namely Godino, Gowaworko, Hidi, and Ude,
in Ada’a Woreda, East Showa Zone of Oromia
Region.
Selection of sample participants
Seven groups of participants were selected to
provide primary quantitative and/or qualitative
data for the research. This includes primary
school children, children’s parents, children’s
caretakers, early childhood education
facilitators, primary school teachers, ECCD
management committee and Ratson’s staff.
• Children in primary schools: 60 children with
ECCE experience (30 children from grade 1
 and 30 children from grade 2) and 60 children • All twenty-eight (28) ECCD management
with no ECCE experience (30 from each committee members were selected using
grade level), both group attending primary purposive sampling and participated as
education were selected for comparison key informants as well as focus group
in school outcomes. The ECCE children discussants in the four study sites.
were selected using purposive sampling • Ratson staff: key informant interview with
technique. 4 relevant staff of Ratson was conducted
• Children’s parents: Taking a cluster of to get overall background information of the
ECCE centres, random sampling technique project.
(lottery method) was used to select
respondent mothers. A total of 60 ECCD
participating mothers (out of 200 women
enrolled in the community-based ECCD
programme) were reached through face to
face individual interview and focus group
discussion, making the sample size 30 %.
The respondent mothers also have children
who attended early childhood education
programme and joined primary schools. A
significant proportion of mothers (41.7%)
were between the age categories of 31-40.
Equal proportion of respondent mothers
(25%) were between the ages of 20-30
and 41-50 years, and only small percentage
(8.3%) were 51 years and above. The mean
age of respondent mothers was 34.8 and
this indicates that the respondents are
more of youths and adults. Regarding
their marital status, the large majority of
respondent women (83.3%) were married.
The proportion of respondents who were
divorced, widowed and unmarried were
8.3%, 5%, and 3.3% respectively. As
to their educational status, a significant
proportion of respondent mothers (41.7%)
were illiterate, 38.3% can read and write,
20% have attended primary education.
• Four (4) children’s care-takers, eight (8) early
childhood education facilitators and forty
(40) primary school teachers (46% males
and 54% females) were selected using
purposive sampling and participated as key
informants and focus group discussants.
Of all teachers reached through face to face
individual interview, 95% of them have
taught at least 2 years and the remaining
5% have taught more than 3 years in the
school they are currently teaching. 90% of
interviewed teachers have children who
have ECCE experience in their classes.
Data collection and management
The sample study sites were selected in
consultation with Ratson. Four (4) enumerators
with rich experience as community facilitators
and social workers in different projects were
selected in consultation with implementing
organization. The selection of enumerators
was made purposive with the understanding
that they would do the data collection
effectively, as they know the geographical and
socio-cultural context of the study villages/
Kebeles. The interview questionnaire was
translated into Amharic language to enable
the enumerators conduct individual interview
without difficulty. Then, a day long training on
basic ethical considerations in data collection,
interviewing skill, and on the basic content
of the questionnaires was provided to
enumerators so that they would be able to put
across the very message of the questionnaires
correctly in proper and interactive manner.
Interview
Face to face individual interview was
conducted with 60 children’s mothers who
were participating in the program and 40
primary school teachers teaching in the first
cycle of primary education.
Focus group discussion
Focus group discussions were conducted with
four groups of respondents (with six groups
of children’s mothers, four groups of primary
school teachers, two groups of children’s
caretakers and early childhood education
facilitators, and four groups of ECCD center
management committee members). Focus
group discussions enabled the researcher
to have an in depth understanding of issues,
obtain data which were not captured with
semi-structured interview, and cross check/
triangulate data for the study. The size of each
focus group discussion for children’s mothers
was 10, primary school teachers 8-10, children’s
care-takers and ECCE facilitators 6, and ECCD
management committee 7-8.
Document review
Forms meant for obtaining secondary data
were prepared and distributed to primary
school teachers, early childhood education
facilitators, and children’s care takers. Besides,
all relevant documents including studies,
project proposals, progress and annual reports,
project impact assessment report (2006),
developmental scale reports, and children’s
health and nutrition checkups, and primary
schools’ records were reviewed and used as
secondary sources of information.
Observation
Using observation checklist, the researcher
had a closer look at the physical structures
of ECCE centers, indoor and outdoor playing
materials, learning aids, interaction of children
in the centers, interaction of children with
care-takers and teachers, care-takers’ and
teachers’ handling skills, and children’s overall
developmental status.
Data Analysis
The data were tallied and coded, organized and
tabulated by a professional. The analysis of data
was conducted on the basis of the objectives
of the study with application of quantitative
and qualitative techniques. All focus group
discussions and key informant interviews
were tape recorded and later transcribed
for analysis. The transcribed data were then
categorized, interpreted and complemented
with the quantitative finding.
Analysis of data using quantitative method was
carried out in such a way that data generated
from semi-structured questionnaires have been
categorized into different thematic issues and
displayed in a tabular form using percentage
presentation. Besides, a test of significance
was computed using t distribution to test
whether there is a difference in academic
performance of ECCE and non-ECCE children.
Qualitative data obtained through focus group
discussions and key informant interviews were
used to enrich the quantitative data. A total of
15 days was spent to complete data analysis.
Limitation of the study
The execution of this study is not without
limitation. The time allocated to complete the
study was only 45 days and the researcher
has faced time constraint to undertake the
study in time. This has forced the researcher
to limit the study to four Kebeles. In addition,
the researcher did not observe the situation
of children at home setting to see parent-child
interaction and interaction of children with
siblings and adults due to time constraint.
Hence, data collection was exclusively center
focused.
Children’s development can be affected by
different factors. Though it is possible to say
that the intervention has brought about positive
impacts on target children and families, it
is difficult to fully attribute (establish cause
and effect relationships) between the ECCE
intervention and children’s developmental
outcomes.
Findings and discussion
Ratson’s approaches to early childhood
development programme intervention
The models of ECCE intervention were
adapted from the experience of Save the
Children Nepal and CCF Kenya. Ratson’s
early childhood programme has two models
of intervention: Community-Based Early
Childhood Development Programme and Early
Childhood Care and Education.
Home/community-based early childhood
programme intervention approach
This approach is based on the premise that what
happens within home has the most significant
influence on children. The assumption is rural
women do not have enough time to take
care of their kids as they are busy in doing
household chores and farming activities, and
hence they do not provide proper care and
support to their children. Some mothers do not
give attention to their kids even when they are
crying. Hence, establishing home/community-
based ECCD centers would reduce the burden
of rural women, create a safe space for kids to
socialize with other children, and saves time
for women to do their household chores and
participate in the work force.
This programme targets children below
four years. Interventions include: improving
mother and child health, care and nutrition,
and children’s psychosocial development.
Community-based early childhood programme
assigns the first responsibility of child care
to caregivers and family, focus on individual
care at home and groups of kids in a center.
Parenting care giving is integrated with
community-based ECCD programme. Special
focus is given to enable parents and caregivers
to create supportive environment for their
children below four years. High emphasis is
given on increasing families’ knowledge, skill
and confidence in their abilities to support their
children’s development using the available
opportunities at household level.
ECCD center establishment and facilities
A group of households who live in close
proximity and have social cohesiveness
pool their resources and establish children’s
day care center. In most cases, the home is
provided by the community on rent basis or for
free. In places where there is no free home,
the community provides land and home and
Ratson renovated the center. The ECCD center
is a single room equipped with indoor play
materials and some with latrine and drinking
water facilities. In most places, the centers are
located in the middle of targeted households
to easily follow up the daily situation of the
children.
Management of the center
The home/community based ECCD centers are
fully managed by children’s parents. Children’s
mothers are responsible for the following
activities.
• Recruit and employ children’s day caretakers
from the local community.
• Provide daily meals for their children.
• Accompany their kids to and from the
centers. Usually, the centers are open from
9:00 in the morning to 3:00 PM afternoon.
• Support the day caretaker in cleaning ECCD
centers.
• Keep their children clean and neat both at
the ECCD centers and at home.
• Supervise and support the day caretakers
in turns. A woman is assigned to stay at the
ECCD center and supervise and support
 the caretakers.
• Contribute finance to pay the salary of the
day care taker.
• Hold regular monthly meeting to discuss on
the center’s activities.
Children’s caretakers
Children’s caregivers are women selected
from local communities. Program participating
women and ECCE management committees
are responsible to recruit care takers. The
following criteria are applied in selecting
caregivers.
• Age: a woman should be above 20 years
old.
• She should be resident in that locality and
have good acceptance by the community.
• A woman who is emotionally stable (not
being aggressive while interacting with
children).
• A woman who has a child (children). Having
a child (children) implies that she has at least
basic knowledge of parenting skill; and it is
assumed that if she is given training, she
could be a good care taker for children.
• Married woman: Being married implies that
she is stable and reduces the possibility of
turnover.
The care takers are given two to three days initial
training and additional consecutive trainings
on relevant topics such as child care and
development, child health, nutrition, positive
parenting, and harmful traditional practices.
Their main responsibilities are to provide care
and support for kids, facilitate children’s plays,
teach them songs, keep their meals in clean and
hygienic manner, and support kids to eat their
meals properly. The caretakers are supported
by mothers in all centers.
Support from Ratson
Initial support from Ratson focuses on
enhancing the capacity of parents on positive
parenting, child care and development, health
and nutrition, prevention of HTPs and child
rights through short term training and facilitating
discussion in coffee programme. Those
parents who have acquired basic knowledge
and skill and convinced with the program
organize themselves into groups (Iddirs) and
initiate home/community-based ECCD center.
It also provides the required facilities such as
kitchen materials, utensils, indoor and outdoor
playing materials, mats, sponge mattresses,
and organizes cross experience sharing visits
among the centers.
Intervention on health, hygiene and
nutrition
Health and nutrition is the major component
of ECCD program. Mothers get primary health
education in relation to personal hygiene, like
washing hands after meal and latrine, washing
clothes and body. They instruct children on how
to protect food stuff from dirt, not use unclean
things, sharp objects, and to drink clean water;
to use clean cups and the like. Care givers
check the food, put it in clean places and
encourage kids to eat their meals properly.
Parents get education on personal hygiene,
preparing food from locally available food stuff
(balanced diet) for children’s nutrition, keeping
children clean and neat, and child health care.
The training equips them on how to prepare
balanced diet from locally available foodstuffs.
Under the nutrition and health component,
Ratson initiated Iddirs and invited the
participation of ECCD participating women and
other community members to join community
health insurance. The idea is that members will
pay only three ETB per month as a membership
fee and then get whatever medication and
drugs they need from the pool fund Ratson
has put at the nearby health centers. Iddirs
play a major role but the women’s groups who
are beneficiaries of the women empowerment
program organized by Ratson have direct
authorities to this programme. In this manner,
ECCD children along with the rest of the
community members get medical services.
They also get vaccine and other government
sponsored medical services. There is quarterly
children’s medical checkup for ECCD children
to monitor their health and nutritional status.
Those children who are found to be sick are
provided with appropriate medication or
referred to hospital if the case is serious.
Child growth and development monitoring
Ratson has initiated child growth and
development monitoring system called
the developmental scale measurement.
Children’s physical, social/emotional,
cognitive, communication/language
development is checked every three months
as per the development indicators chart.
The developmental scale measurement
helps to detect abnormalities and growth
and development delays at early age so that
corrective measure can be taken in time.
Ratson has trained and deployed personnel
who would work on the developmental scale
and they use the standard indicator’s chart
every three months at each ECCE center. The
data are compiled and held at the head office
level for follow up. Whenever there is a need
for actions to be taken at the centers level,
it will be communicated to the office. The
instrument measures development areas such
as physical, social, and emotional development
and communication.
Early childhood care and education
centers approach
Early childhood care and education centers
accommodate children who have spent some
years in the community-based early childhood
development program. These centers serve
as feeders to primary schools. They facilitate
children’s learning through their interaction
with children and learning aids, early childhood
education facilitators guiding their exploration
and discovery and encouraging a sense of
self-worth and enthusiasm for learning about
their world. ECCE centers facilitate children’s
successful transition to primary education
through facilitating their physical, cognitive,
and psychosocial development, which in turn
facilitates their school readiness for primary
schooling.
Centers’ establishment and facilities
The ECCE centers were established by Ratson
with the active participation of community. The
centers have teachers’ residences, latrine and
water reservoirs. The centers are single rooms
where children of different ages, 4, 5 and 6 sit
together and participate in the learning process.
In all sites, there are separate shelters wherein
children of age 4 stay while children of age 5
and 6 learn together. The education centers
are well equipped with learning aids and
various indoor and outdoor playing materials,
which are either industrial products or locally
produced to facilitate children’s learning. The
inside room has different corners whereby
each corner is availed with learning aids.
Such corners include: environmental science,
mathematics, language, music, play, clinic,
etc. Children have the right (are free) to play
in any of the corners they wish to stay at and
use any of the materials. Children sit on mats
where they feel comfortable and even sleep
when they get tired. They have outdoor play
materials such as swings and balance though
some of them need to be repaired.
Curriculum
Ratson has developed early childhood education
teaching guide and facilitator’s training manual
in English, Oromifa and Amharic languages.
Major subjects being taught include: English,
environmental science, mathematics, and
Oromifa. Music, sport, health, and writing are
also given as additional subjects. The ECCE
facilitators also use the government curriculum
as key reference point to best facilitate
children’s learning.
Early childhood education teachers/
facilitators
The title ‘facilitator’ is given for early
childhood education teachers. Facilitators are
selected from local communities by ECCD
management committee, Ratson, and Wereda
Education Office. They are at least high school
completers (10th or 12th grade) and given at
least two weeks initial training and three to five
days’ continuous refresher training as the need
arises on early childhood care and education;
handling of children with special needs, child
health; gender; HTPs and their impacts,
and child rights. Some of the facilitators are
graduates of a one-year kindergarten teachers
training institute. In each education center,
there are two facilitators (one lead and one
assistant). The lead facilitator is responsible
to facilitate child education, children’s plays,
assist children of 5 and 6 to sing, write, count
alphabets and numbers and contact families
whose children are frequently absent from
school. Overall, they are responsible to equip
the children with basic academic and social
skills for their successful transition to primary
school. The assistant facilitator is responsible
to facilitate play, music and songs for children
of 4 years old in separate shelters.
Management of the ECCE centers
The ECCE centers are managed by a center
management committee (each having 5-7
members formed from children’s parents,
Kebele officials, primary school teachers, ECCE
facilitators, and Ratson’s field project staff).
The center management committees follow up
the overall activities taking place in the center.
The ECCD management committee has the
following major responsibilities.
• Participate in planning, implementation,
and monitoring of ECCE programme.
• Mobilize the community in fund raising
efforts to support the center, initiate and
manage income generation activities to
sustain the centers.
• In collaboration with Ratson, identify, select,
and employ early childhood education
facilitators.
• Monitors ECCE facilitators and gives
permission in case they face personal
problems.
• Controls financial and others resources of
the centers and pays the salary of ECCE
facilitators.
• Ensures early childhood education centers
and facilities are properly managed.
• Resolves any conflict that may occur in
relation to the centers activities.
• Oversees the activities of community-based
ECCD program activities and provides
technical support as the need arises.
Linkage between home/community-
based ECCD programme and ECCE
centers
There is a structural linkage between home/
community-based ECCD program and ECCE
centers. Those kids who spent some years
in community based ECCD centers join
ECCE centers without any criteria. The ECCE
management committees oversee activities of
community-based ECCD program and provide
technical support in center management,
financial management, and selection of
children’s care-takers.
3.2 Determining the cost of ECCE centers
Expenses for early childhood development
programmes can be divided among the
following needs.
Community-based ECCD center/program
• Establishing a community based ECCD
Center: This center is meant to serve
for children below 3 years. A center that
can provide a safe space with sanitation
facilities is sufficient. Most ECCD centers
do not have latrine and water facilities.
The home is provided by the community
and renovated by Ratson. The community
contributes labor for renovating the
center. The cost for renovating the ECCD
center was estimated to be Birr 6,200. In
some sites, the home is provided by the
community and Ratson covers the cost for
rent. However, due to inflation, the cost for
renovation has increased now.
• Equipment/Facilities: The center has
internal facilities such as mats, sponge
mattresses, indoor facilities which would
cost about Birr 7,700 per center.
• Daily meals: The daily means for kids is
provided by parents.
• Staff (training and salaries): Children’s
caretakers are employed and paid by the
community. They were paid Birr 100-130
per month from the monthly contributions
of ECCD participating mothers. Caretakers
are provided with three days initial training
on childcare and subsequent training as the
need arise. The cost for training could be
estimated to be Birr 500 per care taker.
Early childhood education centers
• Establishing the ECCE Center: The centers
have teachers’ residences, latrine and
water reservoirs. The cost for establishing
the center was estimated to be ETB 48,000
and fully covered by Ratson.
• Internal facilities: The center has internal
facilities (mats, sponge mattresses, learning
 aids, indoor and outdoor playing materials), Impacts/outcomes of early childhood
which costed ETB 31,000.
• Staff (training and salaries): All early
programme intervention
childhood education facilitators are at
According to the data obtained from Ratson
least high school completers. Most of
project office, 10 home/community based
them are graduates of preschool teachers
Centers and 10 ECCE Centers have been giving
training institute or Technical and Vocational
service for children below 4 years and children
Education Training. They were given a
4-6 years respectively. A total of 472 children
two weeks initial training and subsequent
below 4 years (250 females) and 1408 children
refresher trainings, which costed about ETB
of 4-6 years (698 girls) have benefited from the
3000 per ECCE center. Their salary was
ECCD programme from 2004-2009/2010. In
covered by Ratson for some years and later
addition, 1750 (840 females) children 4-6 years
the community has taken full responsibility
have attended ECCE program from 2010-2015
to cover the salary of ECCE facilitators.
in 10 ECCE Centers.
Each facilitator is paid about ETB 700 per
month.
• Monitoring and supervision: ECCE centers
need close supervision from the project
staff and Wereda Education Office. The
cost for supervision should be included in
programming.
Effect of intervention on health, hygiene, and nutrition: views of respondent mothers

Description Before After

Intervention Intervention
Count % Count %
Mother and child health
I undergo regular prenatal medical checkup during 10 16.7 50 83.3
pregnancy
When I get sick, I go to health institution (clinic) for 8 13.3 52 86.7
treatment
I deliver in clinic, health center or hospital 0 0 42 70
I deliver at home with the help of trained traditional birth 0 0 18 30
attendants
I deliver at home with the help of untrained traditional birth 60 100 0 0
attendants or neighbors
I get my children vaccinated 15 25 60 100
When my children get sick, I take them to health institution 18 30 58 96.7
When my children get sick, I take them to traditional 52 86.7 0 0
healers
When my children get sick, I apply homemade 45 75 0 0
treatment.
When my children get sick, I take them to the Holly water 38 63 22 37
(Tsebel)
I keep my children neat and clean (let them wash their 35 58.3 60
hands and faces before and after meal, wash their clothes
and body, etc)
Child Nutrition
I believe that breast feeding is important for babies for 60 100 60 100
their growth and development
Besides breast feeding, I give supplementary food to my 18 30 42 70
baby after six months.
I give left over food to my children 56 93.3 4 6.7

I give varieties of food stuff including vegetables and fruits 15 25 50 83.3

to my children
I provide meals for my children at appropriate time 12 20 58 96.7

I believe that the best meal should be provided to adults 60 100 10 16.7
but not to children
Table 1 above depicts health, hygiene, and
nutrition outcomes of the intervention on
participating mothers and children. With regard
to preventive medical monitoring and attention,
majority (83.3%) of ECCD participating
mothers said they started undergoing prenatal
regular medical check ups during pregnancy
period right after intervention while only
16.7% said that they used to do so even
before intervention. 86.7% of the respondent
mothers indicated that when they get sick, they
go to modern health institution for treatment
after intervention compared to 13.3% before
intervention.
Seventy percent (70%) of the respondent
women affirmed that after intervention,
women including those who live in rural
villages, deliver in clinics/health centers/
hospitals with the help of medical personnel.
The remaining 30% said that their delivery
takes place at home with the help of trained
traditional birth attendants. Surprisingly, 100%
of the participating women said that they used
to deliver at home with the help of either
untrained traditional birth attendants or their
neighbors before intervention.
With regard to children’s health, all the
respondent mothers (100%) confirmed that
they let their kids undergo vaccination after
intervention. Those who reported to have
vaccinated their children before intervention
was 25%. Besides, the majority (96.7%)
reported that they take their children to modern
health center for treatment when they get sick,
while nearly one third (30%) said that they used
to take their children to modern health centers
when they get sick even before intervention.
In connection to this, the majority (86.7%) and
75% affirmed that when their children got sick,
they used to take them to traditional healers
and apply home made treatment respectively
before intervention. Interestingly, none of the
respondent mothers said that they take their
kids to traditional healers and apply home
made treatment after intervention.
Those who reported to have taken their sick
children to Holly water before intervention
were 63% while still significant proportion
(37%) said that they still opt Holly water for
sick children if they found other forms of
treatments ineffective even after intervention.
This indicates the societal strong faith in Holly
water for healing their children when they get
sick. With regard to keeping personal hygiene,
the proportion of participating mothers who
affirmed they keep their children neat and clean
before and after intervention were 58.3% and
100% respectively.
With regard to child nutrition, all respondent
women affirmed breast feeding is important for
their babies both before and after intervention.
The majority (70%) affirmed that, in addition
to breast feeding, they have started giving
supplementary food when a child is six months
old after intervention compared to 30% before
intervention. On the other hand, the majority
(93.3%) of respondent mothers confirmed
that they used to give leftover foods to their
kids before intervention compared to 6.7%
after intervention. Those who reported to have
given balanced diet for their children before
intervention are 25% compared to 83.3%
after intervention. A large majority (96.7 %)
said that they provide meals to their children
at appropriate time and the pattern of feeding
has improved (they give breakfast, lunch, snack
and dinner) after intervention. Besides, before
intervention, all the mothers had the conviction
that the best meal should be given to adults
compared to 16.7% after intervention.
The finding affirms that the intervention
has brought about improved child feeding
practices (in terms of quality, pattern and
frequency of feeding their children) among
program participating households. This
indicates that even though both useful and
harmful traditional practices existed in the
communities; people did not take their time to
build on their knowledge on good practices like
breast feeding. The intervention has facilitated
this among the participating mothers.
Qualitative data collected from key informants
and focus group discussants have supported
the quantitative finding. A management
committee member in Ude Kebele during focus
group discussion witnessed the contribution
of the programme in improving health and
hygiene of the target children as follows.
 Two of my children were sick for few ECCD experience. If you look their personal
months. One of my children got the hygiene, they are quite different. The child
chance to enroll in the early childhood who is enrolled in the ECCE center keeps
programme where he receives proper his personal hygiene properly. The type
medical check ups and treatment. of cloth he wears at school and home is
Following this, significant improvement different unlike the non-ECCE child, who
was observed in his health status. ECCD wears the same type of cloth both in
children want to be clean and neat and school and at home. The ECCE child puts
do not want to wear unwashed or worn off his school clothes and wears his casual
out clothes. They wash their faces every cloth after school. Such change in behavior
morning, hand’s before and after meal, is due to the intervention.” (A parent in
and their body every three days. They are Hidi Kebele).
models for their non-ECCE peers. They “Before intervention, I was not concerned
do not want to eat leftover foods and non- about the type and quality of food I should
fresh food stuffs. give to my children and feeding pattern.
Once they eat in the morning, my children
FGD participant from Hidi community-based
used to stay whole day and eat their dinner
ECCD center mentioned that the different
with us. After I got training through the
trainings organized by the programme and
intervention, I learnt that I have to change
information she got from the information
the pattern of feeding to my children. Now,
center have increased her knowledge of child
they eat four times a day what is available
health, hygiene, and nutrition. To this effect,
at home. They eat their breakfast, lunch,
as she said, she is applying her knowledge to
snack, and dinner.” (An ECCD participating
improve her children’s health care and nutrition.
mother in Ude Kebele).
I have 5 children. I delivered four of
my children at home with the help of
untrained traditional birth attendants and
neighbors. Fortunately, none of them
had encountered health risks during
delivery. However, I used to encounter
health problems during pregnancy and
delivery before intervention. By the
time I conceived my last child, an ECCD
programme was initiated by Ratson. I got
a three days basic training on mother and
child health, child care and development,
and nutrition. To this effect, I started to
go to clinic for regular medical check up.
The regular medical checkup informed me
whether the unborn child was healthy or
not. The training has also helped me to
provide adequate care for my self and my
child. I realized that delivering with the help
of untrained traditional birth attendants or
neighbors exposes the newly born baby
to various health hazards. In the end,
I delivered my last child at Debre Zeit
hospital.” (An FGD participating woman in
Godino Kebele).
“I have two children, one with ECCD
experience, while the other one with no
Description Before After
Intervention Intervention
Count % Count %

I hold open discussion with my children 10 16.7 50 83.3

I believe children should be seen not to be heard 54 90 6 10

I take some time and play with my children 5 8.3 55 91.7

I physically punish my children when they misbehave 60 100 5 8.3

I value the views of my children 7 11.7 53 88.3

I started to sooth to cool them down when my children feel unhappy or cry 25 41.7 55 91.7

I praise my children when they try something or achieve my expectation 15 25 48 80

Effect of intervention on parenting skills of program participating mothers

Table 2. Effects on some parenting skills of children’s mothers

Table 2 above depicts the contribution of the
ECCD intervention on some of the parenting
skills of program participating mothers.
Accordingly, the majority (83.3%) said they
started holding open discussion with their
children on issues that concern them after
intervention, compared to 16.7% before
intervention. The great majority of respondent
mothers (90%) had the belief that children
should be seen not to be heard before
intervention compared to those only 10% after
intervention. The majority (91.7%) said that
they started allocating some time and play with
their children to build trust on their parents and
improve their psychosocial development after
intervention.
Besides, all participating mothers affirmed
that they used to apply different forms of
physical punishment on their children when
they misbehave before intervention compared
to 8.3% after intervention. This indicates
the prevalence of physical punishment has
been reduced by 91.7% after intervention.
A significant proportion of mothers (88.3%)
affirmed that they started valuing the views
and opinions of their children which ensure
best interest of their child and 91.7% sooth said
that they sooth to cool them down when they
feel unhappy after intervention. Interestingly,
significant proportion of respondent mothers
(41.7%) also indicated that they used to
sooth their children when they feel unhappy
though they sometimes apply physical
punishment before intervention. The majority
of respondent mothers (80%) said that they
praise their children when they try something
or achieve their expectation after intervention.
The fact that parents encourage their children’s
curiosities to try and experiment new things by
themselves and achieve a sense of purpose in
their life goals is a good indicator of the impact
of ECCD intervention.
Supporting the quantitative finding,
participating mothers had the following typical
comments.
After intervention, I learnt that kids need
time and attention to talk to and play
with. My kid spends the daytime in the
community based ECCD center where it
enjoys being with other kids and caregivers.
Staying in the ECCE centers has improved
its social skills. I often observe that it
needs my attention at home. I observe
the interaction of kids with other children
and care givers in the ECCE center. The
children are inquisitive to play with others.
Realizing its psychosocial needs, I started
freely talking to, smile and play with the
child when I have some time.” (ECCD
participating mother in Godino Kebele).
After ECCE intervention, I started
talking to my children like adults. I learnt
that if given the opportunity, children
can raise important ideas that benefit
themselves as well as their families.
Before intervention, I did not give much
 attention to my children even while they are crying. I used to give attention to my work rather
than to the children. I also used to discriminate between boys and girls. I used to give much
attention and value to my son than my daughter. I had a strong conviction that girls need to
engage in household chores and should not participate in family level discussions. But, after
intervention, I learnt that boys and girls have equal rights to participate on family issues. To this
end, I started giving weight to what my daughter says and give her opportunity to participate
in discussions. (FGD participant in Godino Kebele).

Before intervention, I used to physically punish my children when they misbehave or cry. I believed
that physical punishment is the best disciplinary method to shape children’s behavior. On the
training organized to ECCD participating women, I learnt that physical punishment has negative
developmental consequences on children. It makes them aggressive and results in a conflict
between the child and his/her parents. But now, though my children sometimes misbehave, I never
physically punish them. I rather sooth to cool them down.(An ECD participating mother in Hidi
Kebele).

Effect of intervention on knowledge and practice of participating mothers on harmful

traditional practices

Type of customary practices Before After

Intervention Intervention

Harmful Not Harmful Harmful Not Harmful

Count % Count % Count % Count %

Female genital mutilation 0 0 60 100 60 100 0 0

Tonsillectomy 2 3.3 58 96.7 56 93.3 4 6.7

Uvelectomy 5 8.3 55 91.7 54 90 6 10

Extracting milk teeth 6 10 54 90 58 96.7 2 3.3

Keeping a newly born baby out of sun light 6 10 54 90 57 95 3 5

Feeding fresh butter to a newly borne baby 10 16.7 50 83.3 46 76.7 14 23.3

Applying butter on the umbilical cord 25 41.7 35 58.3 52 86.7 8 13.3

Shaking during prolonged labor 15 25 45 75 56 93.3 4 6.7

Food discrimination during pregnancy 12 20 48 80 53 83.3 7 11.7

Forbidding food and fluid during diarrhea 16 26.7 44 73.3 48 80 12 20

Table 3 above depicts the effect of ECCD intervention on knowledge and practice of participating
mothers about harmful traditional practices that have negative developmental impacts on children
as well as health of mothers.
Looking into specific data, 100% of the interviewed mothers had strong belief that female genital
mutilation was a non-harmful practice before intervention. Similarly, the proportion of respondent
mothers who used to believe and practice tonsillectomy, uvelectomy, extracting milk teeth and
keeping a newly borne baby out of sun light as non-harmful customary practices were 96.7%,
91.7%, 90%, and 90% respectively.
Those participating mothers who had the belief that feeding fresh butter to a newly borne baby,
applying butter on the umbilical cord, shaking during prolonged labor, food discrimination during
pregnancy, and forbidding food and fluid during diarrhea as non-harmful practices were e 83.3%,
58.3%, 75%, 80%, and 73.3% respectively.
After intervention, dramatic improvement has been observed on knowledge and practice of ECCD
participating mothers. All respondent mothers consider FGM as a harmful practice negatively
impacting children’s development. Those who said tonsillectomy as a harmful practice were
93.3%, uvulectomy (90%), extracting milk teeth (96.7%), keeping a newly borne baby out of sun
light (95%), feeding fresh butter to a newly borne baby (76.7%), applying butter on umbilical cord
(86.7%), shaking during prolonged labor (93.3%), food discrimination during pregnancy (83.3%) and
forbidding food and fluid during diarrhea (80%).

FGD participant mothers also attested that before intervention, most harmful traditional practices
were common in their communities. They indicated that parents used to practice them with the view
of benefiting their children. There was a strong belief in the society that if a girl is not circumcised,
she will break the household items, will be promiscuous, and hot tempered. Un circumcised girl was
not chosen by men for a wife, understood as being wasteful, absent minded, and too bold. Most
community members are aware that all these customary practices are harmful to the developing
child. The prevailing wrong beliefs have starting diminishing. The baseline survey conducted by
Ratson (2006) showed that the prevalence rate of HTPs was 80% in the intervention communities.
The intervention has contributed to change in knowledge and behaviors of participating mothers
towards these practices. A case in point is a complete behavioral shift on FGM whereby all the
participating mothers have stopped after intervention.

Issues/child rights Level of

Agreement
Agree Undecided Disagree

Regardless of their capacity, children have to be involved in any type of work to support 5 (8.3%) 0 55 (91.7%)
their families.

Physical punishment is necessary to make children self-disciplined. 4 (6.7%) 0 56 (93.3%)

Children’s issue is only domestic matter and parents/guardians can do whatever they 15 (25%) 5 (8.3%) 40 (66.7%)
wish to their children.

Boys and girls have equal rights. 54 (90%) 0 6 (10%)

Children borne out of the wedlock have equal rights as children born with marital 53 (88.3%) 0 7 (11.7%)
relationships.
If I have a disabled child, I do not let his/her go out of home and play with other children. 6 (10%) 0 54 (90%)

Children have the right to freedom of expressing their ideas and opinions on issues that 48 (80%) 0 12 (20%)
concern them.

I consult my children while making decision in matters affecting their lives. 46(76.7%) 0 14 (23.3%)

Effect of intervention on knowledge and attitude on child rights

Table 4. Knowledge and attitude of participating mothers on child rights
The above Table shows parents’ knowledge
and attitude towards child rights principles:
protection, freedom of expression, non-
discrimination, and best interest of the child.
With regard to protection rights, majority of
respondent mothers (91.7%) showed their
disagreement to the assertion that children
have to be involved in any type of work to
support their families and 93.3% of them
showed their disagreement to the application
of physical punishment to discipline children.
A significant proportion (66.7%) showed their
disagreement to the idea that parents can do
whatever they wish to their children while 25%
showed their agreement on this issue.
Parents’ response to non-discrimination right
of children showed that the large majority
of them (90%) agreed on the assertion that
boys and girls have equal rights, while only
10% showed their disagreement. Besides,
the majority (88.3%) of respondents showed
their agreement to the view that children
born out of the wedlock have equal rights as
those children born with marital relationships,
while only 11.7% showed their disagreement
on this issue. Still, great majority (90%) of
respondents showed their disagreement to
the idea of forbidding children with disabilities
from going out of hss ome and playing and
interacting with other children so as not to be
ostracized and discriminated.
With regard to children’s rights to freedom of
expression and participation, the majority (80%)
of the respondents showed their agreement
on the issue that children have freedom for
expressing their ideas and opinions on issues
concerning them while the remaining 20%
had the reservation on the issue. Supporting
this finding, a focus group participant in Hidi
Kebele mentioned that before the intervention,
the views of children were not respected
in the decision making process in many
households. Children had very limited or no
say on matters that impact their lives such as
education, health, recreation, and marriage.
The continuous educational programs have
contributed to the reduction of wrong beliefs
and practices as reflected in local saying ‘the
child does not know what is good and bad
and the children should only be seen but not
heard.’ Individual, family, and community level
behavioral changes have been observed in the
target communities.
With regard to keeping the best interest
of children, a substantial proportion of
respondents (76.7%) showed their agreement
on the importance of consulting children while
making decisions on matters affecting their
lives while 23.3% showed their disagreement.
In connection to this, an FGD participant in
Ude Kebele who received a training on child
care and development affirmed that his family
has started considering interests of children
on issue like education, health, recreation,
marriage and other matters.
The overall response rate of participating
mothers on children’s rights revealed that the
majority (84.6%) have basic knowledge of
child rights while 15.4% lack the knowledge.
From this finding, it is possible to deduce
that the ECCE intervention has contributed to
increased awareness and knowledge of child
rights issues among participating mothers.
The actual practices of participating mothers
such as positive parenting, non-discriminatory
treatment of girls and boys, and disabled
children from non-disabled children, having
discussions with their children and valuing
their views, and use of alternative disciplinary
methods witness this assertion.
 Indicators of school and child development Teachers’ Rating/Views Parents’ Rating/Views
Agree Undecided Disagree Agree Undecided Disagree
outcomes
Children with ECCE experience have better social skills 35 (87.5%) 0 5(12.5%) 55 (91.7%) 5 (8.3%) 0
(e.g.Communication and interaction) than non-ECCE
children.
ECCE children are better motivated in their education 38 (95%) 0 2(5%) 57(95%) 0 3(5%)
compared to non-ECCE children.
Non-ECCE children are better motivated to learn than 4(10%) 2(5%) 34 (85%) 0 3(5%) 57(95%)
ECCE children.
0
ECCE children are more confident than non-ECCE 30 (75%) 0 10(25%) 52(86.7%) 5(8.3%) 3(5%)
children upon their entry into primary school.
Non-ECCE children are more confident than ECCE 12 0 28(70%) 8(13.3%) 0 52 (86.7%)
children upon their entry into primary school. (30%)

Children with ECCE experience are better in 32 0 8(20%) 0 0 0

understanding classroom lessons than those with non- (80%)
ECCE experience.
There is no difference in their level of understanding 3(7.5%) 0 37 0 0 0
of classroom lessons between ECCE and non-ECCE (92.5%)
children.
Children with ECCE experience have better level of 35 0 5(12.5%) 0 0 0
classroom participation than non-ECCE children. (87.5%)

Non-ECCE children have better level of classroom 10(25%) 0 30(75%) 0 0 0

participation than ECCE children.
Children with ECCE experience look neat and clean 33 7(17.5%) 0 52(86.7%) 8 0
compared to their non-ECCE classmates. (82.5%) (13.3%)

Non-ECCE children look neat and clean compared to 6(15%) 0 34 3(5%) 0 57 (95%)
ECCE children.
(85%)
ECCE children compared to non-ECCE children join 38 0 2(5%) 60 (100%) 0 0
primary school at appropriate age (seven-year-old).
(95%)
There is no difference in age of primary school entry 0 40 0 20 (33.3%) 40 (66.7%)
between ECCE and non-ECCE children.
(100%)
ECCE children have higher level of class attendance 32(80%) 0 8(20%) 50(83.3%) 10 0
(day to day, week to week, and month to month) (16.7%)
compared to non-ECCE children.
There is no difference in primary school attendance rate 15 0 25 10(16.7%) 5(8.3%) 45(75%)
between ECCE and non-ECCE children.
(37.5%) (62.5%)
ECCE children have better academic performance than 35 0 5(12.5%) 55(91.7%) 5(8.3%) 0
non-ECCE children. (87.5%)
0
There is no difference in the academic performance of 10 0 30(75%) 5(8.3S%) 0 55 (91.7%)
children with ECCE and non-ECCE experience. (25%)

Effect of intervention on selected indicators of children’s school outcomes

Table 5. Teachers’ and parents’ views/rating on selected indicators of children’s school outcomes

*Percentage for teachers’ views calculated out of 40 counts, and percentage for respondent mothers’ views calculated out
of 60 counts.
*Respondent mothers are those who have children attended early childhood development programme and joined primary
schools.
The above Table depicts the result of teachers’
and parents’ views/rating of children’s social
skills, academic motivation, self confidence,
understanding of classroom lessons, classroom
participation, personal hygiene, age at starting
primary school, primary school attendance,
and academic performance. These elements
essentially represent school readiness,
enrollment, attendance and performance.
Looking to specific data, 87.5% of teachers and
91.7% of respondent mothers affirmed that
children who passed through early childhood
care and education programme have better
social skills compared to those with non-ECCE
experience. Similarly, the majority of teachers
and parents (95% each) affirmed that children
with ECCE experience have better level of
learning motivation than their non-ECCE
classmates. In connection with this, 85% of
teachers and 95% of respondent mothers
showed their disagreement to the view that
non-ECCE children are better motivated
than their ECCE classmates. With regard to
children’s self-confidence, 75% of teachers and
86.7% of respondent mothers affirmed that
ECCE children are more confident upon their
entry into primary schools compared to their
non-ECCE classmates. 70% of teachers and
86.7% of mothers showed their disagreement
to the view that non-ECCE children are more
confident than their ECCE peers.
The proportion of teachers who rated ECCE
children as having better level of understanding
of classroom lesson and better level of
classroom participation than their non-ECCE
peers are 80% and 87.5% respectively. In
connection with this, 75% of teachers showed
their disagreement to the assertion that non-
ECCE children have better level of classroom
participation than ECCE children and 92.5%
of teachers showed their disagreement to the
assertion that there is no difference in their
level of understanding of classroom lessons
between ECCE and non-ECCE children. A
significant proportion of teachers (82.5%) and
86.7% of parents rated ECCE children as being
neat and clean compared to their non-ECCE
peers. 85% of teachers and 95% of respondent
mothers showed their disagreement to the
assertion that non-ECCE children look neat and
clean compared to their ECCE peers.
Looking children’s age at primary school entry,
95% of teachers and 100% of respondent
mothers confirmed that ECCE children join
primary school at appropriate age (7 or 8
years) compared to their non-ECCE peers
who join primary school 2 to 3 years later
than appropriate age. 100% of teachers and
66.7% of respondent mothers showed their
disagreement to the view that there is no
difference in the age at primary school entry
between ECCE and non-ECCE children.
With regard to school attendance, the majority
of teachers (80%) and parents (83.3%) affirmed
that ECCE children have higher level of school
attendance compared to non-ECCE children. In
connection with this, 62.5% of teachers and
75% of respondent mothers showed their
disagreement to the assertion that there is no
difference in school attendance rate of ECCE
and non-ECCE children. 87.5% of respondent
teachers and 91.7% of respondent mothers
indicated that ECCE children have better
academic performance compared to their non-
ECCE classmates.
Teachers, participating mothers, ECCE
facilitators, and members of ECCD
management committees are quite clear that
children who attended ECCE programme
are better equipped to handle school than
their non-ECCE classmates. They confirmed
that ECCE children are ready for school both
academically and socially. Their familiarity with
numbers, letters, and a range of concepts, their
experience and patience with solving problems
and their excitement about learning all stand
them in good stand when join school.
The following are specific comments given by
key informants and focus group discussants.
Specific comments/views of teachers
“Children who do not have ECCD/E experience
have problems in adjusting to the school
environment upon their entry into primary
school. Some of them cry especially in the first
few weeks of their school life. While those
children with ECCD/E experience are confident
and can easily adapt the school environment.”
(Primary school teacher in Hidi School).
“I have 54 students in grade three. Out of 54
students, two children have ECCE experience.
These children are better than their non-ECCE
peers in social skills, classroom participation,
understanding of concepts and self-
confidence.” (A teacher in Ude primary school).
“Children with ECCE children can correctly
tell their names, names of their parents, and
even family members orally. Some of them
can also write their names. However, the non-
ECCE children found it difficult upon their entry
into primary school.” (A teacher in Hidi primary
school).
“ECCE children come to school well prepared
everyday. They often come to school doing
their homework. It is common to see five to six
non-ECCE children to come to class without
doing their homework. Their handwriting skill
is also better than their non-ECCE classmates.”
(A teacher in Goaworko Alternative Basic
Education Center).
“ECCE children handle their school bags
properly. They know what to do and how to
behave as a student both in the classroom
as well as out of classroom. For example, in
the morning, while hanging the Ethiopian flag
singing the national anthem, ECCE children
are well disciplined. In most cases, they are
not seen disturbing compared to non-ECCE
children. They keep their line (queue) properly
till the national anthem is said fully and the flag
is hung up.” (A teacher in Ude primary school).
“ECCE children are willing to ask questions
about things they do not understand, an
important skill of making the most of school.
Their classroom participation is better than
their non-ECCE classmates. In the class I
am teaching, there are 23 children who have
ECCE experience. Of these, 7 of them are fast
learners. I can say that they are models for
other children. In most cases, teachers make
use of ECCE children’s capacity to encourage
and support other children who have academic
problems and realize that they are raising the
level of participation and expectation in the
classroom.” (A teacher in Hidi primary school).
“ECCE children are supportive to other
children who got confused while the teacher
is lecturing. In most cases, I observe the
non-ECCE children getting confused even to
identify pages on which the classroom lesson
focused on. At this time, children with ECCE
experience those children with no ECCE
experience to follow the lecture properly.” (A
teacher in Hidi primary school).
“Though the ECCE children are relatively
younger [as they join primary school at
appropriate age] than the non-ECCE children,
they are fast in understanding the lesson being
taught. For example, being in grade one, they
can count numbers, identify human body parts
and recite the 26 English alphabets and write
concepts easily. They sing songs and music
and tell stories correctly, which those children
with no ECCE experience find it difficult. I
understand such difference in school readiness
is owing to the ECCE programme.” (A teacher
in Ude primary school).
With regard to ECCE children’s school
attendance, all interviewed teachers share the
same view. They indicated that, though they
do not keep records properly, ECCE children’s
school attendance from day to day, week to
week, and month to month is much better than
their non-ECCE peers. If ECCE children want
to be absent for one day, they ask permission
from their teachers telling the reason. If they
are absent from school without asking and
getting permission, they do not lie about the
reason for their absenteeism. The non-ECCE
children, on the other hand, do not often ask
permissions. When they are asked why they
missed classes, they are not willing to tell
the main reason. At this juncture, teachers
ask them to bring their parents to justify their
absenteeism. However, they are not willing
to bring their parents. Rather, they again miss
classes. Supporting this, a teacher had the
following to say.
I have 22 children who have ECCE experience
in grade one. I have taught them for one
semester. In one semester’s stay, these
children have never been absent from school
and missed classes. On the other hand, non-
ECCE children are absent from school for at
least two to three days in a month time. (A
teacher in Hidi primary school).
Despite these, there are some teachers who
have a different view from the above assertions
particularly on children’s performance. Some
teachers in Hidi primary school indicated
that though the ECCE children outshine
their non-ECCE peers in many areas, some
of them were reported to have problems
in understanding some concepts such as
understanding Oromifa language. Though they
do not have problems in saying things orally,
they have problems in writing what they say.
This is because in ECCE centers, education
facilitators often communicate in Amharic
than Oromifa language. However, in primary
schools, the media of instruction is Oromifa
and most of ECCE children found media of
instruction difficult. Both Ratson and children’s
parents are well aware of the difficulties of
ECCE children in their learning. Due this, there
has been recurrent discussions among Ratson,
ECCE facilitators, and parents, and ECCE
facilitators were informed to communicate in
Oromifa language while facilitating learning for
children and interacting with them so that the
children will not have difficulty when they join
primary school.
Views of parents and ECCD management
committee members
Parents and members of ECCD management
committees shared view that ECCE children
are better their non-ECCE classmates in school
outcomes. The following are some of the
comments forwarded.
I have two children. One of them is 8 years
old and 1st grader in Ude primary school. The
second child is 10 years old attending grade 3
in the same school. I see a difference between
the younger and older one. The child with
ECCE experience has better level of motivation
to learn, understand things easily, and interact
with his peers and adults easily. He is well
disciplined and respects the views of others.
(A parent in Ude Kebele).
I have two children. The first child is 11
years old and a 4th grader. He has attended
early childhood education programme. The
second child is 14 years old and 5th grader in
Hidi primary school. Day to day, I observe a
difference between the two children. Though,
I cannot evaluate their performance, I observe
differences between the two children in some
areas. The child with ECCE experience has
good handwriting skill, understands concepts
easily, and gives constructive advice during
family discussions. (A parent in Hidi Kebele).
Supporting the quantitative and qualitative
finding, early childhood researchers such
as Schweinhart and Weikart, as cited in
Young (1996) asserted that enriched early
childhood experiences permanently enhance
children’s competence in everyday life i.e.
their ability to meet social expectations,
advance appropriately in school, and have
higher aspirations for themselves. In addition,
Katz, cited in Young (1996) asserted that early
childhood education programmes are judged
in large part by children’s long term satisfaction
with them as reflected in the degree to which
they feel intellectually engaged and respected.
Children from successful early childhood
interventions experience greater success in
their first weeks or months in school which
then increases their motivation and leads to
better school performance and higher regard
from teachers and classmates.
As indicator of outcome of ECCE intervention,
secondary data were collected on children’s
pass rates, repetition rates, drop rates, and
school performance of ECCE and non-ECCE
children from Hidi, Ude, and Goaworko primary
schools.
Starting primary school
According to the data obtained from Ratson’s
project reports, almost all children who
attended early childhood care and education
program have joined primary schools. A total of
3,158 children (1538 girls) have attended early
childhood education from 2004-2015. Taking
sample data for the period of 2004-2009, of
456 children who had completed full cycle of
early childhood care and education, all (100%)
of them have successfully joined primary
schools at appropriate age (seven or eight
years old). All ECCE facilitators, members of
ECCD management committees, and children’s
parents said that it is very rare for a child with
ECCE experience not to start primary school
at appropriate age. Participation in an early
childhood care and education programme is
associated with enrollment at average age.
Data collected from three primary schools on
children with ECCE experience and non-ECCE
group (30 children from each group, from each
grade level) revealed that the average age
of school enrollment was younger for those
children who had been in an early childhood
care and education programme than non-ECCE
children (age 7 for ECCE group and age 9.4 for
the non-ECCE group).
Success in year end examination
As might be expected from children who are
both prepared and more regular in attendance,
their success in year end examination is
dramatically better than their non-ECCE
classmates. The researcher collected data on
pass rates of ECCE and non-ECCE children
(grade one and two) from three primary
schools for three consecutive years (2012/13
to 2014/2015).

Grade level Academic Years

2012/ 2013 2013/2014 2014/ 2015
Grade One ECCE Group Non-ECCE ECCE Non-ECCE ECCE Group Non-ECCE Group
Group Group Group
Boys passing 80% 54.5% 84.6% 65.8% 100% 94.5%
Girls passing 100% 80% 86.5% 100% 100% 94.3%
Total passing 93.3% 66.7% 85.5% 82.4% 100% 92.8%
Grade Two
Boys passing 85% 65% 100% 66.7% 95% 91.7%
Girls passing 88% 67% 100% 70% 94.7% 60%
Total passing 87% 64% 100%s 69.2% 94.8% 70%

Table 6. Grade one and grade two pass rates for three academic years
*Percentage of ECCE group passing calculated out of the total children with ECCE experience in a specific grade level (30
children from each grade level).
*Percentage of non-ECCE children passing calculated out of total number of children with non ECCE experience in specific
grade level.

Looking the pass rates of ECCE children across academic years in grade one, in 2012/13, 93.3% of
ECCE group compared to 66.7% of non-ECCE children passed to the next grade. The percentage of
girls passing was 100% and boys’ passing was 80%. In 2013/2014, 85.5% of ECCE group passed
compared to 82.4% of their non-ECCE classmates, 100% of ECCE children compared to 92.8% of
the non-ECCE children passed to grade two in 2014/2015.
The data clearly indicate that, in grade one, the pass rates for ECCE children were higher than their
non-ECCE classmates by 26.6% in 2012/13, by 3.1% in 2013/2014, and by 7.2% in 2014/15.

In grade two, 87% of ECCE group compared to 64% of non ECCE group passed to next grade
in 2012/2013. All ECCE children compared to 69.2% of non-ECCE classmates passed to the next
grades in 2013/14. In 2014/2015, 94.8% of ECCE children compared to 70% of the non-ECCE children
passed to next grade (grade three). The difference in pass rates between ECCE and non-ECCE
children was vivid in grade two. The pass rate for ECCE children was higher than their non-ECCE
classmates by 13% in 2012/2013, 30.8% in 2013/2014 and 24.8% in 2014/2015.
 Grade level 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15
ECCE Non-ECCE ECCE Non-ECCE ECCE Non-ECCE
Group Group Group Group Group Group
Grade One 6.7% 33% 5.4% 7.1% 0 3.3%

Grade Two 6% 12% 2% 8% 2.5% 5.2%

*Percentage of repetition rate of ECCE group is calculated out of the total children
with ECCE experience in a specific grade level (30 children in each grade level).
*Percentage of non-ECCE children passing calculated out of total number of children with non ECCE experience in
specific grade level.passing calculated out of total number of children with non ECCE experience in specific grade level.

Table 7 above depicts comparison of repetition
rates between ECCE and non-ECCE children
in three consecutive academic years. ECCE
children’s higher pass rates mean that they are
less likely to repeat class in a year. These results
are especially marked for grade one children.
While 33% of non-ECCE children repeat in
grade one, only 6.7% of ECCE children repeat
grade in a year in 2012/2013. In 2013/2014,
7.1% of non-ECCE children repeated grade
one compared to 5.4% of ECCE children in
grade one. Similarly, in 2014/2015, while 3.3%
of non-ECCE children repeated grade one,
none of the children in ECCE group repeated
class. The repetition rate of non-ECCE children
was higher by 26.3% than their ECCE peers
in 2012/2013, 1.7% in 2013/2014, and 3.3% in
2014/2015. The finding indicates that difference
in repetition rates between ECCE and non-
ECCE children diminished across academic
years.
In grade two, 6% of ECCE group compared to
12% of non-ECCE peers in 2012/2013; 2% of
ECCE group compared to 8% of the non-ECCE
group in 2013/2014; and 2.5% of ECCE children
compared to 5.2% of their non-ECCE peers
repeated class in 2014/2015. The repetition rate
for non-ECCE children was higher than ECCE
group by 6% in 2012/2013 and 2013/2014; and
by 2.7% in 2014/2015.

Grade level 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015

ECCE Non-ECCE ECCE Non-ECCE ECCE Non-ECCEs-

Group Group Group Group Group Group
Grade One 0 0 9.6% 17.9% 3.2% 10.9%
Grade Two 0 0 7.14% 15.8% 4.8% 12.4%

Drop out rates

Table 8. Dropout rates of ECCE and non-ECCE groups for grade one and two for three years

*Percentage of dropout rate of ECCE group is calculated out of the total children with ECCE experience in a specific grade
level (30 children in each grade level).
*Percentage of non-ECCE children passing calculated out of total number of children with non ECCE experience in specific
grade level.
Table 8 above depicts the dropout rates of
ECCE and non-ECCE children across academic
years. In 20 in grade one, none of the children
in both ECCE and non-ECCE children dropped
out from school. In 2013/14, 17.9% of non-ECCE
children compared to 9.6% of ECCE children
dropped out from grade owing to different
reasons. This shows that the rate of dropout
was 8.3% higher for non-ECCE children than
ECCE group. In 2014/15, 10.9% of non-ECCE
children compared to 3.2% of ECCCE children
dropped out from grade one, making dropout
rate for non-ECCE children to be higher by
7.7% than their ECCE classmates.
In grade two, similar to grade one, none of the
children in both ECCE and non-ECCE group
quitted their education in 212/2013. In 2013/14,
15.8% of non-ECCE children compared to
7.14% of ECCE children dropped out from
school. In 2014/15, 12.4% of non-ECCE
children compared to 4.8% of ECCE children
quitted their education. This demonstrates the
dropout rate for non-ECCE children was higher
by 8.66% in 2013/14 and 7.6% in 2014/15 than
ECCE children.
Group Sample Size (N)
ECCE Group 20
Non-ECCE 20
Group
*Significant at 0.05
School performance
Table 9: Comparison of school performance between ECCE and non-ECCE children
Children’s school performance is one of the
indicators of school outcomes to compare
ECCE and non-ECCE children. Accordingly,
average scores of 40 grade one children (20
with ECCE and 20 non-ECCE experience) on
major subjects was collected from Hidi and
Ude primary schools for 2014/15 academic
year. The means scores of ECCE children were
13 points higher than the non-ECCE children.
However, mere computation and comparison
of mean scores does not indicate whether
the difference between the two groups is
statistically significant or not.
A statistical test of difference called t distribution
Results of focus group discussion with primary
school teachers also supported the assertion
that ECCE children tend to have fewer or
non-drop outs compared to their non-ECCE
classmates. A female primary school teacher
from Hidi School mentioned “I have taught 10
children who have ECCE experience for three
consecutive years [grade one to three]. All
of these children passed to next grades and
continued to grade three. I hope, all of them
will successfully finish their education.”
A teacher in Ude primary school indicated that
because ECCE children have better school
readiness than their non-ECCE peers, they
are less likely to drop out. When parents force
them to miss classes even for a day, they are
not willing. Most of them do not want to quit
their learning even if they encounter problems
like financial problems. They are open to share
their problems to their peers and teachers that
create problems in their learning.
Mean Scores Standard Deviation (S)
87.5 5.6
74.5 11.2
is used to test whether there is a statistically
significant difference in school performance
between ECCE and non-ECCE children. The
result of the test showed that the observed
result is found to be statistically significant, t
observed, 4.64, t critical (df 38)=2.021, ⁵0.05.
The result of test of significance showed
that ECCE children have better academic
performance than the non-ECCE groups. This
indicates the difference is due to the ECCE
intervention.
The contribution of ECCE programs in children’s
school outcomes has been confirmed by
numerous researches. Young (1996) clearly
stated that children with ECCE experience
have higher chance of entering primary school,
less chance of repeating grades, higher
learning and better performance are indicators
for assessing the success of early childhood
development programmes. Other researchers
also confirmed that improvements are seen
in academic achievement, in reducing grade
repetition and drop-out, and with growing
evidence of life-transforming outcomes
emerging in studies with longitudinal evidence
(Anderson et al. 2003; Rao et al. 2013). Studies
done in Ethiopia also confined that children
who had enrolled in kindergarten programmes,
at age 8, scoring 32% higher in cognitive tests
than those who had not and with a higher
probability of grade completion (Woldehanna
and Gebremedhin 2012).
Challenges
• Lack of standardized curriculum especially
for children below 4 years.
• Lack of adequate free homes in the
communities to initiate home/community
based early childhood program for 0-3
years, particularly in the early periods of the
intervention.
• Difficulty to handle children of 4-6 years
in the same classroom by the ECCE
facilitators.
• Lack of play grounds for children in the
compounds.
• Low level of motivation of ECCE facilitators
due to low remuneration.
• Language problem-some children’s mother
tongue was Amharic and hence had
difficulty to understand Oromigna language.
• At the beginning, many parents expressed
their concern that they did not have the
economic capacity to contribute as much
food as they could for their children and
money for the salary of the caregivers.
• Prevailing wrong belief-some parents had
the belief that there are evil eyes that will
harm their kids if they send them to the day
care or ECCE centres.
• High demand of the community for the
services. The number of children who want
to be enrolled in the ECCE centres is high
in the target communities as the available
ECCE centres could not accommodate
children between 4-6 years in the target
villages/Kebeles.
Measures taken
• The implementing partners adapted a
curriculum for children below 4 years from
other organizations such as ChildFund which
was implementing ECCE interventions.
• Training of ECCE teachers how to handle
children of different age categories in one
classroom. In some areas, the community
established separate shelters for children
of 4 years.
• Initiated income generation activities for
poor program participating parents to
increase their household income and able
to contribute for the ECCE program.
• Continuous orientation on child care,
prevention of harmful traditional practices
and child rights to change wrong beliefs
and practices in the community.
• The community employed additional ECCE
facilitators and making the ECCE centres
work on shift basis, and enrolled additional
number of children.
Conclusion
The findings of the study clearly demonstrated
that the ECCE intervention has brought about
significant child development outcomes.
Outcome variables of the contribution of home/
community-based ECCD intervention include:
timely immunization of infants, improved child
and maternal health through timely treatments
in modern health institutions, improved
hygiene and nutrition of children and their
mothers through improved feeding practices
and pattern. All these will contribute to reduced
child malnutrition, morbidity, and increased
survival rates.
The finding also depicted the impact
(contribution) of early childhood care and
education intervention on parenting skills
of participating mothers. After intervention,
parents have started holding open discussion
with their children on issues that concern
them and stopped discriminating between
boys and girls. The majority (91.7%) asserted
that they started spending sometime and
plays with their kids which were not practiced
before intervention. Other areas of improved
parenting skills include, avoidance of physical
punishment as a means of disciplining children
and opting alternative methods such as
soothing to cool down while a child is crying
or feeling unhappy; valuing children’s views
and encouraging children to try something by
themselves and rewarding them when they try
something or achieve their expectations.
Increased knowledge and practices of
program participating women on harmful
traditional practices is one of the impacts of
the intervention. Before intervention, most
adults (women and men) used to consider
FGM, tonsillectomy, uvulectomy, extracting
milk teeth and other forms of practices as non-
harmful to the developing child. These practices
are being considered as harmful to the survival
and development of children by parents and
other community members after intervention.
For example, all the respondent mothers who
used to practice female genital mutilation
before intervention have shown complete
behavioral shift (consider it as harmful act and
stopped the practice). Major behavioral shifts
[considering them as harmful and stopping the
practices] have also been observed on other
forms of harmful traditional practices after
intervention. A dramatic behavioral shift of
participating mothers from the baseline data
(prevalence of harmful traditional practices
was 80%) is due to the contribution of the
intervention.
The intervention has also brought about
increased knowledge and attitude of
participating mothers on child rights. Looking
the level of awareness on the principles of
child rights, 78% of participating mothers
have basic knowledge on non-discrimination
rights, 70.6% have basic understanding of
protection rights, 60% children’s participation,
and 53.4% on the best interest of the child.
Increased knowledge has been reflected in the
actual practice of participating mothers such
as non-discriminatory treatments between
boys and girls, disabled children from non-
disabled children, and avoidance of physical
punishment, etc. supported this assertion.
Children’s gain from early childhood care and
education programme in both cognitive and
social skills has also been dramatic. Parents and
teachers rated children with ECCE experience
as better in social skills compared to those
with no ECCE experience. They see the ECCE
children, in contrast to their non-ECCE peers,
as neat and clean, respectful and obedient,
better in understanding classroom lessons;
have higher level of classroom participation,
and at the same time as self-assured, capable
and highly motivated. They are considered as
avid learners, quick to pick up new information
and skills, and they felt that they have more
highly developed social skills. In short, they
appear to combine traits that have traditionally
been emphasized for children within the culture
with those that are critical for coping with a
changing world.
Some of the eagerly awaited findings of this
study are in regard to the impacts of ECCE
programmes on children’s school success
in subsequent years. The finding clearly
depicted that the pass rates of ECCE children
was found to be higher than their non-ECCE
classmates across academic years. Looking
into their school performances, a statistical
test of difference revealed that the observed
result was found to be statistically significant
at 0.05, t critical (df 38) =2.021. This indicates
that the ECCE group has better academic
performance than the non-ECCE group. The
researcher concluded that there is virtually no
probability that these differences were due
to chance or other factors, rather than due to
ECCE intervention. This clearly demonstrates
the significant support that ECCE programmes
can provide to children in their early years of
school period.
The higher pass rate has been translated into
higher promotion, lower repetition and dropout
rates. ECCE children’s higher pass rates mean
that, they are far less likely, to drop out or
repeat grades in a given academic year. There
has been marked difference in the repetition
rates of ECCE and non-ECCE children in grade
one in 2012/13 though not vivid in subsequent
years as well as grade two. The current findings
on children’s school outcomes support the
previous findings.
Implications/recommendations achieving sustainability and scale up good
practices of ECCE programs, including
sources of funding and resource targeting
• The documentation of good practice depicted
to children and communities with the
that integrated early childhood programmes
greatest needs is essential.
are the most effective interventions for
• The district government needs to strengthen
helping the holistic development of children,
its capacity to effectively coordinate the
empowering families and communities,
implementation, provide technical support,
and country to break cycle of poverty. But,
monitoring and evaluation of early childhood
to be successful and sustainable, such
care and education programmes supported
community based early childhood care and
by the government (especially O class),
education programmes must be integrated
community based organizations, local non-
with district Education, Health, and Women
governmental organizations, and private
and Children Affairs plans and strategies.
sector.
• The home/community based ECCD
• Supportive parenting, comprehensive
program has a dual advantage for program
health care (including clean water and
participating women. Before intervention,
sanitation), nutrition, culturally relevant
these women did not have enough time to
and developmentally appropriate early
take care of their kids as they were busy
childhood education centers, and good child
in doing household chores and engage in
care practices must persist through out
farming activities, and hence they were not
childhood. While initiating such programs,
able to provide proper care and support to
it should be tailored to community
their children. The home/community-based
requirements, needs and budgets.
day care centers have created opportunities
• In Ratson’s early childhood care and
for their empowerment. More importantly,
education programme, there is clear
the program has increased their knowledge,
programme linkage and synchronization.
skills and attitudes on child care (as they stay
The ECCE programme is linked with
in the day care center with the care takers
other development programmes such
in turns and participate in different capacity
as women’s empowerment, income
building trainings and learning forums), have
generation, community conversation and
reduced the burden of women in taking
social capital, information center, health
care of their children while doing household
and nutrition, child sponsorship and family
chores and farming activities; and have
support interventions. Such linkage has
time to participate in social and community
highly contributed to yielding better impacts
affairs, as well work force.
on targeted children and families and to the
• Partnership with communities, school
sustainability of the program and this is of
leaders and local education officials in
the good practices identified for learning.
expansion planning (this might include
Hence, development practitioners, NGOs
Parent Student and Teacher Associations
and community based institutions who
in woreda-level planning, for example)
want to initiate or strengthen community
and sustaining the community managed
based ECCE programme should integrate
early childhood care and education centers
it with existing development programme
is essential. While the community has
interventions for program synergy, impact
contributed to constructing the centers
and sustainability.
is running the ECCE centers, there is a
• From Ratson’s ECCE intervention, it is
need to advocate the district Education
learnt that even communities in the low
office to allocate resources for running the
economic background have capacities to
centers to ensure future sustainability. The
provide better care and support to children
government should design mechanisms
if their capacities (knowledge, skills and
to identify alternative sources of financing
attitudes) is built though trainings, sharing
ECCE programs. An investment plan for
 experiences on positive parenting practices,
and have increased access to information on
child care. The ECCE programme is initiated
in rural communities where the majority
of the participating parents were illiterate
and low income groups. They have actively
participated in planning, implementation,
and monitoring of the programme and
taking the ownership of the programme. To
this end, parents are providing better care
for their children with the available meager
resources.
• It is important that the psychosocial
aspect should be firmly rooted in the early
childhood care and education programs
because it is the psychosocial aspect of
child development which is lacking but at the
same time has the most significant impact
for long term developmental change and
sustained realization of children’s rights.
• ECCE program prevents child abuse and
exploitation. ECCD/E empowers children
to participate in their own lives, develop
self-protection skills, and demand their
rights from duty bearers (parents, teachers,
any other adult community members and
authorities). It also increases families and
communities’ knowledge and attitudes on
child care, child rights and protection.
• The study revealed that ECCE intervention
has significant impact on children’s
development and school outcomes in grades
one and two. Hence, it is commendable for
researchers and implementing organization
to follow up the impact (contribution) of
ECCE on children’s school success in
subsequent years/upper grades.
References ECCE, and HTPs in Ada’a wereda.
Robert Mayers and Cassie Landers
Anderson, L., Shinn, C., Fullilove, Ms., (1989). Preparing children for
Scrimshaw, S., Fielding, J., school and school for children.
Normand, J., and Carande Kulis, V. UNESCO (1999): Education for All in
(2003) ‘The Effectiveness of Early Caribbean: Assessment 2000
Childhood Development Programs: monograph series. F.A.S.T.E.R
A.Systematic Review’, American publishing services, Jamaica.
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32-46.Bernard van Leer Foundation L. (2012) The Effects of Pre-
(1994). Building school Attendance on the Cognitive
on People’s Strengths: Early Development of Urban Children
Childhood in Africa. The Hague: Aged 5 and 8 Years: Evidence from
Emmerik & Emmerik. Ethiopia, Young Lives Working
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Behram, J., O’Gara, C., Yousafzai, A.,
Cabral de Mello M., Hidrobo, M.,
Ulkuer, N., Ertem, I., and Iltus, S.
(2011) ‘Strategies
for Reducing Inequalities and
Improving Developmental Outcomes
for Young Children in Low- income
and Middle-income Countries, The
Lancet 378: 1339–53.
Feuerstein, R. (1979). The Dynamic
Assessment of Retarded. Performers.
New York: University Park.
Marry Young (1996). Early Childhood
Development: Investing in the future:
World Bank, NY.
Mayers’s (1995). The twelve who survive.
Strengthening programm of early
childhood development in the third
world. 2nsd ed. Ypsilanti, Mich High/
Scope press.
Rao, N., Sun, J., Wong, J., Weekes,
B., Ip, P., Shaeffer, S., Young, M.,
Bray, M., Chen, E. and Lee D. (2013)
Early Childhood Development and
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Ratson (2006): Baseline Survey on the
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 World of Child Labor or World Early
Child Education? International
Perspectives and Experiences of
Education before Formal Schooling
Taye Alamirew
Abstract: Prescribed by UNESCO, mobilized
by UNICEF, lobbied by ILO, enforced by legal
conventions such UDHR and CRC; fueled by
neurobiological, behavioral, and psychological
studies, supported by economic data and
program evaluation results, reactivated by
global movements such as MDGs, and EFA,
reiterated by recent SDGs, and recognized
by domestic policies and strategies, ECCE is
getting momentum as a public policy focus
nationally, continentally and globally. Using
a secondary sources, this paper, tried to
review and summarize landscape, patterns
and trends of ECEC since inception to current
status by taking different countries in Africa,
Asia , Latin America, and Europe policy
issues being addressed in particular policy
directions: regulation and standards; financing
and resourcing; planning and monitoring; staff
training and pedagogies, and curricula. The
paper also examines historical development
of ECE in Ethiopia. Available documents
suggest that ECEC is a global phenomenon
with gross enrollment ranging from 20%
in Africa to 95% in Europe. One argument
in favor of ECCE is that each young child
has a unique potential for development of
human capacities: for communication and
cooperation, for skill and feeling, for reason
and imagination, for practicality and spirituality,
for determination and compassion so that
laying the foundations early, as up to 90% of
brain growth occurs in the first four years, is
a keystone for future healthier, wealthier and
longer lives of individuals and the societies at
large. Another line of argument is the human
capital view, claiming a causal relationship
between investment in education and
increased economic growth so that foundation
skills are bases for further skills (skills beget
skills). As a result, early childhood education
has received unprecedented attention in the
public and political sphere in recent years and
many countries have set ambitious policy
goals to increase both quantity and quality of
provisions. While this has to be welcomed,
there are mixed-up approaches that need
to bear in mind that the rationale behind
the goals set for and commitments being
demonstrated are seldom about children in
holistic manner and comprehensive approach
but sometimes economic (gender labor
force participation), sometimes scientific,
sometimes social, sometimes environmental
or sometimes legal priorities and even some
times are considered as nongovernmental
initiatives. Also, despite1% of GDP as a
benchmark for the level of annual investment
required to achieve a high-quality system
of ECEC services, ECEC programs are
either publicly funded and delivered, or
publicly funded but privately delivered,
privately funded and delivered resulting
the curriculum, pedagogy, regulation and
supervision, teacher qualification and
motivation diversified even in a given country.
Domestically, 1908 is a land mark since the
first time KG established in Dire-Dawa to
provide necessary caring services for the
children of the French consultants who were
assisting in the building of first rail road in
Ethiopia to the time 1981 where another
turning point in the history of early childhood
education in Ethiopia recorded with the
establishment of an independent commission
called Ethiopian Children’s Commission to
the present multimodal, decentralized and
fragmented approaches but resulting 39%
of gross enrollment. As millions of children
have not get the opportunity and inter-
ministerial coordination’s are inadequate,
teacher qualification and licensing, exercising
developmentally appropriate curricula,
practicing integrated teaching and learning
,language of instruction, institutionalizing
central regulatory & standardizing agency,
follow up research projects are the roads a
head to be travelled for meaningful ECEC
local practice.
Key word: early child education, policy
and practice
Introduction
Over decades of years, research on early
childhood care and education (ECCE) has both
expanded and deepened human understanding
of early years to be critical periods in life and
learning. The view that the foundations of brain
architecture and functioning, and subsequent
lifelong developmental potential, are laid
down in the early years in a process that is
exquisitely sensitive to external influence and
early experiences in the home, in other care
settings, and in communities, interacting with
genes to shape the developing nature and
quality of the human brain’s architecture led
to contemporary educational discourse to
bring ECCE closer to the forefront of what
is considered progressive debate, forum and
policy formation.
Abundant evidence from diverse fields
– physiology, nutrition, health, sociology,
psychology, and education shows how these
early years are crucial to the development of
intelligence, personality, and social behaviour
(Hubbard, Stein & Mehan, 2006; Weick,
Sutcliffe & Obstfeld, 2005). Evans et al. (2000)
assert that roughly three stages of early
childhood development lay the foundation
for future growth. The most rapid period of
brain development (cell growth and neural
connections) takes place in the first two years
of life. Although the structure of the brain is
determined biologically, and, is considerably
developed in the prenatal stage, a child’s
interaction with his/her environment will
develop the critical brain connections that
set the pathways for intellectual, physical,
emotional, immunological and social functions
(Freeman & Faure, 2003). In particular, there
is a consensus that the growth and then
environmentally - based pruning of neuronal
systems in the first years support a range
of early skills, including cognitive (early
language, literacy, math), social (theory
of mind, or perspective taking, empathy,
prosocial behaviors), persistence, attention,
self- regulation and executive function
skills (the voluntary control of attention and
behavior) (Harvard Center on the Developing
Child, 2007). Further, each of these areas of
learning and development, measured in early
childhood, are predictive of school success and
completion; higher earnings; active participation
in communities and society; and reduced
odds of delinquency, crime, and chronic and
non - communicable disease (Duncan et al.,
2007; Shonkoff, Boyce & McEwen, 2009).
Broadly, factors said to have shaped the ECEC
developments are similar cross-nationally
and include: rising rates of female labor force
participation, urbanization and the concern
with urban/rural inequities, decline of fertility
rates, immigration, decline of or disappearance
of the extended family support, compensation
for disadvantage, exposure to educational
leaders both directly and indirectly, the growing
conviction that education is a right and early
education a child’s right as well, a desire to
improve primary school performance and to
enhance “school readiness” by increasing
access to preschool, brain research highlighting
the value of early education, the economic
research stressing the benefits of preschool
or the human capital argument, governments
increased recognition the importance of early
care and education as a means to attempt to
break the cycle of poverty and social inequality
in society, the increased availability of data
making comparisons with one’s own country
more visible, increased awareness by the
public of the value of preschool programs,
the role of international governmental and
non-governmental organizations (Kamerman,
2006).
Ajayi (2007) documented eight reasons
in support of the provision of affordable,
quality programmes of early childcare that
are community based, and which are linked
with health care and nutrition as part of an
integrated approach to meeting the needs
of the young child. These reasons include: 1)
from conception of six years of age, children,
according to research findings, undergo rapid
mental, social and physical development to the
extent that by the age of six, their brains would
have developed to almost the size of an adult;
2) the convention on the rights of the child
stipulates that children have a right to live and
develop to their full capacity; 3) moral and social
values postulate that through children, societies
pass on values and culture from generation to
generation; 4) supporting the development
of the child physically and mentally leads to
increased enrolment, improves performance
and the society generally; 5) provision of early
childcare facilities and offer equal opportunities
to children from both the privileged and
disadvantaged homes; 6) a programme in early
childhood development should be used as an
entry point for other developmental activities
which will benefit the entire community; 7)
ECC (Early Child Care) projects should be
linked with other developmental activities for
women, nutrition, health, water and sanitation;
8) there is a growing demand for better ways of
caring for children through an ECC project given
the advancement in science and technology
which now ensures the survival of many more
children, thereby increasing population growth.
From the foregoing it can be observed that
for Evans et al. (2000), Freeman and Faure
(2003) and indeed for many scholars who
have investigated learners between 0 and 8
years, ECE is very broad. Evans et al. (2000)
further highlight that if a child’s body and brain
develop well, his learning potential increases.
Conversely, neglect of a child’s biological and
mental needs at this critical and formative
stage can have a negative impact, resulting in
delayed or debilitated cognitive development,
stunted growth, and physical impairment.
When a child’s inherent physical, social, and
psychological capacities are not nurtured,
they wither. The quality of care during this
period, through ECE, thus greatly affects the
development of the child, his/her health, his/
her psyche, and his/her capacity for future
learning.
Historically, reviewing the histories of ECEC
developments in several countries reminds us
that in much of Europe and North America, and
even in several of the developing countries such
as China and India, kindergartens and nurseries
were first established in the 19th century,
often drawing on the same models: Froebel,
Pestalozzi, Montessori, and the activities of
missionaries (Kamerman, 2006). For Ariès
(1960), it was not until modern times, when
institutions were created to care for children
(the colleges of the 16th and 17th centuries for
the privileged, charitable schools for the poor
in the 17th and 18th centuries), that mention
was made of a child identity separate from the
world of adults, an explicit representation of
that identity, and a “notion of childhood”, at the
same time as the child became an object of
emotional family investment.
Institutional early care and education has a
long history in Western societies, the roots of
which can be found in the 19th century when
industrialization and urbanization began to break
up traditional family structures with fathers
as breadwinners and mothers as caregivers
due to an increasing entrance of mothers into
the industrial workforce. However; the most
recent impetus for ECE and care growth in
most developing countries can be traced to
the adoption of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) on 20 November 1989, and
its rapid ratification from 1990 onwards (Aidoo,
2006) plus the catalytic role made in March
1990, the World Conference on Education for
All (EFA) held in Jomtien, Thailand, launched
ECE and care as an essential part of the global
movement to educate all children. The world
declaration on EFA (UNESCO, 2004) observed
that since learning begins at birth, it is imperative
to give priority to ECE. In September 1990, the
World Summit for Children was held in New
York to give the highest level of endorsement
to the survival, development and protection
rights of all children without discrimination
of any kind. Jomtien’s endorsement of ECE
and the enthusiasm that led to the CRC
being ratified more quickly and by more
countries than any previous human rights
instruments (UNICEF, 2001) gave rise to the
proliferation of government ECE programmes.
These programmes were partly supported
by multilateral, bilateral, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) and charitable
organisations in Latin America, East Asia,
Middle East and North Africa, but to a much
lesser extent, in Sub-Saharan Africa (Jaramillo
& Mingat, 2003). Aidoo (2006) further points
out that in April 2000, a follow up conference
on EFA, the World Education Forum, held in
Dakar, provided an opportunity to review and
assess ECE and care experiences to date. The
conference made a renewed commitment
to expanding and improving comprehensive
early childhood care and education. The call
for comprehensive ECE and care received
yet another high-level political endorsement
(UNICEF, 2003) when the United Nations
Millennium Summit of September 2000 adopted
eight millennium development goals (MDGs)
to be met by 2015. Six of the MDGs related to
young children and women, and thus to ECE.
According to UNICEF (2003) the six MDGs
can best be met when the rights of children to
health, education, and equality are protected.
According to Young (2002) the expanding vision
of ECE and care since 1990 has further been
promoted by a growing body of literature that
advocates, justifies and reviews early childhood
activities worldwide. This has helped clarify the
concepts, scope and best features of ECE, as
well as the rationale for governments and their
development partners to invest in ECE and care
programmes. The work of, among others, the
Consultative Group of Early Childhood Care and
Development and the Working Group on Early
Childhood Development of the Association for
the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
has contributed significantly to the common
view of the principles and main features of ECE
and care policy provision (Vargas-Baron, 2004).
In Ethiopia, despite a long history of didactic
education provided almost exclusively to male
children in religious affiliation, the concept of
preschool education in the modern sense can
be traced to 20th century. ECE and care was
established in Dire Dawa city for the children
of foreign mainly French consultants who were
helping to build the first railroad in the country
(Demeke 2007:181; Hoot, Szente and Mebratu,
2004). Since then the provision of Kindergarten
education, mainly for children from well to do
families, started in Addis Ababa in attachment
with the then existing Schools such as English
school, German school, Lycee Gebremariam
and the like. But later in 1970/1 E.C, provision of
preschool began as a community service in the
major towns of the country under the Ministry
of National Development and social Affairs
(Demeke, 2007). Demke (2007:182) praised
the socialist revolution of 1974 as a turning
point in the history of early childhood education
in Ethiopia that resulted in an establishment of
an independent commission called “Ethiopian
Children’s Commission” in 1981 with a task
of caring and educating Ethiopian children. To
begin its job with the then mission, a manual for
Kindergarten in Ethiopia was produced by the
Commission for the first time in 1981. Further
the commission accomplished the work of
advocacy and sensitization to stakeholders by
preparing different seminars and workshops
on health, nutrition and other related issues
of children including those with special needs
(National Children’s Commission, 1982 cited in
Demeke 2007).
But, development of such programs was very
slow compared to kindergarten expansion
in other nations during the same period of
time. From 1908 to 1974, for example, only 77
kindergartens were established in Ethiopia.
Moreover, these programs provided education
for only 7,573 out of the 3.5 million children
aged 3-6. In addition, these kindergartens
were limited to urban areas of the country
and operated by missionaries, private
organizations, and the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Development.
Following the 1991 regime change, in spite of a
short-lived decline in number of kindergartens
and its enrollment from 1990 to 1992, it
began to boost itself starting from adoption
of the Education and Training Policy stipulating
objectives (general & specific), strategic issues
and priority action areas (MOE, 1994). The policy
document, for instance, included the provision
for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
or pre-primary stage focused on the ‘all-round
development of the child in preparation for
formal schooling’ (MOE, 1994,p.14). In the
policy document; Kindergarten education was
recognized as a very important element in
the early childhood and for the preparation of
formal schooling but the program left to the
private sector and other non-governmental
organizations to intervene in giving access to So, despite the nation implemented a policy
children. aimed to ‘all-round development of the child
in preparation for formal schooling’ or paying
Currently, ‘Pre-primary schools’, ‘kindergartens’,
attention simultaneously to all aspects of a
and ‘pre-schools’ are different names for
child’s development, well-being and learning
education of children before age 7, the age
needs including those which relate to social,
for primary school entry. This level normally
emotional, physical, linguistic and cognitive
involves children of ages 4-6 enrolled in the pre-
development or follow a holistic approach to
primary education. Pre-school programmes,
ECEC, in the last two or more decades, its
known as pre-primary education, are delivered
achievement in ensuring access and equity,
through three modalities in Ethiopia. The first,
let alone quality, is lagging behind and the
kindergarten, are predominantly operated
achievements were very limited as indicated in
by non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
the enrollment table below.
communities, private institutions, and faith-
based organizations. The second, non-formal
pre-school service is being delivered mainly
through the child to child initiatives. The third
one is the most widespread response of local
governments and that has been the setting up
of ‘O’ class.

Enrollment (gross in %) 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 AAGR

2003E.C 2004 E.C 2005 E.C 2006 E.C 2007 E.C

Kindergarten - 397861(5.3) 478534(5.3) 486393(6.2) 522106(6.6) 7.03(7)

O class - 1031151(13.7) 1242108(16.1) 1578494(21.6) 1916823(25) 16.77(16.2)

Child to child - 193750(2.6) 291831(3.8) 433473(5.8) 519874(7) 27.99(28)

Preprimary education 382741 1622762(21.6) 2012473(26.1) 2498360(33.7) 2958803(39) 50.54(15.9)
Teachers 13963 12480 12639 15137 19706 7.13
Schools 3418 3580 3688 4560 4117 3.79

Table 1: Preprimary Education Gross Enrollment (Ethiopia)

Source: FMOE Education Statistics Annual Abstract, 2007 E.C. (2014/15)

As indicated in the Table 1, despite gross

But this coverage is mostly urban centered and
enrollment is increasing from 2003 to 2007
operated by Non-governmental organizations
E.C regularly; of the estimated school aged
such as communities, private institutions, and
children (aged 4-6), 7,522,942, it is 2,958,803
faith-based organizations.
children (39%) who have the opportunity to
In over two decades policy implementation, and
enroll in either of the preprimary education
its underperformance is a reflection of resource
programs growing at an annual average growth
constraints; little government involvement in
rate (AAGR) of 15.9%. The net enrolment
the general outlay, administration, guidance,
rate in the same year is 37% which is almost
coordination, budget allocation and lack of
similar to the calculated result obtained for
strategic operation. And even curricula and
GER (39%). This implies that out of all the
teacher qualification issues are not well
children enrolled in preprimary, the majority
standardized.
are of the appropriate school age for the level.
In general, the global early childhood care
and education landscape (Hayden, 2000) is
shaped by the political, economic, social, and
cultural contexts of different countries. Also,
the influence of charismatic leaders in early
education is mentioned surprisingly often,
even in countries such as Thailand, Hong
Kong, Mexico, Nigeria, China, the Philippines,
and Japan in addition to almost all the
European countries and the U.S. Therefore;
the main objective of this paper is to review
the landscape of ECEC across the world and
to draw lessons to Ethiopian context (if any
innovative policy and practice idea).
More specifically, the paper tries to address
the following questions
• What are the driving forces for the present
emphasis to early child care and education?
• What are the policy and practice responses
to ECEC for some countries
• What are the promises, and pitfalls of
ECEC for some countries
• Can any lessons be drawn to Ethiopian
context?
Arguments in favor and /or against policy
and practice
Early childhood is a unique and precious stage
in the human life cycle because children’s
environments and experiences impact on
child development and contribute to shape
children’s behaviors, intellect, and well-being
(Burger, 2012). Nowadays, across most
countries, policies on infant care and policies
on education have had distinct historical
trajectories, developing separately with
different conceptions of young children’s needs
and fractured systems of governance giving
rise to the provision and use of early childhood
care and education varies across countries.
In most cases, the division of auspices is
mirrored by a two-tier organization of services
with child care for children from birth to three
years and early, pre-primary or preschool,
education for children between three and six
years (OECD, 2006, p. 46). Different scholars
(Field, 1991; Kelleghan, 1977; O’Flaherty, 1995;
Schweinhart, 2004) suggest that the benefits
of providing comprehensive and quality early
education are twofold, providing both short-
and long-term benefits for the target groups.
Whereas the history of the primary school was
studied in depth from the legislative, political,
social and pedagogical viewpoints during
the 20th century, giving rise to a number of
international summaries, the history of early
childhood education and care remains patchy
(Luc, 1999). However; now days, ECCE is
revolving in the mind of politicians, scholars,
educators, lawyers, international organizations,
scientists, among other and justification being
provided some of which are summarized
below.
Neurological and biological arguments:
widening and speeding up brain growth
The development of human brain
(neurodevelopment) determines who we
become and how we behave. It is dependent
upon the presence, pattern, frequency, quality
and timing of experiences, good and bad. Brain
development begins soon after conception,
develops sequentially and cumulatively (Perry,
2002). Brains are built over time through an
ongoing process that begins before birth and
continues into adulthood (Perry, 2000). Both
brain architecture and developing abilities are
built from the bottom up, with simple circuits
and skills providing the scaffolding for more
advanced circuits and skills over time.
The first eight years of a child’s life is a period
of tremendous growth and development
(Goswami, 2008). Due to the rapid neural
connections, brain connections multiply
exponentially in the first three years, and the
potential for ensuring optimal development is
very high up to age 8 through the combined
impact of education, care, health, nutrition,
protection and stimulation. It is imperative
that this true ‘window of opportunity’ is fully
used and strengthened to ensure long-term
benefits, not just for each individual child’s
development but also for the larger community.
Neurological research indicates that significant
brain and behavior development occurs during
the first years of life (up to 90%), and that
this is influenced by the quality and range
of early experiences and interactions (Perry,
2002). Neurobiological research by Knudsen
et al. (2006) also highlights the importance of
a child’s early years on brain and behavioral
development. Both occur mostly during early
childhood, a phase where development is
influenced by the quality of experiences and
interactions, and where development occurs at
a more rapid pace than in later years (Harrison
and Ungerer, 2005; Ridley, 2003; Herschkowitz
et al., 2002; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2000;
Shonkoff and Philips, 2000; NICHD, 1997) cited
in OECD (2015).
Although the brain continues to develop
throughout life, new learning never occurs at
the same speed that it does during the early
years. Depending on the nature of these
experiences(good or bad), children’s future
development can cover a wide spectrum
(Harrison and Ungerer, 2005; Ridley, 2003;
Herschkowitz et al., 2002; NICHD, 1997;
Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2000; Shonkoff and
Philips, 2000) in OECD (2015). By the time
children enter primary school, their general
cognitive, language, pre-reading and early
numeracy skills already differ, and these
differences are often maintained during further
stages of development (cf. Anders et al.,
2012; Dornheim 2008; Dubowy et al., 2008;
NICHD ECCRN, 2002; 2005; Sammons et al.,
2004;Tymms, Merrell and Henderson, 1997) in
OECD (2015).
In general, Higher level adaptation is more
difficult if lower level has been
compromised – ‘skill begets skill’ (Perry, 2000).
The evidence of hierarchical development
means that neural circuits that process low-
level information will develop before networks
that develop more sophisticated and complex
information (Shonkoff et al., 2005). This means
that children’s interpretation of what they
perceive will change with time and experience,
from simple to more sophisticated judgments’,
reasoning and analysis. So, early exposure of
children to their peers, different environments,
and experiences based on adequate scientific
evidence is vital for future life of children to
realize cake in, cake out, but not garbage in,
garbage out.
Educational and psychological
arguments: building up skills and
psychosocial behaviors
Early childhood is the stage at which education
can most effectively influence children’s
development (European Commission, 2014). It
is increasingly acknowledged, therefore, that
investment in high quality ECEC lowers the
cost for society in terms of lost talent and helps
reduce public spending in the long term on
welfare, health and even justice. Moreover, by
laying strong foundations for successful lifelong
learning, high quality ECEC brings particular
benefits to disadvantaged children. It therefore
serves as the keystone for building more
equitable education systems. The scientific
argument maintains the strong link between
quality ECCE programs and outcome variables in
the cognitive, social, and emotional development
domains. For instance; young children who
receive quality early care and education are
likely to demonstrate better cognitive and
language abilities. Research shows that the
quality of programs, as indicated by multiple
dimensions, such as cultural appropriateness,
staff skills, intensity and duration, and features
of the physical and social environment of
programs, is key to improving health, cognitive
and socio-emotional development (ACF,2002;
LaParo, Pianta, & Stuhlman, 2004; Paulsell,
Boller, Hallgren, & Mraz-Esposito, 2010;
Yoshikawa, 1994) cited in Britto, Yoshikawa and
Boller (2011). ECEC has been found to have
particularly beneficial effects on children, who
lack stimulation and support within their own
family, i.e. disadvantaged or “at risk” children
(Barnett, 2011; Burchinal et al., 2010; CQO
Study Team, 1995; Dearing, McCartney and
Taylor, 2009; OECD, 2012; Peisner-Feinberg et
al., 2000; Smith, 2013) in OECD (2015). PISA
analysis shows that 15-year-old students who
attended preschool for at least one year perform
better in PISA tests than students who have
not attended ECEC. In the United Kingdom,
students who participated for at least one year
in preschool education scored over 40 points
higher on the 2012 PISA mathematics test
after socio-economic background was taken
into account (OECD, 2014b). High-quality ECCE
programmes will usually improve children’s
cognitive functioning, readiness for school and
school performance. Improvements are seen
in academic achievement, in reducing grade
repetition and drop-out, and with growing
evidence of life-transforming outcomes
emerging in studies with longitudinal evidence
(Anderson et al. 2003; Rao etal. 2013). This has
already been observed in Ethiopia with children
who had enrolled in kindergarten programmes,
at age 8, scoring 32% higher in cognitive tests
than those who had not and with a higher
probability of grade completion (Woldehanna
and Gebremedhin 2012). Attendance of young
children at high quality early childhood care
and education settings can result in temporary
and immediate consequences for the child’s
learning and overall wellbeing, but also lasting
and enduring consequences for the child’s
future.
In relation to full-time day-care, research
has documented immediate-term findings
in relation to children including high self-
esteem; emotional stability; higher degrees
of social development (positive correlation
between day-care attendance and the number
of friendships a child develops); low rates of
depression; children engaged in more extra-
curricular activities; greater assertiveness;
and greater leadership abilities (Field, 1991).
Field (1991) in her research on the outcomes
for children attending quality early education
ascribes the development of social proficiency
and confidence of children with their peers
to the fact that the children have more
experience with their peers at an early age,
compared to their non-day-care-attending
peers. Others, including Sylva et al. (2002) and
Leseman (2002), also indicate that children
from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can
greatly benefit from attending even half-day,
structured settings. They suggest that benefits
include cognitive and language development,
as well as socio-emotional maturity. Much
research points to the value of a more socially
based provision of early education, which
contributes to a child’s disposition to learn,
to develop a sense of self-worth and indeed
to their general overall development (Laevers,
2003; Marcon, 2002 and 1999). The impact of
such developments has also been proven to
impact on academic/school performance (Sylva
et al., 2004; Sylva et al., 2003). Basic impact
evaluations comparing ECCE to no ECCE have
continued to show a positive pattern of results.
Rigorous studies from high income countries
such as the United States (Camilli, Vargas,
Ryan, & Barnett, 2010) and the United Kingdom
(Berlinski, Galiani, & Gertler, 2009), and LAMI
countries such as Argentina (), Bangladesh
(Aboud, Hossain, and O- Gara, 2008), Indonesia
(Hasan, Hyson and Chu Chang, 2013), Vietnam
(Watanabe, Flores, Fujiwara,& Tran,2005) and
Mozambique (Martinez, and Naudeau,2012),
cited in Yoshikawa and Kabay (2014), show
that children who attend preschools have
better developmental outcomes than children
who do not attend. The most consistent
pattern in these studies is the positive benefits
of preprimary education exposure on cognitive
skills, including language, numeracy and
psychomotor development.
Economic point of view arguments: building
fortress for poverty
Expansions of human capital theory in
economics further advanced the evidence base
for ECCE. The economist James Heckman’s
theoretical and empirical advances in the 2000’s
focused on how foundational skills in early
childhood serve as the basis for acquisition for
further skills. James Heckman (2002) makes
a strong case when analyzing, mainly from an
economic perspective, the value of investing in
early years’ services. He emphasizes human
capital rather than social capital. Writing for a
US audience he notes that:
The best evidence suggests that learning
begets learning, that early investments in
learning are effective. As a society, we cannot
afford to postpone investing in children until
they do not become adults, nor can we wait
until they reach school age - a time when it
may be too late to intervene. Since learning is
a dynamic process, it is most effective when it
begins at a young age… The returns to human
capital investments are greatest for the young
for two reasons: (a) skill begets skill; and (b)
younger persons have a longer horizon over
which to recoup the fruits of their investments.
His theory of the technology of skill formation
across the life span, coupled with analysis of
economic evaluations of education interventions
between birth and adulthood, explained why
investment in early childhood might have
uniquely strong impacts on life--course skill
acquisition and productivity, as well as be
the most cost--effective (Cunha& Heckman,
2006). The economic argument, presumes
the long-term benefits of ECCE to society at
large based on the cost benefit analysis of early
intervention versus late intervention. Evidence
from both developed and developing countries
suggests that an additional dollar invested in
high quality preschool programs will yield a
return of anywhere between US$6 and US$17
(World Bank, 2017).
Cost- benefit analysis of preschool programs
from the United States, for example, indicated
that investment in ECE can pay off, with ratios
ranging from 3 to 7 in small scale as well
as large--scale evaluations across entire cities
(Bartik, Gormley, & Adelstein, 2012; Karoly,
Kilburn, & Cannon, 2006; Heckman ,Moon,
Pinto, Savelyev, & Yavitz ,2010).Research in
Turkey (Yilman &Yazihan, 2010) and Bolivia
(Behrman,Cheng & Todd, 2004) provided
two more examples of sizeable cost-benefit
estimates for early childhood interventions.
Due to these studies, the development of
preschool aged children, their cognitive abilities,
socio--emotional skills and physical health are
now increasingly seen as critical determinants
for later school attainment, health and socio--
economic well--being (Engle et al,2011). A 20-
year follow-up study of children in Jamaica by
Nobel laureate James Heckman, Paul Gertler
and others showed that combining health
and education interventions in early childhood
increased future earnings by 25 percent. This
finding has profound significance in a world
where nearly a billion people live in extreme
poverty. Harper, Marcus & Moore (2003) point
out that there is ample research evidence that
children who have a good start in life are less
likely to be poor as adults and thus less likely
to pass on poverty to their own children. In
short, early human development and services
and programs for young children and families
are being seen as one of the most promising
approaches to alleviating poverty and achieving
social and economic equity for the world
community (Engle et al., 2007; Grantham-
McGregor et al., 2007; Ulkuer, 2006).
Legal and social point of view
arguments: enhancing equal opportunity
and combating inequalities
The United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UN, 1948, art. 26) states that
“Everyone has the right to education. Education
shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages.” The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC, 1991, art.29) states that the child’s
right to education “shall be directed to the
development of the child’s personality, talents
and physical abilities to their fullest potential.”
The World Conference on Education for All –
Jomtien (1990) and The Dakar Framework for
Action (2000) recognized that “expanding and
improving comprehensive early childhood care
and education...” “Ensuring that by 2015, all
children ... have access to and complete free
and compulsory primary education of good
quality.” “Improving all aspects of the quality
of education...” The Constitution of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE,1995)
states that “... policies shall aim to provide
all Ethiopians access to public health and
education, clean water, housing, food and
social security.”
So, the Social equity argument conceives early
childhood care and education as an overarching
right of children to live and to develop to their full
potential. The social equity argument is also in
alignment with the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Children that advocates the
rights of children to survive and get access to
health and education services as part and parcel
of compelling human rights. Children have a
right, as expressed in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (art.26) and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (art.29), to receive
education, and Early Childhood Education
(ECE) must be considered part of that right.
Young children are citizens with rights of their
own which we must respect. They are, at the
same time, particularly vulnerable and affected
by social injustice and inequality. It is a public
responsibility to respect children’s rights and
to ensure each child can live to reach her or
his full potential. Early childhood education
and care, too, is a fundamental need of any
human society. Through care and education of
young children we construct and reconstruct
community, ensure continuity of tradition
make innovation and transformation possible.
Although the pursuit of equality has had a
high value for large portions of mankind and
has characterized almost all modern secular
ideologies in particular in the last few generations
(Boulding, 1975), social inequalities continue
to exist in at least six key areas: education,
work, income, living standards, health, and
social participation (OECD, 2011b). Equality of
opportunity is one of the foundational principles
of meritocratic societies and everyone agrees
that opportunities should be equal.
In summary, the whole argument is that there
is increasing recognition that comprehensive
and quality early childhood education and
care (ECEC) provides the crucial foundation
for learning and helps to develop cognitive
and non-cognitive skills important for future
success.
ECCE Debates: forces, use of terms,
ideological divides
The driving forces for ECEC policies and
programs include: economic growth and the
explosion in social protection policies and
the beginning attention to compensation
for disadvantage, the end of colonialism
and achieving independence, increase in
urbanization since 1960; the increase in female
labor force participation, the decline of the
extended family, the increase in lone mothers,
and the decline in fertility in 1970s; globalization
of the world economy, and the CRC., all leading
to a re-assessment of the value of children in
1980s; the Jomtien and Dakar conferences that
both reflected and added to the growing public
awareness of the value of preschool programs
and provided a possible foundation for a new
social movement in 1990s and 2000s.
However; the tension and debate continued
with regard to the trade-off between increasing
access and enhancing quality, with the former
appearing to have priority. The debate also
continues with regard to whether programs
should be voluntary or compulsory, whether
given limited resources, the programs should
be center – based or home-based, whether
there should be one program for children from
birth to primary school entry or two programs
divided by age between the under 3s, in
programs stressing care and a second for the
3- 5 year olds, in a program stressing education,
what part of the curriculum should focus on
formal school skills rather than on enhancing
child development, the need for research,
and the politics of developing, expanding and
promoting ECEC.
Still other critical challenges facing studies
into any aspect of early childhood care and
education consists in using terms accurately
because various forms of early care and
education have been distinguished including:
preschool, nursery school, prekindergarten,
day care, child care, day nursery, early
childhood education, family day care etcetera
(Kagan, Tarran, Carson, & Kauerz, 2006).
Also, recognizing that, the multifaceted
nature of early childhood, it often goes by a
number of names and definitions, as well as
acronyms in different countries, organizations
or stakeholders. For instance; Early Childhood
Care and Education(ECCE) by UNESCO or
GEMR, Early Childhood Development (ECD)
by World Bank, early Childhood Care and
Development(ECCD) by UNCEF, early childhood
education and care (ECEC) by OECD, Early
Childhood Education (ECE), Early Childhood
Education, Care and Development (ECECD),
Early Childhood Education and Development
(ECED). Education International Report (2010)
defines early childhood education (ECE) mean
services for young children. This includes
all kinds of education taking place before
compulsory schooling and provided in different
kinds of settings – nurseries, crèches, childcare
centers, kindergartens, pre-schools and other
similar institutions. Similarly, OECD (2013)
define Early childhood education (ECE) as all
forms of organized and sustained center-based
activities – such as preschools, kindergartens
and day-care centers – designed to foster
learning and emotional and social development
in children. The term ‘early childhood care and
education’ (ECCE) refers to a range of processes
and mechanisms that sustain, support and aid
in the holistic development of children, from
birth to age 8 years (UNESCO and UNICEF,
2012). In the Ethiopian context, Early Childhood
Education and Care (ECCE) refer to a holistic
and comprehensive approach to policies and
programs for children from prenatal to six years
of age by their parents and caregivers. Through
the program it will ensure a considerable step
forward in giving children a healthy start in life,
and an enabling and stimulating environment
for developing their talents, stimulating and
helping them to become caring and productive
citizens (National Policy Framework for ECCE in
Ethiopia, 2010.)
However; in the vast majority of cases, the
term early childhood care and education is
used as a collective term to cover any kind
of formal institutional programs and services
that share the objective of nurturing children’s
development, growth, and learning under
compulsory school age or up to approximately
eight years even though these programs and
services may draw on a variety of approaches
and are funded, operated, and regulated by
different administrative bodies. Moreover; it
has to be noted that there is no universally
recognized consensus on the age period
to which early childhood refers. In place of
the collective term early childhood care and
education, a number of shorter terms are
used in some cases such as the terms early
childhood program and early childhood services.
In general, these terms refer to center-based
services as distinguished from parental care
and informal care by relatives, nannies, or
babysitters in private homes. Although in
practice, different approaches may focus either
more on custody and supportive and nurturing
care of children’s development or on education
in terms of intellectual stimulation, the notion
of early childhood care and education suggests
that care and education are not separate
processes for children during their first years
of life.
Other ECCE debates and ideological divides
are policy issues and caring by whom. Across
most countries, policies on infant care and
policies on education have had distinct
historical trajectories, developing separately
with different conceptions of young children’s
needs and fractured systems of governance. In
most cases, the division of auspices is mirrored
by a two-tier organization of services with child
care for children from birth to three years and
early, pre-primary or preschool, education for
children between three and six years (OECD,
2006, p. 46). In many instances, programs
are not connected by a comprehensive vision
encompassing both support of working
parents and learning as well as developmental
objectives. Even within individual subsystems of
provision, disparities can be identified. In some
countries, for instance, child care for children
below three years of age can be described
as a system divided by the socioeconomic
background of the families who use it. One tier
of child even within individual subsystems of
provision, disparities can be identified as one
tier of child.
As an ideological divides between parental
care vs. institutional care, intense debates
have arisen as to whether a child ought to be
cared for primarily at home by its parents or
in an institutional setting (e.g., Stamm, 2009b,
2011a). While opponents of early childhood
services have emphasized that institutional
care can be harmful to child development such
as outsourcing of child-raising is a neoliberal
market ideology for a manipulation of children’s
thoughts and behaviors; putting children under
pressure, proponents have argued that children
can benefit from exposure to institutional
services in terms of the acquisition of social
and cognitive skills besides allowing mothers
to take on a gainful occupation (Stamm, 2011b).
Curriculum / pedagogy approach:
cognitive based or holistic based?
Learning and development in young children
occurs intentionally and unintentionally (Siraj-
Blatchford, 2010). As a consequence, ECEC
curricula in many countries are inclusive and
unspecific, and can address more than the
subjects an educator is expected to teach to
children. When analyzing different pedagogical
approaches, in general, and broadly speaking,
two types of curriculum approaches can
be distinguished (Folke - Fichtelius, 2013):
the early education approach and the
comprehensive/social pedagogy approach.
The early education approach or academic
approach stems from behaviorist or social
learning theories that view learning as an input
by the environment. Countries that follow
the early education approach set concrete
learning goals, and often assess children’s
knowledge by using standardized tests and/
or monitor child outcomes frequently. Within
this approach, child outcomes are regarded as
very important and are often regarded as the
key output of ECEC participation. Academic
or direct instruction approach is believed to
be more “schoolified”, i.e. more in line with
formal schooling, than the comprehensive/
social pedagogy approach, for two reasons.
Firstly, an early education curriculum approach
often focuses (more) on preparing children for
primary school, and focuses on learning basic
academic skills such as early mathematics or
pre-literacy and less on the development of
socio-emotional skills. Secondly, the systems
or settings implementing an early education
approach tend to implement more teacher-
directed (teacher-initiated), instructional
techniques and practices. This is for example
the case in many kindergartens in the United
States and in preschools in France (Anders,
2015; OECD, 2014b).
A comprehensive/socio-pedagogic approach
focuses more on the experiences and actual
pedagogical practices rather than child
outcomes and achievements. Assessments
through formal testing are less common
in social pedagogy approaches, although
children’s development can be monitored in
a more qualitative fashion (e.g. storybooks by
ECEC staff that include children’s work). This
approach is also associated with prioritizing and
promoting socio-emotional development and
personal values alongside the development of
early academic skills, although the latter do not
form the focus of this pedagogical approach.
The comprehensive approach usually has a
strong focus on child-centered pedagogy and
child-initiated experiences, rather than staff
directed practices. The comprehensive/socio-
pedagogic tradition is popular in ECEC systems
and is implemented in Denmark, Finland,
Germany and Norway.
An academic approach makes use of a staff-
initiated curriculum with cognitive aims for
school preparation. A comprehensive approach
centers on the child and seeks to broaden the
scope for holistic development and well-being
(Bertrand, 2007; OECD, 2006). An academic
approach can prescribe teaching in critical
subject areas but can also limit a child-centred
environment characterized by self-initiated
activity, creativity and self-determination
(Eurydice, 2009; Prentice, 2000). With more
flexible aims, a comprehensive approach can
better integrate social and emotional well-
being, general knowledge and communication
skills but risks losing focus of important
education goals, as can be seen in Table 2.
 More likely to improve a child
IQ scores
Motivation to learn
Literacy and numeracy
Creativity
independence
Specific knowledge
Self confidence
General knowledge
Initiative
Short term outcomes
Long term outcomes
Source: Eurydice (2009); Laevers (2011); Pianta et al. (2009), and Schweinhart, and Weikart (1997)
Table 2, compares the specific outcomes
of academic and comprehensive curriculum
models based on a selection of research
findings. It remains unclear which of the two
approaches produces the largest long-term
benefits on health, college attendance, future
earnings, etc. Geographical and political
positioning has likely influenced the existing
research: American researchers are more
likely to support an academic ECEC approach,
whereas the trend in Europe points to the
importance of non-cognitive learning areas.
In recent years, countries have been more
frequently moving towards combining the
early education and social pedagogy approach
recognizing that teacher-initiated learning
(common in the academic approach) can reduce
early knowledge gaps in literacy, language and
numeracy because numerous studies have
concluded that high-quality academic programs
involving explicit teaching can have positive
short-term effects on IQ scores, literacy
and math (Pianta et al., 2009). These skills
have been found to be strong predictors of
subsequent achievement (Brooks-Gunn et al.,
2007). However, as pointed out above, child-
initiated learning can have long-term benefits
and is highly important for children‘s future
social development. In order to maximize
learning, development and social outcomes, it is
suggested that ECEC curricula should combine
Academic Comprehensive
x
X
x
X
x X
X
X
X
x
x x
child-initiated with teacher-initiated contents
and activities (Sheridan, 2011; Sheridan et al.,
2009). More research is therefore needed to
clarify the mixed research findings across
different country-specific ECEC contexts.
Main challenges facing
governments in relation to the early
childhood education
ECCE refer to the range of services for
children provided before primary school entry
and acknowledge that different governments
use of variety of terms. Typically the terms
Early Childhood Development (ECD), Early
Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and
Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)
are used to refer to service for children up to
the age of six while Early Childhood Education
(ECE), Preschool Education (PSE), Pre-primary
Education (PPE) and Kindergarten Education
(KE) and used to denote services for children
ranging in age from three to six years.
Despite ECEC evolved in 17/18th century
in Europe and global phenomena where
enrolment rates being increasing ranging 95%
in Europe to 20 % in SSA (Figure 1), its policy
and practice is not well institutionalized across
the globe in terms of government priority and
action. Some of the indicators for realities are
discussed below.

Sources: Sun, Rao & Pearson (2015)
Figure 1: World Preprimary Education
Gross Enrollment
Inaccessibility and poor investment
According to GEM Report (2016,p.428),
worldwide, there are still more than 150 million
children ages 3 to 5 who do not have access
to pre-primary education, including more than
80% of children in low-income countries. Also,
conflict is a serious and growing challenge,
with less than 5% of children having access to
pre-primary school in some countries affected
by conflict.
According to World Bank (2016), across the
world, nearly half of all three to six year olds
(159 million children) are deprived of access to
pre-primary education. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
80 percent are not enrolled in pre-primary
programs, while 45 percent lack access in
South Asia. Also, a quarter of all children under
age five worldwide (i.e. 162 million children)
are physically stunted, which harms brain
development and delays school enrolment.
Countries under-invest despite one percent
of GNP is the minimum public investment
required to ensure provision of quality ECD
services, and average government spending
for children aged 0-6 years across OECD
countries is estimated at 2.36 percent of
GNP. Low and lower-middle income countries
tend to invest little in expanding and scaling
up affordable ECCE programs for the poorest
and most vulnerable children, who ultimately
are the ones who can benefit the most from
quality ECCE. While comparable data are not
readily available across LICs and MICs, many
governments spend only between 0.1 and 0.2
percent of GNP on preschool education, which
likely leaves them far below the 1 percent
benchmark for overall ECD funding.
Poor governance responsibilities
Administrative responsibility includes
effective governance and adequate
resourcing of the early childhood system;
the formulation and strict observance of
minimum standards for young children, both
in the physical environment (buildings, space
per child, outdoors, pedagogical materials...),
and in program quality. Lack of regulation
and monitoring of staff in various ECCE
settings is common. ECEC administrations
should seek to remove all barriers to early
enrolment and to broaden the understanding
of ECEC services: comprehensive services;
outreach to parents and the local community;
community-based strategies to protect
maternal and infant health...
Poor pedagogical quality
Pedagogical quality at center level depends
both on structural features, (e.g. staff
qualifications; adequate pre-service and
in-service education; smaller teacher-child
ratios that allow attention to individual
children; an enriched learning environment;
a professionally developed play-based
curriculum2...) and on staff knowledge and
practice. Lower qualifications, status, and
pay of early childhood educators compared
to primary school teachers’. Early childhood
educators have typically been perceived
as “substitute mothers” and not seen in
need of professional training. In particular,
staff needs to have a deep understanding
of how young children learn and a thorough
mastery of the curriculum. They should be
aware of the importance of relational and rich
verbal interactions with young children and
provide ongoing support to socio- emotional
well-being and development. Attention to
diversity, with an emphasis on creating a
positive emotional climate that welcomes
the diverse needs of children and families,
is also a feature of quality, especially when
children from disadvantaged backgrounds are
present.
The social environment
Where disadvantaged children and families
are concerned, early childhood systems need
to be supported by a broader welfare system
that links policies across many sectors –
employment, education, health and social
services. This presupposes a cultural and
political commitment to democratic rights,
equality and solidarity. In such a framework and
as part of a network of co-ordinate services
at national and local levels, early childhood
centers have the potential not only to provide
care and education to young children and
their families, but also to catalyze cultural and
political change by linking their initiatives to
those of other public agencies and NGOs.
Prevalence of child labor
Child labor means all children below 12 years
of age working in any economic activities,
those aged between 12 and 14 engaged in
more than light work, and all children engaged
in the worst forms of child labour. Worst forms
of child labour involve children being enslaved,
forcibly recruited, prostituted, trafficked,
forced into illegal activities or exposed to
hazards. An estimated 150 million children
worldwide are engaged in child labor against
the ILO Convention No. 138 concerning
minimum age for admission to employment
and Recommendation No. 146 (1973); ILO
Convention No. 182 concerning the prohibition
and immediate action for the elimination of the
worst forms of child labor and Recommendation
No. 190 (1999); and the UNCRC. However,
they are classified as child laborers when they
are either too young to work or are involved
in hazardous activities that may compromise
their physical, mental, social or educational
development. Sub-Saharan Africa has the
largest proportion of child laborers (28 per
cent of children aged 5 to 14 years). In both
the Middle East and North Africa and East Asia
and the Pacific, 10 per cent of children in this
age group are performing potentially harmful
work compared to 9 per cent of children
in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the
least developed countries, nearly one in four
children (ages 5 to 14) is engaged in labor that
is considered detrimental to their health and
development. Figure below shows Percentage
of children aged 5 to 14 years engaged in child
labor (preventing children to go to school).
*Excludes China
ECEC: a universal reality or a market
affinity?
In different countries or organization several
programs variously known as crèches, nursery
schools, day care centers, kindergartens and
pre-schools, served children from three years
of age. In theory, each name connotes a
different target group and different content,
differentiated primarily by age. The first four
programs are usually designated for children
up to four years of age and are designed
to provide mainly custodial care. On the
other hand, pre-schools are usually meant
for children between four and five years of
age, and are more concerned with school
preparation. In practice, however, the name
most establishments go by has more to do with
marketing, with mixed age enrolment being
the norm. UNESCO (2006) observed that from
the late 1970s up to 2003, ECE as represented
by the above named categories, was largely
run by local authorities, private individuals,
non-governmental organizations, voluntary
organizations self-help groups, and religious
groups. So, there is lack of coordination in the
manner in which ECE programs are operating
especially in developing countries suggesting
that coordination and collaboration across
all levels and ministries in the government is
essential for a strong and cohesive ECE policy
and a shift from economic activity (business
making model) to education policy is needed.
Summary
Early childhood care and education has become
a subject of increasing public interest in a
great number of countries and among several
international organizations and foundations.
The subject is on the agenda not only of
many practitioners but also of economists,
politicians and other stakeholders. In the
developed countries, mid of 19th century,
the demand for ECEC has been driven by (1)
high and continued rising female labor force
participation rates and the need for childcare
while mothers carry out work outside the home
and (2) the recognition that a group experience
is valuable for its impact on the child’s overall
development and in preparing children for
primary school. In the developing countries,
driving factor in increasing the demand for
ECEC programs in many developing countries
is the evidence that these programs lead
to enhanced school performance including
better school attendance, lower rates of class
repetition, lower dropout rates, and stronger
literacy and numeracy skills. Participation also is
identified as the best investment for economic
growth, with the highest rate of return as a
cost effective route to poverty reduction. The
demand is also growing as more women are
moving away from working in the informal
sector (from agriculture to manufacturing and
services) and out of unpaid family work to
wage employment.
Overall; the major cross-national differences
have to do with such variables as: the
locus of policy-making authority (national,
state or province, or local); administrative
auspice (education, health, social welfare,
or a combination); age group served (infants
and toddlers; preschoolers); access and
percentage of age group covered; universal
or means tested; other eligibility criteria (poor;
with a single parent; with employed parents;
children with special needs); funding strategies
(government, national and international (NGOs),
employer, parents’ fees, combination); delivery
strategies (supply or demand); locus of care
(pre-primary-school; center; caregiver’s home;
in-own-home), primary caregiver (professional;
paraprofessional; relative; parent); and program
philosophy, as relevant (Kamerman, 2001).
Child development does not take place in
a vacuum. In any given country, the macro
context (that is, the economic, political,
and social context) affects the nature and
extent of social policies, which directly affect
children’s well-being, the type of programs
made available to young children and their
caregivers, and the organizations that operate
these. Simultaneously, the micro context—
the interaction between a child and her or his
primary caregiver during the early years - sets
a child on a trajectory that affects her or his
future development. In addition, the availability
of programs, services, and policies directed at
children, their caregivers, or both, affects this
interaction and trajectory. ECEC policies and
programs in Europe and the Anglo-American
countries evolved out of remarkably similar
historical streams: child protection; early
childhood education; services for children
with special needs; and services to facilitate
mothers’ labor force participation. Globally, the
major goals for practicing ECEC were identified
as: care for children while mothers work,
socialization, cognitive stimulation, intellectual
development and preparation for primary
school, overall child development.
Despite the world gross enrollment for ECE
is between 20 to 95%, there are still major
problems identified including: an inadequate
supply of places, located primarily in urban and
affluent communities , inadequate physical
facilities , unqualified and inadequately trained
teachers , inadequate to meet the needs
of working mothers insufficient places for
disadvantaged children and/or handicapped
children, fragmentation across government
ministries with policy making responsibility,
especially education, social welfare, and
health. With regard to financing and resourcing,
ECEC programs may be publicly funded and
delivered (e.g Nordic countries) publicly funded
and privately delivered (e.g the Netherlands
and Germany), or include a combination of
publicly-funded and delivered, publicly-funded
and privately delivered, and privately funded
and delivered programs as in many of the less
developed countries such as Brazil as well
as most of Africa, for example. They may be
free, in particular those programs delivered
under education auspices, or they may charge
income-related fees; but in almost all of Europe
they are heavily subsidized by government.
Lessons: unstandardized world, open
system, unregulated provision, mixed up
policy priorities and outcomes
Today; governments around the world are
giving emphasis that access to universally
available, high quality inclusive ECEC services
is beneficial for all. It not only helps children to
unlock their potential(for the physical, motor,
health, nutritional, intellectual, aesthetic,
emotional and social development of the pre-
school child) but can also contribute to engaging
parents and other family members with related
measures to improve employment, job-related
training, parent education, and leisure-time
activities Apart from their critical contribution
to cognitive stimulation, socialization, child
development, and early education, they are an
essential service for employed parents .
Developing countries ECE performance is
below world average which is around 50%.
If the countries of developing countries are
to successfully expand coverage of existing
programs, they need corresponding national
policies specifically apply comprehensive
approaches which are by definition
multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral policy
areas that affect young children, such as
health, nutrition, education, water, hygiene,
sanitation, and legal protection. In other words;
the holistic nature of child development in the
early years, require attention to facilitating very
different stages of growth and parent needs
across development period (e.g., before birth;
during the prenatal period; during infancy and
toddlerhood; and preprimary age). Whether
comprehensive services across sectors
are literally provided in a single program or
coordinated across sector--specific programs,
varies a great deal across countries. There
are relatively few controlled studies of ECCE
with and without added services to permit
conclusions regarding the added impact of
specific non--‐ education services in areas of
health, nutrition and social protection. In LAMI
country contexts, there is a mixed pattern of
results in combining nutrition services with
broader child development services.
Drawing lessons that have consistently
produced positive impacts on social, physical,
intellectual, emotional and creative abilities of
early children, there is a long way to go that
Ethiopia commits to do including : supply
of highly skilled teachers; small class sizes
and high adult-to-child ratios; age-appropriate
curricula and stimulating materials in a safe
physical setting; a language-rich environment;
warm, responsive interactions between staff
and children; and high and consistent levels of
child participation. Moreover; the importance of
a solid foundation in education is obvious. Early
childhood education is where the foundation
is laid. Poor performance in the other levels
of academic can be traced to this foundation
level. So a thorough knowledge of what and
how education has been handled at this level
is imperative. It is a worthwhile step in the
right direction for the Ethiopian government
to have agreed to have full participation in
the education of early childhood education as
education is the only legacy that can be given to
set them on the road to optimal development.
To ensure an effective implementation of early
childhood education in, training and retraining
of caregivers/teachers should be made a vital
part of the education process. In a number of
developing countries, provisions for educating
young children are becoming a growing priority.
But the continuing challenge is to finance,
organize and regulate those well-meaning
intentions. Much of the child care sector is
private and unregulated, with staff training and
pedagogical programming being particularly
weak. And these issues are also issues of
Ethiopia to be reemphasized as a priority and
action areas
Comparatively, the history of ECEC programs
is a fascinating illustration of how policies and
programs can be transmitted across national
borders and even around the globe. With
similar roots in many countries, followed by
developments that were transmitted from
other countries that were exposed to the
work of pedagogic giants, one can see similar
policy and program initiatives emerging around
the world, over time. After all, this is how
social security expanded around the world,
and maternity leave policies, and compulsory
primary education. Here, of course, the
international organizations and their
conferences, seminars, expert meetings, and
reports provided opportunities for learning and
shared experiences. These went beyond what
was intended, culminating in the large shared
initiatives beginning in 1990. Wollons (2000)
reminds us in her study of the international
diffusion, politics, and transformation of the
kindergarten, countries have immense power
“to respond to and reformulate borrowed
ideas” and local cultures have similar power to
shape and adapt them further. In effect, that
is what this history is all about: the adoption
of an innovation in the field of education
that took two important functions related to
child development, childhood education and
childcare and socialization, borrowed them
from different sites, and set the foundation for
key initiatives around the world.
The overall conclusion was that preschool
education was a new field and that preschools
were expensive and generally less well
developed in the poor countries than the rich;
and often unequally developed within regions
and countries.

If you are thinking a year ahead, plant a seed. If

you are thinking a decade ahead, plant a tree. If
you are thinking a century ahead, educate the
people. (Chinese proverb)
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ECCE for Primary Schooling: Cases from
Selected Government and Private
Pre-Primary Schools in Addis Ababa
Fozya Tesfa
Abstract: Early childhood care and education
(ECCE) is the foundation for further learning
and career development. It is essential for
children’s intellectual, physical, social and
emotional developments. In this regard the
government of Ethiopia put much emphasis on
ECCE whereby both government and private
pre-primary schools have ushered expanded
access, while the functioning of those
providers seeks further investigation. Early
grade literacy reports show serious problems
forchildren to read and write. However, it is
advocated that if children are provided with
proper ECCE, their future learning will be
enhanced. The main objective of this study is
to analyze and compare the activities of pre-
primary children in pre-primary schools and
their semester aggregate average results to
explore preparedness of children that emerge
in terms of the developmental activities of
physical, intellectual, social and emotional
mediated by the functioning of the pre-primary
schools. The study was framed around the
question: ‘How do government and privately
owned selected pre-primary schools in Addis
Ababa function to prepare young children for
formal schooling?’ The association between
each of these developmental activities and their
predictor contribution towards preparedness of
children was investigated. A survey research
design was adopted for the study. Additionally,
data were gathered from documents as
secondary sources at the pre-primary
schools and data from children as theprimary
sources. Observation checklists were also
used to assess children’s performance and
activities in terms of their reading and writing
preparedness. Findings indicate that the
preparedness of the children is predicted by
their physical and intellectual development,
while social and emotional development
also played less significant roles. Variations
between the functions of government and
private pre-primary schools were also observed
between schools, providers and sex of the
children. Hence, the study recommended
that pre-primary schools give greater attention
to all developmental activities, and develop
school supervision and inspection policies and
guidelines.Finally, integration of all variables for
holistic child development was recommended.
Key words: Early childhood care and education,
Government Pre-primary School, Private Pre-
primary School, Child preparedness
Introduction
Education at different levels contributes to
individual, societal, and countries’ development
and the foundation for all these development
lies on early childhood care and education
(ECCE). At this stage enhancing overall
development of a child that includes health,
physical, intellectual (cognitive), social and
emotional development and dissemination to
the societal norms, culture, etc., is useful. To
this effect, strengthening Early Childhood Care
and Education (ECCE) is vital.
ECCE refers to a range of processes and
mechanisms that sustain and support
development during the early years of life:
it encompasses education, physical, social
and emotional care, intellectual stimulation,
health care and nutrition that supports family
and community to promote children’s healthy
development (UNESCO and UNICEF, 2012, p. 4).
It has substantive short- and long-term effects
on cognitive, social, emotional development,
and school progress… (Barnett, 2011, p. 997).
In addition to this, many authors agree that it is
a means to support children’s survival, growth,
development and learning - including health,
nutrition, hygiene, cognitive, social, physical
and emotional development- from birth to the
time of entry into primary school in formal,
informal and non-formal settings (Tefera, 2009;
UNESCO/IICBA, 2010; UNESCO, 2006; and
Young lives, 2013).
ECCE is considered as a pathway for future
career development in developed and
developing countries, as well. To this end,
Barnett (2011) indicates that early educational
intervention can improve the development and
adult success of disadvantaged children in
the developing world as well as in advanced
economies (p.997). Although Barnett claimed
this for disadvantaged children, I assume the
case is true for all children as foundational
competence and capability is a means for
future success for anybody.
Pre-school or pre-primary education is a major
portion of ECCE (UNESCO and UNICEF, 2012,
p. 6). ECCE is to be implemented through
different arrangements and types of programs.
ECCE programs encompass very diverse
arrangements, from parenting programs to
community-based child care, center-based
provision and formal pre-primary education,
often in schools (UNESCO, 2006, p. 3).
In the Ethiopian context, according to the
National Policy Framework for ECCE in Ethiopia,
the basic pillars for ECCE service delivery
include Parental Education, Health and Early
Stimulation Program (Parental to 3+ years),
Preschools (4 to 6+ years), and Community-
based Non-formal school readiness (MoE,
MoH, and MoWA 2010a, p. 22).
Despite the limitations, this program of
education has its own curriculum, but teacher’s
lack proper training, appropriate administrative
staff, and school compounds. The Government
and Ministry of Education are being involved
in developing curriculum, training of teachers,
and providing supervisory support for all
pre-primary education providers. In addition
preschool education these days becomes
part of the regular school activity, especially
in government owned schools in rural areas.
There is also concern on the regularity of
curriculum use by those varying organizations
involved in pre-primary education. As a
consequence, thus varying organizations might
vary in implementing preschool education that
has been guided with the same policy and
guideline. Thus, the implementation practice
among different providers of the service is
worth of investigation. To this end it is timely
to study the practice and functions of ECCE
among different providers.
To this end, this study addresses the following
question.
• How do government and privately owned
pre-primary schools in selected areas in
Addis Ababa function to prepare young
children for formal schooling?
Objectives
This study was intended to examine the status
of ECCE children in selected schools in Addis
Ababa by comparing government and private
ECCE providers.
Delimitation
ECCE has four basic pillars (parental education,
health and early stimulation program,
preschools, and community-based non-formal
school readiness) according to the National
Policy Framework for ECCE in Ethiopia. Due to
manageability issues this study was delimited
to the third pillar, Preschools/Kindergartens.
ECCE is being implemented throughout Addis
Ababa. Since Addis Ababa is a capital city,
most of the pre-primary schools are found
in Addis Ababa with diversified providers. To
make a comparison between different ECCE
providers, this study groupedthe sample of
providers into two as government and private.
Early childhood care and education
(ECCE)
Early childhood care and education (ECCE)
is a vibrant incidence of child to develop
a child’s intellectual, physical, social, and
emotional development. As it is indicated by
different authors, it has a positive result on
child development at early and later stage
and it brings together a range of processes
and mechanisms that sustain and support
development during the early years of life: it
encompasses education, physical, social and
emotional care, intellectual stimulation, health
care and nutrition provided, since it depends
on the quality of the processes taking place in
a pre-primary school (UNESCO and UNICEF,
2012; Neuman and Roskos, 2005). Research
evidence also shows that early childhood is a
critical phase for human development, and that
access to high-quality early childhood care and
education can improve children’s nutritional,
health and education outcomes (Young Lives,
2010, p. 1). In addition, Young Lives study
indicate that the early years of life are critical for
the acquisition of concepts, skills and attitudes
that lay the foundation for lifelong learning
(Young lives, 2013, p. 2). It is also primarily
designed for children aged 3–6 years as an
introduction to a school-type environment, to
provide a bridge between home and school
(ILO, 2012, p. 2).
Importance of ECCE
The importance of ECCE has been portrayed
by several researchers and organizations. As
described by ILO, ECCE is important in that
investing in young children is both the right
and the smart thing to do; and learning begins
before a child first walks into a classroom, and
so can lifetime advantages and disadvantages
(ILO, 2012, p.5). Haquel, et al (2013) in his
turn indicates that pre-primary education
would ensure a smooth transition to the
primary education and lay the foundation for
lifelong learning (p. 31). In the same vein, the
International Labor Organization (ILO) report
prepared for discussion at the Global Dialogue
Forum on Conditions of Personnel in Early
Childhood Education indicates that,
pre-primary education programs are
primarily designed for children aged 3–6
years as an introduction to a school-
type environment, to provide a bridge
between home and school and are
variously referred to as infant, nursery or
preschool education (the most commonly
used term by countries), kindergarten or
early childhood education (ILO, 2012).
Various researchers concluded that pupils who
had pre-primary education perform better in
their cognitive development, motor-skills, and
social skills than pupils who did not attend
preprimary education (Barnett et al., 2005;
Burchinal et al. 2008; Campbell et al., 2012;
Clifford et al., 2005; Osakwe, 2009;Young
lives, 2013), lasting effects on their academic
achievement, social development, and
behavioral competencies (Campbell & Ramey,
1994; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 1999; La Paro,
Pianta, and Stuhiman, 2004; Downer and
Pianta, 2006; Miles and Stipek, 2006). On
top of what has been declared above, early
childhood care and education (ECCE) programs
not only benefit children and families, they also
have the potential to reduce social inequality,
and benefit communities and societies at large
(Young lives, 2013, p. 1).
All in all, ECCE has countless benefits for a child
throughout his/her life that can help him/her
in many regards. ECCE is being a foundation
for prosperity in addition to it is a right to have
education and care at early stage. Before
children enter elementary school, they must
develop many linguistic and cognitive skills
that will make later academic learning possible
(National Institute for Literacy, 2008, p. xiv).
ECCE has been declared to be important for
child development in cognitive, non-cognitive
skills, social, and emotional development.
Since acquiring non-cognitive skills (such as
motivation and the ability to interact with
others) in the early years is essential for future
learning and successful social engagement, the
content of the ECE curriculum and the teacher
education that helps to implement it should
extend to a range of non-cognitive aspects (ILO,
2012, p. 36). This is so because, the quality
of early childhood education, broadly defined,
has an effect on children’s emotional, social,
physical and cognitive development (Smith, et
al, 2000, p. 75) and is designed to investigate
and assist the mental, physical, emotional,
linguistic, and also social upbringing (Bibi & Ali,
2012, p. 152-153).
In any analysis of child development, the
multidimensional view of the various
developmental processes must be considered.
Child development therefore must incorporate
a combination of physical, cognitive, social and
emotional development;
• A physical dimension which refers to a
child’s environment;
• A cognitive dimension which refers to a
child’s ability to think and understand;
• An emotional dimension which refers to
 a child’s ability to relate to and socialize classroom-based literacy thus must involve far
within its surroundings; and more than passively encoding text, but rather
• A social dimension which refers to a child’s the development of literate skills of thinking,
interactions within society such as social interpretation, and analysis. It involves
networks in the community and social forming new types of relationships between
relations within the family. students and teachers, with students working
in critical collaborative inquiry with other and
Physical development assisted by the teacher (Warschauer, 1997). In
addition, the importance of numeracy in the
Physical development is the process that
early years cannot be underestimated (Doig,
starts in human infancy and continues into
McCrae, and Rowe, 2003, p. 5) as Numeracy,
late adolescent concentrating on gross and
like other cognitive skills, develops through
fine motor skills as well as puberty. Physical
concentration, problem-solving, creativity,
development involves developing control
imagination, exploration, investigation,
over the body, particularly muscles and
understanding cause and effect, language and
physical coordination (Thomas, 2013). This
concept formation (Doig, McCrae, and Rowe,
development provides children with the
2003, p. 18).
abilities they need to explore and interact with
the world around them (Brotherson, 2006, p.
Early literacy plays a key role in enabling the
1). Physical development includes the ability to
kind of early learning experiences that research
differentiate and take care of the body parts,
shows are linked with academic achievement,
use sense organs, take proper care for proper
reduced grade retention, higher graduation
physical development and fitness, and practice
rates and enhanced productivity in adult life
health care mechanisms (MoE, 2009, p. 7).
(Strickland and Riley-Ayers, 2006, p. 1). The
Intellectual development authors further reiterated that making sense
of print involves awareness and understanding
According to Buman (2006), intellectual of environmental print and an understanding of
development is learning the skills of concepts of print, such as where to begin to
understanding, memory and concentration read a book or a page and in what direction to
(p.2). He also further states that intellectual read (Strickland, and Riley-Ayers, 2006, p. 6)
development is about how children learn, think
Early understanding of mathematics concepts
and develop ideas and it is one of the areas
during preschool is similarly important. In
of development that is strongly influenced by
addition to early language, literacy, and
the experience a child has (Buman, 2006, p.
mathematical knowledge, children’s behavior
18). To help them develop such an intellect
(including early social skills) has also been
various scholars have proposed varying
associated with both early and later school
views. Vygotsky, for example argued that
success (Downer and Pianta 2006; Miles and
the progress in concept formation by a child
Stipek 2006; Preschool Curriculum Evaluation
achieved in cooperation with an adult would
Research Consortium, 2008)
be a much more sensitive gauge of the child’s
intellectual abilities (Vygotsky, 1986, p. xxxv).
In the same vein, as means to enhance
Others declared that children who begin
intellectual ability the Ethiopian ECCE syllabus
formal schooling with strong emergent literacy
expand its activities that include uses of
skills learn to read earlier and develop better
language properly, listens to evidences, use
reading skills, thus providing a foundation
of mathematical operations in day to day
for later academic competence (Downer
activities, communicating through meaningful
and Pianta 2006; Princiotta, Flanagan, and
speech in different conditions, understanding
Germino-Hausken 2006; Preschool Curriculum
the concept of movement, experimenting the
Evaluation Research Consortium, 2008). In the
prosperities of equipment’s, and understanding
same vein, Warschauer (1997) indicates that
the concepts of time and place, use or measure
of imagination and creativity, and enjoy by
referring books (MoE, 2009, p. 7).
Social development
Socially competent children are more
academically successful and poor social skills
are a strong predictor of academic failure
(Webster-Stratton and Reid, 2004, p. 96). Social
skills are one of the foundational skills children
need to develop either through their interaction
or through external conditions. For Vygotsky, the
conditioning of the human mind by social and
historical factors was reduced to the influence
of human culture on the individual (Vygotsky,
1978, p. xlvi) and social factors are shown as
an external force that enters the child’s mind
and dislodges the forms of thinking inherent in
the child’s intelligence (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 45).
Children’s development and learning should
be fostered through their interaction with
caring human beings in secured, nurturing and
stimulating environments (Nores & Barnett,
2010) depicting the role of social development.
French (2007) also stated that the child should
experience trust, autonomy, initiative, empathy
and self-confidence as the foundation for
socialization. The formation of attachment is
especially important for the young child’s social
development (p.10).
According to Smith, social skills that have been
identified as essential for academic success
include: getting along with others (parents,
teachers, and peers), following directions,
identifying and regulating one’s emotions and
behavior, thinking of appropriate solutions to
conflict, persisting on task, engaging in social
conversation and cooperative play, correctly
interpreting other’s behavior and emotions,
feeling good about oneself and others (Smith,
2010, pp. 1-2).
It was also indicated on the Ethiopian ECCE
Syllabus that social development includes,
helping others and sharing resources,
developing interest to know and differentiate
their community, creating positive relationship
with others, through interaction understand and
recognize their environment appropriately, and
assess and understand their local environment
(MoE, 2009, p. 7).
Emotional Development
The ability of young children to manage
their emotions and behaviors and to make
meaningful friendships is an important
prerequisite for school readiness and academic
success (Webster-Stratton and Reid, 2004, p.
96). Evidence demonstrates that children learn
best when communication meets their specific
developmental age, needs, and interests.
Good-quality, effective communication begins
with understanding the basic principles of
child development and applying them in a
manner that nurtures children’s development
and learning, such as using age-appropriate
storylines, characters, and contents, and
ensuring that materials are enjoyable and fun,
that make children feel valued and loved, even
when topics are sensitive (e.g. illness, fears, or
emergencies) (Britto, Engle, and Super, 2013,
p. 337).
In the Ethiopian context, emotional
development as indicated on ECCE syllabus
means, the ability of children to express
their feelings and share the feeling of others,
develop self-confidence, value oneself, and
enjoy/ express ones’ feeling through play or
drawing pictures (MoE, 2009, p. 7).
Provision of ECCE
ECCE service is provided by different providers.
While in some countries the provision is more
of non-public, private or organizations, in some
countries the provision is led by the government.
In Europe, the large share for this service
provision is taken by government (European
Commission, 2009, p. 21). The reasons for the
provision of ECCE vary from country to another
country. Amongst the immediate factors
turning governmental attention to ECCE issues
in Europe (for example) are:
the wish to increase women’s labor
market participation; to reconcile work
and family responsibilities on a basis
more equitable to women; to confront
demographic changes … (in particular
 falling fertility rates and the general ageing
of populations); and the need to address
issues of child poverty and educational
disadvantage (European Commission,
2009, p. 21).
This is because economic prosperity depends
on maintaining a high employment/ population
ratio, and the wish to bring more women
into the labor market has been a key driver
of government interest in expanding ECEC
services (OECD, 2006, p. 12).
Likewise, the provision of ECCE in some
countries especially developing countries tend
to be private or non-government organizations.
As reported in the global monitoring report
(2013/14) in Arab states the highest share of
private provision with more than two-thirds
of total enrolment was in private pre-schools
(UNESCO, 2014a). In most African countries
ECCE services are often provided by private
sector operatives (UNESCO-IICBA, 2010). It is
estimated that less than 12% of Africa’s 4-6
year olds were enrolled in any form of ECCE,
which in many countries is provided through
a combination of NGO and church-based
initiatives, plus a growing private sector (Britto,
Engle, and Super, 2013, p. 316). Though ECCE
is provided by NGOs, faith based organizations,
private profit making firms, and the government;
these are generally classified as government
and private (where private includes all those
that are non-government). The types of
ECCE providers in the Ethiopian context are
presented in the following subsection.
Types of ECCE providers in Ethiopia
Ethiopia as a sub-Saharan country is
characterized to be developing. As outlined
above in such developing countries, the pre-
primary schools are largely provided by non-
government actors. According to the ministry
of education of Ethiopia, the providers of
ECCE in Ethiopia include: Private schools
that are fee paying and are mostly located in
urban areas; Community schools that are run
by non-governmental providers; NGO schools
that charge low or no fees because they target
poor communities; and Formal church schools
are provided by churches (MoE, 2010d: 3); and
Informal religious schools, colloquially known
as priest schools offered by churches (Orkin, et
al, 2012, p. 25).
Based on the national policy framework for
ECCE and the strategic operational plan and
guideline for ECCE the providers of ECCE in
Ethiopia are also described as community
based, private, NGO, etc., (MoE, et al., 2010b).
Children preparedness
Children who have participated in quality ECCE
exhibit tremendous gains in their overall social,
cognitive and intellectual development. Quality
ECEC benefits allchildren and socializes them
for starting school (European Commission,
2009, p. 7). School preparedness should be
a major priority for all ECCE providers so
that all young children receive the essential
transactions and the learning opportunities
vital for their brain development and success in
school (Ramey, and Ramey, 2004, p. 488-489).
Children’s preparedness through early learning
is widely considered a foundation for success
in subsequent school years. The Young Lives
research shows that there is often very limited
focus on supporting children’s transition from
pre-school into primary, with the burden of
adaptation falling on children themselves
(Young Lives, 2010, p. 3).
School preparedness is considered as one goal
for ECCE services for children who are going to
primary school (Kamerman, 2000, p. 19). Pre-
primary goals have been broadened to include
socialization and enhancing development in
addition to cognitive stimulation and preparing
children for primary school (Kamerman, 2000, p.
27). This reaffirms that ECCE service provision
should be inclusive where we can include other
development activities other than intellectual
development.
Often, governments focus on easy-to-measure
indicators of structural quality: A child who
fails to acquire early education may suffer
emotionally, socially, intellectually and even
physically if he is trusted into the primary
school without a sustainable early childhood
education experience that will give him a solid
foundation in the primary school (ILO, 2012, p.
28-29). Therefore for the effective and efficient
unlocking and development of a child’s latent
abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior
of positive values in the society in which he
lives, early childhood education becomes very
imminent (Osakwe, 2009, p. 143).
Preparedness encompasses a multitude of
components where readiness assessments
generally focus on measuring and predicting
children’s pre-academic skills and behaviors
and are often the basis for placement and
programming decisions (La Paro and Pianta,
2000, p. 443). In addition, early childhood
professionals have long recognized the
importance of language and literacy in
preparing children to succeed in schools that
are linked with academic achievement, reduced
grade retention, higher graduation rates and
enhanced productivity in adult life (Strickland,
and Riley-Ayers, 2006, p. 1).
The theory that this study used for studying
ECCE is sociocultural approach backed up with
practical action provoked by realism – since
what happens at a space of time is considered
in this study. The approach to this study
was developed based on the Lev Vygotsky’s
socio-cultural theory which emphasizes the
interdependence of social and individual
processes in the production of children’s
knowledge. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
also suggests that development depends on
interaction with people and the tools that the
culture provides and activities take place in
cultural contexts to help form their own view
of the world (Vygotsky, 1978).

Preparation for Primary Education

Syllabi
Teaching-Learning

Pre-Primary Developmental Activities

Context in Pre-Primary Schools

(Government and Private)

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework for the Study

As applied to my study, this theory holds since
I would expect my predictor variables to be the
setting (government and private pre-primary
schools); child development in terms of early
literacy and numeracy (Pre-reading, pre-writing,
pre-counting, pre-arithmetic), child’s social and
emotional development, teaching learning
approach, and selection and implementation
of syllabi to influence or explain the predicted
variable, children’s preparation and readiness
for formal or primary schooling. Socio-
cultural frameworks according to Nasrin and
Hand (2006), assume that social and cultural
processes are central to learning and argue
for the importance of local activity settings
in children’s learning (p. 450). When children
are in different settings, it is mandatory to
observe on how the teaching learning process
is allowing them to practice, in order to
achieve the intended outcomes stated in the
curricular framework. From this perspective,
understanding learning requires a focus on the
extent to which and how individuals participate
in particular activities, and how they draw on
artifacts, tools, and social others to solve local
problems (Nasir and Hand, 2006, p. 450).
Research Design and Method
A research design according to Yin (2002), is
the logic that links the data to be collected to
the initial questions of study and ultimately,
to its conclusion by collecting and analyzing
relevant data (p. 19). Yin (2002) also states that
case studies can include and even be limited
to quantitative evidence (p.14). The quantitative
method used here involvedan exploratory
survey approachwith collection of information
from a sample of individuals (children) through
their responses to questions or observed
actions. To this effect surveys are efficient in that
many variables can be measured at a specific
time. Fink (2013) state that surveys are used to
collect information or about people to describe,
compare, or explain their knowledge, feelings,
values, and behavior. Thus addressing variables
as intellectual, physical, social and emotional
developments measured in some quantitative
scales, their state in terms of ECCE providers
and their contribution towards preparedness
of children were treated quantitatively.
Sources of Data
To achieve the goals of the study, data from
primary and secondary sources were collected.
Primary data were collected from children
whereas secondary data were collected from
semester aggregate average of students. Data
was was also gathered from school records
as it is felt that they represent the totality
of child preparedness mediated with all the
development activities that were collected
through continuous assessment tools.
Population, sample and sampling technique
Population
The population of this study encompasses
all pre-primary schools and all their teachers
and children found in Addis Ababa city
administration. The schools are owned by
government and private providers. It also
focuses to include all the teachers at the pre-
primary schools, children who are enrolled
in pre-primary education in government and
private pre-primary schools in
Addis Ababa.
The pre-primary schools available in Addis
Ababa that were considered as population
frame in the study are presented in table 1.
 economy of time, and better organization of the
Sub-city Number Of Total
Pre-primary work (Lavrakas, 2008, p. 783). In this particular
schools study multistage sampling was used where in
Government Private
the first stage sub-cities were selected using
simple random sampling. This was made based
Arada 15 44 59 on the assumption that in each sub-city there
Bole 15 136 151 are both government and private pre-primary
schools and this gave the chance of utilizing
Gulele 19 49 68
equally likely opportunity of selecting the sub-
Nefas-Silk Lafto 17 191 208 cities. In the second stage pre-primary schools
were selected in each of the selected sub-cities
Yeka 27 145 172
using cluster random sampling technique by
Kolfe-Keraneo 14 172 186 using provider type (government and private)
Addis Ketema 16 30 46
as clusters. In each school the provision of pre-
primary schools levels were structured in three
Akaki-Kality 19 91 110 namely nursery, kindergarten level 1 (KG1),
Lideta 15 23 38 and kindergarten level 2 (KG2) where the
students in KG2 are the ones to start primary
Kirkos 18 35 53 education after completion of this level. With
Total 175 916 1091 this understanding, once the schools were
selected, all the children at the upper level of
Table 1: Pre-primary schools in Addis Ababa pre-primary education in the selected school
Source: Addis Ababa Bureau of Education Statistics Annual were included. This brought variation in the
Abstract, 2011/12 Subjects of the Study number of students, but was feasible to assess
their preparedness for primary education in the
Addis Ababa City Administration was selected
processes of their intellectual, physical, social
as a research site for this study. From the
and emotional development.
aforementioned 1091 total pre-primary schools
clustered within the ten sub-cities in Addis Sub-city Provider Name of Pre-school Selected
School student size Sample
Ababa City Administration, three sub-cities
Gulele Government Honor 98 33
were considered to represent the sub-cities. In
Private Right 57 17
addition within each sub-city two schools one
from the government pre-primary schools and Yeka Government Crescent 95 37

one from the private pre-primary schools were Private Selam 263 48
chosen as subjects of the study. All school Kolfe- Government Sunshine 295 56
names are pseudonyms. Keraneo
Private Success 332 32
In addition the following major items: Total 6 1140 223
intellectual, physical, social and emotional
developments of the children which are Data collection techniques and
assumed to establish the foundation for instruments
preparedness to primary education, and the
semester aggregate average as totality of child In order to collect relevant and informative
preparedness were considered as variables data appropriate data collection instrument
and outcomes of the study. needs to be utilized. In this study informants
are children at upper pre-primary level as a
Sampling Technique subjects of the study who must be approached
in a systematic way to collect data from.
Sampling is a key issue in social research Observation checklist was used to gather
designs. The advantages of sampling are data related to development activities of a
evident: feasibility of the research, lower costs,
child in terms of intellectual, physical, social
and emotional developments. It was meant to
help observe children in the natural setting by
targeting the variables of interest.
In order to conduct the study the instrument
was initially designed and developed based
on available literature and the ECCE national
framework for Ethiopia to back-up the construct
validity. After developing the instrument they
were given to experts who have done their
research on ECCEand colleagues to offer a
critique of the developed instrument for face
and content validity analysis. Based on the
comments availed by those readers some
revisions were made that included rewording,
changing the order of questions and deleting
items, and two new items were included.
Finally, the instrument was reviewed, modified,
and rewritten to come-up with workable tool
ready for data collection.
Participant observation
To assess how children were prepared for the
primary education, children were assessed
by exposing them to different activities and
indicators prepared by researcher. Such
activities were designed to assess whether
a child was prepared for primary education
in all dimensions of development mentioned
previously. These activities were designed in
a form of preparedness checklist for each of
the themes of development using a 1 to 5
rating scale where 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 =
fair, 4 = good, and 5 = very good. In addition
semester aggregate average of each child was
also extracted from school records – the totality
of semester based score of a child- to relate
and regress with the results of the observation
checklist.
Reliability and validity of the data
The instrument used for this study is
preparedness checklist. When designing such
instrument for research addressing the issues
of reliability and validity are essential. The issue
of validity and reliability could be addressed
by using different mechanisms. Initially the
designed instrument was edited and checked
for clarity, language and representativeness.
As piloting have several functions, principally to
increase the reliability, validity and practicability
of the instrument (Cohen, Manion, and
Morrison, 2011, p. 402). The instrument was
piloted in two pre-primary schools. Based on
the results of the pilot necessary amendments
and modifications were made.
For the five points rating scale preparedness
checklist data were collected from 26 students
at Sena pre-primary school and Nora pre-
primary school. To check its reliability Cronbach
alpha was conducted that revealed a value
of 0.82 for the aggregate data from the two
schools which is above the heuristic value of
0.7. These approaches justified that the scores
from the designed instrument were reliable
with sufficient internal consistency (Morgan,
Leech, Gloeckner & Barrett, 2004).
Though validity might be improved through
careful sampling, appropriate instrumentation
and appropriate statistical treatments of the
data (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2007),
given the sampling approach used for this
particular research, validity issues have been
given due emphasis for the instruments
through construct validity, face validity and
content validity.
The issue of construct validity has been
addressed through support of literature review
for making the design of the instrument. The
deployment of the ECCE national framework
and the curriculum for ECCE with explicit
variables has assisted to ensure construct
validity.
The issues of face and content validity are
important while undertaking such a study.
Cohen, Manion and Morrison, (2007) stated
that instrument must show that it fairly and
comprehensively covers the domain or items
that it purports to cover (Cohen, Manion and
Morrison, 2007). To this end with the view
of ensuring face and content validity, expert
opinion was collected and face and content
validity was ensured through comments and
critiques of experts, and colleagues.
Data collection procedures
The preparedness of the children for primary
school was collected supported by the
preparedness checklist during and their
semester aggregate averages were collected
from the school records that represent the
totality of child preparedness mediated with
all the developmental activities that were
collected through continuous assessment
tools by their teachers.
Method of data analysis
Since the nature of the data expected from
the study is quantitative, this study requires
the use of quantitative analyses that included
descriptive, correlational and regression
analysis and comparison analysis such as
independent t-test and ANOVA. This was done
with the intent to compare the functions and
realities of each of the development activities,
and overall preparedness of children with
Results (descriptive statistics)
Background Information
In this sub-section background, research
target areas and related characteristics of
respondents is presented which is vital in
contextualizing the study and manifesting
the proper representation of study sites, and
related characteristics of the participants. In this
particular study six schools (three from private
and three from government school categories)
have participated as research sites from which
sample children were considered as targets
for the study. In this part details of background
of each school and participating children are
presented. The following table presents the
schools that participated in this study, their
sub-cities and the number of respondents who
participated in the study.
Sub-city School School No. of children Percentage
category sampled of children
sampled

respect to schools, providers, and sex. At Yeka Private Selam 48 21.5

Government Crescent 37 16.6
the level of each analysis interpretation and
Kolfe- Private Success 32 14.3
discussion was provided for case dependent Keraneo
and across cases extractions. Government Sunshine 56 25.1
Gulele Private Right 17 7.6

Ethical considerations Government Honor 33 14.8

It is mandatory to gain access to and
acceptance in the research setting from
concerned officials by using a formal letter,
which informed about the purpose of the
research, expected durations and procedures.
Moreover, there was communication with
all parents and school officialsthat it is their
rights to decline to participate and to withdraw
from the research once they started and the
opportunity for the provision of research results
was also attested. Children were verbally
informed about the study and that they could
withdraw from participating if they wished.
Consent forms were presented to both the
school and parents to get their permission
for their children to be included in the study.
During analysis anonymity of respondents and
schools was met.
Total 223 100.0
Table 3: Participants of the study
In Addis Ababa City Administration there are
ten sub-cities each of which was given equal
chance of being selected from which three
were selected randomly. The schools in each of
the selected sub-cities were also given equal
chance through stratified random sampling
where category of schools was considered
as strata with in each sub-city. While schools
were given equal chance of being selected
the children available in the selected schools
who are at the upper kindergarten were used
as targets through availability sampling. As
the schools do not have the same number of
children, all the children found in the selected
pre-primary school who are at their final year
of pre-school were sampled as available.
 School Frequency Percent Mean of five point SD
scale measuring
Category child preparedness
Private 97 43.5 3.96 .1356

Government 126 56.5 3.34 .2040

Total 223 100.0

Table 4: Description of participant children by school category

Table 4 shows the descriptive statistic for each of the school category considered in this study. This
also helps to conduct comparison between school categories.

Equally, as the development activities considered in this study (physical, intellectual, social and
emotional) are subject to context, culture and practices through the creation of enabling environment
checking the preparedness of children with respect to sex is valid. Accordingly, Table 4.3 presents
the description of participants by their sex.

Sex Number of Children Percent Mean of five point scale SD

measuring child preparedness

Male 103 46.2 3.61 .34001

Female 120 53.8 3.61 .37297

Total 223 100.0

Total 223 100.0

Since Ethiopia is a cultured nation, and sending children to school was subject to sex difference for
many years whereby gender parity index is still below 1.0 but as reported by the ministry of education
close to 0.94 (MoE, 2010) addressing the variable sex in this study was essential. Accordingly, Table
4.3 presents the representation of children by sex which depicts that both sexes were considered
sufficiently in this study. This depicts that the issue of variability with respect to sex is useful and its
further analysis is treated in subsequent sections.

Strickland, and Riley-Ayers indicate that all of the domains of a child’s development: physical, social,
emotional, and intellectual—are interrelated and interdependent (Strickland, and Riley-Ayers, 2006,
p. 1). Preparedness of children is subject to the totality of the variables considered in Table 4.4 their
interrelation and interdependence is presented in table 4.5 below. Because of this, the leading
variables in assessing child preparedness considered during this analysis were physical, intellectual,
social and emotional developments of a child and semester aggregate average (a totality of the
status of a child).
 Variable type of school N Mean SD Std. Error Mean
ownership
semester child average result Private 97 91.33 5.134 1.210
Government 126 72.11 17.115 4.034
Physical Development Private 97 3.6444 .21481 .05063
Government 126 3.4667 .34641 .08165
Intellectual Development Private 97 4.7063 .11462 .02702
Government 126 4.0317 .44386 .10462
Social Development Private 97 3.3889 .33060 .07792
Government 126 3.3519 .33496 .07895
Emotional Development Private 97 2.9394 .13592 .03204
Government 126 3.1768 .32476 .07655

Table 6: Description of variables of preparedness by School category (Government/Private) in

terms of semester aggregate average and mean of scales
Table 6 presents the description of the variables of child preparedness. In each category of the
descriptive statistics, the semester aggregate average score seems to be higher at the private
schools (M = 91.33) than the government schools (M = 72.11). To investigate whether this difference
is significant further statistical analysis is performed subsequently. In terms of the other variables,
it seems that the rating on intellectual development seems to be higher as compared with others
although the rating of the other variables is also largely above the median value three. Whether
these ratings justify that the focus of the rating is much on intellectual development needs further
investigation which will be treated later using test of comparison. The associations between the
variables that help predict their correlation and accumulated effect on student preparedness are also
treated subsequently. A possible general explanation for each of the ratings and variations by school
category and other related further comparisons and inferential statistics are presented in following
discussions.

Correlational analysis and interpretation

In order to investigate interrelation and interdependence of the variables of interest, correlation
analysis is conducted the result of which is presented below.

1 2 3 4 5 Mean SD
1. Physical Development -- .37* .33 -.33* .46** 3.84 .81
2. Intellectual Development -- .40* -.127 .88** 4.15 .62
3. Social Development -- .03 .33 3.27 .27
4. Emotional Development -- -.02 3.00 .31
5. Semester aggregate average -- 81.72 15.81
Table 7 shows that the association between each pair of the predictor variables of preparedness
of children. From the table physical development was positively and significantly correlated with
intellectual development where as its correlation with emotional development was significantly
correlated but negatively. The overall association of semester aggregate average was positive and
significant with physical development r (223) = .46, p< .01 and intellectual development r (223) =
.88, p< .01 which would be considered a large effect size according to Cohen (1988). This means
that children who have better physical and intellectual development were the ones who equally had
better semester aggregate average. Hence, addressing the physical and intellectual development
of children during their stay at pre-primary school would contribute better on their preparedness to
primary education. The account that comes due to each of the predictor variables, however, will be
treated in subsequent discussion following the multiple regression analysis.

Variables N Mean SD Skewness SE of Skeweness

Mean of all variables 223 3.6075 .35733 -.028 .163

Physical Development 223 3.8377 .80930 -.504 .163

Intellectual Development 223 4.1451 .61611 -.094 .163

Social Development 223 3.2646 .27243 .714 .163

Emotional Development 223 2.9947 .31005 -.544 .163

Valid N (list wise) 223

Table 8: Description of the variables for Normality

Before performing further inferential statistics it was essential to check some of the assumptions
for conducting comparative analysis and further inferential analysis. For this purpose the number of
subjects valid n (list wise = 223), the mean (or average) and the standard deviation for each variable
were computed. The skewness and the standard error of the skewness, which help to test the
normality of the data on each variable was also computed. From the output presented in Table 8
we see that all of the variables have skewness values between -1 and 1. Hence each of these
variables was assumed to fulfill the assumption of normality justifying the application of parametric
tests for inference. Following this description an attempt was made to compare if the observed
mean scores of the variables of interest were significantly different or not with respect to schools,
school category and sex. For these purposes independent samples t-test and one way ANOVA were
computed the result of which are presented below. In addition reliability of the scales for each of
the variables was calculated whereby alpha value of all the scales considered was found to be 0.85
which is acceptable according to what Leech, Barrett, and Morgan stated against the heuristic value
of 0.7 (Leech, Barrett, and Morgan, 2011).

Comparative analysis and interpretation

A one-way analysis between subjects, ANOVA, was conducted to compare the mean scores of
semester aggregate average, physical development, intellectual development, social development,
and emotional development with respect to schools.
 Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. η2
Semester aggregate Between Groups 3795.222 5 759.044 4.593 .003 .4336
average
Within Groups 4958.000 217 165.267

Total 8753.222 222

Physical Development Between Groups 1.486 5 .297 5.491 .001 .4779

Within Groups 1.623 217 .054

Total 3.109 222

Intellectual Development Between Groups 4.925 5 .985 10.772 .000 .6423

Within Groups 2.743 217 .091

Total 7.668 222

Social Development Between Groups 1.609 5 .322 4.452 .004 .4259

Within Groups 2.169 217 .072

Total 3.778 222

Emotional Development Between Groups 1.497 5 .299 8.041 .000 .5727

Within Groups 1.117 217 .037

Total 2.614 222

Table 9: Comparison of each variable by School

Table 9 depicts that there was statistically significant difference in all the variables with the effect
size for each component variable depicting large effect size. Post-hoc comparison using Tukey HSD
test was also conducted to further investigate pairwise comparisons of each school in terms of each
variable the result of which indicated as follows (Appendix for the Table of Tukey results). In terms
of physical development almost all the schools were pairwise statistically significantly different, but
school A was not significantly different with school C (p = .992), School B with School C (p = .385),
School D with School E (p = .989)... In terms of Intellectual development only school A with school
C (p = .437) and school B with school C (p = .161) were the only pairs that were not significantly
different. In terms of social development while school A with school E (p = 1.0) and school F (p =
.846), school B with school C (p = .133) and with school D (p = 951), and school E with school F (p =
.944) were not significantly different, all others were significantly different (p < .000). For emotional
development school A was significantly different from all the other schools (p < .000) but school B
was not significantly different with any other school except with school A.
The finding from this pairwise comparisons depict that physical development of children were found
to be significantly different except between schools A and C. Likewise, intellectual development
was also found to be significantly different by schools except for school C with those of A and B.
The cases of social and emotional development seem to be not addressed to bring about significant
differences among children. This quantitative analysis, however depicts that the physical development
and intellectual development as determinant factors with social and emotional development showing
non-significant difference. The Post-hoc Tukey HSD also demonstrated the same result with mean
difference positive against all the other five pre-primary schools.
It was also important to check if some of the differences observed were derived from school category;
related to ownership of schools. Thus further attempt was made to check if category of school
(government/private) has anything to do with such a difference. To investigate these differences
between private and government pre-primary schools an independent t-test was computed the
result of which is presented below.

Variable School Type N Mean SD T Df Sig. (2-tailed)

Semester aggregate average Private 97 91.33 5.13 4.564 20.03 .000

Government 126 72.11 17.12

Physical Development Private 97 3.64 .22 1.850 34 .073
Government 126 3.47 .35
Intellectual Development Private 97 4.71 .12 6.243 19.26 .000
Government 126 4.03 .44
Social Development Private 97 3.40 .33 .334 34 .741
Government 126 3.35 .34
Emotional Development Private 97 2.94 .14 -2.861 22.78 .009

Government 126 3.18 .33

Table 10: Comparison by school category (private/government)

Table 10 presents the results of an independent samples t-test and from this table one can observe
that there is statistically significant difference between private and government schools in terms of
semester aggregate average (t = 4.564, df = 20.03, p = .000), intellectual development (t = 6.243,
df = 19.26, p = .000) and that of emotional development (t = -2.861, df = 22.78, p = .009) where
the private schools manifested higher mean scores in terms of semester aggregate average in all
these cases (Mean = 91.33). In contrast, the government schools were found to have significantly
higher mean score on emotional development (Mean = 3.18) than that of private schools (2.94).
But, no significant difference was observed on physical and social development. The fact that the
private pre-primary schools had higher semester aggregate average and intellectual development
could be associated with some factors like fulfillment of other requirements which needs further
investigation. In contrast, the emotional development was found to be higher in the government
pre-primary schools. This could be the case because the children at the government pre-primary
schools are more of similar socio economic background while in the private it is common to have
a huge gap in the socio economic background. This, however, needs further investigation to make
things evidence based conjectures. As indicated by French the formation of attachment with adults
and between peers is especially important for the young child’s emotional and social development
to experience trust, autonomy, initiative, empathy and self-confidence as the foundation for
socialization (French, 2007, p. 10). But, whether the fact that the government schools had higher
mean score is associated with their attachment is still demanding further research. As stated by
UNESCO-IICBA, alphabet charts in the mother tongue can be used to represent vocabulary from
the environment of the child and this help (rather than hinder) the development of pre-reading
skills (UNESCO-IICBA, 2013, p. 91). Thus, the supply of sufficient materials might have contributed
better towards the intellectual development of the children at private pre-primary schools.
As there was a difference in terms of semester aggregate average, intellectual development and
emotional development between school categories, an attempt was made to investigate if there is
significant difference by sex. Sex difference in itself was also important in that the state of social
integration, emotions and other constructs are subject to sex category and the fact that Ethiopia
is a culture laden country the effect of which might be manifested at the schools. Aimed at this
purpose an independent t-test was computed.
 Sex N Mean SD t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Semester aggregate average Male 103 84.85 14.368 1.342 34 .189

Female 120 77.81 17.108

Physical Development Male 103 3.5300 .32783 -.570 34 .573
Female 120 3.5875 .26300
Intellectual Development Male 103 4.5179 .35818 2.159* 25.254 .041
Female 120 4.1830 .53131
Social Development Male 103 3.2722 .32137 -2.099 34 .043
Female 120 3.4931 .30353

Emotional Development Male 103 3.0773 .30119 .466 34 .644

Female 120 3.0341 .24138

* Equality of variance assumed only for intellectual development

Table 11: Comparison of the development activities by Sex

Table 11 reveals lack of statistically significant gender difference in terms of semester aggregate
average, physical development and emotional development (p > .005) between sexes. But, there
was significant gender difference in intellectual development (p = .041) where male children had
higher mean score, with effect size d = 1.5856 which is large effect and that of social development
(p = .043) where female children had higher mean score, with effect size d = 2.2708 which is large
effect. As stated in the ECCE syllabus of Ethiopia, children develop interest to know and differentiate
their community through interaction; understand and recognize their environment appropriately;
assess and understand their local environment; create positive relationship with others and helping
others; and sharing resources were the expected activities that a child should fulfill at the end of
ECCE in Ethiopia (MoE, 2009, p. 7). In terms of intellectual development, boys were found to have
higher mean score than girls. This seems to be different from the international researches, according
to which girls at early grades perform better than boys (Voyer and Voyer, 2014, p. 129). But, in the
Ethiopian context, these findings are supported by the results of national learning assessment
where achievement level of girls is lower than that of boys (MoE, 2010) of grade four. This requires
further in depth investigation, though.
From the presentation set forth, significance of differences were accounted to variability with
respect to schools, school categories and sexes, hence, there was an attempt made to unpack the
contribution of each of the predictor variables on semester aggregate average of children. To do
this, a multiple regression analysis was conducted whose result is presented in the following table
12
Aggregate mean score
Multiple R = .903 R2= .815
ANOVA Table

Sum of Squares Df Mean Squares F p

Regression 7130.260 4 1782.565 34.049 .000b
Residual 11413.172 218 52.354
Total 18543.432 222
Variables in the Equation
Variable R B SE Beta t p
(Constant) -101.569 25.612 -3.966 .000

Physical Development .459 12.223 4.806 .230 2.543 .016

Intellectual Development .876 28.598 2.965 .846 9.647 .000

Social Development .327 -4.237 4.207 -.088 -1.007 .322

Emotional Development -.023 9.538 4.816 .165 1.981 .057

Table 12: Regression analysis for child preparedness and components of the child development
variables (physical development, intellectual development, social development and emotional
development)
Standardized multiple regression was
conducted with child preparedness as the
dependent variable and components of the
child development (physical development,
intellectual development, social development
and emotional development) as predictor
variables to explicate the contribution of
each for the preparedness of a child. While
conducting these, the tolerance in each
predictor variable was more than .34 justifying
that multicollinearity was not a problem. Table
4.10 indicates that from the Omnibus test, the
multiple correlation R = .903 for regression was
statistically significant, F(4, 218) = 34.049, p <
.000, which would mean that the combination
of the child development components (physical
development, intellectual development, social
development and emotional development)
significantly predict the preparedness of a child
and that the regression model significantly
presents the relation. But, social and emotional
development does not contribute significantly.
The t-value, however, depicts that only the
subcomponents physical development and
intellectual development were the ones that
were significant in predicting the preparedness
of a child for further learning at primary schools.
From Table 4.10 one can also observe that
81.5% of the variance in child preparedness
can be predicted from the subcomponents
of physical and intellectual developments
which according to Cohn (1988) are medium
to large effect. The independent contribution
of physical development (10.56%), intellectual
development (74.11%), social development
(-2.88%) and that of emotional development
is (-.38%) were detected demonstrating that
the child preparedness is heavily determined
by the physical and intellectual development.
Although it seems little but the social and
emotional development activities performed in
the schools were found to negatively contribute
to the child preparedness. The observed
contribution of these two was however not
significant from the t-values declaring that
this happening could be by chance. One point
worth mentioning here is that although the
semester aggregate average is supposed to be
an overall demonstration of children readiness,
the pre-primary schools are heavily accounting
results based on the contributions of physical
and intellectual. Thus, much focus is needed
towards integrating the four developmental
activities to enhance the contribution of social
and emotional developments as well. As social
and emotional development of a child are also
related to home situations the involvement of
parents could account positively in this regard
which the pre-primary schools need to take
into account.
Thus, putting emphasis on the physical and
intellectual development of a child will be
important for ensuring children’s preparedness
as demonstrated to have positive contribution,
but equally there should also be an equally
important consideration of social and
emotional development activities that must
be corrected to enhance the contributions of
social and emotional development on child
preparedness. With this standing one can
conclude that ECCE in the observed schools
was not fully implemented as intended.
This goes in agreement with the UNESCO
report that states as ECCE demands multi
sectorial involvement since “existing levels
of integration, articulation and coordination of
services, institutional weaknesses and poor
operational frameworks limit the effectiveness
of ECCE program delivery” (UNESCO and
WCECCE, 2010b, p. 2).
Thus there is a need for coordinated effort to
ensure provision of quality ECCE. This was
supported by Kim and Umayahara who stated
“In order to provide holistic and inclusive ECCE
and reduce the existing marginalization of
inequity, coordination and partnerships among
different sectors and actors are essential”
(Kim, and Umayahara, 2010, p. 11).
From what has been discussed above, one
can see the following. The functioning of
ECCE to prepare children for primary school
differ between types of providers and the
level of preparedness among preschools
was found to be varying. The intellectual and
physical development activities were the ones
that gained emphasis on child preparedness
while the other important dimensions of
development – social and emotional - were
lacking emphasis. All in all as ECCE is a
foundation for further career, due emphasis
is essential on the functions of ECCE schools
which were found to be inconsistent, variable
and diverse in their approaches and emphasis.
Findings, Conclusion and
Recommendation
Findings
In an attempt to answer the research
question, quantitative data were collected
from primary and secondary sources by
using child preparedness checklist as primary
data collection tool and children’s semester
aggregate result record as secondary data.
Data were also analyzed quantitatively. From
the analyses and discussion described, the
following summary is explicated.
• The emotional development of children
at government pre-primary schools was
significantly higher than the children in
private pre-primary schools; while the
intellectual development had better mean
score at private owned pre-primary schools;
• There was no significant difference
observed between government and private
pre-primary schools in terms of physical
and social development;
• In each of the development activities,
schools were found to be significantly
different among each other;
• The association between physical
development and intellectual development
was positive and significant while
intellectual development was negatively
correlated with emotional development;
• With respect to gender comparison,
intellectual and social development were
found to be significantly higher for boys than
girls in intellectual development whereas
girls outsmart boys in social development;
but no difference was observed with
respect to sex in physical and emotional
development; and
• The overall preparedness of children in terms
of the developmental activities reveal that
only intellectual and physical development
were significantly contributing towards
semester aggregate average that stands
 out to represent child preparedness, while
social and emotional were not.
In general, it was found that the pre-primary
schools are not functioning properly to
ensure preparedness of children since the
significant predictors of child preparedness
were found to be only intellectual and physical
developments defying lack of social and
emotional developments which are critical
segments of child preparedness. It seems
that the focus was on intellectual and physical
development, demanding enhanced effort on
social and emotional development activities.
The variation between government and private
pre-primary schools was observed in terms
of the attention given to social and emotional
developments. Comparisons with respect
to providers, schools and sex also revealed
that all schools were found to be significantly
different in each of the development activities.
While with respect to providers, significant
difference was observed only in intellectual
and emotional development, where private had
better mean score in intellectual development
the government ones had better mean score in
emotional development. The comparison with
respect to sex also revealed that there was
significant difference in terms of intellectual
and social development.
Conclusion
From the attempts elaborated above and the
findings outlined earlier, the following points of
conclusions were stated.
• The emotional development of children
at government pre-primary schools was
significantly higher than the private
schools. Therefore, proportionate teaching-
learning practices needs to be employed in
both government and private pre-primary
schools in order to perform and achieve all
developmental activities;
• The intellectual and physical development
was found to be significantly contributing to
the overall preparedness of children while
social and emotional were not. Therefore, it
will be essential to consider equal emphasis
for all developmental activities;
From conducting this study the researcher
would like to forward the following concluding
remarks. Some of the findings discussed
earlier seem to be dissociated from what
has been elaborated by literature that girls
are more active during early ages since this
study depicted that boys were better in both
physical and intellectual abilities. But, again
provider types were found to show significant
difference. This ignites the thinking that
irrespective of frameworks what implies on the
change in the children, it was also self-evident
that the framework issued by MoE needs to be
seen as the holistic child preparedness was not
found to be in alignment with the framework,
given the fact that the preparedness was
largely explicated by intellectual and physical
developments only. This is so because the
pre-schools were found to focus largely on
intellectual development. The fact that social
development was observed to be better for
girls than for boys is also another point of
interest. From the Vygotsky’s socio-cultural
theory the teaching and other activities in the
pre-school would have influenced both boys
and girls equally, however, it seems that girls
are better in interaction and hence social and
emotional development.
Therefore, further research with an in-depth
approach to explicate the association between
the socio-cultural practices as directed by
theory and frameworks needs to be conducted
to validate the dissociation in findings from the
contemporary literature. There is also that need
to explicate if the proposed framework and
the guiding theories are valid for developing
countries where their socio-cultural setup and
variation in provider type could be thought
of as variables. It would have been useful to
deal with detailed case study to indulge into
the issues in depth for better understanding of
how theories impact practice and dig out the
causes for the observed findings which must
be my future research, so that I will get into
better understanding of the situation.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study the
following recommendations are forwarded.
1. Government and private pre-
primary schools tends to give
varying emphasis on child
developmental activities for child
preparedness. Therefore, it will be
good to focus on
all developmental activities by both
actors to prepare children in an
efficient manner.
2. The emphasis that must have been
given for intellectual, physical,
social, and emotional
developmental activities by both
government
and private pre-primary schools
was fully unpracticed. Therefore,
Addis Ababa Education Bureau
ECCE sections need to revisit
follow up mechanisms for pre-
primary schools to consider all
developmental activities
accordingly.
3. In each of the development activities
schools were found to be
significantly different. This will not
help all children
to be prepared for primary education
at the level of expectation of the
syllabi. Therefore, AAEB needs
to ensure the fulfillment of the preset
standards irrespective of ownership
through designing an effective
ECCE supervision and inspection
policy and provision of guidelines for
the same. In addition, schools needto
come up to an agreed upon
implementation plans andmonitoring
mechanisms for ensuring
preparedness of children.
4. Intellectual and physical
developments
were found to significantly contribute
for child preparation while social
and emotional were not. This shows
lack of integration on the
developmental activities. Thus,
consideration need to be given for
social and emotional development
as well in the preparation of children
for primary education to maximize
the benefits of ECCE by integrating
social and emotional learning with
intellectual, physical, and other
curricular areas of ECCE;
5. It was found that sex difference was
significant in terms of intellectual
and social developments in which
boys outsmart girls in intellectual
and girls outsmarting boys in
social developments. Therefore, the
implementations need to pay
attention towards providing those
services to overcome sex differences.
6. As this study was delimited in scope
and it addressed a limited number of
variables there is a need to conduct
further research considering other
aspects of ECCE and at a wider
scope.
Limitation of the study
Despite the findings of this study, it cannot
be free of limitations, some of the principal
limitations being the Following:
As the framework of ECCE in Ethiopia
emphasizes on the developmental activities,
the study heavily depended on those activities
to assess child preparedness, which otherwise
could have many other contributing factors. In
addition to this, this study used few cases.
Hence, this might limit the generalizability of
the findings.
O class was introduced while this study was
on progress. Since the findings of this study
did not include those O class children, the
conclusion might lack generalizability.
The data for this study was collected at a
specific moment in time. This urges the author
to describe and compare instances at a specific
time and limits the generalizability of the
conclusive remarks. Had it been longitudinal
data collection, given it was random selection
of the schools and students, it would have
been more generalizable.
It would have been better to dissociate all
providers of ECCE and conduct analysis for
each type of provider, but due to clustering
of the providers the study emphasized on
government and private clustering. In addition,
the study made comparisons that implies
exclusion of some specific characteristics.
Hence this study might lack to include specific
characteristics of each provider.
In Addis Ababa there were 1091 pre-primary
schools, but the study was conducted only
on six pre-primary schools. This might limit
the extraction of generalizable conclusion and
some of the manifested results might have
changed if a significant number of pre-schools
were included in the study.
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 PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM II
THEME: INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
 Profile of Early Childhood Care and
Educational Practices in Selected
Pre-School Types of Ethiopia
Daniel Desta, Girma Lemma, Teka
Zewdie, Daniel Tefera, and Yekoyealem
Desie
Abstract: This study was conducted to assess
parent- preschool engagement to enhance
children’s Play and Learning. The study
examined access, facilitator-child interaction
and parental and community involvement
in selected preschools in Ethiopia. A mixed-
design approach was employed to integrate
the quantitative and qualitative data and cross-
validate data obtained from different sources.
The study covered purposively selected five
regions, two city governments and major
towns in the respective administrative regions.
A total of seventy two preschool centers were
proportionally sampled representing private,
government and faith based center types. In
each preschool centers one classroom was
identified and observation was conducted. A
total of 357 preschool teachers and 72 head
teachers were selected using availability
sampling technique and 429 questionnaires
were administered for both groups in the
selected centers. Observation checklist,
questionnaire and interviews were used to
collect the data. Most of the centers studied, as
shown in the results, appear to be similar in the
physical settings, conduciveness of space, and
in terms of class size. There was a noticeable
state of overcrowding and a high teacher-child
ratio. In addition to the large number of children
they are assigned to, teachers were reported
with low salary, little interest and commitment,
and with limited knowledge and competence
to handle behavioral problems. The integration
of children with special needs was more
observed in the government centers, with the
faith-based following, but the private centers
standing last. The centers are also similar in
terms of safety and hygiene, except for the
habit of children’s hand washing that was more
noted in the private than in the faith-based or
government centers. The private and, to some
extent, the faith-based child centers were found
to be better than the government centers in
affording rooms for staff and for children’s nap;
there were interest corners in about 63% of
the centers visited, but little or no indication
on how these were apportioned for children of
different age groups and particularly for those
children of 3 to 4 years of age; there were some
child produced materials in 66% of the centers,
and about 50% of the materials were locally
produced. The learning and play materials that
the centers availed were also similar by center
type, and region, except for a slightly positive
picture shown for the centers of the SNNPR.
Quality of facilities and learning materials used
by some faith-based organizations in SNNPR
was exemplary. Similarly, parental involvement
was noted to be high and satisfactory in most
centers as reported by the teachers. But the
interview data with the center heads revealed
parental involvement and/or participation that
was related to securing school uniforms for
the children, making financial contributions,
serving in parent committees, planning, fixing
school fees, hiring and firing staff, and handling
grievances. However, parents’ involvement in
planning and following up what and how the
centers have to do or should do in the homes or
communities in matters related to parent-child
sensitization, care and education activities.
Most of the parents were also reported to be
poor having large family. Hence, they find it as
a challenge to attend to such demands of the
centers as helping the children with homework
and related educational support to their
children. As the interview further showed there
was no parental involvement of any form in the
O- grades that are attached to the government
primary schools in their new ECCE variants.
Recommendations are forwarded to centers
and other stakeholders based on the findings.
Introduction
Early childhood education in Ethiopia has its
long historical past as cited in the works of the
17th century Ethiopian philosophers (Sumner,
1976). It is also deeply rooted in the traditional
Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Pankhurst, 1955;
Wagaw, 1979) where at least male children
were able to get the opportunity to begin the
first stage of a priest school education that
had a curriculum consisting primarily of drill
and practice of the alphabet (Negash, 1996).
Similarly, Kaplan (1994) traces early Education in
the hagiographic records of medieval Ethiopian
childhood, where parents sent their male
children for early education in the monasteries
as a token of praise for supplication answered.
The first modern preschool (kindergarten) was
also introduced in Ethiopia a century ago during
Emperor Menelik surprisingly eight years prior to
the first modern public school (Demeke, 2003).
Unfortunately, the broad concept, dimension
and practices in early care and education are
not seriously considered in Ethiopia, despite
the long period of recorded history.
Although the establishment may, in no way, be
regarded delayed even by European standards,
the expansion of kindergartens was, however,
very slow. For example, from 1908-1974 only 77
kindergartens were established allowing space
only for 7,573 out of 3.5 million children age 4-6.
On the other hand, the socialist revolution of
1974 was a turning point at least in terms of
expansion in the sense that from 1975-1990,
preschools grew from 77 to 912 and preschool
enrollment grew from 7,573 to 102,000
(Demeke, 2003). With the fall of the socialist
regime and until recently, there has again been
a relative stance of silence on the issue limiting
the enrollment figure of kindergarten education
at about 3.9 percent in 2008 (MoE, 2008), 4.2
percent in 2010 (MoE, 2010), and 6.2 percent
in 2013 (MoE, 2013) for the entire nation. It
was also found that these small percentages
account chiefly for urban areas and was not
also accessible for disadvantaged children
(MoE, 2008; Woodhead, 2009).
In the last few years, we have been witnessing
a renewed interest in the importance of Early
Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in
Ethiopia. For instance, the Ministry of Education
has formulated a National Policy Framework
(MoE, 2010a), strategic operation plan (MoE,
2010 b) and Guidelines for ECE (MoE, 201 c)
with the vision to “ensuring the right for all
children to a healthy start in life, nurture in a
safe, caring and stimulating environment and
develop to their fullest potential.” Taking the
National Policy Framework as a foundation,
most Regional Education Bureaus’, for
example, Amhara, SNNPR, Tigray, Gambella
have developed region specific early childhood
care and education guidelines.
Very recently also (i.e., since 2004 E.C), the
government of Ethiopia has introduced a new
modality of early childhood education. This
modality known as pre-primary education
encompasses kindergartens, “O” classes
and child to child programs. This modality has
increased the gross enrolment of pre-primary
education up to 26.1 percent for the entire
nation (MoE, 2013).
The Ministry has defined pre-primary
education as a service given to children of
ages 4-6 years by kindergartens, “O” classes
and child to child programs. Kindergarten
is explicated as a form of pre-primary
education with its own curriculum, trained
teachers, administrative personnel, and
school compounds in which children aged
4-6 are served mainly by non-governmental
organizations such as communities, private
institutions, and faith-based organizations.
“O” class is part of the pre-primary education
system, attached to a primary school, in which
children of 5-6 age that do not have access
to kindergarten are supported by selected
teachers from a respective primary school.
Child to child is also another form of pre-
primary education system in which children
are coached by their older siblings or children
from the neighborhood (younger facilitators
of grade 5/6 students) (MoE, 2013). With all
this concerted efforts, the enrollment rate and
quality of early childhood care and education
is still far from international standard. But
more importantly, quality in ECCE is bound
to be compromised if it is allowed to start
only outside the home and if the network of
education and care from the home, to the
kindergarten/preschool environment is not
conceptualized, focused upon and practiced,
not only for school success but for the holistic
development of the child.
Thus, this study investigates the conceptual,
focal and practical profile of ECCE services in
12 cities/towns of Ethiopia in terms of such
indicators as, access and special provisions and
interactive or process indicators as leadership
and management, parent community
engagement and staff-child interaction.
Objectives
The general objective of the study is to assess
the quality of ECCE provision in Ethiopia at
present, focusing on access, parental and
community involvement and participation, staff-
child learning and interactional experiences.
Specific objectives
• Examine the quality of interaction between
facilitators and children in ECE centers
• Examine differences between center
types with regard to quality of interaction
between facilitators and children
• Assess regional variations with regard to
quality of interaction between children and
facilitators
• Explore the state of children’s access to
ECE programs and special provisions for
children with special needs
• Explore the status of parental and
community involvement in ECCE programs
• are piecemeal and functioned in a subtle way,
Research questions
• What is the status of quality of interaction
between facilitators and children in ECCE
centers?
• Are the ECCE centers similar in terms
of physical space that includes safety,
facilities, and hygiene?
• Do ECCE centers/preschools involve parents
and community? How is the direction of
parent-preschool/center involvement?
• Do centers/preschools provide access and
provision for all children, including those
with special needs?
• Do regions vary in terms of quality of
interaction?
Review of related literature
The issue of access and quality in ECCE
programs
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
adopted by the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of the Child, the 1999 Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the Constitution of
the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
(FDRE), the 1996 Social Welfare Policy of
Labor and Social Affairs are all cornerstones to
ensuring the healthy development of children
(FDRE, 1995; Mackelech, 2007; Tirusew, 2005)
The current Ethiopian National Policy
Framework for Early Childhood Care and
Education (MoE, 2010) and Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia pre-primary curriculum
(MOE, 2008) documents also underlined the
benefits accrued from investing in the early
years. The policy document spelled out the
benefits of participation in Early Childhood Care
and Education (ECCE) as a strategy to ensure
and enhance all children “ready to learn”
(p.18) which Reymonds (1995) assumed as
a “criterion to school success”(p.1) in areas of
cognitive and social developments.
Even so, the services delivered to young children
which did not bring equity and quality care
and education services to preschool children
(Girma, 2014). As Woodhead (2015:14) cites
UNESCO’s (2008) report. “---- the government
of Ethiopia formally recognizes preschool
education as sector catering for children aged
4-6 years, the development of public pre-
primary services has been minimal. Ethiopia
is the only country with no official program
targeting children under the age of 3 years.
As Pence and Nsamenang (2008) commented,
Early Childhood Development (ECD) was paid
low recognition compared to its ‘older siblings’:
primary, secondary and tertiary education. Aido
(2008) also stated that “Sectorial priorities and
activities override Early Childhood Development
needs” (p.38). UNESCO (2006) also reported
that the state of pre-primary education in Sub-
Sahara Africa in general is not only low with
a slow rate of growth but, in addition to the
small coverage, the existing services do suffer
from poor quality. It is also to be noted that
a number of issues compromising quality in
the provision of ECCE have been pinpointed
in the national assessment survey on the
status of ECCE in Ethiopia in 2007 (Tirussew,
Teka, Belay, Belay, and Demeke, 2009),
with a subsequent development of a policy
framework in the broader conceptualization,
structure and function at various levels. Yet,
the practice seems to be at its nascent stage.
Quality indicators in ECCE programs
The two types of ECCE quality indicators,
i.e. the ‘structural that are measurable and
often provide a foundation and the process
or the interactive that are less tangible’ but
very central (Colbert, 2002) are usually not in
balance. The obviously measurable indicators
of ECCE quality that Wilson, R. A. (2008)
describes by high staff qualification, low child
to staff ratio of 1 to 8, a maximum group size of
16 per staff, and adequate allocation and use
of space for preprimary children of different
age levels are virtually absent in the Ethiopian
ECCE centers. Overcrowding is indeed a
problem that is bound to affect such intangible,
but central indicators as quality of staff and
child interaction, staff working conditions, and
staff, motivation, morale and behavior (Colbert,
J. 2004).
What all these facts point to is the lack of
clarity in the concepts, focus and practices
of early childhood care and education in
Ethiopia, hampering quality in care and
educational delivery during this preprimary
period. Consequently, early childhood care
and education is conceived to be mostly
associated with a kindergarten school, leaving
out the parents and the young children of birth
to three years. The focus has been mainly
to enable the children to read and count and
prepare them for the formal school, while the
care and education could start right from birth
involving parents, and other stake holders that
at least include health and social workers. The
practice has been more of an isolated exercise
where each interested party, i.e. the private,
the government, or the faith based could follow
its path of caring and educating the young
preschoolers of different age levels, without
consulting the other or without thinking of a
concerted effort in a mission that involves a
comprehensive and coordinated approach.
Indeed quality would be compromised if the
basic concepts of ECCE are not well grasped,
if the focal point is only school/center based
and if the practices are not coordinated or
synchronized. In their challenging book, Beyond
Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care,
Dahlberg, Moss and Pence (1999) characterize
the predominant view of quality as follows:
The concept of quality is primarily about
defining, through the specification of criteria, a
generalisable standard against which a product
can be judged with certainty. The process of
specification of criteria, and their systematic and
methodical application, is intended to enable
us to know whether or not something – be it
a manufactured or service product – achieves
the standard. Central to the construction of
quality is the assumption that there is an entity
or essence of quality, which is a knowable,
objective and certain truth waiting ‘out there’
to be discovered and described.
Parental and community involvement in ECCE
programs
The dynamics in the family structure exemplified
in the gradual transformation of extended
families to nuclear ones, the changing role
definition of family members, and the growing
concern of parents for educational and social
competency of their children are some of the
changes that gave impetus to the increased
involvement of parents in ECCE programs
(Swick, 2004; cited in Knopf, &Swick, 2007).
Parents are expected to take active part
and have a say in their children’s day-to-
day experiences in early childhood care and
education centers. The heavy work load of
Ethiopian parents especially mothers coupled
with the pounded economic problems might
not enable them to adequately respond to
the requests of ECCE centers. As a matter of
fact the dynamics in family structure and the
changing roles of parents especially mothers
might have reduced the time parents spend
with their children. This increasing obligation
to bring families in close collaboration with
the centers, nevertheless, is not backed by
the provision of amenable resources to make
parents to be active participants in carrying out
the expectations. As Bronfenbreneur (2005,
cited in Knopf,&Swick, 2007) indicated, no one
has provided the time or resources to parents
to negotiate the requests.
To enhance a viable family-preschool partnership
there is a need to devise an empowering
strategy so that parents could play pivotal
role in all aspects of children’s development in
ECCE centers. The new ECCE National Policy
Framework (2010) acknowledges families’
roles in the overall activities of ECCE centers.
The policy framework states that “The family
is the first responsible body for supporting
the holistic development of their children
and hence they need to be empowered and
supported to ensure that they are effective in
their roles” (p.21). The strategies may include
provision of parenting education, essential
supports that would enable families to take part
in quality maintaining efforts and to seek and
create more diverse pathways (Knopf, &Swick,
2007). Knopf,&Swick(2007) suggested diverse
supportive and adaptive family involvement
pathways. These include: accessing pathways
that enhance participation, placing a viable
set of supportive mechanisms that help and
encourage parents to use the different venues
for involvement and facilitate ways to use their
talents and strengths.
Although the problem of access is a challenge
to early childhood care and education programs,
parent–teacher or parent–ECCE relationships
provide a window of hope to reduce the
differences in children’s competencies as
a function of transition. Preschool–parent
partnership is an important component of the
transition ecology. The missing elements in
the preschool care and education centers can
be best grasped through active involvement
of parents in building children’s achievement
in multiple domains at home setting. The vast
majorities of Ethiopian parents, however, are
uneducated and lack fundamental knowledge
with regard to the importance of early care and
education (National Policy Framework for Early
Childhood Care and Education, 2010). In spite
of this situation, parent-ECCE partnership is not
adequately brought to the research agenda of
quality ECCE. Yet early childhood development
programs provide increased opportunities
for parental empowerment and community
resource mobilization and empowerment
and the policy framework considers parental
education as one of the “basic pillars for
ECCE service delivery” (p.22) in the Ethiopian
context.
One way of understanding and explaining
quality childcare is to capture the perception of
parents, staff and children themselves. Parents
define quality in terms of health and safety
measures, personal characteristics of care
givers such as warmth and sensitivity, parent-
care giver communication, flexibility in program
to accommodate their life styles and working
schedules. Interestingly, staff perception of
quality corroborates with parental perceptions
of quality care and education. Girma’s (2010)
study also indicted that parental expectations
from ECCE programs were hygienic and safe
environment for their children, maintenance
of synergy between ECCE centers and home
environment, acquisition of basic skills in
language and computation and provision of
outdoor activities.
From the above viewpoints, the
conceptualization, practices and assessment
of ECCE indicators could be broad, extending
from the preschool settings to the homes/
centers of young children, provided that parents,
community and/or institutional caregivers are
enabled to avail quality of interaction during
their encounters with young children at homes,
and other non preschool settings (Klein, 1996).
Consequently, the service delivery would be
at home, work places, centers, with school
affiliation, or community based establishments.
It is with this assumption that preschool
education has been conceived as a part in
the total care and educational experiences
of the young. Evidently, early childhood care
and education (ECCE) is basically conceived
as a broad and “comprehensive approach
to policies and programs for children from
prenatal to seven years of age, their parents
and caregivers” (MoE, 2010).Indeed, ECCE is
broad in terms of its scope, service delivery
and the stake holders to be involved. Likewise,
ECCE, for UNESCO, is a comprehensive &
holistic approach to children’s development,
addressing survival, growth, development,
learning, health, nutrition, & hygiene.
Design
Mixing multiple methods affords opportunities
to use the strengths of quantitative and
qualitative methods and also to counterbalance
the weaknesses of each of the methods.
Combinations of these two approaches enable
to produce a comprehensive understanding of
social phenomena and to collect comprehensive
empirical data regarding the various facets
of the phenomena under different contexts.
Lieberson (1992) states:
The qualitative/quantitative distinction
is itself somewhat arbitrary. … What
we really need is an effort to integrate
both these methods, to take advantage
of both procedures and combine their
outcomes… Thinking this through
would be far more useful than method
bashing. If we are truth seekers, then
there should not be a qualitative truth
and a quantitative truth (p.3).
The method of inquiry in this study was mixed
research design in which the quantitative
and qualitative approaches complement each
other in a way to represent and understand
different dimensions of ECCE program in
the Ethiopian context. According to Hauser-
Cram et al., (2009), the exclusive use of
quantitative measurement can inadvertently
close off understanding of phenomena and
the complementary quantitative-qualitative
method should be the default standard in the
design of early childhood care and education
studies. The mixed method data collection
strategies was designed to combine elements
of different data collection techniques, such as
structured survey, interviews, with elements
of other methods, such as observations
technique in a simultaneous manner.
The mixed-design approach followed the
Concurrent Triangulation Strategy to integrate
the quantitative and qualitative data and cross-
validate or corroborate findings obtained
from different sources (Creswell, 2003). The
strategy included triangulating data to verify
convergence of findings from observation
scales, interview, and questionnaire.
Study area
The study areas for this survey include regions,
city governments, major towns in the respective
administrative regions and preschool centers.
Regions that have relatively significant Gross
Enrollment Ratio were considered.
These include: Tigray, Amhara, Oromia,
SNNPR, and Harari. The two city governments
namely Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa were also
covered included. Besides, the administrative
regions and city governments, major towns
in the five administrative regions were
considered. Programs in the region are
relatively mature and have been operational for
the last several years. Furthermore, there was
fair representation of government, private,
and faith-based centers distributed across
the regions and city governments. Eventually,
this helped to see variations across center
types with respect to dimensions of preschool
programs identified in the research.
Sampling
Five regions, two city governments, major
towns in the respective administrative regions
were purposively selected and seventy two
preschool centers were proportionally sampled
representing private, government and faith
based center types. In each preschool centers
one classroom was identified and observation
was conducted. A total of 357 preschool
teachers and 72 head teachers were selected
using availability sampling technique and 429
questionnaires were administered for both
groups in the selected centers.
Region Number of ECCE Center s by Total
ownership type
Private Govern- Faith-Based
ment
Dire Dawa Within the 2 2 1 5
city
Harar town 2 2 1 5
Harar town 1 1
• Jimma 2 2 1 5
• Adama 2 2 1 5
• Jimma University 1 1
Tigray
Mekele& Adwa 3 2 2 7
Amhara
• Bahirdar 2 2 2 6
• Gondor (University) - 1 - 1
• Dessie 2 2 1 5
Addis Ababa
• Akaki 2 2 1 5
• Kirkos 2 2 1 5
• Yeka 2 2 1 5
• Yeka 2 2 1 5
SNNPR
• Hawassa 2 2 1 5
• Sodo 2 2 1 5
Total centers studied 72
Country total

Table 1: Distribution of study centers by regions and major cities/towns

Fourteen preschool program desk officers Rating scale

representing zone, Woreda and sub city
administrations were also sources of data for
the study. The sampling procedure allowed
computation of aggregate quality scores and
enabled comparison of center types and regional
variations on dimensions of quality parameters
identified in this research and overall program
features in the country. Table one shows the
sampling distribution of respondents included
in the research.
An observation as data collection technique
involves watching the behavior of children or
interactions between a parent or caregiver
and a child. The observations may be formal,
in which activities observed are structured
or may be conducted in an informal setting,
for example, during play time or in the home
environment. The child’s behavior, care giver-
child interactions, peer-to-peer interactions, and
other factors may be the focus of observation.
Moreover, observations may take place to
have an account of developmentally expected
behaviors observed in classroom settings
or play grounds, occurrence of problematic
behaviors, the quality of interactions with
care givers and peers and other behavioral
indicators.
A rating scale was developed to capture
children’s behavior, care giver child interaction
and other structural and process variables in
the classroom and in the physical environment.
The rating scale was developed by adapting
the Early Childhood Environment Rating
Scale (ECERS-R) (Clifford & Crayer, 1998) a
standardized instrument that was used in
most researches to measures global quality of
ECCE programs in center-based settings. The
ECERS-R is used as a tool “to see how well
a program is meeting children’s needs–to see
whether children receive the protection, learning
opportunities, and positive relationships they
need for successful development” (Clifford &
Cryer, 1998).
The observation checklist is composed of 40
items that assess indoor activities, adequacy of
physical space for gross motor play, availability
of child sized furniture for routine care and
education, availability of play and learning
materials, whether children with disabilities
have adaptive furniture that facilitates their
inclusion in classroom activities, and provision
and suitability of furnishings and facilities to
promote children’s development and items
that measure care give child interactions in
ECCE centers .
The items are framed along four score points 0
= does not exist, 1 = inadequate, 2 = adequate,
3 = highly adequate. The observation took place
in the classroom, and outside the classroom.
The observation checklist also consisted of
background data such as region, zone/Woreda,
type of ECCE centers i.e., government, private
and religious affiliated center types, ECCE level
and language of interaction in classrooms.
Prior to actual data collection a preliminary visit
was made to the study areas. The purpose
of the preliminary visit was to have a general
understanding of program implementation in
the respective regions and to gather raw data
that could facilitate instrument development
and to shape the overall process of the
research.
Teachers’ questionnaire
A structured questionnaire was prepared
and administered to preschool teachers to
explore their perception on the various facets
of preschool program in Ethiopia. Themes
addressed in the questionnaire include basic
demographic information such as educational
level, teaching experience in Preschool
centers, pre service and in service training
received, and type of training institution
in which they were enrolled in. The other
sections of the questionnaires were meant to
collect data concerning preschool setting and
support services, preschool curriculum and
learning, parental involvement and community
engagements, leadership and management,
access and special provisions availed for
children. The items were framed by the
research team after intensive examination of
the literature in the area and empirical works
done in the Ethiopian and global contexts.
Before it took its final shape the research
team discussed on the content validity of
the instrument and certain psychometric
properties of the items. Series of revision
works have been done to refine the items.
Some of the items in the questionnaire were
stemmed as “yes” and “no” and the rest were
framed as rating scales. Preschool teachers
were requested to rate aspects of preschool
program along a three point scale ranging from
low to high. In addition to the structured items
the instrument included open ended items that
enabled to capture preschool teacher’s feelings
and understanding of preschool program in the
Ethiopian context. Before actual data collection,
data collectors who had adequate experience
and engagement in preschool program were
recruited and trained.
Questionnaire for head teachers
Head teachers’ questionnaire was a
comprehensives data collection tool
specifically tailored to survey broad areas of
preschool program. The questionnaire was
composed of both close and open ended items
exploring Preschool program center types
and their profile, head teachers demographic
characteristics, Structural aspects of preschool
program, Presence and type of provisions to
special needs and vulnerable children, Parental
participation and community engagements.
Data sources to complete the questionnaire
were anecdotal records, documents, reports
and personal experiences encountered by
head teachers in due course of their career
development. The purpose of the questionnaire
was to sort out those structural and process
variables that have significant contribution in
the overall development of preschool children
and find out challenges and opportunities
in implementing preschool programs in the
respective regions of the country.
Interview with Woreda/Zonal Program
Desk Officers and Preschool Teacher
Training Heads
An interview protocol was prepared and
administered to desk officers in charge
of preschool programs in the respective
administrative regions and preschool
directors in the sampled preschool centers.
The purpose of the interview was to capture
their opinions and belief systems regarding
program implementation, the role of preschool
programs in preparing the preschool child
to meet the demands of primary school
curriculum opportunities and challenges of
running preschool programs in the respective
study areas. The interview took place in much
more flexible way, allowing the respondents
to change the course of the conversation
between them and researchers and bring
up new issues that the researcher had not
preconceived from the outset. This flexibility
during interview sessions enabled to come
up with rich information. The qualitative data
were transcribed and analyzed under rubrics
identified from the data and categorically
put and triangulated and integrated with the
quantitative data accordingly.
Data analysis technique
Before encoding the collected data to
computer, data were organized by region,
center type and other variables shown in
the instruments. The data were entered to
SPSS version 20. After careful data cleaning
work, statistical analyses were employed for
the quantitative data pertinent to preschool
teachers’ questionnaire and classroom
observation rating scale. Frequencies,
percentages and descriptive analyses were
conducted on measures of preschool teachers’
questionnaire and observation rating scale to
summarize data. The analyses were done with
regard to identified data analysis themes across
multiple sites. Chi square tests were then used
to examine whether group differences exist
between regions and among center types. Data
obtained through interview from preschool
program desk officers and preschool directors
were examined for relevance, trustworthiness
and crosschecked by the research team
The interview data obtained were originally
read by research team members to have a
general understanding of the data followed
by analysis using the traditional qualitative
inquiry methods such as formation of themes
and commonalities that spanned across data
sources. An in-depth analysis was carried
out to understand contexts, settings, and
social process underlying quality of preschool
program in the regions, city administrations,
and major towns sampled in this research.
Findings Access and special provision
of the center
As the following table (Table 2) shows, the
center heads’ response with regard to access
and special provision for children in general and
for children with special needs were explored.
Consequently, 91.7% indicated their “yes”
responses on the equal chance that centers
provided for all children. However, regarding
the benefits the centers extend to orphans
and vulnerable children, the “Yes” and “No”
responses were 72.2% and 23.6% respectively.
The“Yes” responses regarding the services
children with disability receive were indicated
at just 50%, while the “No” responses were
also a high 47.2%.
No. Yes No Missing Total

Items No % No % No % No %

1. Center Provides Equal chance for all children 66 91.7 2 2.8 4 5.6 72 100

2. Center Serves Children with Disability 36 50 34 47.2 2 2.8 72 100

3. Center Benefits Orphans & Vulnerable Children 52 72.2 17 23.6 3 4.2 72 100

4 Center Involves Parents and Community 60 83.3 11 15.1 1 1.4 72 100

Table 3: Provision for Children and Parental and Community Involvement

Indeed, the possible presence of children with various forms of special needs (i.e., children with
disability, orphans, and vulnerable children calls for certain provisions that should be availed at the
level of a center. As the following table (Table 4) also indicates orphans and vulnerable children
occupy a significant portion of children with special needs (69.19%), if we sum the pure orphans
(46.3%), and the highly vulnerable children (22.73%). This is, of course, followed by a high figure of
30.91% for children with disability, indicating a substantial number of the category. In addition to the
provisions and benefits for children, a highly substantial number of the heads indicated their “yes”
responses to questions related to parental and community involvement, while only 15.1 % of them
stated in the negative, generally suggesting the positive move of the centers to closely work with
the parents and community

No Items Male Female Total

No % No % No %
1. Children with Disability 17 15.45 17 15.45 34 30.91

2. Orphaned children 25 22.73 26 23.64 51 46.36

3. HVC children and other orphans 11 10.00 14 12.73 25 22.73

Total 53 48.18 57 51.82 110 100

Table 4: Profile of Children with Special Needs

Further in the following table (Table 5),
generally a fairly equal number enrollment is
noted for male (50.12%) and female children
(49.88%). However, the centers appear to give
less attention to children below 3 years of age
(3.24%) and those children who are above 6
years of age (16.86%), and seem to provide an
approximately 80% (79.9%) of ECCE access to
those children who are between3 and 6 years
of age. The observation generally affirms the
expected age of child enrollment in the ECCE
centers generally.
 No Items Gender ≤3 3.1-4 4.1-5 5.1- 6 years & above Total
years years years 6years
Gender No % No % No % No % No % No %

1. Males 7 1.62 47 10.85 60 13.86 67 15.47 36 8.31 217 50.12

2. Females 7 1.62 45 10.39 60 13.86 67 15.47 37 8.55 216 49.88

Total 14 3..24 92 21.24 120 27.72 134 30.94 70 16.86 433 100.00

Facilitators and children interaction

preschool centers visited were found to be in
The staff-child interaction was seen in terms of
a better position with regard to facilitators and
the presence of the facilitators/teachers with
children interaction. For example, in 49 (71%)
the children during meals, their supervision
preschool centers observed the presence of
of the child’s safety in gross motor activities
staff during children’s meal or snack time was
and outdoor games, their attempt to be with
rated at least as adequate. Similarly, for the
child with apparent enjoyment to accompany
same percent (71%) of the preschool centers
the child, use or non use of punishment
observed facilitators’ efforts to supervise and
in child discipline, caring behaviors with
respond to children during gross motor activities
warmth, sensitivity and talk and in terms
and outdoor play and their attempts to be with
of their effort to introduce appropriate
children and enjoying their accompany were
concepts. Even though isolated, incoherent,
rated at least as adequate. Similar situations
and not theoretically guided, many of these
were observed for 48 (69.5%) preschool
observational dimensions were observed to
centers observed in terms of facilitators’ non
be similar among the centers, except for the
use of severe methods to disciplining children
private ones, where staff availability with child
and their responsiveness, being caring, warm
was more significant than the faith-based or
and sensitive to children’s talk. For the same
the government centers.
percent (69.5%) of preschool centers observed
One of the components of the preschool facilitators’ involvement in children’s activities
education programs assessed in this study was rated as adequate and above. Furthermore,
was the level and quality of interaction facilitators’ efforts to introduce age appropriate
between facilitators and children. Establishing concepts were rated favorably, i.e., adequate
and maintaining good facilitators and children and highly adequate for 45 (65.2%) preschool
interaction is the core of any quality preschool centers visited.
education program. The status of facilitators
and children interactions were observed based
on thirteen indicators. The data presented in
Table 6 indicate that in 9 out of 13 indicators the
 Items on Facilitators and Children Rating Missing
Interaction
Does Not Inadequate Adequate Highly Adequate
Exist

N % N % N % N % N %

Supervising children 5 7.2 12 17.4 38 55.1 11 15.9 3 4.3

Talking with children 1 1.4 23 33.3 35 50.7 6 8.7 4 5.8

Introducing age appropriate concepts 2 2.9 17 24.6 35 50.7 10 14.5 5 7.2

Talking to children only to control their 8 11.6 36 52.2 19 27.5 2 2.9 4 5.8
behavior
Responding to children’s talk 1 1.4 13 18.8 37 53.6 12 17.4 6 8.7

Organizing dance activity 14 20.3 20 29.0 24 34.8 7 10.1 5 7.2

Supervising during gross motor activities - - 26 37.7 32 46.4 9 13.0 2 2.9

and outdoor play
Use severe methods of disciplining 3 4.3 14 20.3 31 44.9 17 24.6 4 5.8

Facilitators’ responsiveness and involvement 1 1.4 18 26.1 32 46.4 16 23.2 2 2.9

Enjoying being with children - - 18 26.1 36 52.2 13 18.8 2 2.9

Provision of opportunities to encourage 4 5.8 23 33.3 27 39.1 12 17.4 3 4.3

children
Staff engagement in educational 9 13.0 15 21.7 32 46.4 9 13.0 4 5.8
interaction
Integration of children with disabilities 29 42.0 17 24.6 12 17.4 4 5.8 7 10.1

Table 6. The Distribution of Ratings on Indicators of Facilitators and Children Interaction (N = 69)

The above data also show that no effort was
observed in 29 (42%) of the preschool centers
to engage children with disabilities into the
early childhood education program. On the
other hand, only in 16 (23.2%) preschool
centers observed the effort to engage children
with disabilities into the program was rated
as adequate or highly adequate. Similarly,
facilitators’ attempts to organize dance activity
for children did not exist for 14 (20.3%)
preschool centers observed and such effort
was rated as adequate or highly adequate for
about half of the preschools observed by the
researchers. As a whole, most of the indicators
of facilitators and children interaction were
rated at least as adequate indicating that the
status of facilitators and children interaction
is good for most of the preschool centers
observed.
When the analysis was made with individual
indicator, it was observed that the type of
preschool centers differ to each other only on
two indicators out of thirteen used to measure
the status of facilitators and children interaction
in the preschool centers. The analysis of data
yielded that the three types of preschool center
differ in terms of the availability of staff during
meal time to observe and guide children (2 =
16.411, df = 6, p = 0.01) and in terms of the
preschool centers effort to integrate children
with disabilities (2 = 13.882, df = 6, p = 0.05).

Type of the Preschool Center Availability of Staff duringMeal Time Total

Does Not Exist Inadequate Adequate Highly Ade-
quate
Government 5 6 10 1 22
Private - 5 16 6 27
Religious Affiliated - 1 12 4 17
Total 5 12 38 11 66

Table 7. Staff Availability during Meal Time by the Type of Preschool Centers
As presented in the above table, proportionally large numbers of staff were available during meal time
in religious affiliated preschool centers than the other followed by private schools. The observation
revealed not only the absence of staff during meal time but also the meal time itself in some of
government preschool centers. In general, the availability of staff during meal time is found to be
poor in government preschool centers. On the other hand, the integration of children with disabilities
was found to be high in government preschool centers than in the other two.

Type of the Integration of Children with Total

PreschoolCenter Disabilities in the Program
Does Not Exist Inadequate Adequate Highly Adequate
Government 8 5 9 0 22
Private 15 6 1 2 24
Religious Affiliated 6 6 2 2 16
Total 29 17 12 4 62

Table 8. The Integration of Children with Disabilities by the Type of Preschool Centers

The data in the above table show that in 9 out of 22 observed government run preschool centers,
the effort to engage children with disabilities in the program was adequate. Similarly, it is only
in three private and in 4 religious affiliated preschool centers that the effort exerted was rated as
adequate or highly adequate.
Regions were compared in terms of indicators of facilitators and children interactions. Statistically
significant difference among regions was observed for 9 out of 13 indicators of the quality of facilitators
and children interaction. The results of Chi-Square analysis are summarized in the following table.

Indicators 2 df p-value
Supervising children 14.496 15 p > 0.05
Talking with children 22.977 15 p > 0.05
Introducing age appropriate concepts 31.428 15 p = 0.05
Talking to children only to control their behavior 29.036 15 p = 0.05
Responding to children’s talk 29.976 15 p = 0.05
Organizing dance activity 36.778 15 p = 0.01
Supervising during gross motor activities and outdoor play 15.275 10 p > 0.05

Use of severe methods of disciplining 34.759 15 p = 0.01

Facilitators’ responsiveness and involvement 25.824 15 p = 0.05
Enjoying being with children 14.286 10 p >0.05
Provision of opportunities to encourage children 29.711 15 p = 0.05
Staff engagement in educational interaction 25.157 15 p = 0.05
Integration of children with disabilities 33.604 15 p = 0.01

p> 0.05 means not statistically significant

Table 9. Summary of Chi-Square Results
Regions were observed to be different in
terms of facilitators’ attempts in introducing
age related concepts. The data show that
preschool centers in Tigray Region were poor
in terms of facilitators’ efforts to introduce
age related concepts than those in Amhara,
SNNPR, Harari and Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa
(See Annex Four). Similarly, talking to children
only to control their behaviors and manage
daily routines was observed to be common
in Tigray Region than the preschool centers in
Amhara, Oromiya, SNNPR, and Addis Ababa.
Talking to children for such purpose was also
somehow common in preschool centers of
Harari and Dire Dawa City Government. Similar
pattern was also observed with regard to
facilitators’ endeavors to respond to children’s
talk during the classroom and out of the
classroom setting. Facilitators are expected to
respond to children’s ideas, requests, and so
on when children are in the classroom and/or
out of the classroom settings. Such behavior
was commonly observed in those preschool
centers visited in Amhara, Oromiya, SNNPR,
and Addis Ababa City Government
Another indicator where regions were found
to be different was music and dance activities
organized for children by facilitators. The data
show that preschool centers observed in
Oromiya Region were observed to be better
than those in others particularly in Tigray and
Amhara Regional States. Facilitators were
observed to be more responsive to or involved
with children in the centers observed in
SNNPR, Oromiya, Addis Ababa and Amhara
Regions than those in Tigray and Harari and
Dire Dawa
On the other hand, no statistically significant
difference was observed among regions in
terms of supervision of children during meal
time, facilitators efforts to talk with children
about logical relationships, the supervision
of children during gross motor activities and
outdoor play by facilitators or caregivers,
and whether facilitators seem to enjoy being
with children or not. That is, facilitators in the
preschool centers were behaving almost in the
same manner with regard to these indicators
regardless of the region
Perception on parents’ involvement in
ECCE programs
Preschool teachers were asked to report
their perception on parents’ involvement in
ECCE programs. With respect to parents
support to ECCE programs, 81.5 percent of
the preschool teachers reported that parents
support preschool teachers in their day to day
activities. Furthermore, preschool teachers
have also indicated the extent of parental
involvement in ECCE programs evaluation in
which 80.7 percent reported that parents take
part in the evaluation of ECCE programs. Level
of participation of parents in ECCE programs
was also rated by school teachers. Accordingly,
52.1 percent rated parental participation as
moderate, 38.7 percent as high, and 8.7
percent as low. Overall, teachers’ ratings of
parents’ satisfaction in ECCE program was
found to be high. See Table 3.
Parental involvement N Percent*
Presence of parental support Yes 291 81.5

No 55 15.4

Total 357 100

Presence of parents evaluation Yes 288 80.7

51 14.3

Total 357 100

Level of parental participation Parents satisfaction in High 138 38.7

ECCE program

Moderate 186 52.1

Low 31 8.7

Total 355 99.4

High 273 76.5
Moderate 73 20.4
Low 6 1.7
Total 352 98.6

Interview with Woreda/Zonal Program
Desk Officers and Preschool Teacher
Training Heads
The data obtained from the ECCE heads
and teachers involved in the study were
categorized and examined with the aim of
answering the basic question on the status
of the centers. The data obtained from two
sources were found to be closely related to
each other in explaining different aspects of
the centers. Hence, no comparisons were
made in presenting and analyzing the data.
The major aspects captured and analyzed
in this section include the objectives,
strengths and weaknesses related ECCE
and parent communication mechanisms and
collaborations, teacher competencies, learning
materials available and methods employed as
well as facilities.
The data obtained from the heads and teachers
show that general objective of the centers
is to enhance the physical, cognitive and
social development of children. The specific
objectives reported by the participants include
enhancing the development of knowledge
about children’s environment, social skills,
mother tongue language, thinking and
analytical abilities, and societal values. The
ECCE training, as reported by the participants,
meant to prepare the children for formal
education and for good citizenship.
Further examination of the various aspects of
the centers, however, shows that the extent the
objectives are achieved is questionable in most
of the cases. Results show that the most of
the centers have some encouraging strengths
and quite many limitations. The ECCE heads
and teachers reported the following as good
practices/strengths observed particularly in
relation to the role parents play in supporting
the centers. Results show that parents:
• provide uniforms and learning materials for
their children.
• support their children in doing their home
works;
• financial contributions to the centers in the
form of school fees and other contributions
Parents further play important roles in
supporting the centers through their
representatives serving as parents’ committee.
The committee participates in:
• making plans,
• deciding amount of fees,
• hiring and evaluating teachers,
• handling grievances,
• making decisions on related matters.
The ECCE heads and the teachers involved
in the study also reported on the mode of
communication used in the parent-ECCE
center interactions. The interactions, in the
main, take place in the form of meetings of
parents committee. The research participants
further reported additional methods such as
individual parent’ visits, periodic meetings of
all parents, home visits by preschool teachers,
suggestion box, telephone and formal letters
for the communications and interactions
between parents and the centers.
The results, on the hand, show that many
parents have serious limitations in relation to
their participation in the affairs of the centers.
The common phenomena are that many
parents:
• parents do not attend preschool events and
meetings even if they are formally invited;
• do not send their children to the centers on
regular basis;
• do not follow up their children;
• do not support their children in completing
their home works;
In quite many cases, as reported by the center
heads and teachers, the parents committees
are not effective in playing their roles. It was also
found that the centers run by the government
as zero grades do not have separate parent’
committees of their own.
The research participants reported two major
factors that influence quality of parents’
involvement in running the ECCE activities.
Low economic status of parents was reported
as one of the influencing factors. Most parents
are constrained by the time and financial
constraints which impacts in the quality
and amount their support to their children in
collaboration with their ECCE centers. Parents’
level of education, their occupation and family
size also influence the quality of their children’s
care and education.
Summary and conclusion
Our assessment of quality in the preschools /
centers studied show the following scenario:
Most of the centers studied appear to be
similar in the physical settings, conduciveness
of space, and in terms of the number of children
in the rooms. There was a noticeable state of
overcrowding and a high teacher-child ratio. In
addition to the large numbers of children they
are assigned to, teachers were reported with
low salary, little interest and commitment, and
with limited knowledge and competence to
handle behavioral problems.
Interestingly, the integration of children with
special needs was more observed in the
government centers, with the faith-based
following, but the private centers standing last.
The centers are also similar in terms of safety
and hygiene, except for the habit of children’s
hand washing that was more noted in the
private than in the faith-based or government
centers. The private and, to some extent, the
faith-based child centers/preschools were
shown to be better than the government
centers in affording rooms for staff and for
children’s nap; there were interest corners in
about 63% of the centers visited, but little or no
indication on how these were apportioned for
children of different age groups and particularly
for those children of 3 to 4 years of age; there
were some child produced materials in 66% of
the centers, and about 50% of the materials
were locally produced. The learning and play
materials that the centers availed were also
similar by school type, and region, except for a
slightly positive picture shown for the centers
of the SNNPR.
Similarly, parental involvement was noted to
be high and satisfactory in most centers as
reported by the teachers. But the interview
data with the center heads revealed parental
involvement and/or participation that was
related to securing school uniform for the
children, making financial contribution, serving
in parent committees, planning, fixing school
fees, hiring and firing staff, and handling
grievances, but not the involvement that
indicated what and how the center has to do
or should do in the homes or communities in
matters related to parent-child sensitization,
care and education activities. Most of the
parents were also reported to be poor and with
large family size to attend to such demands
of the centers as helping the children with
homework. As the interview further showed
there was no parental involvement of any form
in the zero grades that are attached to the
primary schools in their new ECCE variants.
Recommendation
• In our construal of ECCE quality, we would
first be forced to heed the following non
negotiable indicators that UNICEF, (2010)
has proposed in our conception, focus, and
practices of ECCE in Ethiopia:
• An ECCE program of 4 hours duration with
snack/break time of half an hour
• 1 classroom measuring at least 35 square
meters (carpet area) for a group of 30
children and availability of adequate (at
least 30 square meters) outdoor space for
a group of 30 children
• Adequately trained staff
• Age and developmentally appropriate, child
centric curriculum transacted in the mother
tongue/local vernacular
• Adequate developmentally appropriate toys
and learning materials
• The building should be structurally safe and
within easy approach. It should be clean
and should have surrounding green area
• Adequate and safe drinking water
• Adequate and separate child-friendly toilets
and hand wash facilities for girls and boys
• Separate space allocated for cooking
nutritionally balanced meals and nap time
for children
• Immediate health service in terms of First
Aid/ Medical Kit available at the centre
• The adult/ caregiver: child ratio of 1:20 for
3-6 year old children and 1:10 for under 3s
should be available at the ECCE Centre.
Children should not be unattended at any
given period of time.
• All the above indicators appear to be
conceived for the formal kindergartens and
child care centers that are only parts of
the broad concept, focus and practices of
ECCE.
Hence, ECCE in its concept, focus and practices
should be extended to children of 0 to 3 years,
giving full respect for the parent, who is the
first teacher at home and a warm sensitive
person who can further be trained with
programs of early care and learning if provided
with the opportunities, and the community
members who can own and promote a culture
of care and education during the child’s years of
development from birth to entry in the formal
school. Such innovative ECCE programs have
in fact been tried out in some disadvantaged
homes, orphanages and child centers of many
developing countries, including Ethiopia way
back in the early 90’s, offering methods of
stimulation/education in a cost effective and
culture sensitive ways ( Hundeide, 1989;Klein,
et al, 1996; Teka, 1997);
• The acknowledgement of children of
zero to three years, as a missing link in
the broad conceptualization, focus and
practice of ECCE means consideration of a
coordinating and synchronizing structure at
national, regional an community levels and
establishing a process of care and education
in a multisectoral approach, involving several
line ministries and such central stakeholders
as parents, center/school professionals
and community members who would
be prepared to act in synergy and mutual
enrichment. This overlooked framework of
care and education needs to be revisited
once again if quality is to be balanced with
access and equity at the home, preschool
and community environments of Ethiopian
children.
• The revamping of a framework of wider
scope, involving such organizations as the
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Youth and
Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Finance and
the Ministry of Education as member and a
coordinating body means that quality ECCE
is based on adequate allocation of budget
and human power in both its structure
and functions at national, regional and
community levels.
• Setting a standard in such structural
indicators as buildings and physical space,
safety and hygiene, play and learning
materials, staff qualification, curriculum and
process variables as staff compensation,
communication, management, staff-child
ratio, and staff/caregiver interaction is
important that government, private or faith-
based centers of child care and education
should observe if ECCE quality is to be
maintained.
• Finally, it is important to cultivate a culture
of care and education by extending its
provision to the homes and informal
centers through material preparation, for
training or intervention with innovative
ECCE principles and the subsequent
dissemination and development of cost
effective and culture sensitive ECCE
practices at home, nurseries, kindergartens
or even formal schools.
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 Differentiated Instruction (One-Size- Does not- Fit All Approach)
Tadesse Melesse

Abstract: This study focused on assessing the perceptions, practices and challenges of differentiated
instruction (DI) by primary school teachers. Thus, descriptive survey design with embedded mixed
approach was utilized for the study. Dataobtained fromprimary school teachersthrough questionnaire
were analyzed quantitatively using percentage, mean, standard deviation, one sample t-test,
independent samples t-test, and one way-ANOVA. Whereas data collected using interviews and
focus group discussion were analyzed qualitatively. From this study it is inferred that:the majority of
primary school teachers have relatively lower conceptions and practices on DI.Though the overall
result indicated below the expected standard, comparisons made based on sex indicated that
female teachers practiced differentiation better than male teachers. But in qualification (degree and
diploma) and experience (in service years) statistically significant difference was not indicated. In
terms of departments, Language and Mathematics department teachers performed differentiation
better than Natural Science and Social Science department teachers. However, most teachers
teach diversified learners in the same classroom in a form of one-size-fits-for-all approach without
significantly addressing the students’ readiness, interest, and learning profile.Different factors
like knowledge and experience, commitment and motivation, availability of materials/resources,
availability of time, class size, range of diversity in classroom, leadership and parental support and
staff collaboration were taken as augmenting or deterring factors.
Key terms: Differentiation, diversity, differentiated instruction, content, process, product, instructional
strategies

*Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, College of Education & Behavioral
Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O.Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Tele: +251-920781218 Email: tmelesse3@gmail.com
Introduction
Background of the study
In the past, educational systems provided
students with a general education that was
based on established strategies and practices
and instruction was teacher-centered (Dryden
& Vos, 2005; Rodriguez, 2012).Dryden & Vos
(2005) for instance, pointed out that many
educators throughout the world are still teaching
in ways similar to the blackboard-and-chalk,
desk-in-rows classroom model. Regardless
of the diverse students in the classrooms,
curriculum and instruction could be described
as a one-size-fits-all treatment (McBride, 2004;
Tomlinson, 2006; Willis & Mann, 2000) without
addressing learning differences.
Recently schools and educatorsmore than
ever, are confronted with the problems of
how to accommodate differences or meet
needs of individual learners, and how to
help them achieve their maximum potential
(Jehlen, 2006 in Rodriguez,2012). Today’s
classrooms are more diverse than ever, but
are ill-equipped to deal with the wide range of
student needs (Bantis, 2008; Rodriguez, 2012;
Schlechty, 2009). Teachers are teaching in this
state of imbalance. Thus, altering schooling
and attitudes of teachers into a deep cultural
change to address individual learners’ needs
is crucial (Casey & Gable, 2011). As classroom
teachers struggle daily to design learning
experiences that serve students’ unique
abilities, backgrounds, learning styles, and
interests, a very practical approach promises
to assist them in their quest- differentiated
instruction (Ellington & Cardenas, 2007).
DI is an approach to teaching and learning
that gives students multiple options for taking
in information and making sense of ideas
(Tomilson & Imbeau, 2010). It is a teaching
philosophy based on the premise that
teachers should adapt instruction to student
differences, because “one size does not fit all”
(Heacox, 2009; Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010;
Wormeli, 2007). It addresses learners’ variance
(Lawrence-Brown, 2004; Ireh & Ibeneme,
2010; Tomlinson, 2003), avoids the pitfalls of
the one-size-fits-all curriculum (McBride, 2004);
supports the multiple intelligences and varying
learning styles (Lawrence-Brown, 2004); and
tailors education and curriculum to meet all
learners (Caralon & Guinn, 2007).
Many research supports the use of differentiation
as a way of meeting the needs of academically
diverse learners in today’s classrooms (Carolan
& Guinn, 2007; Ding & Sherman, 2006; Dunn
& Dunn, 2008; Good, 2006; Heck, 2009;
Rakow, 2007; Santamaria, 2009; Stronge et al.,
2008; Tieso, 2005; Tomilson, 2006; Tomlinson,
Brimijoin, & Narvaez, 2008).
Effective DI involves knowing students,
understanding the curriculum, providing
multiple pathways to learning, sharing
responsibility with students and taking a
flexible and reflective approach.It is a way for
teachers to recognize and react responsively
to their students’ varying background
knowledge, readiness, language, preferences
in learning and interests (Hall, 2002; George,
2005;Koutselini, 2006;Smutny, 2003;Tieso,
2003; Tomlinson, 2005).
Research has shown that teachers have a
significant effect on academic achievement
of students (Ding & Sherman, 2006; Heacox,
2002; Heck, 2009; Marzano, 2007; Phillips,
2010; Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Stronge
et al., 2008). Moreover, effective teachers
benefit all students regardless of gender,
race, or socioeconomic status with quality
instruction in primary schools through applying
DI (Konstantopoulos, 2009; Rivkin et al., 2005).
In order to address the needs, readiness,
interests and learning styles of learners,
teachers have to use both teacher based and
student based differentiated instruction (Ding
& Sherman, 2006; Good, 2006; Heck, 2009;
Stronge et al., 2008; Tomlinson, Brimijoin,
& Navarez, 2008) With teacher-based
differentiation, the teacher can differentiate
instruction either through curriculum, content,
process, product (what the teacher wants the
students to learn), or student differences. The
same goes for student-based differentiation:
readiness, interest, learning profile (Good,
2006). Therefore, DI can be performed in a
variety of ways and if teachers are willing to use this philosophy in their classrooms they opt for a
more effective practice that responds to the needs of diverse learners (Tomlinson, 2010). The main
instructional strategies utilized to differentiate instruction are: compacting, independent projects,
interest centers or interest groups, tiered assignments, flexible grouping, learning centers, varying
questions, mentorships, anchoring activities, and learning contracts (Anderson, 2007; Good, 2006;
Tomilson, 2006). This study, therefore, is geared towards the following conceptual framework that
was adopted from Tomlinson (2010).

Conceptual frame work

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiation is a teacher’s response to learner’s needs

Teachers can differentiate through

Content Process Product Environment

According to student’s

Readiness Interest Learning profile

Using through strategies such as:

Pre-assessment data, Learning Contracts, Flexible Grouping,

Tiering,, Learning Centers, Interest Centers, Compacting,
Independent Study, Varying Instructional Materials, Varying
Questions, Student Choice,
Based on the above framework, teachers can
differentiate instruction: (1) content-what the
student needs to learn; (2) process- how the
student engages in mastering the content;
(3) products-checking how the student
achieved the designed goal; and (4) learning
environment-the way the classroom works and
feels, based on student readiness, interest,
or learning profile through applying different
instructional strategies- learning contracts,
flexible grouping, tiering, learning centers,
interest centers, compacting, independent
studies, intelligence preferences, varying
questions and instructional materials.
On the other hand, although studies looking
at the effectiveness of DI in addressing
specific student needs such as learning styles
(Dunn & Dunn, 2008), ability (Tieso, 2005),
language(Marin & Franks, 2010) andculture
(Santamaria, 2009), little has been done to
examine its use by teachers at the elementary
school level.Diverse classrooms can pose many
challenges and require teachers to develop a
variety of activities to help students understand
key concepts and make connections to their
learning (Hobson, 2004; Keck & Kinney, 2005).
As the case is true in Ethiopia, research also
shows that it is much harder for teachers to
differentiate instruction based on students’
needs, rather they are teaching in a one-size-
fits-all approach (Knowles, 2009; Joshi &
Verspoor, 2013). As Ethiopia is a multi-lingual,
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country, there
needs a practical approach of teaching that
tries to address the diversified learners needs
and interests. This study therefore aimed
at assessing the perceptions, practices and
challenges of DI by primary school teachers.
Statement of the problem
Today’s schoolscomprise greater diversity of
students in the classrooms (Tomlinson, 2005).
Meeting the needs of a diverse student body
is one of the most persistent and daunting
challenges facing educators in schools (Futrell,
Gomez, & Bedden, 2003). Pedagogy has
become ‘one-size-fits-all’ (Alexander, 2008)
with a delivery of not addressing the complexity
of the learner’s needs (Guinier, 2009).
Likewise, Ethiopia’s education was entangled
with complex problems of relevance, quality,
accessibility and equity (TGE, 1994). The
long-standing problems associated with the
Ethiopian education system were essentially
limited and inequitable access, lack of quality
and relevance, and continuous decline
in quality and standard (MoE, 2002). The
absence of interrelated contents and mode
of presentation that can develop student’s
knowledge, cognitive abilities and behavioral
changes by level, to adequately enrich problem-
solving ability and attitude, were some of the
major problems of our education system (TGE,
1994). In formulating the education policy,
even though attempts were made inorder
tomakesure that all children,youngstersanda
dultsacquire the competencies,skills, values
and attitudes enablingthem to participatefully
in social,economic and politicaldevelopme
ntofEthiopia,however, a wider gap remains
to address the needs and interests of every
learner (MoE, 2010; 2015).
Although many effective measures have been
taken to maintain quality education, there
are critics who claim that, in the name of
educational expansion, mediocre education
is being sprinkled everywhere like “holy
water”(MoE, 2002).Different students with
different needs, interests, backgrounds,
learning styles, readiness and profiles are
learning together the same curriculum by
the same teaching-learning methodology in
the same classroom. The same assessment
procedures and tools, examinations, projects
and activities are given for all students of the
same classroom based on the principle- one-
size-fits for all. This has a great effect up on
students’ academic achievement. Similarly, one
of the main challenges explained in ESDP IV
is difficulty in improving student achievement
and addressing students’ special educational
needs (MoE, 2010).
To address diversity of learners, curriculum
contents and processes should vary and
teachers should be trained on how they are
addressing students’ special educational
needs. Similarly, Joshi & Verspoor (2013)
portrayed that curriculum implementation
should allow for the adequate local knowledge,
while avoiding the biases of stereotypes and
employing a range of instructional strategies
to reach diversified learners. But teachers, as
the back bones of any strategy for curriculum
implementation, did not use differentiation
effectively as a response to students needs
by varying the content, process and the
productand improve student academic
performance (Joshi & Verspoor, 2013).
Furthermore, the researcher with other
colleagues provided various trainings on
the concept of differentiated instruction for
more than 400 primary school teachers being
sponsored by SOS Bahir Dar and Bahir Dar
University. During such training sessions
primary school teachers’ exposure to this new
approach and the instructional strategies to
be applied were not as expected. The trainee
teachers’ perceptions and practices on this
approach and the challenges they mentioned
were different for different schools. This
triggered the researcher to understandthe
perceptions, practices, and challenges primary
school teachers on differentiated instruction.
The intent of this research istherefore, to assess
theperceptions, practices and challenges of DI
by primary school teachers.
Specifically, the study attempted to answer the
following research questions:
1. What are the perceptions and practices
of primary school teachers’ about
differentiated instruction?
2. How often do primary school teachers use
the instructional/management strategies of
differentiated instruction in their classroom?
3. Is there significant difference in primary
school teachers’ practice of the overall
differentiated instruction as a function
of demographic variables (gender,
qualification, experience, and departments?
4. Is there significant difference in primary
school teachers’ practice of the separate
elements of differentiated instruction as a
function of demographic variables (gender,
qualification, experience, and departments?
5. What factorshelp or hinder primary school
teachers trying to implement differentiated
instruction in the classroom?
Significance of the study
This study is important fordifferent stakeholders.
School teachers and school principals can
benefit from this study as they will get empirical
evidence about how to address the needs of
diversified learners using different instructional
strategies of differentiated instruction.
Universities and teacher education colleges
who are engaged in training teachers through
their pre-service and in-service programs can
benefit since the application of differentiated
instruction have implications for addressing the
needs, interests, learning profiles and learning
styles of diversified learners in the school.
They can also use this finding for diversifying
the contents, processes and products of
differentiated instruction while developing their
curriculum and understanding the different
strategies of differentiation.
Professional development providers and
organizers (schools, woreda education offices,
the Regional Education Bureau, NGOs working
on education) can benefit from the findings of
this study as one-size-does-not fit for all.
Scope
The main purpose of this study is to assess
theperceptions, practices and challenges of
differentiated instruction by primary school
teachers.Diploma and degree holder primary
school teachers that were attending their
fifth and sixth years upgrading Summer Post
Graduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT) program
training of 2013/14 at Bahir Dar University
were selected as samples. Therefore, data
were collected from diploma and degreeholder
primary school teachers that were selected
from different faculties and/or colleges of the
university (Science College, Social Science
faculty, and Humanities faculty).
The study tries to unearth primary school
teachers’ perceptions and practices of DI in
general and its elements (content, process,
product and learning environment),the different
instructional strategies (learning contracts,
flexible grouping, tiering, learning centers,
interest centers, compacting, independent
studies, varying questions and instructional
materials) and augmenting or deterring factors
affecting the implementationof DI.
Research Methodology History and Civics and Ethical Education
Research methods departments and in Humanities faculty, English
and Amharic departments were obtained
The purpose of this study was to assess the through simple random sampling. Totally, the
practices and challenges of DI by primary two batches Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching
school teachers. To this end, descriptive (PGDT) training program teachers from seven
survey research with an embedded mixed departments were selected randomly and sixty
methodsdesignthat employs primarily a percent of the samples were taken from the
quantitative method and substantiated by total population.When sample teachers were
qualitative method (Creswell, 2012) was used. obtained, their demographic variables (gender,
An embedded mixed methodsdesignisonein qualification, experience, and department)
whichthequantit ativemethodssupported were considered (see table-1 below).
by the qualitative methods are used
toanswerresearch questionsin asingle study.
It is usefultotriangulateoneset ofresults with
another and thereby enhancing the validity of
inferences (Creswell, 2012).
Sources of Data
Primary school teachers who attended their
fifth and sixth years of upgrading summer Post
Graduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT) program
at Bahir Dar University in 2015/16 were the main
data sources. These primary school teachers
who areselected from different departments,
faculties and colleges were in two batches.All
the sixth year PGDT trainees (first batch) were
degree holders whereas the majority offifth
year trainees (second batch) were diploma
holders.
Samples and Sampling Procedures
Science college, Social Science faculty and
Humanities faculty were selected purposely
since it is only in this college and faculties that
PGDT training program were provided in the
university. From the Science College, Biology,
Physics and Mathematics departments were
selected randomly. In Social Science faculty,
 N Demographic Category Frequency (n) Percentage
1 Gender
Male 111 47.84
Female 121 52.15
2 Teaching qualification
Diploma (2nd batch) 131 56.46
Degree (1st batch) 101 43.53
3 Teaching experience
0-5 years 46 19.82
6-10 years 81 34.91
11-15 years 62 26.72
>15 years 43 18.53
4 Current subject areas of teaching (department)
Language 54 23.27
Social Science 59 25.43
Natural Science 66 28.45
Mathematics 53 22.84

Table-1: Demographic data of sample primary school teachers attending the PGDT
program (N=232)
At last, proportionate stratified random as 0.79. Some items that seem vague for the
sampling was used in order to take the actual respondents were rejected and some were
sample teachers based on their demographic improved.
variables.
Interviews and Focus group Discussions
Data Gathering Instruments
Semi-structured interviews and focus group
Data was gathered through questionnaire, discussions were conducted with primary
interview and focus group discussion. school teachers regarding their knowledge and
understandings about differentiation, ways
Questionnaire of DI, strategies used to apply DI and factors
that helped or hindered the implementation of
The author used an existing survey DI so as to obtain additional data. Interviews
questionnaire developed by Tomlinson (2005) with forty-two teachers and focus group
and Adlam (2007) cited in Rodriguez (2012) and discussions with eighteen group members,
adapting it into the local contexts. The survey each group consisting of 4-6 members, were
involves items that are used to assess teachers’ made so as to triangulate the data obtained
knowledge about differentiation; frequency of from the questionnaire.
times that teachers used DI in specific subject
areas; strategies used to apply DI and factors
that helped or hindered the implementation of
DI. First, the face validity of the questionnaire
was checked by colleagues and one associate
professor. Besides, it was pilot tested by
the non-sample forty-fiveparticipants and its
reliability was checked using Chrombach alpha
Data Analysis Techniques
Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis
techniques were employed. Quantitatively,
percentage, mean, standard deviation, one
sample t-test, independent sample t-test and
one-way ANOVA were employed.One sample
t-test was used to determine the conceptions
and status of primary school teachers’ in
practicing DI. Whereas, independent sample
t-test was used to see gender and qualification
difference in the practice of DI. One-way ANOVA
was used to see the significant difference in
primary school teachers’ practice of DIbased
on experience and across departments.On
the other hand, the data collected through
interview and focus group discussions were
analyzed qualitatively through descriptions and
narrations.
Results and Discussion
In this part of the study the major findings
of the study which were categorized into
themes were discussed using review of
relatedliterature.
The understandings and practicesof primary
school teachers regarding differentiated
instruction and the frequency of utilizing
strategies in their classrooms
In the first part, teachers were asked about their
exposure or training regarding differentiated
instruction for the last three or four years of
teaching. However, 224 (96.55%) teachers
reported that training was not provided regarding
DI in any of the courses in their pre-service
training programs either from Teacher Training
Institutes (TTIs), Colleges, Universities or in
in-service trainings, conferences, meetings,
or workshops. Therefore, the conception of
primary school teachers regarding this concept
is low. Consistent to this finding, the finding
of Scott (2012) reveled that while much has
been written about the theory behind DI,
there has been a lack of deep understanding in
how to fully implement it.Hobson (2008) also
discovered that all of the teachers observed and
surveyed reported having very little training on
the topic of differentiation. On the same token,
Hess (1999) found that “…90% of teachers
do not know how to differentiate instruction
in mixed-ability settings”. Rodriguez (2012) also
revealed that for many teachers, differentiating
instruction is a new approach and little is known
about teachers’ knowledge of DI, how they use
it and what factors affect the implementation
of differentiated instruction.
Even though DI in general is a new modality in
our country and most primary school teachers
were not obtained trainings, however, they are
exercising some of the strategies to address
students’ diversity. In line with this, Hobson
(2008) depicted that many teachers in the
study were not actually following a model of
differentiation, but simply implementing best
practices to improve students’ achievement.
Teachers are of high importance in this regard.
Teachers who did not have the differentiation
training may have infrequently used the
differentiation variables, as evidenced in the
student surveys and these random uses of
the strategies did not carry over to increased
student achievement (Koezye, 2007).
In order to improve students’ academic
achievement teachers should understand
mechanisms of addressing diversified learners’
needs since the quality of teachers and their
teaching are the most important factors for
student outcomes (Barber & Mourshed, 2007;
Joshi & Verspoor, 2013; Koezye, 2007). For
instance, the research findings of Koezye (2007)
portrayed that although achievement was not
statistically increased with the use of the other
variables, the students in the differentiated
classrooms seemed to have a better learning
experience than those who were not and were
more excited about their work. Emphasizing
the importance of teachers up on students’
academic achievement, Barber & Mourshed
(2007) summarized that “the quality of an
educational system cannot exceed the quality
of its teachers” (p, 43). Ayalew (2009) also
stated that the strength of any educational
system largely depends on the quality and
commitment of its teachers.
 Variable Expected Mean ObserveMean Mean df t P
Difference
The status of Differentiated 2.5 2.44 -.052 231 -3.290 .001
Instruction

p < 0.05
Table-2: One Sample T-Test showing differentiated Instruction (N=232)

The result of the one-sample t-test analysis

shows that the perception of differentiated
instruction by primary school teachers was low
(t=-3.290, p < 0.05). That is, the obtained mean
(2.44) is less than the expected mean (2.5). As it
is a new concept to our country, about 96.55%
of primary school teachers portrayed that they
did not have training on DI and as a result
they have low perceptions. Similar findings of Figure: Familiarity of teachers oninstructional
Tomilson (2003) also portrayed that as it is a strategies of DI(N=232)
new modality mainly implemented in United
The majority of the teachers reported that they
States currently, the exposure of teachers
were not familiar with most of the presented
in other countries is low. Many researches
instructional strategies of DI. However, among
(Rodriguez’s, 2012; Carnine, 2004; Purcell
the selected eleven strategies of DI, 67% of
et al, 2002) revealed the same. Even though
the primary school teachers revealed that
recent political changes, including increased
they were familiar with students’ independent
accountability to state and national standards,
study. The other 62% and 56% also portrayed
have placed an even greater spotlight on
that they were familiar with interest centers
differentiation for educators (Carnine, 2004),
and flexible grouping respectively. Conversely,
current practices are apparently not meeting
the least familiar strategies for primary
the challenge (Purcell et al., 2002). The result
school teachers were pre-assessment of
of Hellman (2007) also indicated that teachers’
the learners’ performance before the lesson
perceptions as to whether or not they were
(13%), curriculum compacting (17%), tiered
adequately meeting the needs of students in
assignments (18%), students’ free choice
the general education classroom were affected
(21%) and varying questions (21%). The use of
by the differentiated instruction training they
learning centers, varying instructional materials
received to a statistically significant degree.
and curriculum contracts were also reported as
Furthermore, primary school teachers were
the least performed strategies by teachers in
asked about their familiarity of the instructional
their classroom practices.
strategies of DI and the analysis is given below.
The result of this study showed that the majority
of the primary school teachers were not familiar
with various strategies of DI. This in turn will
have adverse effects up on implementing those
strategies in the actual classrooms. Teachers
who tried using strategies of differentiation
without training lack how to frame students’
learning choices, learning styles, interests and
learning preferences in the classroom (Koezye,
2007). Thus, quality professional development
and the implementation of instructional
strategies that address the diverse needs
of today’s learners are vital and inseparable
factors of the educational equation (Chapman
& King, 2005).
Though the majority of primary school
teachers were less familiar to the strategies
of differentiation, however in practice, some
teachers exercised few strategies (independent
study, interest centers and flexible grouping)
better than the other strategies (pre-
assessment, compacting, tiering and student
free choice). Consistent with this finding,
the research finding of Rodriguez (2012) also
revealed that of the twelveDI strategies she
used, 87% of the teacher respondents were
most familiar with flexible grouping, and 86%
with independent projects or investigations.
One difference was that Rodriguez found the
independent study to be the least familiar
instructional strategy in her study, whereas it
was one of the highest familiar strategies in
the current study.
In order to implement differentiated
instruction, first of all teachers should know
and understand their students through pre-
assessment data. Pre-assessment data are a
strategy teachers are using in order to identify
the prior knowledge of students and their gaps.
However, familiarity of primary school teachers
in this regard was low. In consistent with this
finding, teachers practice of pre-assessment,
which Levy (2008) revealed, was low. First
teachers must know where they are and then
how can they are going. Once the students
have been pre-assessed, the teacher must
construct an analysis of what is being compared
would be made (Emanuelsson & Clarke, 2004;
Koezye, 2007). Pre-assessment data drives
the instruction in a differentiated classroom
(Bondley, 2011). Without pre-assessment data,
the teacher would not have the knowledge of
what or how to plan for DI. Pre-assessment
techniques were used frequently by the
teachers who received differentiation training
than from those who did not get training
(Koezye, 2007). Besides, Hellman (2007) stated
that, primarily, the classroom teacher must
be flexible in his/her instruction, procedures,
grouping, and assessment. It is only through
on-going assessment that the teacher will be
able to target the specific needs and interests
of the students.

DI Strategy Never Sometimes Frequently Always

n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)
Use curriculum compacting 120(51.72) 104(44.82) 8(3.440) -
Learning contracts. 10(4.31) 101(43.53) 91(39.22) 30(12.93)
Independent study/work. 14(6.03) 125(53.87) 60(25.86) 32(13.79)
Interest centers/groups. 65(28.01) 97(41.81) 58(25) 12(5.17)
Learning centers/groups 133(57.33) 84 (36.20) 12(5.17) 3(1.29)
Varying questions 100(43.10) 111(47.84) 20(8.62) -
Varied instructional materials 95(40.94) 98(42.24) 33(14.22) 6(2.58)
Flexible grouping - 102(43.96) 87(37.5) 43(18.53)
Pre-assessment data 135(57.44) 69(29.74) 28(12.06) -
Students’ choice 65(27.65) 107(46.12) 46(19.82) 14(6.03)
Tiered assignments 112(48.27) 94(40.51) 26(11.20) -

The frequency of use of instructional/management strategies of DI

Table 3: The frequency of use of instructional strategies of DI by teachers in their classroom (N=232)
This portion of the study tried to check how
frequent teachers are in applying different
strategies of differentiated instruction.
Among the different types of DI strategies,
the majority of teachers were unable to
implement pre-assessment data 135 (57.44%),
learning centers 133 (57.33%), and curriculum
compacting120 (51.72 %). Similarly, 48.27%,
43.10%, 40.95% and 40.51% of teachers never
utilized tiered assignments, varying questions,
varied instructional materials respectively.
About 27.65% of teachers also never addressed
students’ choice in their classroom delivery.
However, one difference was that Rodriguez
(2012) found the item provisions for student
choice to be a very familiar instructional strategy
in her study, whereas it was one of the least
familiar strategies in the current study.
Similarly, during my interviews with some of
the teachers, they revealed that:
Most of we did not have the know-how
of making pre-assessment in order to
check our students’ interest, readiness,
profile and learning styles. We simply
begin to teach the already developed
curriculum of the given grade levels
and we faced the challenges when we
begin assessment and confronting wider
gaps in results. Similarly we didn’t use
curriculum compacting since there is
a fixed time schedule for every lesson
which we will be checked against by the
school principals. Besides, schools didn’t
have learning centers or classroom areas
that contain a collection of activities or
materials designed to teach, reinforce,
or extend a particular skill or concept of
their students.
In consistent with this finding, teachers
practice of pre-assessment, which Levy (2008)
revealed, was low. To Rodriguez (2012) also
the strategies that teachers used least were
curriculum compacting but not learning centers.
Probably the setting, Rodtiguez conducted her
study might have better learning centers which
is inconsistent with this finding.
Regarding the varied instructional materials
and the tiered assignments teachers are using
in their classroom teaching, the other group
discussion members also responded that:
Since the curriculum has rigid time
schedule and highly structured so we,
instead of applying varied instructional
materials, are mostly using one and the
same instructional material, mainly the
text book, for all students learning in one
class and the focus is mainly for content
coverage. Under this circumstance
wecould not strictly address diversity and
the choices of every student.
They further clarified that:
Even if we need to use different
instructional materials, there is a shortage
of the resources. So we are simply
keepingour students in the class without
ample instructional materials and due to
this, students did not have the learning
interest. Under many constraints,
designing to provide tiered assignments-
questions of different levels of complexity,
abstractness, and open endedness- in
the same class learners is highly ideal and
impractical.
On the other hand, to the “sometimes” scale
on which teachers applied the instructional
strategies, about 53.87% of teachers rated
independent study/work, 47.84% used
varying questions, 46.12% respected
students’ choices, 44.82%, utilized curriculum
compacting, 43.96% applied flexible grouping,
43.53% used learning contracts and 42.24%
used varied instructional materials. Similar to
the above results, the focus group discussants
also conjectured that:
we, teachers, are providing for students
both individual and group works and we
are also organizing 1to5 groups to support
each other. But the group arrangement
we are using is not based on their interest,
learning style and readiness, rather it is
formulated in such a way that one cleaver
student is supporting the other five weak
students. Sometimes students are also
signing contractual agreement with
students about their learning but in most
cases it is not practical. On the other hand,
we are not giving different assignments
for different students since it is difficult to
compare and judge students in the same
 way. Teaching out of the planned schedule For the last scale, almost all strategies were
for us is difficult since we are inspected not applied ‘always’ by the majority of teachers
by the school principals thus how can in their classroom. Generally, the above data
we implement curriculum compacting vividly indicated that the status of teachers in
undersuch rigid condition? frequently applying the various instructional
strategies was low. These have a significant
For the third scale ‘frequently’, how frequent they
effect on students’ academic achievement
were using the different strategies of DI, about
(Heacox, 2002; Marzano, 2007; Phillips, 2010;
39.22% and 37.5% of teachers respectively
Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005). Similar findings
rated that they used learning contracts and
of the Ministry of Education also confirmed
flexible grouping. The other 25.86% used
that one of the main challenges in ESDP IV
independent study. Similar to this finding,
is difficulty in improving student achievement
flexible grouping was the most common and
and addressing students’ special educational
frequently used by teachers (Rodriguez (2012).
needs (MoE, 2010). Effective teachers benefit
Rodriguez also revealed that the most common
all students regardless of gender, race, or
differentiated instructional strategies used on
socioeconomic status (Konstantopoulos,
a daily or weekly basis were varying questions
2009; Rivkin et al., 2005) and are essential to
and varied instructional materials. Conversely,
academic success (Ding & Sherman, 2006;
the strategy of curriculum compacting, which
Heck, 2009; Stronge et al., 2008) with high
was not familiar to teachers, was not used very
quality instruction throughout primary schools
much by them (Rodriguez, 2012).
through applying differentiated instruction.
Even though primary school teachers did not
Differentiated classroom provides different
clearly understand which one is a strategy of
avenues to acquiring content, processing
differentiation they frequently applied some
or making sense of ideas, and developing
strategies. That is why Pollnow & Tkatchov
products. In all contexts, effective DI involves:
(2008) stated that DI is a concept most
knowing your students, understanding the
effective teachers have unintentionally done in
curriculum, providing multiple pathways to
their classrooms for centuries.Nevertheless,
learning, sharing responsibility with students
the other strategies of DI were not frequently
and taking a flexible and reflective approach.
applied by the majority of teachers. Because
It is a way for teachers to recognize and
“one size does not fit all,” it is imperative that
react responsively to their students’ varying
a variety of teaching strategies be used in a
background knowledge, readiness, language,
differentiated classroom and primary school
preferences in learning and interests (Hall,
teachers have to know and apply the different
2002; George, 2005; Koutselini, 2006; Smutny,
instructional strategies. Of course, in their
2003; Tieso, 2003; Tomlinson, 2005) in order
constructive statements, some interviewees
to assist student learning and their academic
regarding learning contracts put forward that:
achievement (Heacox, 2002).
… even though there are inconsistencies
in goal setting by students from year
to year, the good thing in schools is
students set a goal and to achieve
that goal teachers are signing learning
contracts, written agreements between
the teacher,the students and parents that
allow the student to work independently
and achieve effectively. If students are not
performing their tasks properly, students,
teachers and parents are accountable….
This has to be continued.
 Items Gender N Mean SD t df P

Overall Differentiation Male 111 124.63 9.770 -3.107 230 0.002

p<0.05
Differences in primary school teachers’ practices of the overall DIasa function of demographic variables
Table-4: Mean differences on the overall practice of differentiated based on gender(Independent Sample T-Test)

In the overall practice of DIcomparisons based on gender (male teachers and female teachers) using
Independent Sample T-Test, significant difference was observed (t= -3.107, P < 0.05 at df = 230).
From the result, as compared to male teachers (mean=124.63), female teachers (mean=129.69)
better practiced DI. Though it needs to be further researched, this result might be due to female
teachers’ skill of handling student’s diversified needs and interests more than male teachers as they
are mothers.
In contrast to this finding, the research finding of Scott’s (2012) study indicated that there was a
slight decrease in female test scores from before to after treatment in Mathematics. Male change
performance increased 4.09% after differentiated instructional strategies were implemented in
the mathematics instruction. However, Scott (2012) suggested that more study of differentiated
instruction and gender would be a good area for further analysis to determine the consistency of
this conclusion.

Items Qualification N Mean SD t df P

Overall Diploma 131 126.40 14.43595 -1.192 230 0.235

Differentiation Degree 101 128.39 14.76533

P > 0.05
Table-5: Mean differences on the overall practice of DI based on qualification(Independent
Sample T-Test)

Regarding the overall practice of DIcomparisons between degree and diploma teachers based on
their qualification using Independent Sample T-Test, significant difference was not observed (t=
-1.192, P > 0.05 at df = 230). That is, the mean value of degree holders (128.39) is not significantly
different from the mean values of diploma holders (126.49). Even though significant difference
was not observed due to qualification difference, the research findings of Koeze (2007) indicated
that teachers who participated in the DI training reported frequent differentiation in the areas of
readiness, interest, flexible grouping, choice, and learning styles. Whereas, teachers who did
not have the differentiation training may have sporadically used the differentiation variables, as
evidenced in the student surveys and these random uses of the strategies did not carry over to
increased student achievement. Furthermore, the research findings of Tony Mason (1999) cited
in Hobson (2008) indicated that teachers in the study discovered a mismatch between what they
actually needed to teach students of different ethnic or racial backgrounds and what skills their pre-
service programs had prepared them for
 Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 149.882 3 49.961 .310 .818
Within Groups 36704.010 228 160.983
Total 36853.892 231
p > 0.05
Table-6: Summary of One Way-ANOVA: Differences of teachers on the practice of DI based on experience

In comparing the mean values of the overall practice of DIamong teachers based on their
experience in teaching using One-way ANOVA (F3, 228) =.310, P>.05), significant difference was
not observed among teachers of 0-5 years of teaching experience, 6-10 years of experience, 11-15
years of experience, and >15 years of teaching experience. Consistent with the above findings,
Hobson’s (2008) findings indicated that educational and contextual factors such as years of teaching
experience and staff development have no positive effect on how often a teacher differentiates
instruction. Similarly, Robison’s (2004) findings highlighted that teachers did not relate to any
research theory as they related their teaching experiences to the concept of DI. Besides, Hobson’s
(2008) data showed that the relationships between teachers’ years ofexperience and the number
of workshops they attend are not statistically significant inregards to their use of differentiation.
However, with respect to the number of collegecourses attended, the correlation is significant
(Hobson, 2008).
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 4884.749 3 1628.250 11.612 .000
Within Groups 31969.143 228 140.216
Total 36853.892 231
p > 0.05
Table-7: Summary of One Way-ANOVA: Differences of teachers based on departments on the practice of DI
Concerning the practice of DIbased on department differences, comparisons were made using
one way-ANOVA. The result of one way-ANOVA (F3, 228) =.11.612, P<.05) indicated that there
was a significant difference in the practice of DIamong the four departments.

(I) Department Mean Diff. (I-J) Sig.

(J) Department
Natural Science Language -9.18013* .000
Mathematics -5.98342* .033
Social Science Language -11.64187 *
.000
Mathematics -8.44516 *
.001
Natural Science 9.18013 *
.000
Language Social Science 11.64187* .000
Natural science 5.98342* .033
Mathematics Social Science 8.44516 *
.001

Table-8: Summary of Tukey (HSD) testof Mean comparisons about the practice of DI among departments (N=232)
In order to see the multiple mean differences
observed among the four departments, Tukey
test or Honestly Significant Difference (HSD)
test was employed. From this test of mean
comparisons, primary school teachers of
Language department (mean=133.57) and
Mathematics department (mean=130.37)
performed differentiation better than Natural
Science (mean=124.39) and Social Science
(mean=121.93) department teachers. The
reason for the two departments to better
perform differentiation was due to more time
allocated to these subjects.Consistent to this
result, Adlam’s (2007) and Rodriguez’s (2012)
findings revealed that DI was used on a frequent
basis in subjects such as Language Arts and
Mathematics due to more time allocated
to these subjects and due to teachers who
teach the same students every day are able to
become familiar with each of their student’s
needs. The t-test result of Hellman (2007) also
found that the students who received DI made
significant gains in mathematics but not in
reading.
Differences in primary school teachers’
practices of elements of DI as a function of
demographic variables
In response to the realities of diverse student
population, many educational leaders,
researchers and teacher training programs
have made DI a priority to equip teachers with a
knowledge base for understanding and working
with the differences that students bring to the
classroom(Hobson, 2004; Tomlinson & Imbeau,
2010). Due to this, the study tried to investigate
differences in the practice of the elements of
DI by primary school teachers as a function of
demographic variables.

Sex N Mean SD t df p
Contents Male 111 15.67 2.71 -1.710 230 .089
Female 121 16.28 2.75
Process Male 111 31.14 3.02 -2.276 230 .024
Female 121 32.93 7.80
Product Male 111 12.74 3.23 -0.101 230 .313
Female 121 13.18 3.42
Environment Male 111 20.27 2.15 .943 230 .346
Female 121 20.00 2.07
Table-9: Mean differences on the practice of elements of DI based on gender
(Independent Sample T-Test)

From the four elements of differentiation
(content, process, product and environments),
statistically significant difference was
observed between male and female primary
school teachers in varying the process of
differentiation (t= -2.276, P < 0.05 at df = 230).
That is, the mean value of female teachers
(32.93) is greater than that of male teachers
(31.14). However, significant difference was not
detected in terms of contents, products and
environment. Effective teachers are expected
to apply differentiated instruction by varying
contents, methods, products and the learning
environment. Not only do teachers interested in
DI have to keep in mind student characteristics,
they also have to be aware of curricular elements
that can be adjusted to match these student
differences. So, teachers must consider the
key elements that can make a difference in
student learning: content, process, product,
and learning environment (Hall, 2009; Heacox,
2002; Robinson, 2004; Tomlinson, 2006,
2010; Tomlinson & Eidson, 2003) for a more
effective practice that responds to the needs
of diverse learners. Thus, ensuring the success
of all students through varying the curriculum/
contents, the process, the product and the
learning environment is fundamental (Ellington
& Cardenas, 2007; Tomlinson, 2010).
In terms of qualification, there was significant
statistical difference between diploma and
degree holders on the application of contents
(t= -2.203, P < 0.05 at df = 230), process
(t= 2.142, P < 0.05 at df = 230) and learning
environments (t= -3.230, P < 0.05 at df = 230)
as differentiation. The mean comparisons
of diploma holders exceeded that of degree
holders in content and process differentiation,
but in varying environments degree holders
mean value exceeded their counterparts.
Nevertheless, no significant difference was
observed in the variation of products due to
qualification difference. Whatever the case, in
order to address the readiness, interests and
profile of diversified learners, teachers may
differentiate instruction based on any one or
combination of these elements (Tomlinson,
2006).
Surprisingly, using one way-ANOVA, no
significant difference was observed based on
teaching experience of primary school teachers
in all elements of DI (content, process, product
and environments) (P>.05). On the other hand,
departments have shown statistically significant
differences in the applications of contents (F3,
228) =21.108, P<.05) and products (F3, 228)
=20.648, P<.05) as elements of differentiation.
Nevertheless, no difference was observed
among departments in terms of process and
environments (p>0.05).
Differentiating the content requires that
students are pre-tested so teachers can
identify students who do not require direct
instruction. Those students who demonstrate
understanding of the majority of the concepts
are not required to participate in direct
instruction and may instead use different
textbooks with different reading levels, or
proceed to apply the concepts to problem
solving and enriched or accelerated study.
Several strategies likeconcept-based teaching,
curriculum compacting, using varied text and
resource materials, learning contracts, mini-
lessons, and varied support systems help
teachers differentiate content according to
students’ readiness, interests, and learning
profiles (Tomlinson, 2001).
Similar to content, process can also be
differentiated on the basis of student readiness,
interest, or learning profile. Teachers vary
process when they provide multiple avenues
for students to digest ideas (Tomlinson, 2003).
They can provide strategies like tiered activities,
providing detailed and specific directions, using
graphic organizers, cubing, varying the pace of
student work, creative problem solving, and
using a variety of criteria for success based on
whole-class requirements as well as individual
student readiness needs for differentiating
the process of learning (Tomlinson and
Eidson,2003; Tomilson, 2003).
Products are the end results of learning(Heacox,
2002) and a means by which students
demonstrate what they have come to know,
understand, and be able to do(Tomlinson &
Eidson,2003). It can also be seen at the level
of evaluation of students’ final work (product),
by differentiating the ways and means used to
evaluate the learning outcomes of students such
as giving students options of how to express
required learning; using rubrics that match and
extend students’ varied skills levels; allowing
students to work alone or in small groups on
their products; and encouraging students to
create their own product assignments as long
as the assignments contain required elements.
Differentiation of the learning environment
encompasses the ways by which classroom
and school environment can be differentiated
in order to create a comfortable, friendly
and secure environment that supports and
promotes the learning effort of students
(Smutny, 2003). The classroom’s learning
environment must be designed to meet
the diverse learning needs of the students
(Robison, 2004) and considering also other
factors affecting learning outside the school
borders (Koutselini, 2006). To differentiate
learning environment, creating safe classroom
that invite student collaboration; providing
different resources;promoting independent
work; developing routines that allow students
to get help when teachers are busy with other
students and helping students by understanding
them are important(Tomlinson,2006).
Factors augmenting or deterring the implementation of differentiated instruction
From the open ended questions teachers filled, the main factors that are enhancing and affecting
the implementation of DI were identified.

Factors Frequency of Teacher

responses
n (%)
Knowledge and experience 217 93.53
Commitment and Motivation 200 86.20
Availability of materials/resources 167 71.98
Provision of Trainings on DI 154 66.37
School administration, leadership sup- 132 56.89
port
Small class size 132 56.89
Parental support 110 47.41
Availability of time for planning 98 42.24
Other staff collaboration 54 23.27
Range of Student Diversity 40 17.24

Table-10: Factors helping teachers to implement differentiated instruction (N=232)

Knowledge and experience was the top
factor identified as the key to facilitating the
implementation of DI, and was identified by
93.53% of the teacher respondents (n=217).
The second key facilitating factor identified
was commitment and motivation, by 86.20%
(n=200), and the third key factor was availability
of materials/resources, by 71.98% (n =167) of
the teachers. The least identified factors were
range of student diversity, staff collaboration
and availability of time for planning. Teachers
who differentiate instruction understand that
skillful instruction is an imperative in order
to bring curriculum to life for young learners,
and flexible instruction is necessary to make
curriculum work for academically diverse
student populations (Tomlinson & McTighe,
2006).Differentiation is about understanding
the needs and abilities of students and
providing alternatives within multiple, but
manageable constraints (Hall, 2009).
Teachers and students benefit from a
differentiated curriculum. Good teachers should
find ways to engage students by tapping into
what interests students and by involving them
in the daily running of the classroom (Demos
& Forshay, 2009;MacGillivray & Rueda,
2001) and understand that each and every
student is unique (Tomilson, 2006). It helps
teachers consider students’ interests and
learning styles in planning(Hollas, 2005); allow
advanced learners the ability to be challenged
and move forward in their learning (Manning,
Standford & Reeves, 2010) and enhance their
motivation to learn and stay positive (Stronge,
2004; Tomlinson, 2004). Furthermore DI
helps creating different pathways to help all
students to be successful (Hollas, 2005); take
into account learners’ differences, needs, and
interests (Kelly, 2007); provide for the academic
diversity of contemporary classrooms
(Blozowich, 2001).
 Factors Frequency of Teacher
responses
n (%)
Lack of knowledge and experience 225 96.98
Large class size 189 81.46
Lack of commitment & motivation 155 66.81
Shortage of materials/ resources 146 62.93
Shortage of time 141 60.77
Range of diversity in classroom 139 59.91
Lack of parental support 137 59.05
Lack of school administration support 118 50.86
Traditional outlook of one size-fits-for all 104 44.82
Engaging on routine tasks 86 37.06
Amount of planning time 66 28.44
Lack of Staff collaboration 34 14.65

Table-11: Factors Hindering Teachers in Implementing Differentiated Instruction (N=232)

While implementing differentiated instruction a with colleagues (Good, 2006). To Rodriugez

number of hampering factors were identified. (2012) the key factor that hindered teachers in
The first hindering factor identified by 225 trying to implement DI in their classrooms was
(96.96%) teachers is lack of knowledge and availability of materials and amount of planning
experience on how to differentiate instruction. time. According to the findings of Rodriguez the
The second and third key factors identified availability of materials was found to both help
were large class size by 189 (81.46%) teachers and hinder the implementation ofdifferentiated
and lack of interest and commitment as instruction.
155 (66.81%) teachers rated respectively.
According to Affholder (2003) time was taken
Shortage of materials/resources, shortage of
as a critical factor for the implementation of DI,
time, range of diversity in classroom, lack of
time for lesson planning and preparation, time
parental support, lack of school administrative
for collaboration, and a student contact time
support were those hampering factors listed in
sufficient for assessment and instruction of
descending order. The least identified factors
students. Many obstacles such as large class
were lack of staff collaboration, amount of
sizes, many demands on teachers’ schedules,
planning time, engaging on routine tasks and
and lack of training on how to differentiate
outlook of one size-fits-for all.
impede even those teachers who are willing to
Similar to the above findings, lack of knowledge
try to improve their practice (Tomlinson, 2001).
and experience was found to be the main
Lack of staff development, lack of accessible
factor affecting teachers in implementing DI.
materials, and lack of time to create and
Lack of teacher confidence in managing more
implement activities were also other factors
flexible classrooms is cited as one barrier
(Good, 2006).Besides, pre-existing ideas of
to classrooms becoming responsive to the
how to teach which contradict differentiation,
academic needs of diverse learners (Brighton
misinformation regarding differentiation,
et al., 2004). Thus, teachers have to get the
and classroom management skills are areas
appropriate knowledge through continuous
presented challenges to teachers when
training. Even experienced teachers need
attempting differentiation (Casey & Gable,
access to training and opportunities to network
2011).
Conclusions and Implications
Conclusions
Even though practicing it in different ways,most
primary school teachers’(96.55%)exposure
regarding DI through pre-service or in-service
trainings for the last three or four years of
teaching was low. As a result, their perceptions
and practices on DI and its elements were not
up to the expectations.Even though some
teachers were infrequently and irregularly
exercising, the majority of primary school
teachers were not familiar with the different
instructional strategies of DI(pre-assessment,
curriculum compacting, tiered assignments,
the use of learner centers, students’ free
choice, varying questions, varying instructional
materials and curriculum contracts).
Despite the fact that the overall status and
practiceof DIby primary school teachers was
low, comparisons on gender indicated that
female teachers practiced DIbetter than male
teachers. However, qualification and experience
does not indicate statistically significant
difference.Departments wise, Language
department teachers and Mathematics
department teachers performed differentiation
better than Natural Scienceand Social Science
department teachers. Lastly, knowledge and
experience, commitment and motivation,
availability of materials or resources, availability
of time, class size, range of diversity in
classroom, leadership and parental support and
staff collaboration were taken as augmenting
or deterring factors for the implementation of
differentiated instruction.
Implications
Most primary school teachers’ exposure,
perception and practiceon DI and its elements
were not up to the expectations and as a result
addressing the diversified needs of learners is
limited. As one-size-does not-fit-for all (Heacox,
2009; Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010; Willis &
Mann, 2000; Wormeli, 2007), addressing
the needs, readiness, profiles, backgrounds,
interests and learning styles of every learner
through the application of DI is found to be
pertinent. Therefore, primary school teachers
should have the knowledge, understanding
and practice of DI, its elements and strategies
through pre-service and in-service capacity
building trainings. Teacher training universities
and colleges should also apply DI and various
strategies as one course of delivery for the
pre-service teacher training programs or
provide continuous on-job trainings.Tomlinson
suggested that differentiation can occur by
utilizing different instructional strategies: (i)
differences in texts; (ii) differences in support
for individual students; (iii) differences in
expectations for learning outcomes;(iv)
differences in students’ abilities; (v) differences
in student interests; and (vi) differences in
curriculum tasks.Therefore, teachers should
apply those instructional strategies that could
address the instructional needs, multiple
intelligences, learning modalities, cognitive
levels, student backgrounds, and personal
interests of the students.
As leaders of a school, school principals bear
responsibility for differentiation because they
respond to the needs of students and the
community while shaping curriculum. They
need to support their staff members as teachers
attempt to use differentiated instruction in
their classrooms. Therefore, school principals
should promoteparent participation, provide
special education counseling, and advocate
staff professional development so as to
proactively implementDIin order to address
the diversified needs of learners.
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The Effect of Universalization of Primary
Education (UPE) Campaign on the
Accessibility of Primary Education to
Manjo Minority Children in Kaffa Zone:
The Case of Post 2015 Achievement
Dilemmas in Chena and Adiyo Woredas
Getachew Robo
Abstract: Although the post 2015 educational
targets of Ethiopia are aimed at bringing about
quality and external efficiency in education,
there are still some localities with the problems
of access (Education for All 2015 National
Review Report). In the case of Kaffa zone,
Manjo minority ethnic group is segregated
from the Gomaro (Majority group) in residential
regions, economic activities, social interaction
and ritual system. Because of their life on the
edge Manjos are at the risk of poverty, lack
of education and access of basic services.
This paper aims to examine the effects of the
‘Education for All’ campaign on the accessibility
of primary education in Kaffa zone specifically
in Chena and Adiyo Woredas. To achieve the
purpose of the study, mixed method research
design was employed. I specifically used a
QUAL + quan design. Quantitative research
design basically employed through survey
method while the qualitative approach attained
through semi-structured interview, focus
group discussion and document analysis. The
target woredas were selected by using simple
random sampling technique because the
population distribution of Manjo community
across the zone is almost alike. Accordingly,
out of 3,835 total Manjo populations in target
woredas, 623 Manjo parents were selected
for survey by using comprehensive sampling
technique. Six Woreda education officials, three
educated Manjo parents and two CVM Ethiopia
partners that aid Manjo community children
were selected for focus group discussion by
employing purposive sampling procedure.
Nine enrolled Manjo community children and
five out of school Manjo community children
were selected for semi-structured interview
through availability sampling technique. Survey
data gathered through structured interview
were quantitatively analyzed by using
descriptive statistics specifically frequencies
and percentage; and the analysis of official
documents and reports of educational
achievements of UPE goals, the transcripts
of interview and the focus group discussions
were qualitatively analyzed by employing
descriptions and personal critical reflections.
Finally, the study disclosed that, even though
the Universalization of Primary Education (UPE)
agenda has brought courageous effect on the
enrollment of Manjo community children, there
are disregarded school aged Manjo children out
of school in the study area. The Net Enrollment
Ratio of Manjo children in sample Woredas is
0.56 which is lower than the plan of the sample
woredas and the approximate Zonal Gross
Enrollment Ratio (GER) of Manjo children is
0.69. Poverty and social segregation were found
to be the major impediments for enrollment
and survival rate of the target groups. Inclusive
education and special support activities better
enable Manjo marginalized groups to enroll and
complete primary and secondary education.
Key words: Social segregation, poverty,
Universal Primary Education, Inclusive
education, post-2015 achievement
Introduction
Fifteen years after 164 countries agreed to work
towards education for all, just one-third have
achieved the six goals set. In the meantime,
the global focus on universal primary education
has diverted attention from other crucial areas,
such as education quality, adult literacy and
early childhood care, a UN agency has said.
The primary school net enrolment rate in the
developing regions has reached 91 percent in
2015, up from 83 percent in 2000. The number
of out-of-school children of primary school age
worldwide has scaled down by almost half, to
an estimated 57 million in 2015, down from 100
million in 2000. Sub-Saharan Africa has had the
best record of acceleration to achieve primary
education of any region since the MDGs
were established. The region achieved a 20
percentage point increase in the net enrolment
rate from 2000 to 2015, compared to a gain of
8 percentage points between 1990 and 2000.
The literacy rate among youth aged 15 to 24
has increased globally from 83 percent to 91
per cent between 1990 and 2015. The gap
between women and men has narrowed UN
(2015).
In Ethiopia because of the multifaceted
problems that prohibit expansion of primary
education, the educational agendas are
sluggishly accomplished. In some regions of
the country, the access of primary education
has been yet achieved in accordance to the
plan.
Figure 1: Net Enrollment Ratio in primary
education of the year 1990-2015 (Actual and
projected Trends)
Source: MoE (2008/09) and Draft input for
the five year Growth and Transformation paln
(2010/11-2014/15)
The above figure portrays that the projection
for achievement of EFA to be 100% in terms
of Net Enrollment Ratio in the year 2015.
However, because of different educational
challenges of access in some regions of the
country the target was not achieved. In this
study, I analyzed the issues of access, ethnic
based equity and post –EFA achievements
in Kaffa Zone. Educational inequalities
partly result from the unequal distribution of
resources among different social classes.
In this case, social stratification influences
the livelihood and education of people. The
minority group who possess diminutive
portion of the resources enforced to live under
poverty. Poverty, in its turn, is an enormous
impediment for education of poor families.
The enrollment and survival rates of minority
children are highly affected by lower
socioeconomic status of their parents. In most
societies, parents with lower socioeconomic
status exist under poverty. Poverty reduction
is a complex undertaking because of the
multifaceted nature of poverty, one of them
being the unequal access to wealth and
basic services and commodities in several
societies or countries, which point to some
root causes of inequalities. Reducing poverty,
therefore, also means addressing governance
issues by challenging the adequacy of
policy-making and accountability mechanisms
existing institutions. Unfortunately, this
promise has been more myth than reality.
Educational marginalization is true for both
civilized and under civilized nations. Despite
some periods of progress, for instance, the
achievement gap between White and Black
students remains substantial (Barton & Coley,
2010 cited in Coley, 2013). In addition to this,
Students from low income families are more
likely to repeat and drop out school than
students from high income families. In most
rural areas of Ethiopia poor families do not like
to send their children to school and those who
allow schooling are not comfortable in allowing
them to continue their education. According
to Befekadu (1998), parents in rural areas with
low household income and socioeconomic
background face problems in urging their
children to stay in schools. The problem of
affordability of the school coupled with low
income is found to be the major reason why
parents do not send their children particularly
girls to school or withdrawn them from schools.
Backgrounds to the study
Ethiopia is a country inhabiting more than
80 different ethnic groups. No one ethnic
group has an overall numerical majority. The
Oromo ethnicity comprises the largest ethnic
composition (34% of the total population). The
Amhara are the next populous ethnic group
comprising 27% of the total population. Many of
the smaller ethnic groups have less than 10,000
people. In Southern Nations, Nationalities &
Peoples there are about 45 different minority
groups (http://www.minorityrights.org/).
Kaffa Zone is one of the Zones of SNNPRG,
comprising Kaffecho, Chara, and Na’o ethnic
groups as indigenous people and other ethnic
groups united for different reasons at different
times. Even though they are not socio-culturally
and economically integrated, Manjo minority
groups are from among Kaffecho’s sub-ethnic
groups (‘gumbo’ literally to mean stem or clan).
In Kaffa Zone, Manjo marginalized groups
are under immense challenges of exclusion,
illiteracy, and poverty. In the past century, in
the kingdom of Kaffa, the artisan groups were
considered all together as ‘sherare ashi yaro’
literally to mean ‘clans of the miniature people’
(Lange, 1982). However, each occupationally
separate groups were endogamous and
hunters. Manjo were considered to be much
inferior and even sub-human (Lange, 1982).
These minority groups are not only inhabitants
of Kaffa zone but also they reside in the areas
west of Northern River Omo, among groups
such as Dawuro, Sheka, and Bench (Pankhurst,
1999). The Participation of Manjos in social,
political, economic as well as cultural life of the
society is extremely low at all levels and in all
aspects throughout the area. This has already
created a wide gap between them and the rest
of people in Kaffa, Sheka, Dawuro and Bench.
Elias and others (1998), in their survey realized
that Manjos in Dawuro confront the same
challenges; the statement is documented in
the following form;
‘‘በዳውሮ ህብረተሰብ ማህበራዊ አደረጃጀት በመጨረሻው
ደረጃ ላይ የሚገኙት ማንጆ የተባሉ የሕብረተሰብ
ክፍሎች ናቸው፡፡እነዚህ የሕብረተሰብ ክፍሎችንና ሌሎችን
የእደጥበብ ባለሙያዎችን ሌላው ሕዝብ እንደንፁህ ዜጋ
አያያቸውም፡፡ለዚህም እንደምክንያት የቀርቡት የምግብ
አመጋገብ ባህላቸው ነው፡፡ ማንጃዎችም ሆኑ ሌሎችን
የእደጥበብ ባለሙያዎች በምግብ አመራረጥ በኩል
አይጠነቀቁም የሚል የተሳሳተ እምነት አለ፡፡ከነርሱ ጋር
ግኑኝነት ማድረግ እንደመበከል ወይንም እንደመርከስና
እንደነውር ስለሚቆጠር ከፍተኛ ጥንቃቄ ይደረጋል፡፡
ማንጃዎች በቀብር ሥነ-ሥርዓትና በሠርግ ወቅት
ሕፅፅያ (ሐጥጥያ) የተባለውን ባህላዊ የሙዚቃ
መሳሪያ ለመጫወት ካልሆነ በስተቀር ወደሌሎች
(ማላ፣ዶጋላ፣አማራ) ቤት መግባት አይፈቀድላቸውም፡
፡ በዚህ ዕለት ከመጡ ፈንጠር ብለው ተቀምጠው
በእንሰት ቅጠል ወይም በኮባ የሚቀርብላቸውን ምግብ
ይመገባሉ፡፡ እነሱ የነኩት ዕቃ ካለ ተሠበሮ ይጣላል እንጂ
በአገልግሎት ላይ አይውልም፡፡’’
The rough translation of this would be,
In Dawuro socio-political organization the
bottom is occupied by Manjos. Both Manjos
and crafts men are not considered clean
citizens among others. What the majority
groups present as the justification for making
discrimination against Manjos is that they
disobey food taboos, i.e., both Manjos and
crafts men are not careful in selecting edible
wild animals. Consequently, those people who
cooperate with these groups considered to be
polluted and therefore, everybody ignores them
for his/her social acceptance sake. Manjos are
invited to sing and blow the traditional musical
instrument ‘hitsitsiya’ on funeral ceremony
and wedding of other perceived pure clans but
they are not allowed to enter houses of pure
clans (‘malla’, ‘Dogolla’, ‘Amhara’). Even if they
attend the ceremonies they sit far apart from
others’ group and eat whatever provided for
them on the leaves of ‘enset’. If, unfortunately,
they touch the household utensils of pures it
will be either broken down or thrown out.
Although many governmental and non-
governmental organizations are empowering
this segment of the community, because
of the deep rooted problems for more than
century, the change in livelihood and education
of the Manjo community is very sluggish.
Consequently, out of the regions that did not
achieve EFA, Kaffa Zone in general and Manjo
minority community in particular in the Zone
found to be unsuccessful in universalization of
primary education.
International strategies
It is universally accepted that by the year
2015 all school aged children have to get
access to education without discrimination
in color, gender, religion, ethnic group and
socioeconomic status. Although human rights
are theoretically universal and inherent they
can be denied through violations in practice.
Often people are unable to access their human
rights because of who they are, and where
they live. Discrimination is rife in every society,
limiting for example, those from minority
groups from receiving appropriate education.
Discrimination, which prevents people from
accessing their human rights, is an abuse,
undermining the very concept of a universal
right (UNESCO, 2008a).
The right to education has been recognized
since the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) in 1948. Article 26 of the
Declaration proclaims that: ‘Everyone has the
right to education. Education shall be free,
at least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory…education shall be directed to the
full development of human personality and to
the strengthening of respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship
among racial or religious groups…’
The right to education has been enshrined in
a range of international conventions, including
the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966), UNESCO’s
Medium Term Strategy 2002-2007(2008:
31C/4) states that free, compulsory, and
universal primary education for all is among
the most clearly defined human rights, which
governments have a duty and responsibility to
achieve. However, the achievement of universal
primary education for all was not realized
because of the disparities of educational
opportunities and qualities persistent in every
educational system of any nation. “Despite
not meeting the 2015 deadline, millions more
children are in school than would have been had
the trends of the 1990s persisted. However,
the agenda is far from accomplished,” said
Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s director general. “We
need to see specific, well-funded strategies
that prioritize the poorest, especially girls and
minority children, to improve the quality of
learning and reduce the literacy gap so that
education becomes meaningful and universal.”
National strategies: Pre-2015
Free primary education was formally introduced
and documented with the adoption of the new
Education and Training Policy in 1994 as a major
strategy towards achieving the EFA goals in
Ethiopia (MoE, 2010). The high direct cost
of education to parents is a reason why poor
children do not enter school or drop out early.
Where schools/woredas/regions decide to
levy fees in a form of community contribution,
they will need to ensure that arrangements
are in place to ensure that no child is excluded
from school because of inability to pay. ESDP
IV addressed the need to design specific
strategies to reach the millions of out of
school children in the pastoralist regions and
disadvantaged communities (MoE, 2010)
Most of the marginalized minority communities
dwell under extreme poverty. Consequently,
these segments of the society cannot afford for
their children’s education; school facilities and
clothes. In addition to this, in some countries
education system request the learners to pay
fee for education. Jeilu Oumer ( ) described
that after a series of policy measures in the
mid-1990s, families were no longer required
to pay formal fees for their children to go to
government schools. Free primary schooling
has allowed poor households more access to
equitable education. It has increased enrollment
by attracting more children to schools. Reforms
dramatically increased enrollment. Indeed,
this strategy had not solved the enrollment
challenges of Manjo community children. For
this research, Jeilu’s reflection was appropriate;
he argued that in many countries, out of school
children come from the poorest families; poor,
exclude, and vulnerable groups may still not go
to school even after fees have been abolished.
They need more special support to mitigate
spending limitations of their poorest families’
household income.
Post- 2015
Ethiopia is overtaking the position to ensure
equitable and inclusive quality education for all
by 2030. Above all, the positiontaken to have
a standalone and comprehensive educational
goal and to put education as a cross cutting
thematic issue with each development agenda
is really a point to be considered for post 2015
development dialogues (Source: Education for
All 2015 National Review). Even though post
2015 educational targets of Ethiopia are mainly
aimed at bringing about quality and external
efficiency in education, there are still some
localities with the problems of access like
Manjo community in Kffa zone.
The post- 2015 plan of the federal Ministry of
Education was described in ESDP V (MoE,
2015) regarding the disregarded children in
EFA goals as ‘Conducting needs assessment
to target support to disadvantaged children,
including those with special educational needs.’
Thus, all partakers should work cooperatively
and collaboratively towards accessing primary
education to all children.
Regional and local strategies
In Kaffa Zone, it is usually reported and
observed that social, cultural, religious and
economic discriminations make the Manjo
children deprived of the educational access.
There are some intervention programmes
that assist communities, particularly poor and
marginalized communities, who are unable to
send their children to schools. Currently, there
are some excellent examples of implementing
school-feeding programme in some regions;
in collaboration with development partners,
efforts are underway to expand school-feeding
programmes in areas where food is scarce and
to support vulnerable and inaccessible children.
Best practice examples should be collected and
shared with Kaffa zone to mitigate the poverty
challenges of Manjo Community children.
There are also NGOs like CVM Ethiopia,
Child Fund Ethiopia and Save the Children;
supporting minority children’s education by
providing educational materials, clothes and
school health programmes.
Statement of the problem
Ethnic minority students throughout the world
have experienced disproportional admission,
academic achievement, school retention,
treatment, and administration by members of
the dominant group. ‘This pattern is common
to minority groups in most western countries
who have been conquered, subjugated,
segregated, and regarded as inherently inferior
by the dominant group. Educational failure is
regarded by the dominant group as the natural
consequence of the minority group’s inherent
inferiority.’ This process of blaming the victim is
legitimized by pointing at high rates of alcohol
abuse, poor hygiene, and lack of middle-class
child rearing practices, poor schooling of
children, poor performance at school, dropouts,
all of which are viewed as manifestations of the
minority group’s deficiency (Reyhner, 1992).
As a result, many international NGOs such as
UNESCO, UNICEF, Save the Children, USAID
etc, work on upgrading the livelihoods and
empowering education of the segregated
groups at least to lessen the gaps between
the majority and minority life experiences.
The practices of ethnic group exclusion in the
community pave ways for school children to
segregate the minority students which end
up with dropouts, poor lesson attendance and
poor performance of the groups. In my case,
the qualities of schooling and survival rates
of the Manjo community children are poor as
compared to the composition of the Gomaro
majority children. Some of the NGOs that
have been working on empowering the groups
include; Action Aid Ethiopia and CVM social
integration and economic empowerment
in Kaffa Zone. The efforts made by NGOs in
different instances to increase the enrollment
and reduce dropouts of Manjo children are more
perceptible than government organizations.
However, after all efforts made by government
agents and Non Governmental Organizations to
increase the enrollment of Manjo community
children, the achievement is below plan.
I am inspired to conduct study on the effect of
EFA campaign on the accessibility of primary
education on Manjo community children
because of two main rationales. First, no
research has been conducted on the effect
of EFA; post EFA achievement in Kaffa Zone.
Second, I am from that community where I
grow up and know the educational challenges
of the excluded group in the area. Thus, this
study was guided by the following research
questions.
1. What is the current status of the enrollment
rate of school aged Manjo minority children
in Kaffa zone?
2. What are the major challenges that imped
the implementation of EFA?
3. 3What are the effects of Universalization of
Primary Education (UPE) Campaign on the
accessibility of primary education to Manjo
Minority children in Kaffa Zone?
Objectives of the study
The general objective of the study was to
examine the effect of Universalization of
Primary Education (UPE) campaign on the
accessibility of Primary Education to Manjo
Minority Children in Kaffa Zone.
Specific objectives
• To examine the current status of enrollment
rate of Manjo community children in Kaffa
zone.
• To identify the major challenges of the
implementation of EFA goals in Kaffa zone.
• To depict the effect of Universalization of
Primary Education (UPE) Campaign on the
accessibility of primary education to Manjo
Minority children in Kaffa Zone.
Significance
The study could provide valuable information
about the challenges, achievements and policy
implications of the zonal participation rate of
Manjo community school age children. The
result of the study revealed the status of
achievement of UPE in the zone and it may
also serve as a reference for those researchers
who are interested in the related problems
post 2015.
Delimitation
The study is delimited in scope in terms of study
area, population and samples, and variables in
such a way that it could be manageable with
the resources available. Regarding the study
area, it is restricted to two Woredas of Kaffa
zone: Adiyo and Chena. These Woredas were
selected by using simple random sampling
method because the social stratification among
kaffecho people is almost similar throughout
the zone.
Research design
To achieve the purpose of the study, mixed
method research design was employed. I
specifically used a QUAL + quan design. The
qualitative phase of the research was the
dominant and the quantitative phase of the
study was the least weight method.
Quantitative method
Survey Method: Data regarding the number
of Manjo households, literate Manjo family
members, number of in-school and out of
school Manjo children were collected through
structured interview and it was followed by
descriptive statistics specifically frequencies
and percentage.
Qualitative method
Qualitative data such as detailed descriptions,
inquiry in depth, direct quotations capturing
people’s personal perspectives and
experiences were gathered through participant
observation, semi-structured interview, focus
group discussion and document analysis.
Target population and samples
Out of 10 woredas and 1 Administrative town,
Adiyo and Chena woredas were selected by
using simple random sampling technique
because the Manjo population distribution
throughout the zone is almost alike. The
following table depicts that sample woredas,
kebeles, target population and sample size in
each sample kebele. Accordingly, out of 3,835
total Manjo populations 623 Manjo parents, 5
out of school Manjo children, 9 enrolled Manjo
children, 6 education officials, 3 educated Mnjo
parents and 2 CVM Ethiopia partners were
subjects of the study.
No Wore- Kebele Total po- Total Manjo Total participant Manjo
da pulation population household household/parents/
M F T M F T
1 Adiyo Kochiyo 2570 2784 5354 26 31 57 47 8

2 Adiyo Medi wuta 2140 2317 4457 20 37 57 38 8

3 Adiyo Alari geta 926 1002 1928 175 163 338 19 19

4 Adiyo Kosha 2159 2337 4496 147 162 309 45 45

5 Adiyo Boka 2962 3208 6170 125 150 275 62 45

6 Adiyo Daka 3601 3901 7502 87 161 248 76 45

7 Adiyo Gindacha 2883 3123 6006 116 88 204 60 35

8 Adiyo Bekiyo Geta 1950 2112 4062 77 82 159 41 30

9 Adiyo Angiyo qolla 4099 4440 8539 82 57 139 85 25

10 Adiyo Mera 1529 1656 3185 56 60 116 32 20

11 Adiyo Yecha 980 1060 2040 39 26 65 20 10

12 Adiyo Kaka 3083 3338 6421 8 11 19 65 3

13 Chena Wacha 4367 4546 8913 15 15 30 50 5

14 Chena Boba Woditi 2280 2373 4654 132 129 261 50 48

15 Chena Boba bella 2829 2944 5773 22 24 46 58 8

16 Chena Kullish 3588 3735 7323 10 13 23 65 4

17 Chena Wotta worra 3712 3864 7576 131 120 251 82 47

18 Chena Dahera 2842 2958 5799 124 123 247 58 47

19 Chena Kuta shoray 3747 3900 7647 35 30 65 76 11

20 Chena Agaro 3477 3618 7095 61 20 81 50 15

21 Chena Omashonga 1250 1301 2550 250 330 580 95 95

22 Chena Gida 2181 2270 4450 36 34 70 45 13

23 Chena Dukra woshi 2374 2471 4846 22 17 39 35 8

24 Chena Wana bolla 2808 2922 5730 71 85 156 40 29

Total 64,337 68,180 132,516 1,867 1,968 3,835 1,294 623

Table 1. Target population, samples and sampling techniques

Sampling techniques Data collection instruments

Six hundred twenty three (623) Manjo
Parents were selected for survey by using
comprehensive sampling method because of
the limited number of Manjo residents in sample
Woredas. Six Woreda education officials, three
educated Manjo parents and two CVM Ethiopia
partners that aid Manjo community children
were selected for focus group discussion by
employing purposive sampling procedure. Nine
out of school Manjo community children and
five enrolled Manjo community children were
selected for semi-structured interview through
availability sampling technique.
Structured interview: Since majority of Manjo
parents are illiterates (Getachew, 2011) it was
difficult to distribute questionnaires to attain
survey; as an alternative, I conducted face
to face semi-structured interview via Health
Extension Workers (HEWs) assigned at each
Kebele. It was hard to me to conduct door
to door interview with 623 Manjo parents,
but the health extension workers assigned
at each kebele differentiate between Manjo
and non-Manjo households and know the
number of Manjo households in the kebele.
Thus, it becomes easier and more desirable
to conduct structured interview through
HEWs.
Semi-structured interview: semi- reviewed as sources of data.
structured interviews were set to access Quantitative data analysis
the out of school and schooling Manjo
community children regarding the challenges Survey data gathered through structured
that hampered their admission and quality of interview were quantitatively analyzed by using
schooling. descriptive statistics specifically frequencies
Focus group discussions and percentage.

Focus group discussion was organized for six Qualitative data analysis
officials of Woreda office of education, three
educated Manjo parents and two CVM Ethiopia In this study, the analysis of official documents
coordinators working on empowering the and reports of educational achievements of
target groups. The main themes of discussion UPE goals, the transcripts of interview and
were educational challenges that Manjo the focus group discussions were qualitatively
community children are struggling for finding analyzed by using descriptions and personal
the way forward, the impact of Universalization critical reflections.
of Primary Education (UPE) campaign on the
accessibility of primary education to Manjo Result and Discussions
Minority children and the current status of Current Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) of Manjo
participation of Manjo community children in minority children
primary education. The educational participation of Manjo
community children is low at all levels of
Document analysis education as compared to non-Manjo children.
Available data show that the numbers of
On the basis of Corbetta (2003) suggestion,
Manjo community children decreases from
I employed analysis of official documents
lower grades to higher grades. This, on the
for it offers two advantages over the former
other hand, depicts that there is the trend of
research techniques.
high dropout rates among Manjo community
• First, this information is ‘non-reactive’, in
students.
the sense that it is not subject to possible
distortion due to the interaction between
The document analysis and survey results of
the researcher and the subject studied.
door to door census among Manjo households
• The second advantage, they can also be
carried out via the health extension workers in
used to study the past trends.
each kebele depict that there are about total of
5,293 school aged Manjo children (Age 7-14) in
Based on the above perspectives, credible
sample kebeles; out of these population about
and independently produced documents
2,964 (56%) were enrolled and about 2,329
regarding the effect of UPE/EFA on the access
(44% ) were out of school.
and enrollment of Manjo children in primary
education, the efforts and empowerments
made by different governmental and Non
Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the
enrollment ratio of Manjo community children,
adult literacy ratio of Manjo community were
 % composition of Manjo community children
participation

The percentage of out of school Manjo children

(Age 7-14)

44%

56%

Fig 2. The Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) of Manjo minority children in Adiyo and Chena Woreda

As can be seen in the above Pie chart about 44% of school age Manjo community children are out
of school. This might be of the highest status of school age non-enrollment in the region after the
UPE had been in operation. The Net Enrollment Ratio (NER) of Manjo community children in the
target woredas is 56%.(i.e., the NER of Manjo children is total number of Manjo students between
the age of 7 and 14 divided by the total number of Manjo community children between the age of
7 and 14 in and out of school multiplied by 100%).

The following table (3) shows that the performance of Kaffa zone in enhancing the participation of
Manjo children in education remains about 74%, which on the other hand reveals that there are still
school aged Manjo children out of school.

Grade Plan to reach out of school Number of Manjo children enrolled % of achievement
Manjo children (admitted) in enhancing
Manjo children’s
enrollment
M F T M F T

1 1,221 1,042 2,263 1,201 929 2,130 94.12

2 1,163 992 2,155 1,108 854 1,962 91.04

3 824 704 1,528 1,017 667 1,684 110.21

4 785 530 1,315 1,045 703 1,748 132.93

1-4 3,993 3,268 7,261 4,371 3,153 7,524 103.62

5 668 410 1,078 660 326 986 91.46

6 527 299 826 552 241 793 96

7 403 220 623 427 180 607 97.43

8 287 140 427 288 102 390 91.33

5-8 1,885 1,069 2,954 1,927 849 2,776 93.97

1-8 5,878 4,337 10,215 6,298 4,002 10,300 100.83

9 211 112 323 183 39 222 68.73

10 128 40 168 79 16 95 56.55

9-10 339 152 491 262 55 317 64.56

11 51 14 65 5 2 7 10.77

12 7 1 8 6 0 6 75

11-12 58 15 73 11 2 13 17.8

9-12 397 167 564 273 57 330 58.51

1-12 6,275 4,504 10,779 6,571 4,059 10,630 98.62

Total 1,221 1,042 2,263 1,201 929 2,130 74.12

Table 3: Total number of Manjo students in Kaffa zone (2009 E.C, 2016/17)
 zonal primary school Manjo com- Approximate Zonal Gross Enrollment GER =0.69
munity pupils’ population = 10,300 of Manjo children =Manjo children’s
10School population X 100%

Total population of Manjo community

school age children
Approximate population of prim.
School age children in the commu-
nity with the age of 7-14 =14,927

Source: Kaffa Zone education Department Annual Report

Table 4: Primary school Gross Enrollment Rate of Manjo children in Kaffa Zone (2009 E.C).

The gross enrollment rate of Manjo students is
low among the entire student population. The
approximate Gross Enrollment Ratio of Manjo
children is 0.69, which is lower than the plan of
the zone educational department.
The above Table (3) and other document reviews
of the reports of educational achievements in
Kaffa zone education department show that
the participation of Manjo students in upper
primary grades (5-8) is lower than the first
cycle (1-4) grades. This, on the other hand
asserts that most dropouts of Manjo children
occur while promoting to 2nd cycle of primary
education or secondary education as a whole
(see table 3 and fig.3). Out of the limited
number of Manjo participation the share of
female Manjos is very low. This is because of
the double prejudice (i.e., ethnic and sexist)
against female Manjo children. On top of that
Manjo females tackle additional challenges than
male Manjos in the community; the domestic
activities mainly saddled on shoulders of girls
than male Manjos.
A critical look at the data can converse
one that the measurement of the status of
participation of the Manjo children by using
Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) is approximation
because there is no exact data about the out
of school population of Manjo children in the
community.
Major challenges of Manjo community
children’s primary education
The results of analysis of semi-structured
interview, focus group discussion and
document review found out that the following
as major educational challenges that hindered
the achievement of EFA among Manjo minority
children in Kaffa zone.
Parents’ Education
Most Manjo parents are illiterates (Getachew,
2011). Many studies show that the more
educated the parents the more probably their
children enroll and stay at school (without
dropping out the school) and the better they
perform.
As has been indicated in the Pie chart below
(fig.3) about seventy three percent of Manjo
family members are illiterates in two target
Woredas. Moreover, the focus group discussion
results reveal that since most Manjo parents
are illiterates; they are not aware of the value
of education. Thus, they lack interest to send
their children to school. The problem of the
parents’ illiteracy is not only attributed to
lack of interest to send children to school but
they would also be unable to follow up their
children’s schooling.

Fig.3. Percentage of Manjo family members
who are attending school or literates
One of the six Education for All (EFA) objectives
is youth and adult literacy programme.
However, the above figure depicts that 73%
of Manjo community or family members in
sample woreda are illiterates. This is, in one
hand, one of the indicators of the deficiency of
the EFA programme in Kaffa zone. On the other
hand, it reveals one of the impediments of
Manjo children’s education. More than 2 family
members are literates in only 15% of Manjo
community and one or two members of family
are literates in 12% of Manjo community.
Lack of school necessities
Manjost7 (Code: 7th of 9 Manjo students) is
one of the female Manjo students who gained
scholarship from CVM Bonga. Lack of clothes
and educational facilities are other challenges
facing Manjo children’s schooling. She states
the following about the major challenges that
impede her education.
I am seventeen years old. I came from Mera
kebele. I learned my primary education (grade
1-8) at Mera primary school. Since my parents
are under extreme poverty, during my primary
school life I experienced a number of hardships.
I could not change my clothes and I do not
have shoes; I was bare foot. While non-Manjo
students change their clothes every time, I get
ashamed because I put on the same worn out
cloth all the time. I do not wash my clothes
regularly because Ido not have change. No one
buys stationeries for me; I buy exercise books,
pens and dictionaries on my own by raring
chickens. Before I get support from CVM Bonga
for my schooling, I achieve poor results in my
education and I get horrified when I attend the
classes because most students have no good
outlook towards Manjo students.
From the expressions of Manjost7, one can
understand that lack of school materials has
negative impacts on the educational admission
and performance of Manjo learners. However,
some Manjo students suggest that they have
no peculiar problem other than the non-Manjo
students. Manjost2, for instance, expressed
the problems inhibited her primary education
in the past and how she flees from it.
Before the aid from CVM Bonga, I have no
supporter for buying clothes and school
uniform. Now, there is no immense challenge
that threatens my education with regard to
lacking clothes and school materials; I am
learning equally with others. In some cases
a few non-Manjo students embarrass me but
no teachers who exclude me from other non-
Manjo students.”
Poverty and extreme hunger
Many studies reveal that poverty is a major
factor contributing to children not attending
school (reason for absenteeism and dropout).
Poverty forces Manjo minority people into
poor housing; it forces them to live in remote
areas and far from schools and they have to
cope with hunger. When poverty prevents all
children being educated, the education of boys
may be prioritized over that of girls because in
most illiterate families, parents prefer to send
boys than girls to school. Manjo Communities
may not see any benefit in educating their
daughters; girls’ labor is frequently needed to
help the family.
Despite the poverty they face, Manjo parents
may keep children out of school because of the
direct and opportunity costs of education, and
the perception that the returns to investment
in girls’ education is low. The economic need
for child labor has been identified as one of the
most important reasons for not sending rural
children to school.
Distance to school
Some research suggest that girls are more
sensitive than boys to greater distances to
school and poorer education quality; which,
therefore, affect socially excluded girls more
than socially excluded boys. Because socially
excluded minority girls experience double
discrimination (i.e., sexist and ethnic).
From my personal experience and observation,
most Manjo communities are dwelling in deep
forest far from different social services. As
a result of this, the schools are constructed
far from their children. This is one of the
major challenges that face Manjo community
children to be deprived of education. According
to Manjost 6(Code: 6th of 9 Manjo students),
educational inhibitors that impede her schooling
are home-school distance, lack of reference
materials, English dictionaries and sometimes
hunger.
Before the aid from CVM Bonga, I cannot
attend all the classes in a semester; I cannot
study hard. I came from Wota Wora kebele
which takes 3:3o hours every school day on
foot distance from Wacha, capital of Chena
Woreda. Long distance coupled with hunger
makes me extremely exhausted not to study
hard
Fear of discrimination in classroom
During the focus group discussion session
with the educated Manjo parents, one of the
Manjo teacher participants from Chena Woreda
explained that he knows some Manjo parents
keep their children out of school because of
perceived discrimination and mistreatment
by non-Manjo students, schools leaders and
teachers. Some teachers keep silence watching
that some Manjo girls are seated far from the
teacher and black board provided with fewer
textbooks and other learning materials, and
not encouraged to participate in classroom
discussions.
In my field trip with the partners of CVM Bonga,
I realized that the degree of discrimination
in classroom minimizes from lower to the
higher grades. In my opinion the reason why
the extents of exclusion decrease across the
levels of education is because of the increasing
awareness among educated persons. Lessen
discrimination is not only revealed among
educated persons but also the dwellers of
towns than the inhabitants of rural area. From
personal conversations, I noted that most
Manjo students feel more freedom at teachers
training college and TVET classes than at
primary and secondary levels.
In most elementary schools there is the practice
of discrimination against the Manjo students.
Manjost 1 (Code: 1st of 9 Manjo students)
told me that she experienced a number of
challenges in primary education classes.
Bullying, some non-Manjo fellows teased
me and said I’m very ugly. Because of this,
I passed multiple challenges in my school
life. Specifically in lower grades, I get
ashamed every school day because I put
on worn out clothes with a lot of shreds.
The school days during that time were
horrifying for me. Not only is the poverty
of my family but also in school problems
are inhibitors for me not to learn.
One of the educated Manjo parents in
focus group discussion conversed that the
stereotyping made by non-Manjo students
hampers the continuity of schooling of Manjo
community children. In conformity with this
finding, the results of previous investigation by
Ahmed (2007) discloses that the misbehavior
of non-Manjo students against their Manjo
mates often made Manjos perceive themselves
as lowly and worthless. In addition to this
almost all of his Manjo subjects reported that
they experienced non-Manjo segregation in
different ways. On top of this, Mesfin (2005a)
find out that in Decha Woreda, there is more
probability for the friendship of students of
non-Manjo with non-Manjo irrespective of their
village (same or not) than to find Manjo to non-
Manjo friendship.
The hesitation to sit aside for group work and
play in the field exists as problems, in some
schools. Some of the Manjo students reported
that they prefer the half-day schooling than
full day for the very reason that one and
half an hour break in full day schooling is
misery to them that intimidation, gossip and
segregated sitting make them annoyed. These
all interwoven problems of segregation have
prohibiting effects on academic achievements
and school persistence of Manjo community
children.
However, Manjost2 (Code: 2nd of 9 Manjo
students) stated that she did not face
discrimination problem in the classroom during
her TVET education. She suggested the reason
why students minimize the act of exclusion in
upper grades because they internalize more
about equality.
I am a student of building and electricity
department in Bonga TVET. Our class
room is not discriminating against Manjo
students. I am properly working my class
room activities with other students. I
do not think that my class mates do not
exclude me not because of the policy but
they are mature in education.
Parents’ poor work conditions
During my interview session regarding
the main impediments of Manjo minority
education, Manjost 1 (Code: 1st of 9 Manjo
students) explained that her parents do not
understand the value of education. Thus, she
explains that they are not that much interested
in her education struggling with numerous
difficulties.
My educational problems are poor economic
backgrounds of my parents. In addition to
this, they are both illiterates.
My parents lack money to pay for school
expenses and our household income
source bases on poor working conditions;
selling wood and charcoal. We are living
under extreme poverty. Before the support
from CVM Bonga, sometimes I do not eat
for one to two days.
From the interview transcripts of Manjost 1
(Code: 1st of 9 Manjo students) we understand
that other problems that threaten Manjo
minority chidren’s education is parents’ poor
work conditions and hunger.
The focus group discussants also conversed
that poor household income generation means
are one of the impediments of schooling of
Manjo minority children. They identified the
following household income sources for Manjo
communities that are not good for earning
enough money for their children’s schooling.
As regards the bases of the house hold income
sources, some Manjo parents’ household
income depends on selling charcoal, firewood,
and forest honey. The Majority of Manjo
parents generate their income from agricultural
produces. The remaining other Manjo parents
depend on various lower level occupations
such as production of household earth ware
utensils and woodwork. These activities are
generally called as primary economic activities
from which low revenue is generated. From
this discussion one can recognize that Manjo
communities are not engaged in secondary
and tertiary economic activities. To that end,
what I concluded is since the parents of
Manjo children are taking parts in low income
generation, they cannot earn adequate amount
of money for their children’s education.
Discrimination in house renting for
Manjo students
In some localities of Kaffa zone there are the
practices of discrimination against Manjo
students for renting their houses. I asked the
Manjo students whether there is the practice
of discrimination in house renting; Manjost7
(Code: 7th of 9 Manjo students) stated that
there is no perceptible challenge facing her in
searching for house.
In Bonga, most house owners do not
consider the ethnic group or clan to rent
their house either to Manjos or to non-
Manjo students. However, few house
rentiers believe that no one will rent it in
the future if Manjo students rented it out
before. Therefore, they do not want to
rent their houses to Manjo students. In
this year at our renting compound there
was no the problem of discrimination for
renting. But as neighborhoods, we are
not drinking coffee and tea together with
 those non-Manjo students. The non- Manjo
students invite each other for coffee and
tea and chat together, where as we three
Manjos form other distinctive group.
On the one hand, if the Manjo students
are not stable in residence and obliged
to travel a long distance from home to
school, they cannot attend their classes
properly and achieve better performance.
On the other hand, though they get chance
to have renting room, Manjo students
may lack money for rental fee. Therefore,
the contribution of CVM Bonga is greatly
important.
However, some other subjects of the study
put in plain words that there are practices of
prejudices against Manjo students in allowing
their houses to be rented out. For example,
Manjost2 (Code: 2nd of 9 Manjo students)
sorrowfully explained why Manjo house
owners are absent in towns so that they can
accommodate Manjo community students by
renting their houses. She remembers her past
experience as;
When I was secondary school student,
during my search for renting room, I realized
that most house owners do not want to
rent their house for Manjo students. One
of the big problems is no Manjo house
owner dwell at towns so that they can
rent rooms for us (slight pause ‘ayiya’).
Non-Manjo house owners identify Manjo
students by our skin color and unsociable
behaviors. Some house owners believe
that it is not a problem that allowing Manjo
students to rent their house. But because
they fear that the community will neglect
them from social affairs. Even some people
frightened that we enter their house. They
critically observe our faces and deep black
skin colors; immediately they know that
we are Manjos, and then they refuse to
rent their houses for us. In the present
days, we are somewhat improving our
wearing style and resemble non-Manjos in
many things. Thus, the non-Manjo house
owners are changing their attitude; even
though we do not integrate with them in
social affairs, in this year we are at good
state.
Concerning the discrimination against Manjo
students for renting their house in Shishinda
town, Manjost5 (Code: 5th of 9 Manjo students)
speaks amazingly;
There are number of problems that threaten
my education. In Shishinda, the house
owners do not want to rent out their houses
to Manjo students; the discrimination
against Manjo students in Shishinda town
is unspeakable. House owners in Shishinda
town do not want to rent their houses for
Manjo students. I wanted to have rental
house in Shishinda town since 2007 E.C
but everybody refused to welcome me
(slight pause). I did not find any one who
can rent out his house for me. As soon as
Shishinda house owners know me that I
am Manjeche (female Manjo), everybody
is not willing to welcome me. Because
of this, if there are no makeup, tutorial
classes and school cleaning programs, I
travel two hours and forty minutes to and
from school every school day. I was looking
for someone who can reluctantly rent his
house for me without considering clan.
I travel more than seven Kilo Meters to
and from Dahari kebele to Shishinda from
grade 5th through 9th. In tenth grade, my
school principal understood my problems
and wrote to CVM Bonga. In 2008E.C,
CVM Bonga came to Shishinda and they
accepted to finance my education. Not
only I but also CVM Bonga partners were
unable to find rental house for me. As
soon as the house owners understood
that CVM partners want to get rental room
for Manjo students, they all responded
that there is no house for renting. There
are apartment houses where Shishinda
secondary school teachers live together.
Therefore, though it was unwillingly, CVM
Bonga coordinators make agreement with
the teachers and left one room for me.
From that day onwards my life shifted
one step. Presently, I reduced at least the
burden of home to school distance. I am a
single Manjeche attending the preparatory
class at Shishinda; since no one can live
with Manjeche, I was alone. After some
 days, I brought my younger sister and I am
still living with her.
From the experiences of Manjost5 (Code: 5th
of 9 Manjo students), I can explain that there
are some teachers who are not interested in
helping Manjo minority students. From informal
conversation with her, what I recognized is
that there are some teachers who make funny
in absurdly ridiculous way; like telling me that
I am paid salary as if I am civil servant and I
can support others. These kinds of rumors are
of the psychosocial challenges that hinder the
education of Manjo students. Some Manjo
students are aware of those teachers in the act
of segregating them in instruction and hence
they dislike their subjects.
Discrimination in school and class room
activities
In some primary and secondary schools, the
school environments are not welcoming for
Manjo students. Some non-Manjo students
discriminate the minority group children in
class room activities and playing grounds.
Manjost6 (Code: 6th of 9 Manjo students)
described things that hurt her school life.
Other problems that impede my education
are, during the class brake the non Manjo
students do not want to chat and play
with me; I feel loneliness; sometimes I
squabble with my God, why he created me
as if I am an incomplete person. On top of
this, many female non-Manjo students go
to library in group but they never tell me to
go together with them. During our group
assignment discussion some members
of the group do not accept my response
though it is correct answer.
For the group to be successful in cooperative
learning, the members of the group should
be in coordinated and sociable fashion to one
another. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon
to hear that there are some non-Manjo
students that segregate Manjo students in 1
to 5 network cooperative group. Therefore,
the prejudice in classroom activities makes
the Manjo students not comfortable in their
schooling; isolate themselves from the group
and attain poor results. Besides this, Manjost7
(Code: 7th of 9 Manjo students) told me that
she has experienced anxiety in her primary
school classes.
I left behind a lot of tribulations in my
primary school life. While I come close
to the group formed by the teacher some
students leave that group. They do not
want to sit together with me. In most
conversations, they use the sentiment
“they ….and we….” to express the
disparity between the Manjo and non-
Manjo students. This by itself pushes
me away from the school but I resist all
the hardships to complete my education.
Especially, at primary and secondary
schools I have experienced a lot of anxiety
because of my lowly mannerism. Besides
the support of CVM Ethiopia, Bonga
TVET is a new compound and learning
environment for me. As a result of this, I
scaled down my anxiety because I can put
on neat clothes; my newer classmates at
TVET do not exclude me. Nowadays, I do
not feel inferiority more because even in
wearing I am competing with non-Manjo
students.
Manjost6 (Code: 6th of 9 Manjo students)
stated the following as ever memorable event
in her school life. This was happened in her
classroom at preparatory class (11th grade).
In this semester in English class our
teacher gave us class work to be done in
1 to 5 network group; in our group, four of
us were females and one male who is the
group leader; because he (our group leader)
was absent in the mentioned class, the
rest of three non-Manjo female students
work together and submit the class work
and I did and submitted individually. Then,
the teacher asked me why I did the group
work individually; I replied to him that
even though I want to work together with
my group members, female non-Manjo
students do not let me to work with them.
After I expressed everything to the teacher,
he became nervous and withdrew them
 from the class room for seven days; the
school director enforced the ladies to bring
their parents for signing the agreement to
avoid further related disciplinary problems.
This interview transcript reveals that there
is some perceptible discrimination in upper
secondary grades. Thus, it is difficult to wind up
that higher educated people are free from the
act of discrimination. In addition to this, there
are some non-Manjo students who do not want
to make body contacts with Manjo students
in the classroom. Concerning the shoving to
protect body contact Manjost6 (Code: 6th of 9
Manjo students) has the following to say;
Some of the non-Manjo students shake my
hands during greetings, others quarrel each
other with those who shake my hands for
greeting. They ignore even those students
who want to interact with me.
The attitude of community
What is being Manjo in minds of some
non-Manjo community?
All aspects of a society (i.e., economic,
religious, political, cultural, technological…
etc) have their own influence on the formal
education. Here, cultural development of a
community determines the outlook of a part
of community against others. Similarly, in
Kaffa zone the attitude of non-Manjo ‘Gomaro’
against the Manjo community in general and
their children’s education in particular affects
schooling of Manjo children. Manjost6 (Code:
6th of 9 Manjo students) shared the following
unforgettable memories in her school life with
me.
When I was learning in ninth and tenth
grades in Kullush secondary school, most
of the times in the evening non-Manjo
people were beating my rental room; they
were insulting me that I am not a human
being; they were nagging and teasing up
on me.
One of the educated Manjo informants in focus
group discussion explained that the influence
of negative attitude of the society towards
Manjo children’s education has great adverse
effect. During the personal communication
non-Manjos use offensive words to embarrass
Manjos like ‘Manaaji’ in Bitta Woreda,
‘Faranjeena’o’ or ‘Jamaaykeena’o’ around
Bonga are additional nouns prearranged to
Manjos to widen the gap. The most popular
nasty phrase used by local people to distinguish
Manjos from any other body is “ashoone
Manjoone?” Literally to mean, ‘is he/she a
human or a Manjo?’ Moreover, the interview
results confirm that the negative attitude of
the society is not completely changed though
changes are underway.
My case studies conducted with regard to
the attitude of the general public in general
and the educated people in particular towards
the Manjo civil servants, depicted that the
psychological depression and ostracism
happening against some educated Manjos and
teachers make their children confused about
the value of education incapable to flee them
from exclusion. In that research the group
discussants talked about two shocking cases
took place in near past (Getachew, 2011).
Case1. This case happened five years back
in Chena Woreda over a Manjo teacher; the
informal conversation with the Manjo teacher
reveals that there are practices of discrimination
against Manjo employees. He shared his pain
with me in the following way.
… after my transfer from other Woreda
to Chena , the Woreda education office
assigned the Manjo teacher to Kulish
Mulu primary school but the school
principal refused to welcome the teacher
by reporting that his staff is full. Then,
the next day the office re-assigned the
teacher to Donga primary school that is
farther deep inside from the capital of
Woreda. Before his arrival at the school
the information preceded me to Donga
kebele and the kebele dwellers became
hot and said ‘are we garbage recipients?;
if he came by first assignment we would
tolerate but the office turned its face to
us as an alternative’. Some people from
 kebele Administrative council came to the
school principal and warned him about
the life of his newcomer teacher. The
principal immediately reported to WOE
about insecurity of the life of the teacher.
Later, WOE assigned me to Chena primary
school. While I have been teaching in
this school there were many grievances
against the teacher from my 5th grade
pupils. Once up on a time, during the
environmental science lesson I asked my
students to mention the food items rich
in protein. Students raised their hands
up to respond, he gave chance to some
students and respondents listed the food
items such as meat of colobus monkey
(Gureza), Savanna monkey (Tota), wild boar
(pig), porcupine and dead animals. I never
expected such responses from the class
and I got nervous, walked out and accused
the class to school principal. The principal
gathered the class and told about the
accusation of the teacher. Many students
commented that ‘knowing his inferiority,
the teacher has been doing wrong deeds,
he wishes to dominate over us, we are
angry of him bossing us around!’. Then,
the principal advised the students and let
them to attend the class with no one has
been punished. Since that day onwards, I
left that class and even I started to quarrel
with other sections I was teaching. Finally,
I asked the WOE to transfer me to another
elementary school, meanwhile, WOE
transferred him to Kocha Wacha primary
school and he taught a year. Currently, the
teacher joined Woreda cabinet members
and working in Woreda Admistrative
council.
From the above case, I reflect that in some local
schools the non-Manjo students demoralize
Manjo teachers in instructional processes.
I also do not agree with those people that
suggest there is no discrimination against
educated and well dressed Manjos. I argue
this because there are a number of people that
usually tell that people do not exclude hygienic
and educated Manjos.
Case2. The second case is the life history of a
Manjo teacher teaching in Saylem Woreda. He
presented the events passed in beginning days
of his job after being employed as a teacher.
I am a graduate of Bonga College of teachers’
education and hired in 2002 E.C. Zonal
education department assigned me; I went
to Saylem Woreda from Bonga. Before my
arrival to the school where we newly assigned
to, the school community heard about the
assignment of a new Manjo teacher to their
school. After a week I went down to the school
from the capital of Woreda; as soon as I reach
the school compound, old staff teachers kept
silent and started to thoroughly observe my
face to identify whether I am Manjo or not.
They met their aim even before lunch time.
Those days, the old staff was not in ease to
invite me on coffee ceremony. After few days
they started to separately invite non-Manjo
teachers for coffee. It was a lesson for me
to not reach any one’s house during coffee
ceremony and meal time. However, one day
the I unknowingly came to a house where
non-Manjo teachers gathered and drinking
coffee; I get shivered because it was not my
and non-Manjo teachers’ ambition to reach
in such occasions but everybody unwillingly
invited me to enter and drink coffee; I did so.
In past times, it is a custom that during coffee
ceremony coffee poured into cup on cup plate
and then passed and distributed one by one.
However, that day the owner of house woman
unsociably thought and first distributed empty
cup to each drinker on hand and then poured
the coffee into cup on hand by turning around
each to avoid contamination by exchange of
cup since Manjos are assumed to be ritual
pollutants. Finally, the woman separately put
the cup I used. She kept my cup separately
to give me if I come back another day. I have
no problem with few teachers; we eat and
chew khat together, for this reason many non-
Manjo colleague hate my colleagues because
they assume that they are opponent of their
tradition. Many people need to be brain washed
including some literates who refuse equality.
The above two cases presented reveal that
there is some sort of marginalization against
literate Manjos, with the exception of the
degree of exclusion.
The involvement of stakeholders in achievement
of EFA
The focus group discussion transcripts
reveal that the stakeholders get involved in
the implementation of UPE by participating
meeting with regard to the issues of school
-community relationship and Staff meeting.
The stakeholders had the access to contribute
creative ideas how the education/EFA plan can
be implemented in the following ways.
• Participating in school improvement
program
• During community mobilization activities.
• School community discussion forum.
The respondents mentioned the followings as
the advantages of involving the stakeholders in
the Univesalization of Primary Education (UPE)
planning process. These include stakeholders
feel responsible and sense ownership of the
plan, facilitate proper implementation, promote
integrity, Participative decisions making allows
stake holders to take part in a coordinated
manner and maximizes organizational
effectiveness and efficiency.
Conclusion
The Net Enrollment Ratio of Manjo children in
sample Woredas is 0.56 (56%). This ratio is
lower than the plan of the sample woredas.
This, on the other hand, depicts that 44% of
primary school age Manjo community children
were out of school.
• The approximate Zonal Gross Enrollment
Ratio of Manjo is 0.69. This achievement is
lower than the plan of the Zonal education
department.
• The trends of Manjo community children’s
drop out ratio increases from lower primary
cycle (Grade 1-4) throughout all the upper
levels of education.
• The participation of Manjo children in primary
education in most cases was found to be a
function of the marginalization, poverty and
extreme hunger of Manjo community. As a
component of socio-economic status, poor
educational background of parents found
to be the most unresolved educational
setback of Manjo community children.
Following these, lack of school necessities,
home to school distance, discrimination in
classroom, parents’ poor work conditions
and illiteracy, discrimination in house renting
for Manjo students, discrimination in school
and class room activities and the attitude
of community found to be challenges of
Universalization of Primary Education (UPE)
for Manjo community children.
Further implications for intervention and future
empirical work
1. Awareness should be passionately created
among the Manjo parents to send their
children to school.
2. High dropout rates among Manjo
community children are caused principally
by factors such as distance of schools
from home. Therefore, Woreda Office of
Education (WOE) should strive to construct
low cost schools closer to residences of
Manjo community.
3. Of the major challenges for Manjo
community children’s primary education
are poverty and extreme hunger. Thus,
to mitigate this problem Woreda office of
education should plan extra-budgets to
school materials, construction of hostels
nearby the school and introduction of school
feeding programs for Manjo community
children.
4. Different development partners, initiatives
and NGOs should be encouraged to work
on Manjo children’s education.
5. Affirmative measures should be taken
to promote the participation of Manjo
children at all level. Manjo community
students who fulfill minimum requirements
should be involved in education system at
all level; participate in TVET, agricultural
development, health extension and higher
6. School-community linkage should be
strengthened and regular meetings
should be held with parents to mitigate
the problems of exclusion against Manjo
community.
Based on the present research findings,
educational researchers who are interested
in investigating the enrollment and schooling
challenges of the target groups should strive
to answer the following basic questions.
1. To what extent do the stakeholders work
to provide access to Manjo community
children?
2. Do the school grants consider the
population of students that require extra-
support; example, marginalized children?
3. How do the identities of the students affect
the academic achievement?
4. How can educational un-equity and
exclusion practices be eradicated?
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 Parental Involvement in Preschool Introduction
Education and its Influence on Children Parents are the main educators and primary
Developmental Outcomes stakeholders in their children preschool
Semegne Sendek learning. Hence, parental collaboration with
teachers in educating children is increasingly
accepted as an essential ingredient in early
Abstract: This research investigates the level childhood care and education (Jeffries, 2012).
of parental involvement in preschool education
This collaboration is viewed in the form of
and its influence on developmental outcomes of
parental involvement or participation in their
children in Yeka sub-city, Addis Ababa. In order
children learning both at home and at school.
to address the research objectives quantitative
Parental involvement in the present study is
data were collected through questionnaire from
the engagement of parents’ in their children’s
176 parents and their children selected through
preschool learning in home and preschool
systematic random sampling technique. Semi-
settings with the intention to support children’s
structured interview was also used to gather
educational progress. Parental involvement in
in-depth data from eight participants (i.e. four
preschool includes a wide range of activities
teachers and four coordinators). The data
such as helping with homework, and reading
obtained from questionnaire were analyzed
with children (Mwirichia, 2013), volunteering
using mean, standard deviation, correlation
in preschool, attending parent-teacher
and regression, whereas qualitative data were
conferences, participating in extended class
analyzed thematically. The result showed that
visits, and helping class activities (Jeffries,
the involvement of parents in their children’s
2012; Ondieki, 2012).
education is very low. That is, the level of
Parental involvement bridges the home and
parental involvement in their children preschool
preschool immediate contexts of children
learning is below the average on both home-
(Nokali, Bachman & Votruba-Drzal, 2010), that are
based and preschool-based involvement
crucial for their early development and learning.
dimensions. The correlation matrix revealed
Thus, it relies on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
that among demographic variables included;
Systems Theory which holds that children’s
only parental monthly income has significant
development and learning is influenced by the
and moderate positive relationship with home-
multidimensional interconnections of home
based parental involvement. The regression
and preschool contexts (Bronfenbrenner cited
analysis also showed that the overall parental
in DeWar, 2011).
involvement has significant positive correlation
There are demographic factors determining the
with academic competence and social skills
level of parental involvement in their children’s
developmental outcomes. The model of the
preschool education. For instance, Hoover-
regression illuminated that 36% of the variance
Dempsey and Sandler (as cited in Jeffries, 2012)
in children’s academic competence and 10%
underscored that socio-economic status (SES)
of the variance in social skills of children was
affects the time and energy parents are able to
explained by parental involvement. Therefore,
devote to school involvement, where parents
it is concluded that parental involvement in
with low SES may not allocate adequate time
their preschoolers’ education is minimal, which
in order to be involved in their children learning
is highly influenced by the level of parental
activities. Moreover, Maphoso and Mahlo
monthly income, but it significantly influences
(2014) indicated that parents’ involvement
the level of children’s academic competence
in their children’s learning is affected by the
and social skills.
income and education the level of parents. That
Keywords: academic competence, home- is, parents with high SES including high level
based involvement, parental involvement, of education and income are capable to create
preschool based involvement, problem structured learning environment and have high
behaviors, social skills interest to get involved in reading activities,
showing greater effort to praise indications of
progress, and frequently providing rewards. On
the other hand, Fantuzzo, McWayne, Perry and
Childs (2004) found that parental involvement
in children learning was not significantly
correlated with educational and employment
status of parents.
It is important to note that parental involvement
in children education has powerful effects
on children’s developmental outcomes.
According to Harvard Family Research Project
(2006) parental involvement has strongest
positive relationship to child outcomes. There
are also research findings underscoring the
important contribution of parental involvement
for children’s short-term and long-term
developmental outcomes including academic,
behavioral, and social outcomes. For instance,
Jeffries (2012) pinpointed that parents’ active
involvement in their preschooler’s learning
improves their academic, behavioral, and social
outcomes. Powell, Son, File and San Juan (2010)
further specified that parental participation in
children education is positively associated with
children’s acquisition of literacy and numeracy
skills, social skills, and positive attitude towards
school. In line with this, McWayne, Hampton,
Fantuzzo, Cohen and Sekino (2004) maintained
that parents’ regular contact with the early
educational setting promotes the social
functioning of children.
A study conducted by Fantuzzo et al. (2004),
Nokali et al. (2010) and Taylor, Clayton and
Rowley (2004) also indicated that home-
based and school-based parental involvement
is the stronger predictor of children’s school
outcomes. That is, parental involvement in
home and preschool is positively related
with children’s adjustment to the school
environment, cooperation behaviors, pro-
social peer play behaviors, motivation to
learn, attention, task persistence, receptive
vocabulary skills, and lower levels of behavior
problems. It was also found out that higher
level of parental involvement is associated
with higher achievement in science and
mathematics (Ademola & Olajumoke, 2009), is
significantly related to higher social skills and
lower rates of problem behaviors (Nokali et
al., 2010; Powell et al., 2010). On the contrary,
it was found out that parental involvement
has no relationship with their children’s social
competence and learning behaviors (DeWar,
2011), and largely unrelated with academic
achievement (Nokali et al., 2010).
In sum, many research findings cited in
this text acknowledged that parent’s active
involvement in their children education is
increasingly and widely viewed as very crucial
for children multidimensional development.
This is because ‘no one is more influential than
parents in sending signals to their children on
the importance of good performance in various
school activities through their own examples,
assistance and involvement’ (Ondieki, 2012,
p.2). Due to this reason, parental involvement
has become a key component of national
educational policies and strategies for early
childhood programs in different countries
(DeWar, 2011; Fantuzzo et al., 2004). It is
also true in Ethiopia, where parents’ role is in
preschool learning is considered as one major
pillar for the effective implementation of the
national ECCE policy framework (MoE, MoH,
MoWA, 2010). However, parents’ participation
in children learning activities is very low (Ayele
& Befekadu, 2008; Kurtulmus, 2016; Tirussew,
Teka, Belay, Belay, & Demeke, 2009). Much
research was not also done and research in
this area is scanty particularly among parents
of preschoolers in Ethiopian context. Hence,
conducting research on such issue is vital to
cast new light and provide necessary input for
intervention. Thus, the main aim of this study is
to investigate the level of parental involvement
in their children’s education and developmental
outcomes. Therefore, throughout the research
process, efforts were invested to achieve the
following specific research objectives.
• To determine the level of parental
involvement in their children preschool
education.
• To see the relationship between
demographic factors (parental educational
level, parental income, number of children,
child birth order) and parental involvement
in their children’s preschool learning.
• To examine the contribution of parental
 involvement children’s developmental
outcomes (i.e., social skills, problem
behaviors, academic competence).
Study site
The study was conducted in Addis Ababa,
Yeka sub-city, one of the ten sub-cities of the
capital. The sub-city has 13 worewdas. Of
these, the study considers preschools found in
four woredas including woreda 3, Woreda 4,
Woreda 10 and Woreda 11. In each woreda, there
is only one government preschool established
in the premise of primary school. Hence, the
schools named as Hibiret Fire Preschool and
Primary School, Addis Birhan Preschool and
Primary School, Salayish Preschool and Primary
School and Dejazmach Wondyird Preschool
and Primary School. These preschools have
all level of programs including nursery, lower
kindergarten, and upper kindergarten provided
for three years.
The basic rational of selecting the sub-city and
the preschools for the research site was due
to researcher’s proximity and familiarity with
some staff members, by believing that they will
provide support to facilitate the data collection
process with minimized cost, time and effort.
Profile of the target preschools
The target preschools have their own compound
within the premises of primary schools where
they are situated. They are government-owned
in which Amharic is a medium of instruction
and communication, though the children learn
English as one major subject.
There are a total of 20 classrooms reserved
for children to learn from nursery to upper
kindergarten. In addition, there are two
sleeping rooms, two coordinators’ and two
staffs’ offices. The total number of children
in these preschools is 831. The age of these
children ranges from four to six. Teachers
are 34 in number and almost all of them are
females and certified in the field of ECCE by
taking one year training.
The average child-class ratio of the preschools
is about 42 whereas the child – teacher ratio in
the preschools is about 25. The preschools do
not charge monthly fee except for registration
fee which is incurred at the beginning of every
year.
Participants
The study targeted lower and upper kindergarten
children, and their parents and teachers. This
is because children, parents and teachers at
this level are believed to be better familiar with
the preschool programs. At the beginning,
the researcher planed to involve 152 children
and their respective parents (152 child-parent
dyads), selected through systematic random
sampling procedure from a total 457 targeted
children. Then, parents of the selected children
were communicated to come to the preschool
by teachers through a letter. But, 48 parents
were not responsive when they were called
by teachers, and 16 dyads were excluded due
to the presence of escaped items in the data
instruments. Thus a total of 88 child-parent
dyads were recruited based on the interest of
parents.
Children participants were eligible for the
research if parents were able to come and fill
the instrument. Regarding teacher participants,
eight purposefully key interview informants
(four coordinators and four teachers); two from
each preschool took part in the study.
The basic profiles of the research samples are
depicted in Table 1 below. As regards other
demographic variables depicted in this Table,
many of the parent participants were non-
literates and their monthly income was 1000
and below. In the majority of the participant’s’
homes, there were one or two children of
either the first or the second birth order.
 Variable Category Frequency Percent Total Sample

Gender (Children) Male 47 53.4

Female 41 46.6 88
Gender (Parents) Male 26 29.5
Female 62 70.5 88
Parents’ Educational Level Non-literate 40 45.5
Primary school level 28 31.8
High school level 18 20.5
Certificate level 1 1.1
Diploma level 1 1.1
Number of Children in 1-2 children 47 53.5
the Home 3-4 children 32 36.3
5-6 children 9 10.2
Child Birth Order First and second 62 70.4
Third and fourth 19 21.6
Fifth and above 7 8.0
Parents’ Monthly Income 1000 birr and below 81 92.0
1001-1500 birr 6 6.9
1501 birr and above 1 1.1

Table 1: Demographic Information of Participants

Instrument validation I spend time with my child working on

The study employed two types of data
collection instruments: questionnaire and
interview. In order to solicit quantitative
data about the issue under investigation a
questionnaire was prepared having two major
parts. The first part contains items concerned
with parental involvement whereas the
second part constituted items addressing
children’s developmental outcomes including
social skills, problem behaviors and academic
competence.
Family involvement questionnaire (FIQ):
is an instrument used to measure the level
of parental involvement in their children’s
education. An adapted form of FIQ developed
by Fantuzzo, Tighe and Childs in 2000
(Jeffries, 2012) was employed in this research.
The instrument used to measure parental
involvement in this research is Likert type
consisting of 28 items (e.g. I talk to my child’s
teacher about my child’s accomplishments;
reading skills) structured on three point scales
representing 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, and
2 = mostly. It has two sub-scales including
home-based involvement ([HBI] 13 items) and
preschool-based involvement ([PBI] 15 items),
where the higher score in the instrument
represent the better parental participation in
their children’s education and vice versa.
Social skills rating system (SSRS): is a tool
developed by Gresham and Elliott in 1990 which
is used to evaluate three domains of children’s
and adolescents’ development: Social Skills,
Problem Behaviors, and Academic Competence
(Community-University Partnership for the
Study of Children, Youth, and Families, 2011;
Hayner, 1999). SSRS has a teacher, parent, and
student questionnaire form intended for use
with individuals whose age range from 3 to 18
years old. In the current research a teacher
version of SSRS was adapted. It comprises
55 items structured on three scales: social
skills (26 items, e.g. invites others to join in
activities), problem behaviors (18 items, e.g.
gets angry easily), and academic competence
(11 items, e.g. easily makes transition from
one classroom activity to another) rated on a
3-point scale (i.e. 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, 2
= very often).
The SSRS has been subjected to numerous
validation studies and has been shown to be
a reliable and valid instrument. As reported by
Stuart, Gresham and Elliott (as cited in Hayner,
1999), the internal reliability coefficient of
SSRS for the total instrument was .94. The
higher score on the social skill and academic
competence scales is the better score but
higher score on problem behavior scale
represents the difficulty level.
Before the instruments were used in the actual
investigation, pilot test was conducted on 17
child-parent dyads found in two preschools
other than the study sites but with similar
characteristics with those selected in the study
sample. The result of the Cronbach’s Alpha
indicated that the reliability coefficient of items
for total parental involvement, and sub-scales
home-based involvement and preschool-based
involvement were .87, .86 and .83 respectively.
In addition, the reliability coefficients of the
outcome variables were .87, .91, and .93 for
social skill, problem behavior and academic
competence in respective order.
For the purposes of eliciting in-depth data,
semi-structured interview guide was used.
The interview was aimed at gathering data
about parental involvement in their children’s
education. Concerning the validity of the
interview items, two doctoral candidates of
psychology were consulted to review the clarity,
and coherence of the items in the instrument,
and amendments were made accordingly.
Data collection procedures
Before the commencement of the study, the
investigator visited the selected preschools
to introduce the aim of the study and request
permission from the coordinators to carry out
the research. After securing their consent the
researcher approached teacher participants
to clarify the nature and purpose of the study
and obtained verbal informed consent and
assurance about their willingness to in the
data collection process. Next, teachers
communicated to the parents of the selected
children to come to the preschool to take part
in the research. Then, the teachers completed
the questionnaires designed to solicit data
from volunteer parents and their children in
their convenient time. Clarifications were made
promptly to the participants throughout the
administration process. This was followed by
checking the completeness and consistency of
the data. Finally, the distributed questionnaires
were collected, arranged and scored. Reverse
coding was also made on negatively worded
items. The researcher also organized interview
with coordinators and teachers during the
quantitative data collection process.
Analysis
The data collected from the questionnaires
were arranged and entered into the SPSS-
20 in relation to the objectives of the study.
Data from the structured questionnaires were
analyzed through frequency, percentage,
mean, standard deviation, correlation and
regression. Frequencies and percentages
were utilized to describe the demographic
characteristics of the participants whereas
mean and standard deviation were used to
determine the level of parental involvement
and children developmental outcomes.
Pearson correlation was employed to see the
relationship of parental involvement with some
demographic variables. Moreover, a number of
simple regressions were performed in order to
analyze the influence of parental involvement
on children developmental outcomes.
Results
Status of parents’ involvement in their
children’s education
The first objective of the study was to
determine the level of parental involvement in
their children’s preschool education. As it was
indicated in the methods part, items of parental
involvement were rated on three point scales
(0 = never, 1 = sometimes, and 2 = mostly)
with 26, 30, and 56 maximum expected scores
of HBI, PBI, and total parental involvement
respectively. As regards the mean values of the participants were 12.80 (SD=4.56), 11.28 (SD=4.24),
and 24.08(SD=4.56) on HBI, PBI, and total parental involvement in their order. This means, the mean
scores were below the average on the total scale and sub-scales of parental involvement measure.
Variables Minimum
Home-based involvement 5.00
Preschool-based involvement 1.00
Total parental involvement 10.00
Table 2: Level of Parental Involvement (n = 88)
Interview questions addressing parental
involvement in their children preschool
education were raised to the participants.
Almost all of the participants indicated that
the involvement of parents is very minimal.
Majority of the parents did not know the status
(needs, achievements, gaps, etc.) of their
children in the preschools. Almost all of the
participants explained that low level of parental
education and awareness, and being busy at
work are the common reasons for parents’
limited involvement in their children education.
For instance, one of the interviewees said;
‘the participation of parents in their children’s
learning both in the home and preschool is
very low. Most of the parents do not give
attention to their children learning. Because
they are less educated though there are some
educated parents who participate in their
children’s learning. I can say that a maximum of
15% of parents may involve in their children’s
education. These parents’ participation is also
more or less limited to school based activities
like planting trees, attending meetings, and
contributing money to level the outdoor
playground of children. Now, the participation
of these parents is almost absent due to their
disagreement with the school administration
since the money they contributed before was
not used for the intended purpose.’
One coordinator participant also gives a reason
in a similar way; ‘most of the parents who send
children to this preschool are non-educated and
have less awareness about the importance of
their involvement. Even, when teachers send
messages through communication books,
many parents don’t reply and they attribute
this to their illiteracy and business.’
Maximum M SD Expected Maximum
Score on the Scale
29.00 12.80 4.56 26.00
21.00 11.28 4.24 30.00
41.00 24.08 6.81 56.00
Another coordinator further stated; ‘parental
involvement in children’s education is invisible
and not at the expected level since most of
the parents have low income, who strive for
fulfilling the requirements of children’s basic
needs than giving time to follow up their
children’s learning.’
The researcher raised specific questions
regarding how parents meet and make follow
up of their children’s learning. Participants from
all preschools revealed that they have general
meetings with parents three times per year
(at the beginning, mid and end of the year) to
discuss agendas focusing on children’s learning,
disciplining, and preschool development. The
coordinators showed that teachers may call
parents to meet occasionally when problems
or gaps are observed on their children, some
may come and consult the teachers. One of
the coordinators stated that ‘When parents
are called to come to the preschool in order to
discuss problems observed on their children,
they report their own problems than children’s
learning needs and gaps.’
Most of the interview participants agreed that
many of the parents are not eager to consult
preschool teachers in order to make follow ups
and know their children’s overall achievements
and gaps. In line with this, one of the participant
teachers reported that ‘most parents are daily
laborers and have low income, hence; they are
primarily engaged in activities to secure their
basic needs. So, it is difficult for me to say
that they give due attention to their children’s
education though there are some parents who
occasionally ask teachers about the status of
their children.’ Similarly, one of the coordinators
explained that ‘many parents do not know the
preschool: what is available and what is not.
They assume that government preschools
have everything and they do not understand
the shortages. So, if there are gaps, parents
become aggressive and initiate conflicts with
us.’ Half of the interview participants indicated
that parents consider teaching children as a
sole responsibility of teachers. ‘But without
parents’ involvement, teachers’ effort to teach
children is like clapping with one hand’ (stated
by one coordinator).
Three of the interviewees also indicated that
when teacher give homework to children, many
parents do not see, follow up and support their
children to do it. When they called teachers for
consultation, they were not willing to show
up. On the other hand, some parents do their
children’s homework or make other students
from higher level to do it.
Except two, all participants from three
preschools revealed that sending messages
to parents through communication books and
getting their feedback in return is the most
common way to communicate the status of
their children and make parents involve in their
children’s learning. One of them explained;
‘Some parents try to respond accordingly.
Conversely, some other parents do not send
their feedback timely and they attributed the
failure to shortage of time to give feedback
since they return home from work late in the
night.’
Two questions were presented to the
participants in order to pinpoint some of
the activities and the mechanisms to invite
parents to engage in their children’s education.
Concerning this issue, one participant teacher
said that ‘the parents’ association established
in this year together with us started to work
on fundraising activities by finding funding
organizations in order to support children who
are not able to bring food and those who have
no shoes and uniforms. In addition, some of
the parents are responsive and participate
in preschool compound cleaning and
beautification. But involvement in children’s
academics is minimal. They are not very much
close to teachers to know gaps and help their
children. This is due to illiteracy and low level
of awareness.’
Moreover, one of the coordinators pointed
remarked, ‘we invite parents to participate in
preschool activities like campus beautification
including cleaning, planting trees and flowers.
When parents are called for such activities,
most parents do not show up (around one-
fourth of them participate in such activities).
We do not pressurize them to come, because
most of the parents lead a hand-to-mouth
life. Surprisingly, there are some parents who
think that the preschool gives support to their
children in providing food. Hence, parents are
not close to teachers and don’t follow up their
children’s needs, gaps, and achievements in
the preschool.’
Relationship of some demographic
variables with parental involvement
In an attempt to see the correlation between
some demographic factors and parental
involvement in their children’s preschool
learning, Pearson correlation coefficients were
calculated and depicted in Table 3 hereunder.
 Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6
Parent’s educational level
Number of children -.10
Parental monthly income .44** -.04
Child birth order -.14 .83** -.06
Home-based parental involve- .16 -.10 .30** -.08
ment
Preschool-based parental involve- .03 -.11 .07 -.06 .20
ment
Overall parental involvement .12 -.13 .25* -.06 .80** .76**

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Table 3: Bivariate Correlation Matrix of Parental Involvement by Demographic Variables
The inter-correlation matrix shown in Table 3 above revealed that parental monthly income was
positively and significantly correlated with overall parental involvement (r = .25, p < 0.05) and home-
based involvement dimension (r = .30, p < 0.01). That is, parental home involvement in their children’s
learning has intermediate positive and significant correlation with the level of their monthly income.

The influence of parental involvement in children developmental outcomes

The last objective of this study was to see the contribution of parental involvement in children’s
developmental outcomes. To realize this purpose, teachers filled an instrument that consists of
items measuring social skills, problem behaviors, and academic competence of children which was
rated on a three point scale (i.e. 0 = never, 1 = sometimes, 2 = very often).

Variables Minimum Maximum M SD Expected Maximum

Score on the Scale
Social skill 17.00 39.00 28.08 5.92 52.00
Problem behavior 0.00 18.00 7.49 4.52 36.00
Academic competence 2.00 20.00 14.09 3.37 30.00

Table 4: The Level of Children Social Skill, Problem Behavior, and Academic Competence (n=88)

The result of descriptive statistics reported by teachers in Table 4 below shows that the mean scores
of children on social skills (M=28.08, SD=5.92) and academic competence (M=14.09, SD=3.37) out
of the 52 and 30 were the maximum expected scores respectively. This means the mean values of
children on these dimensions of development concentrated around the mid-point of the scales. On
the other hand, the mean scores of children’s problem behavior (M=7.49, SD=4.52) was almost five
times below the maximum expected score (i.e. 36) on the scale.

Dependent Variables R R2 F B B t
Social skill .31 .10 9.28* .27 .31 3.05*
Problem behavior -.02 .00 .05 -.02 -.03 -.23
Academic competence .60 .36 47.38* .30 .60 6.88*

*p < .05, n = 88.

Table 5: Regression Analysis of Parental Involvement with Developmental Outcomes
Looking into Table 5 above, the simple
regression coefficient revealed that parental
involvement was significantly related with
academic competence of children F(1,86)
= 47.38, p < 0.05. The multiple correlation
coefficient of academic competence was
.60, and approximately 36% of the variance
in children’s academic competence was
accounted for only by parental involvement in
their children’s preschool education. In addition,
when parental involvement was entered into
the regression model, its correlation coefficient
was .31 and explains 10% of the variance in
social skill of children F(1,86) = 9.28, p < 0.05.
But parental involvement in their preschooler’s
learning had statistically non-significant
negative correlation with problem behavior of
children and it explains almost zero percent of
the variance in children’s problem behavior.
Interview participants were requested to
respond about the importance of parents’
involvement in their children preschool learning.
There was no doubt with all of the participants
about the advantage of parental involvement
in children education. The interviewee teacher
from one preschool indicated that ‘parental
involvement is helpful to bridge the home and
the preschool contexts so that we can easily
communicate about the status (problems, gaps
and achievements) of the children and together
we can devise mechanisms on how to support
children in their overall development.’
Likewise, one of the coordinators showed that
parental involvement in their children’s learning
is helpful for teachers, parents and children.
She further explained that ‘teachers may not
succeed in changing children without parental
support and involvement. But if parents are
actively involved, they can understand every
problem of the preschool and their children,
by collaborating with us in narrowing down
the gaps, and disciplining and scaffolding their
children learning.’
Similarly, one teacher participant also added;
‘if parents are involved in children’s education,
we can shape children’s behavior and equip
them with the necessary knowledge in
appropriate ways. Teachers try to shape the
children within the five working days, but the
children may come with new behavior learned
inappropriately in the weekend. But, if parents
involve and collaborate with us, we can mold
children significantly. This is beneficial to the
children to be successful and ready for primary
school in all domains of development. Since,
early years in life are the foundation ages,
teachers and parents should collaborate in order
to equip children with the basic knowledge and
skills that further make them important citizens
for their country at large.’
Another teacher indicated that parental
engagement in children’s learning has multiple
advantages. She identified the following
benefits: ‘1) It opens the opportunity for parents
to know the status of facilities and materials
so that they can contribute their own with no
pressure from teachers and administrators. 2)
It is beneficial for parents to be aware of the
problems observed on their children and their
responsibilities on how to care and support
them. 3) It is helpful for teachers to have a
clear understanding of the status of children
so that they can provide appropriate services
accordingly. 4) It is valuable to make parents
and teachers on the same page about the
overall developmental achievements and gaps
of the children both at home and preschool in
order to raise children in constructive ways.’
Many of the participants also showed that
parental involvement in their children’s preschool
learning contributes to the quality of education.
For instance, two participants affirmed that
if parents make follow up collaborate with
teachers to support children’s learning, it
increases the work motivation of teachers so
that they invest more efforts to teach children.
The supervision of parents about what children
learn and how they pastime in the preschool
creates happiness in learning and makes
children active learners, hence children learn
better and get acquainted with the academic
world and this further improves the quality of
education.
Discussion
The result of the quantitative data in the current
study demonstrated that parental involvement
in their children’s education both in home based
and preschool based activities was below the
average of the expected score on the scale.
The interview findings also demonstrated that
the involvement of parents in their children’s
preschool education is very low. This is
consistent with the previous research findings
of Ayele and Befekadu (2008), Kurtulmus (2016),
and Tirussew et al. (2009). Many participants
of the interview indicated that majority of the
parents do not come to the preschool in order
to know and make follow ups about the gaps
and achievements of the preschools and their
children.
This may be due to the problems of parents
as identified by the teachers of this study. That
is, most parents were less educated and had
less awareness about the importance of their
participation in children preschool education.
These parents also had low level of income
and were primarily engaged in and busy in daily
labor activities in order to fulfill the basic needs
of the family. This compromised the time
parents allocate to activities which would have
been helpful helpful for children’s learning.
The current research finding pinpointed that
general meetings were the common form of
contact between parents and teachers in order
to discuss children’s learning, disciplining, and
preschool development. In addition, interview
participants from three preschools indicated
that sending message through communication
book to parents was another regular means of
providing information to the parents about the
status of their children in the preschool. Even
so, respondents indicated that some parents
involved only in school based volunteer activities
such as campus beautification including
cleaning, planting trees and flowers, fencing
the compound, and fundraising activities.
From the demographic factors considered in
the current study, only parental monthly income
had intermediate and statically significant
positive relationship with overall parental
involvement and HBI dimension. That is, as the
level of parent’s monthly income increases, it
considerably enhances the participation of
parents in their children’s learning activities at
home. This finding is consistent with Maphoso
and Mahlo (2014) which revealed the positive
effect of high level of parents’ income on levels
of their involvement in children’s learning.
But income had very weak positive and non-
significant correlation with PBI. This shows that
the significant relationship observed on total
parental involvement with parent’s monthly
income was due to its significant relationship
with HBI. However, the level of parental
involvement was not significantly related with
parent’s educational level, number of children,
and child birth order. This could be attributed
to small gaps or differences among parents
and children in these variables (see Table
1). Regarding educational level of parents,
the present research finding deviates from
Maphoso and Mahlo (2014), but it coincides
with Fantuzzo et al. (2004), who ascertained
that parental involvement in children learning
was not significantly related to educational and
employment level of parents. This may be due
to the difference in research setting and the
characteristics of data sources.
One important finding in this research is
that all of the interview participants of the
current research approved the multifaceted
advantage of involving parents in their children
preschool learning. The quantitative data
also revealed that parental involvement had
significant intermediate correlation with both
children’s academic competence and social
skills. Parental involvement in their children
education also explains 36% and 10% of the
variances in academic competence and social
skills respectively. These findings deviate from
the work of DeWar (2011) and Nokali et al.
(2010) who found out that parental involvement
has no relationship with their children’s social
competence and academic achievement.
However, in agreement with the findings of the
present study, a substantial body of research
(eg. Ademola & Olajumoke, 2009; Fantuzzo
et al., 2004; Harvard Family Research Project,
2006; Jeffries, 2012; McWayne et al., 2004;
Nokali et al., 2010; Powell et al., 2010; Taylor
et al., 2004) pointed out that parental active
involvement in their children’s education has
strong positive relationship and is a strong
predictor of child outcomes. These research
results maintained that parental involvement
improves academic achievement, social skills
and problem behaviors of their preschool
children. When we single out the contribution
of parental involvement in their children’s
education for improving children’s behavior,
contrary to the past, the current research result
disclosed the presence of very weak negative
correlation of these variables and parental
involvement had almost zero contribution for
minimizing problem behaviors of children. This
may be due to teachers’ biased response about
the participation of parents in their children’s
education, since all the questionnaires were
rated by teachers. Parents may not also provide
accurate data with the presence of teachers.
Therefore, this needs further investigation.
Concluding Remark
The status of parental involvement in their
children home-based and preschool-based
education activities is negligible and below
the average as compared to the expected
maximum level. This is due to low level of
parental education, awareness and income.
Parents’ participation was limited to general
meetings and volunteer activities organized by
the preschools. Though the status of parental
involvement was not at the expected level,
the presence of such practice is important
to improve the academic competence (30%)
and social skills (10%) of preschool children.
Children’s education is a shared venture
hence; parents should be preschool partners
and work collaboratively with teachers for
the better benefits of children. Thus, it is
recommended that preschools should be
responsible to raise the awareness of parents
about the importance of their involvement in
children educational activities by inviting them
to take part in different events (during children
registration, welcoming day, holidays, parent
days, children graduations), regular meetings,
volunteering activities, training and discussion
programs. Establishing and strengthening
parent-teacher associations is also very vital to
enhance the active participation of parents in
their children’s education.
As the level of parental involvement in their
children’s preschool education was positively
related with the level of monthly income. It could
be assumed that as the level of parent’s monthly
income increases, it enhances the participation
of parents in their children’s learning activities.
Therefore, it is recommended that preschool
teachers should advice parents to allocate time
and support their children’s learning especially
during the night and weekends when they are
off from their work. In the long run, the city
government should also be responsible to
nominate low income parents and make them
beneficial targets of the safety net program and
involve them in income generating activities.
This research is not free from limitations. The
research sites were selected purposefully
and data were collected from limited number
of participants using limited number of
instruments. This approach may not give an
accurate picture of the issue under investigation.
Therefore, the results cannot be generalized
to the other sites. Thus, it is suggested that
future studies in similar area should consider
more preschools, large number of participants
including teachers, parents, children, and
officials using more instruments for data
triangulation and better generalizability.
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A Critical Review on Policy Environment
and Practice of Inclusion in Ethiopian
Early Childhood Education
Tewodros Habte
Abstract: This study mainly intended to
uncover the appropriateness of the national
policy environment and the practice of inclusion
in Ethiopian Early Childhood Education. The
study critically reviewed major pitfalls of the
mainstream early childhood education system
at large in relation to inclusion. Qualitative
methodology was used and data was obtained
from document review, key informants and
observation. The practice of the existing national
policy environment was examined through
interviews, statistical documents, reports and
observation on selected public kindergartens
of the City Government of Addis Ababa. The
State Minister of Education, the Deputy Head
for Addis Ababa City Administration Education
Bureau and the Deputy Head for Addis Ababa
City Administration Women and Children
Bureau were some of the key informants.
The fact that the policy environment has
been surfacing with all its pitfalls since the
1994 Education and Training Policy and the
1995 Ethiopian Constitution, little or nothing
was achieved towards inclusion in early
childhood education. Policy and system related
recommendations were also forwarded in
accordance with the major findings.
Background and rationale of the study
The great importance of Early Childhood
Education (ECE) was recognized in 2000 at the
World Education Forum in the elaboration on
goal 1 of the Dakar Framework for Action. The
2008 UNESCO International Conference on
Inclusive Education also sent a strong message
to the international community calling for
greater investment in early assessment and
intervention of inclusive Early Childhood Care
and Education (ECCE) programs (UESCO,
2009a).
The fact that ECE is a right based issue
and crucially important level of education
in the sector; many children including the
nondisabled are marginalized from the access.
The situation for children with disabilities
remained double jeopardy as they are severely
excluded and the majority of these children
are living in developing nations such as in sub
Saharan African countries (UNESCO, 2010).
In Ethiopia, including the City Government of
Addis Ababa, still many children are excluded
from getting access to ECE of which children
with disabilities are extremely marginalized
however improvement has been shown in the
mainstream system (CSA, 2011; MoE, 2012a;
BIC, 2014; UNDP 2014; UNESCO, 2015).
The rationale for the need of inclusion in
ECE originates from the following major
magnitudes. Research findings on brain
development emphasize that the first six
years of life are profoundly important for this
is the fastest period of human growth and
development. The foundations of all learning
are laid during these years (UNICEF, 2013).
Besides, ECE is powerful and potential stage
for further inclusion. Early identification and
intervention towards stimulation and education
has tremendous returns throughout the rest
levels of education. The better inclusion we
have in ECE the better and easier inclusion we
will have in early primary education and beyond
(MoE, 2006 & 2012a). Right based education
is also prominent for early childhoods. Both
international and national human right legal
frameworks are equally important for this level.
ECE, whether it is public, private or provided by
the community, should be designed to respond
to the child’s individual needs (UNESCO, 2016;
UNICEF, 2013; MoE, 2010a). On the whole, ECE
is important stage that prepares children for
schooling and has greatest impact on children’s
further education that in turn enhances human
development (UNDP, 2015; UESCO, 2009a;
MoE, 2010b).
Problem statement
Any child has a right for access to ECE as
depicted on many international and national
legal frameworks. Providing equitable and
quality ECE especially towards targeted
disadvantaged groups is indisputable (UNESCO,
2016; Addis Ababa Education Bureau, 2014;
MoE 2012a; UNESCO, 2010). Apart from the
Dakar Framework for Action, the UN action
that is the ratification of ‘Implementing Child
Rights in Early Childhood’, in 2005 was also a
remarkable step for inclusion in ECE. Ethiopia
is one of the signatories of the Universal
Declaration of Human Right (UDHR) and
other universal conventions. The country has
also equivalent national legal framework that
ensures the right to education. However, the
equity challenges in ECE are huge for Ethiopia
(Young lives, 2009).
Many countries have very good inclusive
education policies which are formulated on the
basis of global experiences and international
frameworks. Some countries have adequate
policy environment and better implementation
while others have persistent gap between their
policies and practices. Some have policies that
remain solely on paper. On the other hand,
some lack comprehensive or adequate policy
environment to implement inclusive education
or lack inclusive policy frameworks. Moreover,
some may have inconsistent concern in their
policy frameworks to address inclusion at all
levels of education (Adams, 2010; UNESCO,
2009c; Donders, 2007, Becher & Li, 2010).
In similar vein, findings indicated that such
problems are also attributed to Ethiopia (MoE,
2012a; UNDP 2014, UNESCO 2015).
Equitable and quality basic social service
is one of the fundamental indicators of
development. Education in general and ECE in
particular is considered as a powerful gauge of
human development. Henceforth, inclusion in
ECE could remain double indicator of human
development (UNDP, 2014).
According to the 2015 human development
report of United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), more than half of nations in
the world have registered a very high and high
development index; and the majority of these
nations achieved a lot on ECE. Contrary to this,
ECE remained a challenge for the majority of
the countries which have medium and low
human development index. Predominantly,
ECE in sub Saharan African countries is a
problem. It has to be noted that Ethiopia is
one of the sub Saharan African nations and
occupant of low human development index
(UNDP, 2015; UNESCO, 2015).
The global situation mainly in those of
developing nations seems that ECE is the
most marginalized level of education. It is
also evident that inclusion of children with
disabilities still remains a challenge for them at
all level of education. To make this more vivid,
ECE even for nondisabled children who live in
developing nations is not easily accessible and/
or affordable (Young Lives, 2009). But this does
not mean that inclusion in ECE is impossible
for developing nations (Becher & Li, 2010).
The fact that finding relatively genuine statistics
on the number of peoples with disabilities in
Ethiopia has been difficult (UNESCO, 2009b),
literatures uncovered that the number of
children with disabilities in Ethiopian schools
remained trifling (Frank, 2015; Tewodros, 2012;
MoE, 2012a; Tirusew, 2005; MoE, 2006). This
situation is highly confined with the country’s
poor inclusion in ECE (MoE, 2006). There are
many children with disabilities throughout the
country who are excluded from ECE including
in Addis Ababa (CSA, 2011; BIC, 2014).
According to MoE (2010a), the gross enrolment
rate of ECE for Ethiopia was only 3.9% in 2008
which was concentrated in urban areas, mainly
in Addis Ababa. At national level, 18.2% of
pupils enrolled in grade 1 in 2007/08 had left
school before reaching grade 2. Findings have
also shown the huge gap of children’s reading
ability and very low completion rate in grade
one (Save the Children, 2014; EGRA, 2010 &
2014). As mentioned before, it is believed that
there are many children with disabilities who are
excluded from ECE the fact that improvement
on access has been shown in the mainstream
system (UNESCO, 2015; UNDP, 2015, MoE,
2010; UNESCO, 2010). Consequently, it has to
be underlined that failure on inclusion at this
stage means failure at all stages of education
(European Agency for Special Needs and
Inclusive Education, 2014).
Among other reasons, Ethiopia’s failure
behind the EFA goals was failure at inclusion
(UNESCO, 2015). The country has also planned
to meet Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) particularly SDGs: 4.2. The last national
census made in 2007 has at least significantly
shown the number of children with disabilities
including children under early childhoods
(CSA, 2011). The ministry of education annual
abstract for the first time has tried to disclose
information on inclusion in ECE the fact that
confusion on the data prevails (MoE, 2014/15).
Other documents and literatures are also
depicting the prevalence of disability in early
childhood (Addis Ababa Education Bureau,
2014/15). Henceforth, appropriate policy and
prompt practice is unavoidably important to
include these children thereby to attain the
national and international developmental goals
(UNESCO, 2009c).
This study, therefore, intends to explore
the appropriateness of the national policy
environment and practice of inclusion in
Ethiopian ECE and particular focus was given
to the City Government of Addis Ababa while
it contributes much to the sector. The study
also aims to review pitfalls of the mainstream
ECE system in relation to inclusion and aspires
to answer the following major and specific
questions.
1) Is there adequate policy environment
to implement inclusion in ECE?
1.1 Does the policy environment
clearly consider the Ethiopian
context?
1.2 Does it set clear duties and
responsibilities of stakeholders?
2) To what extent has inclusion in ECE
been implemented?
2.1 Is the mainstream system suitable
for inclusion?
2.2 Are children with disabilities
included at least within the access?
2.3 How strong is the coordination system
within the education sector and among multi
sectors?
Scope of the study
The care aspect of early child hood
development is not part of this study as it is the
much contested and mostly unpractical or an
overlooked concept in Ethiopian ECCE (Girma,
2014). It has to be noted, however, the policy
environment and the educational structure is
equally important for both the education and
the care aspects of early child hood. The private
sector is not included in this study. This can be
taken as the limitation of the study. Besides,
this study is delimited to early childhoods who
have physical, visual, hearing and intellectual
disabilities.
Conceptual definition of inclusive
education
Inclusive education can be defined at least on
its very nature of egalitarian term however it
is debatable issue and there is no universal
consensus (Hick & et.al 2009; UNESCO,
2009c). Inclusive education does not mean the
provision of access to education and training
for children or people with disabilities. Children
shall not be excluded from the learning process
and have equal opportunities and participate
within the process like others. UNESCO
(2009c) clearly incorporates this idea and
defines inclusion as a process of addressing
and responding to the diverse needs of all
children, youth and adults through increased
participation and reduced exclusion within and
from education.
Theoretical assumptions of inclusive
education
According to Clough & Corbett (2010), the
historical development and practice of inclusive
education has been crossing heterogeneous
ideologies and different theories emerged
from ‘special’, ‘integrative’ and ‘inclusive’
perspectives respectively. They stipulated five
distinctive models; the psycho medical legacy,
the sociological response, the curricular
approach, the school improvement strategies
and disability studies critique. These models
interpret the development and interaction of
ideologies leading to present view of inclusive
education.
The fact that inclusion in education is a process
and has its own challenges as it toils to
address diversified learning needs (UNESCO,
2009c), the social constructionist theory does
not assume diversified learning community
as a problem (Nind & et.al, 2005). This theory
basically believes that teachers, among other
actors, are the principal engineers to manage
the educational context and environment
thereby to provide appropriate educational
practices for all learners in a diversified learning
community. In a similar vein, participatory and
critical theories condemn any exclusionary
cultures and practices that hinder access for
educational opportunities and appropriate
learning. These theoretical frameworks not
only reject educational exclusion but also strive
for emancipatory or libratory actions (Creswell,
2009).
Research findings revealed that social
constructionist, participatory, critical pedagogy,
right based and libratory assumptions are
relevant theoretical frameworks for inclusive
education. Rodina (2006) underpins that the
social constructionist theory is profoundly
important and mostly used for early childhood
inclusive education or for what he calls
‘inclusive kindergartens’.
The need for inclusion in ECE
The need for inclusion in ECE is justifiable for
various reasons. It must be seen first from
the child right point of view as international
and national legal frameworks are equally
important for early childhood. The need can
also be justified from the prominence of
early identification of learning difficulties and
inclusion; and its impact on children’s further
education (MoE, 2012b; European Agency
for Special Needs and Inclusive Education,
2014). The achievements, opportunities and
challenges of the implementation of ECE as
the first Goal of Education for All was further
justification (UNESCO, 2015). Accordingly, the
prevalence of huge population of children with
disabilities at early childhood still reiterates the
importance of inclusion in education (UNESCO,
2010; UNESCO, 2015).
The first step to successfully include children
with special needs in early childhood programs
is providing access for children with disabilities.
This provision to inclusive pre-schooling offers
children with disabilities a vital space in which
to ensure optimal development by providing
opportunities for child focused learning,
play, participation, peer interaction and the
development of friendships. Such full inclusion
again has greatest impact on the children’s
further education and achievement (WHO,
2012). MoE (2006) also underpins insignificant
access to inclusion in ECE affects further
access to inclusion in education.
Why inclusive policy and practice in
education?
Global studies indicated that both the access
and quality of inclusive ECE has been improved
in some countries and regions who have better
policies and interventions while it remained a
challenge for many countries. Ever since the
implementation of inclusion in the context
of ECE, great progress has been made and
people’s understanding of inclusion has been
enhanced. Moreover, some nations and
regions have been adopting special strategies
to further improve the practice of inclusion
(Becher & Li, 2010; UNESCO, 2015).
Developing and implementing education
policies on the basis of the principles of
inclusive education is fundamental for the
realization of every one’s education (UNESCO,
2008). Curriculum and pedagogy shall also
consider the principles of non discrimination,
human rights, appreciation of diversity,
adapted and relevant teaching methodology
in order to ensure inclusivity (UNESCO,
2009c). Reduction of school dropout rates, for
instance, involves good policies and practices
such as early detection as well as early and
efficient intervention (European Agency for
Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2014).
Research design
This study has used qualitative design. The
design was chosen in accordance with the
intention of the study.
Participants of the study
One higher official (the State Minister of
Education) participated from the Ministry of
Education. The Deputy Head of the Bureau, the
Focal Person for ECCE and the Focal Person
for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
participated from the City Government of Addis
Ababa Education Bureau. The Deputy Head
also participated from Addis Ababa Women
and Children Bureau. In addition to this,
informal interview was made with teachers who are teaching in two government kindergartens. The
kindergartens were purposefully selected as per the recommendation of the official from the City
Administration Education Bureau. Informal discussion was made with four experts from ministry of
education. Very specific data were also taken from three sub cities (Arada, Yeka and Nifas Silk Lafto)
of the City Government of Addis Ababa.

Title of the Document Year of Publication

The Education and Training Policy 1994
Special Needs and Inclusive Education Strategy 2006
Special Needs and Inclusive Education Strategy 2012
Special Needs and Inclusive Education Strategy Implementation Guideline 2012
The National Policy Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education 2010
Strategic Operational Plan and Guidelines for Early Childhood Care and Education 2010
The Curriculum Framework for Ethiopian Education (KG-grade 12) 2010
The Guideline for Curriculum Differentiation and Individual Program 2012
The Syllabus for Early Childhood Education and Care 2009

Data collection instruments and procedures
Document review and semi-structured
interview were mainly used; and non participant
observation was also used. Educational policy
and strategic documents were reviewed to
see the adequacy and appropriateness of the
national policy environment on ECE inclusive
education. Interview with high officials and
experts was used to see both the national
and the city administrational practice on ECE
inclusive education while observation on two
kindergartens was made to consolidate the
data from the city administration officials. The
purpose of the observation was at least to see
whether children with visual, hearing, physical
and intellectual disabilities are included or not.
In addition to this, statistical documents and
reports were used to see the practice both at
the national and the city administrational levels.
Findings on the policy environment
To explore the appropriateness and adequacy
of the policy environment, nine educational
policy and strategic documents were reviewed
including the 1994 ETP. Statistical documents
and reports were also reviewed. Below are the
policy and strategic documents.
The Education and Training Policy (ETP) that was
formulated in 1994 considered ECE as part of
the structure of education and training system
which focuses on all rounded development of
the child in preparation for formal schoo1ing.
This is a very prominent policy environment for
the mainstream ECE system. However, the ETP
did not pay proper attention as it did for other
educational structures. As a result, the ETP is
not clear enough in some of the educational
aspects. For instance, the duration has not
been indicated as other levels of education.
In consistency with the constitutional
framework, the ETP has tried to consider
educational opportunities to children with
disabilities. However, the policy was not
clear on inclusion and its focus seems on
special education. Inclusion was relatively
well introduced on the 2006 Special Needs
Education (SNE) strategy (MoE, 2006;
UNESCO 2010). This strategy has provided a
better policy environment in particular focus to
meet Universal Primary Education (UPE) and
Education for All (EFA) goals (MoE, 2006). It
is to be noted that expanding and improving
comprehensive quality early childhood care and
education especially for the most vulnerable
and disadvantaged children was the first EFA
goal.
Nonetheless, the 2006 SNE strategy has its
own limitations and it was revised in 2012. The
strategy did not achieve its intended goals due
to its inherent problems and the weakness
that prevailed during its implementation (MoE,
2012a). Accordingly, the 2012 new Special
Needs /Inclusive/ Education Strategy and the
Implementation Guideline were prepared
in order to provide a more conducive policy
environment for inclusive education and
training at all levels. Among other priorities,
it gave considerable attention on the need
for inclusive curriculum, teachers training and
early screening and assessment. Henceforth,
the new strategy had to fill this gap but both
the strategy and the implementation guideline
still have limitations to set clear priorities on
inclusion in ECE.
Notwithstanding the lion share work goes
to the ministry of education, the 2010 Policy
Framework and the Strategic Guideline for
Early Childhood Care and Education were
designed by the three ministries: ministry of
education, the then ministry of women’s affairs
and ministry of health. The policy was prepared
with an intention to provide a coordination
mechanism for the government has taken ECCE
as an urgent priority. One of the principles of
this policy framework clearly opens the door
for inclusion in ECCE: the ECCE policy is guided
by inclusive approach addressing vulnerable
and marginalized children, particularly children
with special needs (MoE, 2010a:20). The
strategic operational plan and guidelines was
also prepared to execute the policy framework.
Ensuring affordable quality ECCE services
to all children, especially to those who are
marginalized and disadvantaged, is one of the
ajor objectives of the strategic operational plan
and guidelines.
The principles of the 2010 new Curriculum
Framework at least considers equal educational
opportunities regardless of any distinctive
features or background of the children at all
levels. The 2012 Guideline for Curriculum
Differentiation and Individual Program is a better
document that provides means for inclusive
curriculum. Nevertheless, ECE is still running
with the 2009 syllabus which is extremely far
from inclusive education. In addition to the
aforementioned documents, the Education
Sector
Development Programs in particular ESDP IV
& V (MoE, 2010c, MoE, 2015) are major policy
and strategic documents in support of inclusion
in education. But this does not mean all these
with the private sector and we are also
playing the leading in terms of expanding
government kindergartens. Nevertheless,
most of these kindergartens are not well
equipped and well functioning. I think it is
better to understand what is going on. I
know inclusion is very important for ECE
but first the situation for mainstream ECE
must be improved.
The Deputy Head repeatedly and firmly stated
that inclusion in ECE is not yet considered both
at federal and regional levels notwithstanding
little has been done. He also mentioned that
there is only a focal person to special and
inclusive education at bureau level while
there is a focal person for cross cutting issues
including special and inclusive education at
each sub cities who are working at elementary
and secondary education. The Deputy Head
was also mentioning how getting at least an
estimated data on the number of children with
disabilities is a challenge at the federal and the
city government level.
Who are attending in the mainstream
schools? I think this is national problem.
Getting data generally with respect to
children with disabilities is a problem.
However, the problem remains severe in
the case of early childhood. I do not think
at least there is an estimated figure on
children (aged 4-6) with disabilities. We
could not know how many children with
disabilities (visual, hearing and physical
disability) are out of school. Of course,
this is beyond our responsibility. We rather
have relatively better data on primary
and secondary education. Nevertheless,
sometimes the existing data by itself is
confusing. For many reasons, even I do
not think we have exact number of children
with disabilities.
The focal person for ECCE first explained how
the program is going in different platforms. As
he mentioned, the formal program has been
implemented through kindergartens of which
the majority are under the private sector and
the informal program is going with the “O”
class. He stated that the city government has
documents were equally providing inclusive
environment for all levels of general education.
It is possible to say that greater portion of the
documents goes to primary and secondary
education. However, the trend looks an evolving
struggle toward inclusive education at all levels.
In particular, the 2012 SNE Strategy and the
Implementation guide line, the 2012 Guideline
for Curriculum Differentiation and Individual
Program and the 2010 Policy Framework and
the Strategic Guideline for ECCE are relatively
more suitable policy frameworks towards ECE
inclusion.
Findings on the practice
The practice of inclusion within the existing
policy environment was uncovered with the
data obtained from the informants, statistical
documents, reports and observation.
The higher official from the ministry of
education was asked on the adequacy of
the policy environment and the practice of
inclusion in ECE. He started his explanation
back from the 1994 ETP. He underpinned that
at least ECE was part of the policy stated as
a level of education. He explained, however,
ECE was not the government’s priority for
there was huge backlog on access to primary
education. He also indicated that gradually the
government noted the prominence of ECE and
issued policy and strategic guideline on 2010.
He also said:
As a strategy, all children with disabilities
have to come to the already established
government kindergarten, “O” classes
or to ‘child to child’ program. But
assessment of children with disabilities
is critical challenge for us. Even we are
unable to identify observable disabilities
such as physical disabilities. By now we
are following UNESCO’s statistics that
says ‘there are 1.7 million people with
disabilities in Ethiopia’. We do not want to
follow WHO’s statistics as it is exaggerated
and we do not follow the Ethiopian Central
Statistics Agency too, for we believe it is
a bit lower.
The higher official appeared to explain the
situation of inclusion in ECE in a diplomatic and
frank manner: “I know children with disabilities
are pursuing in charitable schools or public
schools for private schools are expensive. To
be honest, we did not do in this regard. But we
are strategically thinking to do on it.”
According to the informal discussion with
the MoE experts, the department of Special
Support and Inclusive Education is moving
forward to consider ECE on the policy
frameworks and guidelines. The department for
School Improvement Program is responsible to
coordinate ECE programs with four modalities
i.e kindergarten, ‘O’ class, child to child and
accelerated child readiness programs. This
department seems very far from inclusion the
fact that it is responsible for access and quality
of general education including ECE. It allocates
2% of the school grant for inclusion but it is
uncertain whether the support includes ECE
or not. The department of curriculum has tried
to develop new curricular materials for ECE
however the implementation is questioned.
These materials are also insufficient to
consider inclusion as the syllabus is very far
from inclusion. On its part, the department of
Teachers and Education Leaders Professional
Development is trying to improve the training
system of ECCE the fact that producing
teachers who have sufficient knowledge and
skills on inclusion is still challenging. Aligning
themselves along with the four ECE modalities
remains big challenge for these departments.
The Deputy Head of Addis Ababa Education
Bureau was asked on the practice of inclusion
in ECE. He responded with a surprise
underlining that there is a huge gap between
the question and the reality on the ground.
He raised a question and answered himself:
“Before embarking to respond to the question,
in the first place, is inclusion in ECE considered
and known at federal level? As far as I know,
it is not”. He extended his response with
astonishment and said:
Late alone inclusion, do you know in what
situation government kindergartens are
working? In fact, our city administration is
in a better position if you compare it with
other regions and we are contributing a
lot towards the national achievement. We
are mainly and significantly contributing
taken an initiative to make out door and door to
door assessment so as to identify marginalized
children from education. Consequently, he
mentioned that the bureau found more than 20,
000 children in 2015/16 the fact that the majority
were between 7 and15. This finding was also
supported by Arada, Yeka and Nefas Silk Lafto
sub-city experts. According to the expert from
Nefas Silk Lafto Sub City, for instance, more
than 800 children with disabilities were found
from selected six Woredas including early child
hoods. The focal person for ECCE from the
Bureau was also mentioned problems related
with stigmatization of children with disabilities
and said:
The first problem is that parents are
hiding their children for they lack proper
understanding of disability. Kindergartens,
in particular the private ones have gaps on
the way they see children with disabilities.
They have resistance to admit such children.
Government kindergartens are preferable
compared with the private ones but they
have problem on providing the necessary
support to the children after admission.
Social stigmatization is the main challenge
to include these children.
By the same token, the experts from the sub-
cities explained that parents including from the
literate and economically advanced families are
hiding their children. As to the expert, these
parents have persistent resistance to send
their children to school.
On his part, the education bureau focal person
for inclusion clearly and firmly indicated that
almost any kind of plan or action has not been
made by his section towards inclusion in ECE.
He referred that the ministry has also no
concern on the area and it does not expect from
them such activities. He further mentioned
that there was no collaboration between the
Special
Needs/Inclusive Education Section and ECCE
Section of the bureau. Nevertheless, the focal
person mentioned the number of children with
disabilities who are pursuing their education in
government ECE centers has been included
on reports to the ministry of Education since
2014/15.
The deputy head of the Women and Children
Bureau of the Addis Ababa City Government
was asked on collaboration among line
bureaus on the basis of the 2010 ECCE policy
framework. Accordingly, she explicated that her
bureau is working in partnership with the city
government education bureau however they
are not collaborating on ECE. The collaboration
mainly focuses on school feeding at elementary
schools. Surprisingly, even the deputy head
does not know the 2010 ECCE policy. She has
also replied that the bureau has no estimated
number of children with disabilities at all. She
honestly explained that the bureau did not
know even how many early elementary school
children are living with disabilities. But for the
future betterment of all rounded children’s life,
she stated the bureau has recently made a base
line survey to uncover the overall situation of
the children in the city thereby to design, plan
and execute holistic intervention. She declared
that so far the bureau did nothing on ECE; even
she indicated that this concern at federal level
has not yet get attention.
Simple observation was made in two
government kindergartens (Kokebe Tsibah
and Menellik) to see to what extent children
with disabilities access to ECE had. Informal
discussion was also made with teachers. The
kindergartens were purposively chosen as the
focal person for the ECE informed that they
are well established and provide inclusive
education.
Kokebe Tsibah kindergarten is built with
enough space and adequate facilities. The
compound looks better than some of private
kindergartens. The building has a ramp that
connects the main building to the toilet and
dining room while the other building at which
the nursery class is situated does not have a
ramp. There are totally 107 children from very
poor families and beggars. Consequently,
feeding is severe problem and 20 of them
are having school feeding. Only two children
have physical disabilities that are included in
the learning process. This was unexpected
result as the focal person for the ECE has
informed that there are relatively a number of
children with disabilities in this kindergarten.
Even the child, the one who was pursuing his
education at nursery was not in the compound
at the moment for he has been sent to a
certain charitable organization to have extra
examination thereby decide whether his
physical and mental condition needs inclusion
or special education.
The other child was five years old who was
attending lower kindergarten. Based on the
discussion with a teacher, this child was hidden
and locked at his home for five years. His mother
is HIV patient who has been on bed for some
years. He has aged and weak grandmother. He
came to this kindergarten with the help of his
family’s neighborhood who still take care of
him. The kindergarten, in particular this teacher
was willing to accept, include and bring changes
on him. Previously, he was unable even to
sit and the teachers were helping him to sit
using pillows as he is physically disabled. The
teachers were also giving him simple physical
exercise and language therapy to make his
muscles stronger and help him start speaking.
Later, the kindergarten found an NGO and the
latter granted a wheelchair for the child. By
now, he can sit on the wheelchair, utters some
words and phrases and tries to communicate
with his teachers.
In the kindergarten of Mekellik, the building
has also a ramp. But, unfortunately, the only
physically disabled female child who is learning
in this center is not lucky to use the ramp as she
has no a wheelchair. Every morning, her family
mostly her mother carries this child and brings
her to the kindergarten. This is not because her
physical disability is severe to use wheelchair.
It is because of her family economic problem or
lack of support from volunteers or responsible
entities. It is noted that this child is capable
even to walk with the help of her teachers and
non-disabled children. She is not excluded for
the teachers and the children are supporting
her. There are no children with disabilities other
than this child.
According to the 2014/15 National Education
Statistics Annual Abstract, 4615 children
with disabilities were pursuing in ‘O’ classes
and ‘child to child’ programs throughout
the country. The national education annual
abstracts prior to this one did not have such
a data. This can be seen as one step ahead
of ECE inclusion. Nonetheless, the findings
from the statistical documents realized the
prevalence of confusing and uncertain data
toward inclusion in ECE.
The 2014/15 City Government of Addis Ababa
Education Statistics Annual Abstract has
disclosed the inclusion of 14, 156 students in
primary and secondary schools. No data was
released on inclusion in ECE while the 2014/15
National Education Statistics Annual Abstract
has released data on the number of children
with disabilities in Addis Ababa ‘O’ classes
and ‘child to child’ programs. Regardless of
its error on addition, the national education
annul abstract declared that 195 children with
disabilities were attending in ‘O’ classes and
10 in ‘child to child’ programs. The education
bureau’s annual abstract did not include data
on ECE inclusion but it reported to ministry
of education that there are 219 children
with disabilities attending in government
kindergartens not in ‘O’ classes or ‘child to
child’ programs.
These data were controversial and uncertain
for different reasons. The bureau says that
there are 219 children with disabilities
attending in government kindergartens on its
2014/15 second quarter report but the ministry
says 195 in ‘O’ classes and 10 in ‘child to child’
programs. The ministry even did not have a
kindergarten category on its annual abstract in
terms of inclusion. The bureau says I have no
‘child to child’ program but MoE says there are
10 children with disabilities under this program.
The very recent data (unpublished 2015/16
Education Statistics Annual Abstract) from the
bureau and the informal discussion made with
the experts of the three sub-cities realized that
there is no inclusion in ‘O’ classes.
According to MoE’s 2016/17 national general
education supervision report, ECE was not
clearly part of the supervision. In similar vein,
MoE’s 2016/17 six month national general
education evaluation report admits this as a
huge gap hoping changes in the future. Inclusion
as whole was not prioritized on the national
supervision. Little was said on inclusion in
primary and secondary education but nothing
was said on ECE inclusion. In particular, the
number of children with disabilities presented
on the supervision report marginalized ECE and
this is clear indication of overlooking inclusion
at national level. Aside from this, the 2014/15
national education statistics annual abstract
that declared the prevalence of 4615 children
with disabilities in ‘O’ classes and ‘child to child’
programs will be questioned while the national
reports completely overlooked inclusion in
ECE. The finding from the higher officials of
the ministry of education and the Addis Ababa
City Administration Education Bureau also
supports this doubt.
Summary and conclusion
With no doubt, the policy environment towards
inclusion in ECE has been improved since the
enactment of the 1994 ETP. However, it needs
clarity and relevance to consider the Ethiopian
context as the existing ECE system has
multimodal programs. The policy environment
has also tried to consider multi-sectored
coordination mechanisms and the share of
stakeholders. But the intended multi-sectored
collaboration among stakeholders has been
weakened and remained on the document;
and there is no proper coordination within the
sector itself.
Once ECE has been considered as one of
the levels of education in 1994 ETP, inclusion
shall also be crucial for ECE. However, all the
key informants including the state minister
underlined that inclusion in ECE is hardly
considered. As mentioned before, the 2006
and the 2012 revised SNE strategy were
entirely developed to meet the six EFA goals
including the provision of quality ECCE for all
children; particularly to marginalized group. One
of the major priorities of the 2012b Inclusive
Education Strategy and the Implementation
Guideline was also early identification and
assessment of children with disabilities. The
ECCE policy is guided by inclusive approach
addressing vulnerable and marginalized
children, particularly children with special
needs (MoE, 2010a). The policy environment
underlines that insignificant access of children
with disabilities at ECE level could potentially
affect children’s further education (MoE, 2006
& 2012a). It also emphasizes the importance of
prior arrangement for children with disabilities
before primary education.
Findings have shown improvement towards
access to ECE in Ethiopia the fact that the data
is not complete (UNESCO, 2015; 2014 UNDP).
In particular, better achievement on access has
been registered after the implementation of the
“O” class throughout the country however the
platform has been contested for many reasons.
It has also to be noted that the achievement
does not consider homeless, hidden and other
marginalized children including children with
disabilities. The mainstream system is not
encouraging inclusion and the system has its
own structural, functional and coordination
problems that could potentially affect inclusion.
Getting reliable data on inclusion or exclusion
of disadvantaged groups in education
remained challenging. Such a problem was well
addressed by the literatures and the informants
including the higher officials (MoE 2006; Young
Lives, 2009; MoE, 2012a; UNSCO 2010 and
2015). The statistical confusion between the
national and the Addis Ababa city government
education annual abstracts is another typical
manifestation of the problem. This finding in
turn implies the absence of proper concern on
inclusion in ECE.
Social stigmatization has still remained serious
problem (Rodina, 2006; Ghosh & Galaczynski,
2014). There is strong cultural barrier to declare
oneself or one’s own child as disabled (Tirusew,
2005; The African Child Policy Forum, 2011;
MoE, 2012a). It was quite amazing to hear
from the informants that such a problem was
not solely confined to economically weak and
illiterate people but also to other stakeholders.
ECE as a whole and inclusion at this level
appears to be relatively well noted as national
development agenda on policy documents than
the intended practice. There is progressive
and moderately workable policy environment in particular. Improving corporate based
towards inclusion in ECE the fact that it collaboration is also prominent.
remained on paper. Therefore, in conclusion, • Community mobilization and awareness
the concern and the action provided to ECE raising activities should be undertaken.
inclusive education is quite trivial; and rather
appears to be illusion.
Recommendation
On the basis of the findings, the following
recommendations were forwarded.
• If the 1994 ETP is going to have a chance for
revision, it is believed that ECE has to get
the right place on the policy document as a
milestone for equitable and quality general
education.
• The structural organization for ECE has to
be revised both at the ministry and city
administration/regional bureau levels.
• The existing policy environment first, has to
come in to practice and has to be improved
considering inclusion in ECE; the current
syllabus has to be revised, for example.
• The current quality improvement package for
general education has to pay considerable
attention for ECE in line with Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
• As its impact has been seen in the City
Administration of Addis Ababa, government
kindergartens have to be strategically
expanded at urban areas at least as an option
for the public and at most as competent
educational institutions with private ones.
• Sector based preparation and collaboration
mainly with Central Statistic Agency and
with other relevant stakeholders prior to
the upcoming national census could be
much prominent to have better statistics
on disability and early identification towards
children with disabilities (this might help for
the overall inclusive education at all levels). In
addition to this, the door to door assessment
made by the City Administration Education
Bureau has to be enhanced considering
early child hood student population.
• Both the national and regional education
statistics shall provide genuine data.
• Appropriate multi sectored collaboration has
to come into effect on the basis of the 2010
Policy Framework for ECCE towards the
mainstream system in general and inclusion
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 Community-School Partnership for
Improved Learning Environment:
Lessons from the Community-School
Partnership Program/CSPP Initiative in
Ethiopia
Wossenu Yimam
Abstract: This study intended to explore the
contribution of the CSPP initiative in improving
the learning environment of primary schools and
then share the good practices of this initiative
to the primary and lower primary schools which
were not included in the CSPP. The following
issues were the focus of the study: a) the
extent to which the CSPP activities have been
integrated into the Government’s initiatives at
various levels, b) the challenges encountered
in the implementation of the CSPP, and c)
the lessons/good practices drawn from this
initiative. To this end, qualitative inquiry was
employed. Accordingly, 40 key informants
drawn from each of the three implementing
partners, Woreda coordinating committee,
school directors, and representatives of
relevant committee at school level were
purposefully selected and involved in the
study. The required information was garnered
via interview protocols, FGD guides, and
observation checklists. The collected data were
thematically categorized and then analyzed
using proper qualitative techniques. The results
of the study revealed that the CSPP activities
were well-aligned with the Government’s
initiatives and plans particularly at Woreda and
school level; yet, series of challenges have
encountered the implementation of the CSPP.
Apart from this, the lessons/ good practices
of the CSPP that help to improve the learning
environment of the primary and lower primary
schools in our country are highlighted in the
paper.
Keywords: Cchallenge, Initiative, Learning
environment, Opportunity, Partnership
Introduction
Community-school partnership is a shared
responsibility and reciprocal process whereby
schools and the nearby community as well
as other relevant organizations engage in
meaningful and culturally appropriate ways.
Schools and community organizations also
make efforts to listen to parents, support them,
and ensure that they have the tools to be active
partners in their children’s school experience.
Empirical evidences have also witnessed that
such partnerships are essential for helping
students achieve at their maximum potential.
While parent and community involvement
in educational activities has always been the
cornerstone for the success of schools, greater
recognition and support for these collaborative
efforts is crucial.
As Epstein (1995:1) underlined, partnership
implies “a formal alliance and contractual
agreement to work toward shared goals and
to share the profits or benefits of mutual
investments”.
According to Ballen and Moles (1994), the
essential elements of successful partnerships
include: mutual trust and respect, an ongoing
exchange of information, agreement on goals
and strategies, and a sharing of rights and
responsibilities. In the same vein, Funkhouser
and Gonzales (1997) affirm that successful
partnerships are those that involve the
sustained mutual collaboration, support, and
participation of school staffs and families at
home and at school, in activities and efforts that
can directly and positively affect the success
of children’s learning and progress in school.
In light of the aforementioned views, this
paper briefly presents the contribution of the
Community-Schools Partnership Program /
CSPP in improving the learning environment of
primary schools in our country.
Brief Overview of the CSPP
The Community-Schools Partnership Program
was built on a long history of USAID-supported
efforts that have focused on increasing
community support for education. The CSPP
was a three-year contract signed in February
2008 with the overall goal of improving
educational and health outcomes for children
in 1,800 primary schools located in eight
regional states (i.e., Amhara, Afar, Benishangul
Gumuz, Gambella, Oromia, SNNPR, Somali,
and Tigray). This was supposed to be achieved
through three main program goals and ten
intermediate results (IRs) described below.
Program Goal 1: Enhanced Quality and
Equity of Primary Education
IR 1.1: Strengthened management and
governance capacity of parents,
school leaders and administrators;
IR 1.2: Improved capacity of teachers;
IR 1.3: Greater access to and retention
of girls and children from
disadvantage groups including
pastoralists in basic education;
IR 1.4: Improved school environment to
support teaching and learning.
Program Goal 2: Improved Coordination
of Education and Primary Health Care
IR 2.1: Improved linkages between
education and health stakeholders;
IR 2.2: Increased community participation in
promoting health and education
issues and services through
stronger school to family and
community linkages;
IR 2.3: Improved use of health and
education data at school and
community levels for decision
making.
Program Goal 3: Increased Use of Key
Health Services and Products
IR 3.1: Increased access to health services
and products;
IR 3.2: Increased community awareness of
key health services and practices;
IR 3.3: Improved policy environment
relating to key health services.
The main strategies employed under the CSPP
include: building the capacity of government
offices, schools, and community leadership;
empowering ownership of the school
environment through stronger PTAs and
School Incentive Awards (SIAs); facilitating and
improving effective links between education
and health and so on.
The CSPP activities were implemented by
Save the Children Federation and its sub-
contractors/implementing partners (Tigray
Development Association/TDA and World
Learning) as presented in the following table.
Implementing Regions No.
Partners of Schools
Save the Children Afar, Amhara, 1,270
Gambella,
Oromia, Somali
TDA Tigray 150
World Learning Benishangul-Gumuz, 380
SNNP
Total 1,800
Table 1: CSPP Partners, Regions and Number of
Schools
Purpose of the study
The major purpose of this study was to
explore the contribution of the CSPP initiative
in improving the learning environment of
primary schools in Ethiopia. It also intends to
share the good practices of this initiative to the
primary and lower primary schools which were
not included in the CSPP. More specifically,
the study attempted to address the following
issues:
a) The extent to which the CSPP
activities have been integrated into
the Government’s initiatives at
various levels,
b) The challenges encountered in the
implementation of the CSPP, and
c) The lessons/good practices drawn from
this initiative.
Methodology
Qualitative inquiry was employed so as to attain
the purposes of the study. As mentioned earlier,
the CSPP initiative was implemented in eight
regional states. However, due to limitations of
travel and time, five regional states (i.e. Afar,
Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray) and 20
sample schools were purposefully selected for
this study (see Table 2).
As regards selection of participants, 40 key
informants drawn from each of the three
implementing partners (3), woreda coordinating
committee (12), school directors (20), and
representatives of relevant committee at
school level (5) were purposefully selected and involved in the study. The required information was
garnered via interview protocols, FGD guides, and observation checklists. Besides, key documents
related to CSPP implementation plans and performance reports of the implementing partners as
well as relevant literature have been reviewed so as to verify the views of key informants. The
collected data were thematically categorized and then analyzed using proper qualitative techniques.
The following table illustrates the sample regions, Woredas, and schools together with their location.

No. School Name Region Woreda Urban Rural

1 Hadele ela (No.1) Afar Hadele ela --- Rural
2 Hadele ela (No.2) Afar Hadele ela --- Rural
3 Kumame Afar Semu Robi --- Rural
4 Cheki Amhara Angolala na Terra Urban ---
5 Dality na Mekegna Amhara Basso Worana Urban ---
6 Abaya Amhara Syadebir na Wayu --- Rural
7 Fito Amhara Angolala na Terra --- Rural
8 Denkaka (No. 1) Oromia Adaa --- Rural
9 Ejersa Joro Oromia Lume --- Rural
10 Sokoru Oromia Sokoru Urban ---
11 Gangeleta Oromia Sokoru --- Rural
12 Saja Millenium SNNPR Yem Special --- Rural
13 Angeri SNNPR Yem Special --- Rural
14 Hibret SNNPR Gimbo Urban ---
15 Shumba Kumi SNNPR Gimbo --- Rural
16 Debre Tsion Tigray Kilite awlalo --- Rural
17 Felegsha Tigray Kilite awlalo --- Rural
18 Adi Ekli Tigray Kilite awlalo --- Rural
19 Ferawin Tigray Saesi Tsaeda Imba Urban ---
20 Fire Kalsi Tigray Saesi Tsaeda Imba Urban ---

Table 2: Sample regions, Woredas, and location of schools

Summary of major findings
A. The extent to which the CSPP activities
have been integrated into the Government’s
initiatives at various levels
As reported by the key informants at various
levels, the Ethiopian government is generally
satisfied with the work of CSPP and the
implementing partners. It is also felt that CSPP
is aligned with the educational framework of
GEQIP. The alignment with GEQIP was also
confirmed by more than half of the woreda
and school level coordinating/management
committee members contacted. The activities
of CSPP have been particularly supportive
to three of the five results of the Education
Strategic Objectives Framework. And the most
direct support has been to Result 4 (enhanced
community involvement in delivery of quality
education).
The qualitative data collected from the key
informants, observation checklists as well as
the annual reports of the implementing partners
were reviewed and presented hereunder.
• The community mobilization emphasis: It
was well-regarded and has been one of
the major strengths of CSPP activities. And
this has been evidenced through how the
PTAs were able to mobilize communities
around school development activities. The
implementing partners appear to have
strongly infused community organizations,
such as the PTA, with the ability to mobilize
community resources;
• Presence of active PTA: For the most part,
the PTAs in the sample schools seemed
active and committed, and felt that CSPP had
also enabled them to carry on its activities
after CSPP concludes. And this is found to
be a good indicator for sustainability of the
program;
• School level training: Although nothing
was mentioned about the quality of the
trainings, most of the key informants
expressed their positive feeling about the
school level trainings they have received
and were utilizing what they had learned;
• Transferability of CSPP skills and knowledge
to non-CSPP schools and communities:
Many PTA members indicated that such
transferability had been taking place. World
Learning has tried to link CSPP schools with
non-CSPP schools within five kilo meters
of each other. It was reported that 137
schools have been linked in this fashion so
far. In Tigray region, 38 non-CSPP schools
have been linked with CSPP schools. It is
understood from annual reports that more
than 175 schools have been linked and
skills transferred through both formal and
informal means such as information-sharing
via family relationships;
• Percentage share of girls’ enrolment in the
CSPP schools: This has increased (49.5%)
over baseline (47.1%) except for Amhara
and SNNP regional states. The data indicate
that overall percentage share of girls has
increased by 2.4%. It is reported that the
declines in enrolments in CSPP schools of
these two regions are due to construction
of new schools and expansion of existing
non-CSPP schools that are more convenient
for children to attend. Based on enrolment
figures, the Gender Parity Index (GPI) for
CSPP schools for the 2009/10 G.C. school
year exceeds the baseline (2007/08 G.C.)
period GPI for CSPP schools for each region
and for CSPP as a whole. It also exceeds
the 2008/09 G.C. figures of the respective
regions as a whole in Amhara, Oromia,
Tigray and SNNP. It is only in Afar (where
regional data are explicitly unreliable) that
CSPP schools appear to perform poorer
with respect to gender parity than do
schools as a whole;
• Survival rate to grade Five: This is used
to estimate the percentage of students
enrolled in grade one in a given school-
year who are expected to reach grade Five
if the current dropout, repetition rates and
transfer out rate in grades one to four remain
the same. Survival rates approaching 100%
indicate a high level of retention and low
incidence of dropout. The average survival
rate to grade Five in the CSPP schools (in
2008/09 G.C.) was 55.6% in which the
survival rate for girls was 57.9% and 53.9%
for boys. Whereas, the average survival rate
to grade Five (during the baseline/ 2007/08
G.C.) was 48.9% in which the survival rate
 for girls was 52.2% and 46% for boys;
• Girls Education Advisory Committees/
GEACs: As mentioned earlier, one of the
goals of CSPP was enhancing quality and
equity in primary education. To this end,
the project has established a committee
called Girls Education Advisory Committee
(GEAC). This committee functions mainly
to improve girls’ enrollment, retention and
success in primary schools. It also works
to enhance the capacity of communities,
schools, woreda education officials and
local partners to enable them address
issues of girls in and out of schools. Efforts
made by GEACs to help girls to enroll and
retain them in school were commendable.
In most cases, the committee members
lobby with parents to terminate arranged
marriage and help girls to continue their
learning. GEACs and school directors
summoned parents and held discussion on
the importance of educating girls. At last,
most of the parents signed an agreement
with the schools and promised to send
their daughter(s) to schools regularly. For
more serious cases, GEACs support girls
to present their concerns to the attention
of law enforcement institutions at kebele
or woreda level and settle the case in their
favor. In this regard, some of the sample
schools have got remarkable results;
• Number of teachers trained in Active
Learning methods: This is the main
indicator that directly deals with the
teaching-learning process in the classroom.
From the brief observations that were
made and discussions held with teachers,
a more nuanced perception can be formed
about this issue. The trainings are done,
the manuals are prepared and translated,
specific Active Learning materials made
available and active learning was ‘in place’
but the extent to which it is actually being
used was not as expected. As reported
by some teachers, they could not apply
much active learning method because
the classrooms are so crowded and the
conditions so bad. Transfer of teachers
might have also hindered the use of active
learning, which implies that more training
and refresher courses have to be offered;
• Health and education linkage: The health
education in schools was delivered to the
students in different ways as appropriate
for the context. In some schools discussion
and dissemination of health messages
were carried out during a flag ceremony in
the morning while in other schools a regular
health class of one period or session was
held each week;
• Linkage of schools to active de-worming
program: From follow-up information
provided by Save the children subsequent
to the field work, two regions (Amhara and
Oromia) had active de-worming programs
(campaigns) in the 2010 academic year
while SNNPR conducted the campaign
in the 2011 academic year. The drug was
obtained from two sources: De-worm
the World as well as the program budget.
As mentioned above, SNNPR started
de-worming campaigns in 2011 and has
completed de-worming all children found in
the CSPP schools of the region (plus 10%
of out of school children). Oromia region
has also gone more than half way through
doing the campaign during the study period.
Amhara region has conducted de-worming
to all children in the CSPP schools by May
2010;
• Presence of separate functional latrines
for girls and boys: As indicated in the
Performance Monitoring Plan/PMP annual
report (2010), about 95% of the schools
have segregated latrines. Averaging 4-12
pits/rooms, these have been constructed
with CSPP funding. The nearby
communities, the Government, and some
NGOs (e,g., Irish Aid, World Vision, UNICEF,
TDA) have also been involved in latrine
construction, sometimes on the same
school campus. It was observed in some
schools that boys’ and girls’ latrines were
in the same building block and this was
seen as a misinterpretation of guidelines
for segregated latrines. Further, it was
noted that the number of available latrines
did not match the needs of large student
populations. The issue of sustainability
of some of the CSPP latrines, made with
 inexpensive materials, is open to question.
At some schools shallow, hand-dug latrines
were observed, implying that they might
not last long. Another issue concerns both
the number and quality of latrines for girls.
The current working assumption is that
latrines for girls should be basically the
same as those for boys, an assumption
that requires reconsideration;
• Presence of hand washing facilities near
latrines: As mentioned in the PMP annual
report (2010), almost all latrines have one
–two hand washing facilities with different
approaches: jerry cans with faucets,
extended pipes, cemented small tanks,
sheet metal tanks and other types. In
some schools, however, only one jerry-can
is used as a common hand washing facility
for boys, girls and teachers (see the photo
below). It was also observed in most of the
sample schools that ash is available (as a
substitute of soap) for cleaning/washing
hands.
Figure 1: Latrine and hand washing facility at
one of the primary schools in
Oromia Regional state
B. Challenges encountered the
implementation of the CSPP
CSPP appears to have been quite successful,
but there were a number challenges which
encountered its implementation. Some of
these challenges are presented hereunder.
a) The program modality: USAID chose
to have CSPP implemented via a contract
mechanism rather than a cooperative
agreement, which was the modality used
for the predecessor projects. Nevertheless,
Save the children felt that the contract
proved to be rigid in the sense that it
required the partner to legally deliver on
specific results and indicators when some
of them were found to be inappropriate
(e.g., “Presence of a National PTA
Association” – in Ethiopia, a national PTA
can only be formed by the Government).
Besides, amending the contract was seen
as a slow process, and not in keeping with
the dynamic nature of the development
process. There seem to have been long
“lag times” in decision-making during
the amendment process. This hampered
the implementation plans of the partner
organizations. The contract mechanism
was not flexible and also has made it more
difficult to show how the investment made
has been leveraged by the partners and
the communities.
b) Inadequate funding: Though the
implementing partners appear to be
committed to the work of CSPP, they
were able to carry out the tasks in what
is perceived as an “under-resourced”
endeavour. Each implementing partner
seemed to be over-stretched and have
even been able to apply extra resources, or
stretch what they have, to augment CSPP
fund.
c) Turnover/transfers of school and woreda
personnel: It was reported that 52 out of
122 school directors of CSPP schools in
the Amhara region had been transferred
 to elsewhere after attending CSPP
tailored training sessions. Similarly nine
school directors in one woreda of SNNPR
were transferred. This means that these
trained personnel are being replaced by
others who are not familiar with the CSPP
activities. And this is believed to slow
down the CSPP progress.
d) The lack of good school libraries: With a
few exceptions, school libraries were found
to be either non-existent or in a bad shape,
sometimes used as dusty storage rooms
(see the photo below). Aside from one or
two school libraries (one in Amhara, one
in Tigray), it was not possible to get library
in the other schools. One consideration in
this regard is that the emphasis on access
Figure 2: Example of a school “library”
used as a storage room (Oromia region)
e) Hand washing facilities related
challenges: As mentioned earlier, almost
all latrines have hand washing facilities
with different approaches. However, some
of the facilities were exposed to theft
and no regular follow-up was made to fill
in water in the jerry cans. Maintaining
the accessibility, proper utilization and
sustainability of these hand washing
facilities was found to be among the main
challenges encountered the effective
implementation of the CSPP.
f) Absence of attractive learning
environment: Although there were some
schools that worked hard to have attractive
learning environments in the classrooms,
the majority of schools visited had walls
devoid of any maps (Ethiopia, Africa, the
World) or posters or even locally made
materials; most exhibited very unattractive
learning environments. Not much effort
appears to have been made in creating such
environments at most of the schools seen,
even with local materials. Classrooms were
dark, adding to unattractive classroom
environments.
g) Poorly handled school gardens: As
indicated in the PMP annual report
(2010), out of the reported 1,522 schools,
1,125 (74%) of them have garden in their
compound. However, during the school
visit most of the gardens appeared to
languish as a CSPP idea and require
renewed attention, support and follow-on.
h) Weak monitoring and evaluation:
Generally this important activity was
found to be weak at all levels, especially
in terms of analysing and using the
information for informed decision making
and implementation. Though it may be
a system issue or due to the program
“structure” and the complexity of the
planning process, school development
coordinators and cluster supervisors did not
seem to be closely monitoring activities.
Moreover, regional education bureaus
themselves couldn’t have adequate
knowledge of the programs taking place
at lower levels, which entails the need for
better monitoring and evaluation.
C. Lessons /good practices drawn
from the CSPP initiative
From the foregoing discussions, it is clear
that CSPP has made significant contributions
towards improving the learning environment of
our primary schools though its implementation
has encountered series of challenges. The
lessons/ good practices of the CSPP that are
worth replicating so as to improve the learning
environment of the primary and lower primary
schools in our country are highlighted as
follows.
a) Sustainability: Strengthening PTAs
and their efforts with a view to mobilize
communities and sustain the program can
generally be seen as an important CSPP
success and good practice as evidenced
both by the active community support
for schools and by the implementation of
income-generating activities. Community
capacity to continue CSPP innovations,
including community mobilization, seems
strong, providing a sense of ownership.
b) Formation and reinforcement of relevant
committee such as WCC, GEAC, HENT,
and SMC at school and woreda level which
include female students, teachers as well
as other stakeholders from the community
and sectoral offices has played pivotal
roles in the lives of many students and
effective implementation of the program.
c) The attempts made to integrate the
health and education sectors are found
strategically wise and can be expanded to
other schools. The effort made to set up
health and education network team/HENT
and introduce health education in CSPP
schools, i.e. one session per week, was
found to be a worthwhile initiative. It is
necessary, however, to create a balance
between the two aspects of the program
and ensure that the health component
doesn’t overshadow the educational
aspects of CSPP, particularly in terms of
the teaching-learning process.
d) Transferability of skills and knowledge to
non-CSPP schools appeared that skills and
knowledge have been transferred from
CSPP schools to non-CSPP schools. This
was occurring through formal and informal
efforts by both Woreda Coordinating
Committees and the Implementing
Partners.
e) The introduction of school incentive
awards/SIAs and helping schools open
bank accounts for their SIA (and other)
funds were considered good practices
that should be replicated in the non-CSPP
schools.
f) Establishment of education and health
data collection system by developing
different types of data collection and
reporting formats was another lesson
drawn from CSPP. A registry book has been
developed, distributed and used at school
level to register and keep school level basic
information for five years. As indicated in
the PMP annual report (2010), the record
shows that 98% of the schools maintained
a data system for the education and health
information. A model “data gallery” in this
regard is the school director’s office in one
of the primary schools in Tigray regional
state.
As can be observed from Figure 3, the school
director had twice as much data about the
school than any other sample school; a unique
information model by a school director who
apparently liked to have all sorts of data at his
fingertips.
Figure 3: A model “data gallery” in one
school director’s office in Tigray
 g) Construction of separate functional
latrines for girls and boys was also
considered as an exemplary practice of
the CSPP initiative. As the presence of
segregated latrines is one of the factors
that contribute for retaining female
students in school, such practice should
be replicated in other schools.
h) Presence of potable water: Usually 4-12
water points, most of the sample schools
have potable water through the support of
the CSPP (see Figure 4 below). This service
is also supported by various NGOs. As
reported by woreda level key informants,
this is a much more difficult indicator to
satisfy in areas where availability of water
is a severe problem (e.g. Afar).
Figure 4: Sample water supply services in
one of the CSPP schools (Amhara Region)
i) The practice of sharing water points
with the nearby communities having
critical water problems: Although data
on this indicator were not well-organized,
it was observed in two of the sample
schools that the water points were located
outside the school compound and shared
with the nearby community (see Figure
5 below). From the PMP annual report
(2010), it was learnt that out of the total
school community 1,154,890 in the 1,800
schools, about 600,543 people (52%) of
them have access to improved drinking
water supplies.
Figure 5: Hand pump waterwheel
constructed through CSPP and shared
between surrounding
Community and one primary school in
Amhara Regional state
j) The commitment and the extra efforts of
the implementing partners, often through
other mechanisms, to mitigate resource
constraints and achieve more effective
implementation would be an interesting
practice to expand to other areas.
Concluding remark
The CSPP has been a very helpful program
for Ethiopia and it is to be commended for
playing its part in ensuring the improvement of
quality of education at the primary and lower
primary levels. Similarly, it has contributed
much to efforts to improve equity in education
and to the coordination of the education and
health sectors, particularly at the local level.
This coordination, however, requires further
strengthening. High-quality implementation,
fair distribution of adequate resources, much
stronger attention to follow-on and mentoring,
and more careful monitoring and evaluation
of the quality of services provided, will go far
in building on the efforts to date and to the
delivery of quality education so necessary for
Ethiopia’s present, and future.
Finally, it is suggested that further research
particularly comparative ones, for example,
comparing CSPP and non-CSPP schools,
should be carried out so as to more clearly
capture the impact of CSPP interventions.
References
Ballen, J., Moles, O. (1994). Strong families,
strong schools: Building community
partnerships for learning.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Education. Available online
at: http://www.projectappleseed.org/
strongfamiliesschools.pdf
Epstein, J. L. (1992). School and
family partnerships. In M. Alkin (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of educational
research (6th ed., pp. 1139-1151).
New York: MacMillan.
Franklin, C. & Streeter, C. L. (1995). School
reform: Linking public schools with
human services. Social Work, 40,
773-783.
Funkhouser, J.E, and Gonzales, M.R. (1997).
Family involvement in children’s
education: Successful local
approaches. Washington, DC: US
Department of Education.
Save the Children Federation. USAID
Community-School Partnership
Program (CSPP). “Annual Report
on Performance Monitoring Plan
(October 2009 – September 2010).”
October 2010.
Tate, S., Wossenu Y., and Tefera T. (2011).
Mid-Term Evaluation of the USAID
Community-School Partnership
Program for Education and Health.
Addis Ababa
Tigray Development Association.
“Summary of Accomplishment
Report, Phases I, II, III of SIA, Woreda
K/Awla’elo.” November 2010.
World Learning, Inc. “Briefing paper on
Community-School Partnership
Program (CSPP).” Undated.
 Absence of Early Identification, the
Misleading Onset of Autism and Parents
Walk on the Jagged Road for Cure
Yirgashewa Bekele*
Abstract: Autism tends to mask its onset in the
first two to three years of human development.
As a result, children appear developing the
expected social and communication skills
during this age of development and suddenly
miss or ignore the skills. The late observable
onsets of autism often mislead parents and
have tough time being convinced that their
children have autism. Based on this reality,
the purpose of this study was to examine
parental reaction to such unexpected changes
on their children and measures they were
taking. Seven parents of children with autism
and two trained teachers were interviewed.
In addition, seven children with autism whose
parents were interviewed were observed and
screened in the primary school setting. The
interview had focus on parents’ reaction and
involvement on supporting their children during
the realized onset of autism while teachers
were interviewed on the children’s social,
communication and educational performance.
The screening has examined the children’s,
social and communication skill and autism
related behavior. Qualitative thematic analysis
and cross-case analysis was made to analyze
the finding. The finding depicted that except
one mother who got the opportunity for early
counseling and professional assistance on
how to support her child during the onset of
autism, the remaining had challenging time
accepting autism in their family. As a result,
they spent the first five years of their children
on frequent visit to various medical institutions
and had been trying traditional treatments and
attributing the cases to others. The parents in
depth narration and school based screening
indicated that children with autism happen
to have autism spectrum where there were
similarities and difference on the nature
of autism which induce confusion on the
parents to accept whether their children have
autism or not. The social and communication
development varies depending on the level
and type of support that parents are providing
where one of the children develops the skills
better than the other and demonstrate special
ability. The result informs that parents need
to get early counseling and advice about the
onset and nature of autism and how to support
their children at the early age.
Key words: Autism, Parents, communication,
social, skill
Background
Autism is a developmental disorder that
affects primarily the social and communication
skill of children. The origin of autism has been
controversial and with various assumptions
for decades however recently; various studies
point out that it has a neurological basewhich
in one way or another attached to biological or
environmental contributions (Bradley-Johnson,
Merle Johnson, Vladescu, 2008; Turner, Stone,
Pozdol, Coonrod, 2006; Huttenlocher, 1994;
Nelson, 2000). The prevalence of autism is
found to increase in the recent years and various
vulnerability factors are suspected such as
genetics and related chromosomal errors and
environmental factors. In 2003 the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in the
United States estimated that Autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) for which autism takes the
majority of the disorders affects 1 in every 250
however, recently CDCP brought new estimate
to be as high as 1 in every150 people (Bradley-
Johnson, Merle Johnson, Vladescu, 2008).
Autism happens in all community settings
regardless of difference in racial, ethnic,
socio-economy or education background.
It is common in developed and low socio
economic countries where Ethiopia shares
the similar experience. As stated in Bradley-
Johnson, Merle Johnson, Vladescu (2008),
the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act (2004) describes that autism
is characterized by:
Autism means a developmental disability
significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction,
 generally evident before age three that
adversely affects a child’s education
performance. Other characteristics often
associated with autism are engagement
in repetitive activities and stereotyped
movements, resistance to environmental
change or change in daily routines, and
unusual responses to sensory experiences.
Autism does not apply if a child’s
educational performance is adversely
affected primarily because the child has an
emotional disturbance (pp: 300.8).
The regression nature on the onset of autism
induces confusion in the families and service
providers whom do not know the nature of
the disorder very well. The confusion happens
because during the regression period the
children show the expected developmental
features and the indictors of autism often
unnoticed (Ozonoff, Williams, Landa, 2005).
Children with autism experience the expected
developmental period in the first 12 months
with subsequent gradual or sudden loss of the
learned skills (Ozonoff, Williams, Landa, 2005).
The regression period seems varied from child
to child however; the average onset seems
between 14-24 months (Ozonoff, Williams,
Landa, 2005; Fombonne and Chakrabarti, 2001;
Shinnar et al., 2001). However, study asserts
that the identification at age two is found to be
stable and reliable across various identification
settings (Turner, Stone, Pozdol, and Coonrod,
2006).The nature of regression shows
developmental variability that some of the
children appear showing difficulty to progress
as expected and also happen to fail on gaining
new skills where the others may suddenly loss
allthe skills exist in their early development.
Attachment with the families develops early
with children with autism similar to the atypical
once(Yirmiya and Sigman, 2001).However,
after realized onset of the disorder, it is
indicated that the children shows less secured
attachment with their close families such as
the mothers (Rutgers, IJzendoorn, Bakermans-
Kranenburg, Swinkels, 2007). During the
first year, the children show the social and
emotional developmental features where these
skills feds out gradually and or suddenly which
is difficulty to the families to accepted such
unexpected changes on their children. Such
unpredictable onset of autism often confuses
and misleads parents. As the children gradually
loss attachment to families more specifically to
mothers, the families tends to frustrate about
what is happening on their children.
Children with autism show various
developmental deviations where the common
features relies on difficulty developing the
social interaction and communication skills
and also fails to recognize and respond to the
emotional and contextual events (Rutgers,
IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Swinkels,
2007; Valente , 2004). Autism shares some
common features within the Autism Spectrum
Disordered (ASD) such as difficulty developing
communication and social skills and also
behavioral variability with the group of ASD such
as Rett’s syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder (CDD), Asperger syndrome and
Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)
(American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
The name “spectrum” indicates a wide range
shared symptoms, skills, and levels of difficulties
in functioning that can occur among children
within the spectrums (Bradley-Johnson, Merle
Johnson, Vladescu, 2008). There are behaviors
that all children with ASD share and also some
difference in terms of the nature and severity
level. Some children and adults with ASD are
fully able to perform all activities of daily living
while others require substantial support to
perform basic activities. Therefore, the support
nature and intensity could be close similar for
some and could be different from child to child.
In such situations of ASD, in the communities
where the awareness on autism is not well
established, it seems rear opportunity for
children to get early identification and early
intervention.
Autism is not only sharing communalities within
ASD but also shows variation of indicators
among children with autism (Bradley-Johnson,
Merle Johnson, Vladescu, 2008). The variationis
also shown on gender bases wheremales are
three to five times more likely being affected
by autism (American Psychiatric Association,
2000). The difference on the feature of autism
and delay onset, parents might have difficulty
identifying and supporting their children at
the early age. Regarding early identification,
similar gap was observed in various countries
around the world, however,in two recent
decades autism is getting attention for early
identification (Turner, Stone, Pozdol and
Coonrod, 2006).Not only early identification
that draw the attention of the research but also
early intervention where emphasis is given
that children with autism show significant
gains on social skill, language development
and cognitive ability (Turner, Stone, Pozdol and
Coonrod, 2006; Wetherby and Wood, 2006).
On the intervention of autism, parents’ active
involvement has positive association with the
improvement of skills (Ruble, McDuffie, King,
Lorenz, 2008).
Variation on the developmental deviation and
delay onset of autism which might confuse
parents also inhibits early intervention.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to
examine the parents’ reactions during the
realization of developmental deviation on their
children. The study also tries to find out the
experience of parents on dealing with the
realitiesof autism on their children. Therefore,
the following research questions were the
frame of the study
- What indicators of autism observed
on the selected children?
- What is the experience of parents
on identifying and supporting their
children with autism?
- Do teacher aware about the
indicators of autism?
Method of the study
One private primary school where children
with autism were attending in the special
unit of the school was purposely selected to
get access to the target children and their
parents. Seven children age six and their
mothers were purposely selected. In addition,
two special needs education teachers working
with children were also selected purposely. In
collaboration with the special needs teachers,
screening was made to identify the nature
of autism among the selected children. The
screening tool had three thematic focuses;
social skill (interaction, eye contact, sameness),
communication skill (Speech) and physical
actions (repetitive behaviors). These behavioral
indicators were selected since various studies
supported that these behaviors are commonly
observed with varying severity level among
children with autism (Bradley-Johnson, Merle
Johnson, Vladescu, 2008).
Out of the seven children, five of them
were males.The screening was supported by
observation in the classroom and during break
time which took three consecutive days. The
screening checklist was filled out during the
observation sessions together with the special
needs teachers.The mothers were interviewed
where the interview lasted up to two hoursin
average. The interview had two major focuses;
the situation where parents went through
during the time when they identified that
their children have developmental deviation
and the experience they had on trying to help
their children for improvement. The teachers
were interviewed on the children’s social and
communication performance of the children.
The data was analyzed using qualitative
thematic analysis in the two major focuses; the
three developmental deviation components
of autism and the two issues on parental
experience and reaction to the onset of autism
and then cross case analysis was made.
Findings
Initially each childwas screened and the
checklist was filled out to make sure that the
difficulties observed have associationswith
autism. The screening result indicates that
there is some communality among children’s
developmental disorder and also some
variability was observed. The social component
had three indicators (interaction with others,
eye contact and sameness behavioral features)
that all the selected children showedclose
similar limitation in these social components.
However, the extent of avoidance of social
indicators varies from child to child. Three of children have speech production challenges
the children did not respond to verbal stimuli from the no speech to limited word production.
from the surrounding where two of the children On the other component checked related to
were found to spend their time with toys than physical repetitive actions or sameness on
the peers and have limited word to produce objects or actions, it was found that all children
when they needed. One of the children is not show some repetitive actions that they were
able to respond orally to human interaction but involved although the nature of the action was
found to perform when commands were given different from child to child. Two of the children
to do such as hug or kiss. The other child was appear frequently flopping their hands or fingers
able to respond orally with limited speech but (S1, S3) respectively. S7 was often observed
able to perform what was asked. The overall pretending as if strumming guitar. The other
social interaction screening observation was physical activities observed was head banging
checked for consistence with the teachers’ (S2), drumming table (S4), jumping over
reflection about each child. Hence, it is found desk (S4) and sleeping on the table (S6).The
that these children show difficulty interacting teachers also confirmed that these actions are
with others although the level of severity observed in almost most of the schools days
differs from child to child. unless the children are influenced to involve on
other activities such as writing.
The other social component screened was eye
contact with humans. All the children found The overall behavior of the children indicates
avoiding eye contact with other. The eye contact that all the seven children found to show
has strong communality behavior among the close similar indicators for the existence of
children. However, the two of the children autism; limitations in social interaction, poor
(S7, S8) establishes very brief eye contact. In eye contact, relaying on sameness of action
addition, relying on same action or objects was or objects, poor communication skill specific
screened, and in this part all children found to difficulty speech production and involve on
to have their own preference of action or physical repetitive activities.
attachment to object. Purposeless walking in
the classroom (S1),frequently throwing a ball
on the ground (S2), purposeless walk in the
classroom and crying (S3), or tendency to get
out of classroom (S4), obsessed with holding a
book (S5), seats alone or sleeping on the table
for long (S6), pretending as if playing a guitar
(S7)are the behaviors that the children shows
regularly in the classroom.Generally, it is
observed that the children show difficulties in
performing the three social components with
varied nature and severity level of limitations.
Regarding verbal communication, four of the
children (S2, S4, S5, S6,) did not speak and
did not orally respond. The other two children
were able to produce meaningless sound
frequently and some word like “no”but it
was not intentional to communicate to others
and only one child (S7) was able to utter
when talking to him although the response
was limited to a single word at a time such
has “yes” ‘playing” ‘music’ “guitar’ etc. The
overall screening informs that all the selected
 Child Social; Social; Flexibility/Sameness Communication/ Repetitive action
Code interaction eye contact Speech
S1 No response, Avoids eye Walking in the classroom Produce meaningless Flopping hand
produce own sound contact sound
S2 Often Play with toy Avoids eye Throw a ball on the Does not speak Head banging
alone contact ground frequently
S3 Murmuring alone Avoids eye Often walk in the Produce unintelligible Flopping fingers
contact classroom while Crying speech
S4 No response to Avoids eye tend to walk/run out of Does not speak Drumming table
verbal stimuli contact the class room often
S5 No response to Avoids eye Obsessed with a book Does not speak Jumping over desks
verbal stimuli contact
S6 Do some avoids eye Passive and seats alone Does not speak Sleeping on the table
commands, no oral contact
response
S7 Do some command, Brief eye Shows love of playing Single words level Pretending
Short answer contact music instrument strummingguitar

The screening result indicated that the children have communalities on the three major components
of autism; the social, communication and repetitive behavior. In addition, the children seem to
qualify difficulties on the sub-components of the social skill (interaction and eye contact). It was also
observed that two of the children S4, S5 were sensitive to sounds coming from their surrounding
and often put their finger in their ears to prevent high pitchsound coming from the sounding.

Parents were interviewed on the experience they had during the identification of the developmental
delay observed on their children and measure they took to get rid ofthe challenge. Table 2 below
indicates the background of the parents of children with autism.

Child Parental nature Education Exposure Exposure to Early reaction to autism Experience on support
back- to early counseling
ground identification
S1 Mother Primary No No Denial and traditional treatment Lacked information

S2 mother High school No No Denial, attribution to the housemaid Lacked information

S3 Father Diploma No No attribution to the mother Lacked information

S4 mother Primary No No Denial, attribution to the housemaid Lacked information

S5 Father and mother High school No No Visited various traditional treatments Lacked information

S6 Father Masters No No Visited medical institution often Lacked information

S7 Mother BA degree Yes Yes Blamed vaccination Counseling by social worker

abroad.

Table 2, Parents’ background information

The interview result indicated that except
one mother who had the opportunity for early
identification of her child in USA since she was
leaving there, all the other parents did not get
early identification and information about their
children having autism, what it is and how to
help for improvement. In addition, during the
early age of the children with autism where
parents noticed that their children appear to
have developmental delay, parents spent this
critical developmental period of their children
on denial and as something wrong happened
on their children suddenly after all the children
were looking fine. After denying the existence
of developmental delay of their children, parents
recognize the reality of delay development on
their children where they started attributing
the case of their children to others. In case of
(S2 and S4) parents attributed the case to their
housemaid as if the housemaid injured their
children. On the other hand, the father of (S3)
attributed the case of his child to the mother
of the child. Attribution did not bring any help
to their children and as a result, the parents of
(S2, S3, and S4) started looking for traditional
treatments, religious services, and also for
medical cure. As described by the parents,
they spent 2-3 year of time to find for cure and
end up hopeless. Finally, the father of S3 got
information on where to take his child to get
support.
The parents of (S1 and S5) perceived the
developmental delay happened on their
children due to evilspirit and have been trying
religious treatments. In the case of (S6)
the father believed that his child had some
health problem and has been visiting various
health institutions and contacted different
medical doctors, even after he was told that
the child has developmental delay, the father
was visitingdifferent doctors hopping to hear
something he was wishing. The father of
S6 disclosed that he had a wish that the
problem of his child can be solved by medical
treatment. Fortunately, the father of S6 is an
educated person and started to read from
internet after he learned informally that the
child’s problem seems autism and although
lately he started helping the child at home. The
mother of (S7) mentioned that in USA various
vaccinations has been provided on home base
service since she gave birth to her child and
she blamed the frequency of the vaccination to
affect her child. She further asserted that she
has regret that she gave birth abroad and this
could not happen if she would have gave birth
in Ethiopia. However, the mother of (S7) has
got early identification of home based social
service and she was told that her child has
autism and got various and frequent advice and
counseling at home by the social workers in
USA. As a result, she has immediately started
supporting her child and preferred to take care
of her child in Ethiopia.
All the parents except the mother of (S7) have
been accessing little information about what
autism is, what to do when and which school
to send their children, at the early age. The
parents asserted that they got information
through informal communication that the
school is admitting children with autism.
According to the parents, the school started
admission of children with autism due to
the negotiation of some of the parents who
have non-autistic siblings in the school and as
a result, the school started teaching children
with autism.
Acknowledging the school’s willingness, the
parents mentioned that they don’t know where
to send their children if the school reject their
request. In addition, the parents described
that not only early identification and early
support that children with autism are missing
but also access to education. According to
the parents, so far in schools of Addis Ababa
access to education for children with autism is
only on willingness of the schools.They further
disclosed that although the school started
supporting their children with autism, the cost
of school fee is more than doubled as compared
to the school fee for “non-disabled” children
since children with autism need assistance
of teachers with frequent close supervision.
They described that if the school regular term-
based fee is 3500 Birr the parents of children
with autism pays 7000 Birr.
The two teachers were interviewed about the
children’s classroom learning behavior. Both
teachers gave the information regarding the
learning characteristics of the selected children
with autism that data in the table 3 below was
included.
Child code follow classroom rules learn literacy orientation mastering the learned
skill Memory indicators

S1 Not Not cooperating slow low

S2 Not Not cooperating slow low

S3 limited task Limited writing task, easily Yes, but only show learned Medium performance but
withdraw before completion thing when insisted behavior inhibits

S4 Not Not cooperating Not low

S5 Only when he gets the book Yes but need follow-up on tasks Yes with supervision Medium performance
he want to hold

S6 If insisted to do with follow- Able to do with supervision Yes Medium performance

up

S7 Able to do Able to do without supervision Yes Performing good

The teachers who are working with children
with autism have BA degree in special needs
education however, they do not get training
specific to autism identification and support.
The data from the teachersshow that the
children (S1, S2 and S4) have difficulty to
follow the classroom rules and teachers have
tough time providing practice to be seated
when needed and often do not cooperate on
the commands given by the teachers since the
children frequently leave their seat. In addition,
(S3) also often walk in the classroom, but
when insisted to be seated, the child perform
learning activities with close supervision. On
the other hand, (S5) who is obsessed on a
book in the classroom is not cooperative to do
classroom tasks unless he holds the book. The
children (S6 and S7) have cooperative behavior
in the classroom and stay seated and do what
is given by the teacher, however, S6 need
supervision to complete the task.
Regarding mastering the lesson or skill
presented in the classroom, after frequent
presentation (S1, S2 and S4) shows difficulty
to master the learned skill and appear to have
low memory indicators such as difficulty
remembering and doing what was told to do.
The other children (S6 and S7) master the
lesson or skill presented but S6 need teachers
supervision when performing. Teachers’
interview indicates that they have awareness
on the indicators of autism, however, they
described that they are having tough time
dealing with autism in the classroom since
the children did not get early identification and
support that would have support accelerating
improvement.
 exposure to early

Communication

learned skills
identification

intervention
Eye contact
Child code

Sameness

mastering
repetitive
behavior

behavior

Memory
Speech
Early

S1 No No No Yes No Yes No Low

S2 No No No Yes No Yes No Low
S3 No No No Yes No Yes Limited Moderate
S4 No No No Yes No Yes No Low
S5 No No No Yes No Yes Yes (with Moderate
supervision
S6 No No No Yes No Yes Yes (with Moderate
supervision)
S7 Yes Yes Brief Yes Single Yes, what he Yes Performing
word level likes to do good

The finding from screening, parents’ interview,
and teachers’ interview indicates that all the
children except (S7) did not get the opportunity
for early identification and intervention. All the
parents exposed to different reaction such as
denial, attributing the casesto the housemaid
or to the mother, believing the developmental
delayto come as a result ofevil spirit and
suspecting vaccination.As a result, except S7
all children did not get early age identification
and support. Regarding family support at home,
only S6 to some extent after the awareness of
the case by the father and S7 in an intensive
way got support at home. The developmental
status of the children shows that S7 is in a good
status in social skill, communication ability to
some extent, and the repetitive behavior is
associated with what he likes to do (playing
guitar and it looks like the child has some level
talent in playing musical instrument. In addition,
S6 show some level of ability to learn, write
andappear behaviorally calm in the classroom,
and perform some commands. However, S6
need intensive support on speech production.
Except S7 and S6 all other children have difficulties
in developing social and communication skill
and have severetendency of performing same
activity such as holding a single tool or show
repetitive behavior. Furthermore, the children
show higher level limitation in following
teachers’ command, classroom rules, learning
literacy skill and also have poor memory for
learning. The overall finding indicates that
children, who do not get early identification and
early intervention, appear slow in developing
social and communication skills.
Generally, variation and also close similarities
on the functioning of the children was
observed where the limitations on the ability
to develop the social and communication skills
and appearing with repetitive behavior and
performing similar activities in most of their
days are observed in the all selected children
with autism. In addition, some children show
the capacity to learn and demonstrate special
ability while the others seemto have poor
learning potential. The other shows sensitivity
to sound coming from the surrounding. This
informs that the variation and communalityhas
strong association with Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD).
Conclusion
Sometimes denial of the reality about their
children stays longer with the parents since
the children were talking and socializing earlier.
Some parents mayattribute the problem as the
faultof others.The ups and downs of parents
to look for cure affect the early identification
and intervention at the critical development
period of the children where valuable
improvement can occur.Although it is not an
easy task,parents have to deal with autism in
everyday life, nothing is better to them than
helping their kids to make the world easy to live
in. Hence, parents and teachers need to know
the sign and symptoms of autism at the early
age. Children with autism can have difficulty
developing social and communication skill but
it does not mean that they cannot learn. Most
have the capacity to receive education of the
formal curriculum with the support of varied
teaching approach, if they get the opportunity
for early identification and intervention.
There are evidences that in the world some
scientists who had / have autism symptoms
are successful in their life and contributed to
the world.Therefore, community awareness
on early sign and symptoms of autism and
what to do at homeand schools on helping the
children is vital.
Recommendations
Support to be effective, parents need to accept
and dedicate themselves to help their children
at home. Hence, early identification and
parental advice service need to be provided.
Schools alone may not bring miraclebut family
members required to involve.
- There is a need on providing public
awareness about autism and its
nature and on what the parents
and schools need to do.
- Support must be based on the
assessment on the need of each
child. This is because with some
common behavior among children
with autism, variation also is
expected on the type of needs and
intensity of needs.
- Teachers need to prepare portfolio
for every child and document
background history of the children
and note the strengths and needs
of the children observed in the
classroom and out of the
classroom. It is based on the profile
of the children that support must
be provided.
- Teachers and parents need to
know that we cannot totally
eliminate autism from children
rather we can help them to reduce
the negative influence of
the autism behavior on education,
socialization and communication
skills. Hence, for effective
improvement, teachers who are
teaching children with autism must
have at least short term training on
how to deal with autism conditions
and how to provide the necessary
support.
- School support alone may help
somehow, the role of parents
and family members are vital on
the improvement of their children.
Hence, parents need to dedicate
some portion of their timeon
supporting of their children at home.
- Support strategies are required to
be tailored to individual needs at
school and also with available
family resources at home. But in
general children with autism respond
best to highly structured support.
- It is important to encourage proper
eye contact. Don’t forget to insist
eye contact and reinforce when the
child is doing it even for brief
seconds. It may be about saying
‘look at me’ and stepping into the
child’s line of vision or a gesture with
the hands to indicate the child should
be looking at you during
conversation.
- Traditionally, louder and angry tone
of voice usually worsens the
situation of children with autism.
Therefore, reduce the tone of voice;
be calm and straightforward on
 telling what the child should do
rather than talking with louder voice.
- Basic social, communication and
behavior improvement need to be
part of the educational interventions
at school.
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Tuchman, R. F. ,Shulman, L.,
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D. (2008). Caregiver Responsiveness
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075713
PAPERS PRESENTED IN SYNDICATE ROOM III
THEME: TEACHING LEARNING AND
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
 Behavioral Intervention for Pre-
School Children with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD):
Implications for Quality Early Childhood
Care and Education
Ahmed Esmael *
Abstract: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD) has many faces and remains
one of the most talked-about and notoriously
controversial subjects in education. There is
heated debate over medication, diagnostic
methods, and treatment options about children,
adolescents, and adults who exhibit ADHD.
The purpose of this intervention research
was to minimize hyperactivity behavior of Pre-
school children with ADHD. Off-seat behavior
was identified as Target Behavior (TB) for
its frequency count and social significance.
Single Case Experimental Design, (SCED)
was employed. Functional Behavioral Analysis
(FBA) was done to ensure intervention
fidelity. Data was collected in three separate
phases; baseline (A1), intervention (B1) as
well as follow-up (A2) periods. Differential
Reinforcement Technique (DRT), Token
economy and social reinforcers were the
chief intervention packages implemented.
Furthermore, environmental modification was
used as backup reinforcement. Analysis of
visual graphed data revealed that the mean
frequency of TB was improved from baseline
period which was 7.14/20 min to 1.4/20 min
indicating change of behavior to the desired
direction. Univariate Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) indicated that, there was significant
mean score difference across conditions
F = 55.81, df = 2, 20, p < 0.05. Apparently,
Post-hoc group comparison using Tukey-HSD
showed that, the mean score of A1 (M = 7.14,
SD = 1.46) was significantly higher than B1 (M
= 1.44, SD = 1.51) and A2 (M = 057, SD = 0.53).
However, there was no statistically significant
mean score difference between A2 (M = 0.57,
SD = 0.53) and B1 (M = 1.44, SD = 1.51).
There was also immediate change in level of
TB from A1 to B1, steep slope in trend, little or
no overlap between conditions and relatively
less variability in the treatment condition all
indicating efficacy of intervention in single case
experimental research. Implications for Quality
Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education
(ECCE) Program and future research directions
are discussed.
Key words: Behavioral Intervention, ADHD,
Target Behavior, Functional Behavioral Analysis
Background to the study
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) has many faces and remains one of the
most talked-about and controversial subjects
in education. There are heated debates over
medication, diagnostic methods, and treatment
options about children, adolescents, and adults
who exhibit ADHD (Fischer, 1990). Attention-
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a
syndrome first appearing in childhood that is
characterized by abnormal levels of inattention,
hyperactivity, or both (Barkley, 1990). Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a
neurological condition that involves problems
with inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity
that are developmentally inconsistent with
the age of the child. ADHD is not a disorder
of attention, as had long been assumed.
Rather, it is a function of developmental failure
in the brain circuitry that monitors inhibition
and self-control. This loss of self-regulation
impairs other important brain functions
crucial for maintaining attention, including
the ability to defer immediate rewards for
later gain (Barkley, 1998). Behavior of children
with ADHD can also include excessive motor
activity. The high energy level and subsequent
behavior are often misperceived as purposeful
noncompliance when, in fact, they may be
a manifestation of the disorder and require
specific interventions. Children with ADHD
exhibit a range of symptoms and levels of
severity. However, many children with ADHD
often are of at least average intelligence and
have a range of personality characteristics
and individual strengths. Estimates of the
prevalence of the disorder in the general
childhood-age population run from 3 to 5%
(APA, 1994; Barkley, 1990), suggesting that
most classrooms may very well have at least
one child with ADHD. On the other hand,
according to Fischer, (1990), the prevalence of
ADHD ranges between 3% and 7% in general
population and between 10% and 15% in
clinical population. The prevalence of ADHD
symptoms varies depending on who reports
(parents or teachers), age and sex of children
and the evaluation criteria used. Epidemiological
studies indicate that the prevalence of ADHD
varies by age, subtype of the disorder (ADHD
inattentive type or hyperactive-impulsive type)
and gender. In this sense, ADHD hyperactive-
impulsive type is four times more common
in boys than girls (4:1), and ADHD inattentive
type is in 2:1 ratio. Both subtypes are more
common between eight and ten years, (Bathia
et al., 1991). Despite the fact that children
with ADHD form only a small minority of all
students, they frequently come to the attention
of their teachers because they display a high
degree of externalizing behaviors (e.g., off-
task behaviors that are easily observed, may
distract other students, and can be disruptive
to the functioning of the classroom). In fact,
because the symptoms associated with
attention disorders appear to be most apparent
and problematic in educational settings, ADHD
has even been defined as “a school-based
disorder” (Atkins & Pelham, 1991; p. 202).
Consequently, students with ADHD are also
quite regularly brought to the attention of the
school psychologist and other members of
child study team by concerned teachers or
parents, who in addition to concerns about
these children’s disruptive behaviors may note
academic underperformance, disorganization,
and social-skill deficits. Although at present
no cure for ADHD exists, there are a number
of treatment options that have proven to
be effective for some children with ADHD.
Effective strategies include behavioral, psycho-
educational, pharmacological/psychotropic,
and multimodal methods. Generally, the
treatment of ADHD requires a comprehensive
behavioral, psychological, educational and
sometimes medical evaluation followed by
education of the individual or their family
members as to the nature of the disorder
and the methods proven to assist with its
management. Effective treatment is likely to
be multidisciplinary, requiring the assistance
of the mental health, educational and medical
professionals at various points in its course.
Treatment must be provided over long time
periods to assist those with ADHD in the
ongoing management of their disorder. Finally,
if appropriate intervention is given, children with
the disorder can lead satisfactory, reasonably
adjusted and productive lives. Based on
DSM-IV, there are 18 individual diagnostic
criteria that distinguish ADHD from either
normal child development or other childhood
disorders. The diagnostic criteria are divided
into two groups: nine are considered primarily
symptoms of inattention, while the remaining
nine are considered indicators of hyperactive
or impulsive behavior (APA, 1994).
Symptoms of inattention
1. Often fails to give close attention to details
or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork,
work, or other activities;
2. Often has difficulty sustaining attention in
tasks or play activities;
3. Often does not seem to listen when spoken
to directly;
4. Often does not follow through on
instructions and fails to finish schoolwork,
or chores (not due to oppositional behavior
or failure to understand instructions);
5. Often has difficulty organizing tasks or
activities;
6. Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to
engage in tasks that require sustained
mental effort (such as schoolwork or
homework);
7. Often loses things necessary for tasks or
activities (e.g. toys, school assignment);
8. Is often easily distracted by extraneous
stimuli;
9. Is often forgetful in daily activities
Symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity
1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms
in seat;
2. Often leaves seat in classroom or in other
situations in which remaining seated is
expected;
3. Often runs about or climbs excessively in
situations in which it is inappropriate;
4. Often has difficulty playing or engaging in
leisure activities quietly;
5. Is often “on the go” or often acts as if
“driven by a motor”;
6. Often talks excessively Impulsivity
7. Often blurts out answers before questions
have been completed;
8. Often has difficulty awaiting turn;
9. Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g.,
butts into conversations or games).
Therefore, based on the above symptoms,
ADHD has three Sub-types; ADHD of Combined
type, ADHD predominantly Inattentive type and
ADHD predominantly Hyperactive- Impulsive
type. Accordingly;
• If a combination of at least 6 of the 9
inattention symptoms and 6 of the 9
hyperactivity-impulsivity indicators are
endorsed, the client should be diagnosed
as ADHD, Combined Type.
• If at least 6 of the 9 inattention symptoms
are endorsed, but fewer than 6 hyperactive
impulsive indicators are found to be
present, the client should be identified as
ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type.
• If at least 6 of the 9 hyperactive-impulsive
symptoms are endorsed, but fewer than
6 inattention indicators are confirmed,
the client should be identified as ADHD,
Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type.
However, in order to determine the ADHD
status, in addition to the above behavioral
criteria, the student must;
a) display hyperactive-impulsive or
inattentive symptoms severe
enough to cause impairment prior
to the age of 7 years
b) display impairment from
symptoms in two or more settings
(e.g., school and home)
c) must demonstrate clinically
significant impairment in social or
academic functioning; and
d) not have another disorder that can
account for the behavioral
symptoms (APA; 1994).
Statement of the problem
According to the Diagnostic Statistical
Manual for Mental Disorders fourth edition
(DSM-IV), ADHD is defined as a disorder
characterized by a “persistent pattern of
inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that
is more frequent and severe than is typically
observed in individuals at a comparable
level of development” (APA, 1994; p. 78).
Accordingly, children with ADHD exhibit wide
ranges of behavioral problems that involve
inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity that
are developmentally inconsistent with the
age of the child. Initial teacher report and
researcher’s preliminary observation revealed
that, since the time of admission, the child
remains serious concern for the teacher as
he demonstrates disruptive behavior in and
out of the classroom. The case demonstrates
behavioral problems ranging from attention
seeking to destroy properties of others
(tearing exercise books, snatching pens and
pencils of others). When look physically, there
is no any noticeable developmental delay on
the physical, social as well as communication
aspects of the child. Selection of target
behavior for subsequent intervention was
made through direct observation of behavior
as well as consultation with significant others
(the teacher and parents). Using classroom
observation checklist, preliminary observation
was made to identify target behavior.
Accordingly, off- seat behavior was selected
for intervention because of its classroom
social significance and frequency. In relation
to this, Goldstein & Goldstein (1992) indicated
that children with ADHD often have difficulty
sitting and paying attention in the classroom.
The following table shows problem behaviors
and prioritization.
Problem Behavior
Fidgets hands or feet or squirms in seat
Runs about excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate
Leaves seat in classroom while remaining seated is expected
Has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly
Often “on the go” or often acts as if “driven by a motor
Often answers before questions have been completed
Often has difficulty awaiting turn
Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).
Table1: Problem behavior and prioritization
As depicted in Table 1, the mean score for
off-seat behavior was the highest i.e 10.2/20
minutes for five consecutive observation
days starting from February 16 to 20, 2016.
Therefore, among various hyperactivity related
problems, off seat behavior was prioritized for
subsequent intervention as it has the highest
mean score.
Objective of the study
The major objectives of this intervention
research was to reduce the off-seat behavior
of the child and increase occurrence of the
desirable alternative behavior i.e. on-seat
behavior of the child by implementing the
intervention package in classroom setting.
More specifically, the intervention was aimed
at;
• Minimizing the frequency of off- seat
behavior of the child from baseline period
by 80% in classroom setting
• Increase the likelihood of alternative
desirable behavior of the child i.e. On-seat
behavior by implementing intervention
packages
• Recommend for others classroom social
significance of the study
Study design
Behavioral intervention represents a broad
set of specific interventions that have the
common goal of modifying the physical and
social environment to alter or change behavior
(AAP, 2001). They are used in the treatment of
ADHD to provide structure for the child and
to reinforce appropriate behavior. Behavioral
intervention is concerned with the analysis
Mean frequency Priority
7.3 5th
8.4 3rd
10.2 1st
7 6th
8.8 2nd
6.9 7th
4.5 8th
7.6 4rt
and change of behaviors. The success of
a behavioral intervention hinges on the
adequacy of the behavioral assessment, as
assessment findings guide the clinician in
selecting appropriate interventions (Nelson &
Hayes, 1986). There are various designs for
behavioral intervention research. The research
design employed for this intervention research
however, was single case experimental design.
Although there are different typologies, these
designs with their distinctive characteristic
features, for this particular intervention
however, an ABA design was employed with
A1 (baseline), B (intervention) and A2 (follow
up). This is because the design was found to
be fitting the purpose of the study.
Dependent variable
Dependent variables in single case experimental
design are the intended outcomes, or more
specifically the observable target behaviors
that in theory should be changed by the
intervention. Off- seat behavior was therefore,
the dependent variable in this study that is
going to be changed as a result of intervention
(independent variable). Off- seat behavior in
this study is defined as behavior that occurred
when the child leaves his seat during classroom
instruction while remaining seated is expected
during 20 minutes observation time. On the
other hand, the alternative desired behavior
for off- seat behavior was on-seat behavior.
On-seat behavior was defined as behavior that
occurred when the child remain seated in his
chair during classroom observation time.
Measurement of dependent variable
With regard to measurement of the dependent
variable, each instance of off seat behavior
was recorded in classroom setting using
frequency counts. For establishing baseline
data, measurement of dependent variable was
done by the researcher and his trained assistant
from classroom setting for seven school days.
Whereas, data for intervention period (B1)
and follow up period (A2) were collected for
nine and seven consecutive days respectively.
During each observation session, data was
collected on the identified target behavior
using frequency count. Inter ratter agreement
was made between observers (the researcher
and assistant). Inter-observer agreement,
as obtained by dividing the total number of
agreements by the total number of agreements
plus disagreements and multiplying by 100,
was calculated. One rule of thumb suggested
by various experts indicates that, when using
percentage of absolute agreement, values
from 75% to 90% demonstrate an acceptable
level of agreement (Stemler, 2004). Therefore,
inter-observer agreement was calculated by
keeping this assumption in mind and it was
about 80%. The same procedure was followed
for data collection during intervention period
(B1) as well as follow-up period (A2).
Independent variables/intervention
packages
Independent variables in single case
experimental design are the practices,
treatment, or intervention packages that are
going to be tested and the introduction of
the independent variable should produce
observable changes in the dependent variable.
The independent variable (intervention/
treatment) implemented was based on
Differential Reinforcement (DR) technique.
Differential reinforcement is the reinforcement
of one form of behavior and not another, or the
reinforcement of a response under one condition
but not another. Differential reinforcement
uses positive reinforcement to differentiate
or separate appropriate student behavior
from inappropriate behavior by increasing
one while decreasing the other. Therefore,
appropriate alternative behavior (On-seat
behavior) was reinforced while inappropriate
behavior (Off-seat behavior) was ignored. The
specific reinforcement strategies employed
were, token economy and social reinforcers.
Furthermore, environmental modification was
used as backup reinforcement. With regard to
the token economy, the child was rewarded a
candy for not leaving his seat. In this case, the
child was rewarded a candy for each desired
behavior (on-seat behavior) and denied for
showing alternative undesired behavior (off-
seat behavior) for each intervention day. The
reward was administered by the teacher after
training was given as to how to deliver the
intervention. Besides, clear instruction was
given for the child that he was going to be
rewarded for showing desired behavior each
day. In order to make the intervention more
effective, the token economy was combined
with social reinforcers such as, praise, smile
and giving attention for the child for showing
desired behavior. The teacher was expected to
give social reinforcer for example by showing
smiling face to the child for each desirable
behavior. Environmental modification was
another component of the intervention package
which was mainly focusing on restructuring
the classroom environment. It consisted
of mainly two strategies. The first one was
changing the seating arrangement of the child
by removing potentially distracting things from
the child’s surrounding and bring the child to
the front (near to the teacher). The second
strategy was establishing and enforcing
classroom rules. Training for the teacher and
assistant data collector was also part of the
intervention package. The data collected
during baseline, intervention and follow-up
period was analyzed using visual inspection of
graphed data. Hence, analysis of effectiveness
of the intervention was reported using graph
for baseline (A1), intervention (B1) as well as
follow-up (A2) periods. Furthermore, one way
ANOVA was computed to see whether there
was significant mean score difference across
conditions.
Results and discussion
The purpose of this intervention research was to reduce the off- seat behavior of the child and increase
occurrence of the desirable alternative behavior i.e. on-seat behavior. Single Case Experimental
Design (SCED) was employed. The finding of the study revealed that the intervention package
was generally efficacious. The data generated during three phases of the study revealed that the
intervention package employed had resulted in reduction of the frequency of dependent variable
(off-seta behavior). Data for baseline (A1) and follow up (A2) were collected for seven consecutive
days each whereas data for the intervention period (B1) was collected for about nine intervention
days in nine sessions. The following table presents frequency count of Target Behavior (TB) before
intervention/during baseline (A1) during intervention (B1) and after intervention/follow up periods
(A2).

Study Period Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 Day8 Day9 Mean

Baseline (A1) 8 6 8 6 8 5 9 - - 7.14

Intervention (B1) 5 2 1 2 1 1 1 - - 0.57

Table 2: Data of target behavior during baseline, intervention and follow up periods
The above table depicted that off seat behavior of the child was improved from baseline period to
intervention period. The mean frequency of the dependent variable (off-seat behavior) was 7.14/20
min during baseline period. However, due to the intervention package the dependent variable was
reduced to 1.4/20 min during intervention phase and further to 0.57 during follow up period indicating
effectiveness of the intervention. In addition to change in mean of the Dependent Variable (Off-seat
behavior), there were other dimensions which indicate intervention effectiveness in Single Case
Experimental Design (SCED) including change in trend, variability, level and immediacy as well as
change in mean which will be discussed in detail in the coming section using visual inspection of
graphed data.

Visual inspection of graphed data

In single-case experimental designs, visual inspection of graphed data is the most common approach
of data analysis. Accordingly, the detailed analysis of the result was made using visual inspection
of graphed data so as to evaluate the effect of an intervention by graphing and visually inspecting
the relation between the intervention and the dependent variable of interest. The following graph
shows the results of data obtained during three phases.
As can be seen from the above graph, off-seat behavior of the child was improved from baseline
period. The mean frequency of the dependent variable (off seat behavior) was 7.14/20 min during
baseline period. However, due to the intervention package the dependent variable was reduced
to 1.4/20 min. Data for baseline (A1) and follow up (A2) were collected for seven consecutive days
each whereas data for the intervention period (B1) was collected for about nine intervention days in
nine sessions. Inferential statistics was employed to see whether there was significant mean score
difference across conditions. The result of one way ANOVA indicated that there was significant
mean score difference F = 55.81, df = 2,20, p < 0.05. Post-hoc group comparison using Tukey-HSD
revealed that, the mean score of A1 (M = 7.14, SD = 1.46) was significantly higher than the mean
score of B1 (M = 1.44, SD = 1.51) and the mean score of A2 (M = 057, SD = 0.53). However, there
was no statistically significant mean score difference between A2 (M = 0.57, SD = 0.53) and mean
score of B1 (M = 1.44, SD = 1.51). From the above analysis, it is inferred that the significant mean
score difference obtained is attributed to intervention impact in reducing off seat behavior of the
participant especially from A1 to B1.

Variables Group N Mean SD Df F Sig

A1 7 7.1429 1.46385

Conditions B1 9 1.4444 1.50923 2, 20 55.814 .000

A2 7 .5714 .53452

Table 3. One way ANOVA of mean difference among conditions

According to Kazdin (1982), there are four
primary criteria to guide analysis of data from
single-case experimental designs that focus
on examination of behavior change across
conditions. Two of these criteria relate to a
change in the magnitude of the behavior which
includes change in mean and change in level
where change in mean refers to the magnitude
of change that occurs in the average behavioral
frequency in one condition compared to another,
change in level refers to the immediate change
in behavioral performance that occurs at the
transition point between one condition and
the next. Accordingly, the result of this study
indicated that the average frequency across
condition A1 of 7.14 to B1 of 1.4 represents a
clear change in mean from one condition to the
next representing reduction of the dependent
variable during treatment period. Concerning
this, Gischlar et al. (2009) stated that, a large
difference between the mean scores indicates
a strong intervention impact and on the average
reduction of a problem behavior. With regard
to change in level the performance for the last
day of baseline (A1) is nine and for the first day
in intervention (B1) is five. Therefore, there is a
clear and immediate change in level from one
condition to the next. The other two criteria are
related to a change in the rate of the behavior
which includes change in trend and latency to
change. A change in trend refers to a systematic
variation in the slope of the data points from
one condition to the next whereas, latency to
change refers to the amount of time that passes
between a change in condition and a change
in behavioral performance. Accordingly, the
results of the intervention indicated change in
trend. This is particularly evident in intervention
(B1) phase where the slope is steep. In relation
to this, Gischlar et al. (2009) indicated that
steep trend, changes in level and immediacy
in desired direction demonstrates positive
impact of intervention. There is no latency to
change between A1 and B1; however, there is
some latency to change between A2 and B2.
Intervention effects are clearest when there is
a stark difference in trends and no latency to
change between conditions.
On the other hand, according to Bailey & Bostow,
(1981); Cooper et al., (2007) the determination
of a substantial difference between the
baseline and experimental conditions is made
when the graphed data meet the following
criteria: (1) change in the mean score (in the
desired direction) between the conditions
being compared; (2) little or no overlap
between conditions; and (3) less variability
in treatment conditions than in less effective
control or other conditions. As depicted in the
above graph, there is clear change in the mean
score for each condition i.e baseline (A1) and
treatment (B1). The difference in the means
is apparent upon a simple visual examination
of the data under each condition. The means
are 7.14 and 1.4 for two conditions respectively.
Therefore, there is clear change of mean
score between conditions being compared
to the desired direction indicating reduction
of dependent variable. With regard to overlap
between conditions, (A1 and B1), there
was no overlap indicating change in off-seat
behavior from baseline to treatment condition.
Concurrently, there is relatively less variability
in treatment condition between 0-5. Therefore,
from the data generated and analysis made, it
was learned that the intervention package was
effective in reducing off-seat behavior of the
child.
Conclusion and implications
This study concludes that the use of token
economy and environmental modification for
improving Off-seat behavior is one strategy
that teachers in school system might consider
when working with children with ADHD who
are having difficulty meeting one of the most
important school expectation i.e. remain
seated and staying on task . Therefore, based
on the findings of the study and analysis made,
the following implications could be drawn.
• The result of this intervention study may
have impact on reducing the negative
attitude of parents and teachers about
children with hyperactivity problem and
inform them that the problem could be
tackled through behavioral modification
technique than merely medical intervention.
• Since the intervention packages used for
this study were not complicated and can be
available easily for teachers, teachers can
be trained to implement it independently
and help individual learner with special
educational needs.
• This intervention study may create
awareness on the part of teachers to
cooperate with parents and professionals
to reduce off-seat behaviors of children
with hyperactivity problems.
• The reduction of off-seat behavior may
have positive effect on the academic
achievement and social adjustment of Biruk
(Pseudo name) in the future when he joins
elementary school.
• Finally, the result of this intervention study
may be useful for policy makers, pre-
school teachers and schools as source of
information particularly about children with
hyperactivity problem.
Future research direction
1. Teachers need to continue to study the use
of token economy, social reinforcer as well
as environmental modification in classroom
setting for the purpose of helping students
with hyperactivity particularly, students
with off-seat behavior.
2. Longitudinal studies should be done
in classroom setting using the same
intervention strategy used in this research
so as to establish evidence based practice
concerning the efficacy of intervention.
3. Since children with hyperactivity disorder
demonstrate ranges of behaviors in
classroom that are concern for teachers,
future research endeavors should include
other dependent variables related to
hyperactivity problems such as answering
before thinking, not awaiting turns and
butting into conversations or games.
References
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual designs: Methods for clinical and
of Mental Disorders applied settings. New York:
Atkins, M.S. & Pelham, W.E. (1991) School Oxford University Press.
Based Assessment of Attention Kerr, M.M., & Nelson, C.M. (1989).
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Strategies for managing behavior
Special Issue of Journal of problems in the classroom (2nd
Learning Disabilities, 24, 197-204 ed.). New York: MacMillan.
Bailey, J. S., & Bostow, D. E. (1981). Nelson, R.O & Hayes, S.C. (Eds) (1986).
Research methods in applied Conceptual foundations of
behavior analysis. Tallahassee, behavioral assessment. New York:
FL: Copy Grafi x. Guilford.
Barkley, R.A. (1990). Attention deficit Stemler, S. E. (2004). A comparison of
hyperactivity disorder: A handbook consensus, consistency, and
for diagnosis and treatment. New measurement approaches to
York: Guilford. estimating interrater reliability.
Bathia MS, Nigam VR, Bohra N, y Malik Practical Assessment, Research &
SC. (1991).Attention deficit disorder Evaluation, 94). (http://pareonline.
with hyperactivity among pediatric net/getvn.asp?v=9&n=4
outpatients. Journal of Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 32: 297-
306.
Corrigan, P.W. & McCracken, S.G. (1997).
Diagnostic criteria for attention
deficit hyepractivity disorder
in a country-wide disorders (4th ed.).
Washington, DC
Fischer M, Barkley R, Edelbrock C,
Smallish L. (1990) The adolescent of
hyperactive children diagnosed
by research criteria, academic,
attentional and neuropsychological
status. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 1990; 58: 580-
588
Gable, R. A., Sugai, G. M., Lewis, T. J.,
Nelson, J. R., Cheney, D., Safran, S.
P., & Safran, J. S. (1997). Individual
and systemic approaches to
collaboration and consultation.
Reston, VA: Council for Children
with Behavioral Disorders.
Gischlar Karen L. Barnet E.W., Eliot, N.
(2009). Improving Child Outcomes
with Data Based Decision
making. Graphic Data. Journal of
Applied Psychology
Goldstein, S., & Goldstein, M. (1992).
Hyperactivity-Why won’t my child
pay attention? New York: Wiley.
 Integration of Computers in Early
Childhood Classroom: Teachers’ Skills
and Practice
Ayalew Belay
Abstract: The potential of digital technology
to revolutionize the education system is valued
by many educators as well as policymakers
from the introduction of educational television
to the large-scale WoredaNet and SchoolNet
projects to support connectivity among 11
regional capitals and 181 schools to the
current investment in desktop computers from
school districts around the country. Each new
technology is introduced with the potential to
benefit children’s learning. Although access
to computers and newer mobile devices
increases; the actual use of technology in
the classroom remains uncommon especially
in early childhood education. Besides, when
technology is used, it is often not used in
meaningful, student-centered ways but is
integrated in more traditional practices.Teachers
are a powerful mediator of technology’s
impact on student learning but there is a
lack of evidence that teachers are effectively
integrating technology into their classrooms.
Particularly, early childhood teachers’
responsibility about their evaluating the affects
of technology over children and being ready for
using technology for the benefits of children
is critically significant.This study is conducted
to determine the skill and practices of early
childhood teachers about the use of computers
in early childhood classroom. The study is
carried out with 50 early childhood teachers
who are working in public as well as private
elementary and nursery schools. To collect
data, a “General Information Form” is used to
determine the general characteristics of the
teachers including educational level, computer
use training skill, working experience and their
classroom size.Besides, a questionnaire to
assess thoughts of early childhood teachers
to integrate computers in their daily activitesis
developed by the researcher is used in this
study. The questionnaire includes questions
related to the skill, experience of integrating
computers in early childhood education,
the frequency of computer use; classroom
teaching activities with computer, views
about the status of children participate in
activities, the evaluation of the computer
use and achieved goals of activities with
computer. After applying appropriate statistical
analysis method, results of the study show
that majority of the early childhood teachers
acquire the computer use knowledge from
their high school education and from in-service
training. These teachers found the integration
of computers in their daily activity appropriate
and also enjoyable for the children. Due to this
they use computers 1-2 times in a week within
their daily curriculum. Besides, the analysis
result indicated that computers are highly
applied for musical and mathematical activities
and also for language learning. Moreover,
suggestions and recommendations regarding
the correct and effective use of computers in
early childhood education are made.
Introduction
The role of computers in early childhood
education is a controversial topic. In the past,
there has been substantial debate as to whether
young children should use computers, both at
home and at school (Blackwell, 2013, House,
2012). One side argues that use of computer
is developmentally wrong for young children
who need to strengthen their knowledge
using concrete materials (House, 2012), and
that too much screen time can overload their
senses (House, 2012) resulting in attention
difficulties and poor concentration (Cordes &
Miller, 2000; House, 2012). Furthermore, it has
been argued that excess use of computer puts
young children at risk of developing muscular-
skeletal injuries and visual difficulties (Cordes
& Miller, 2000). Other arguments suggest
that young children are especially vulnerable
to media messages (Lieberman, Fisk & Biely,
2009) and that violent television and video
games have been associated with aggression
and anti-social behavior. Other losses impaired
literacy skills, loss of imagination (Cordes &
Miller, 2000) and a lack of social skills, resulting
in social isolation (Healy, 2004).
The other side of the debate argues that
developmentally appropriate use of computer
can boost young children’s teach (Blackwell,
2013), particularly in the area of developing
literacy skills (Plowman, Stevenson, McPake,
Stephen & Adey, 2011). Computer use is
associated with increased motivation (Lindahl
& Folkesson, 2010), student-centered learning
practices (Blackwell, 2013) and the development
of social skills through collaboration (Shifflet,
Toledo & Mattoon, 2012). Another benefit
that has been demonstrated is that the use of
computers can support children with disabilities
and special needs. Finally, supporters of this side
of the debate suggest that early experiences
with digital technologies help young children
develop the necessary technology skills and
fluency that will be needed in their future
(Hillman & Marshall, 2009).
More recently, the debate has shifted and the
issue has changed from whether computers
should be used in early childhood settings,
to how it should be used and whether it
makes a difference in children’s learning and
development (KO & Chou, 2014). In fact, the
question for educators and policy-makers
has become how to best integrate computer
into pedagogical practice and curriculum
design in early childhood settings, which
often value play-based learning (Plowman,
McPake & Stephen, 2012). Several researchers
recommend that practitioners take a thoughtful
approach to the use of technology by carefully
considering the design of the technology to
determine if it supports creativity, curiosity,
and play, promotes interaction among children
and provides genuine learning experience
(McManis & Gennewig, 2012).
Research in the field of early childhood
education has established links between:
teacher involvement in designing pupil learning
activities (Perry, Hutchinson & Thauberger,
2007), implementation of literacy curricula
(Neuman &Cunningham, 2009) and pupil
learning outcomes (McCutchen, Abbott, Green,
Beretvas, Cox, Potter, Quiroga & Gray, 2002).
Although there is an array of publications
related to the topic of computer integration to
early childhood education, the research base
specifically related to the role of the teacher
from the teachers’perspective appeared to be
less evident, particularly in relation to the early
childhood context.
If, as stated by these previously mentioned
studies, integration of computers into
early childhood education offers valuable
opportunities to enhance young children’s
learning, then it is critical that the overall
position of the technology in early childhood
education is brought to the surface and openly
addressed and examined from all angles. This
examination is of particular rimportance.
Moreover, by simply supplying schools and
early childhood centers with digital technology,
it is highly unlikely to enhance children’s learning
in the way that it is promoted, particularly
as teachers may not be fully equipped or
experienced with ICT to confidentially utilize
these resources, in ways that are purposeful
and meaningful for children
Hence, the teacher’s role in creating and
facilitating children’s learning in technology-rich
classrooms is increasingly becoming important
in supporting early literacy development. The
role, skill and practice of the teacher significantly
influence and alter the ways in which computer
is integrated within the teaching and learning
environments (Zevenbergen, 2007). Particularly
in early childhood education, computer’s
supportive influences on children’ learning
depends on teacher’s active inclusion in the
program (Iskoglu, 2003).
As the present and profile of computer
technology within early childhood education
is increasing, it is timely that a research study
such as this, investigates this presence and
implementation from the perspective of
teachers in the field.
Hence, the overall aim of this study is to
identify the skills and practices that early
childhood teachers have realized with the help
of computers and determining their views on
computer usage in early education programs.
The research questions which guided this
study were developed in response to the
limited literature that specifically addressed
the perspectives of teachers in early childhood
settings. As a result, the research questions
that guided this research work include:
• How do teachers understand the benefits
of integrating computers in early childhood
education?
• How does teacher’s computer skill and
practice influence the implementation and
integration of computers in early childhood
education?
• From a teacher’s perspective what role does
computer usage play in the learning and
teaching environments in early childhood
education?
• Which of the learning activities in early
childhood education can be supported with
computer use?
Findings
The findings of this study are presented in
four categories. In the first one, the general
information about the teachers attending in the
study (Table-1), in the second one, the analysis
results related to th eparticipants’ views on
the computer use in early childhood education
(Table-2); in the third one, the analysis results
related to their views on the computer use
(Table-3); in the fourth one, the analysis results
related to their statements about the evaluation
process after the computer use (Table-4) take
place.

Methodology
To address the research questions mentioned
earlier quantitative research method is
employed. To gather general characteristic
of early childhood teachers’ including their
computer skill, practice as well as classroom
size “General Information Form” is used. To
gather data about early childhood teachers’
views on computer integration in early
childhood classroom and evaluation of the
computer integration in classroom lessons, a
questionnaire, which is adapted from (Yurt &
Cevher-Kalburan, 2011), with 11 questions is
prepared and distributed to 50 early childhood
teachers.These 50 early childhood teachers
are taken from public and private primary and
nursery schools which are selected using
purposive sampling method from all early
childhood schools of Addis Ababa.

The data collected from the participants were

analyzed by using a statistical program of `SPSS
22.0`. Early childhood teachers’ related opinions
on computer use and their answers related to
the practices and skill were analyzed by means
of the percentile, frequency distributions and
content analysis.
 Characteristic Category Frequency
Educational Level Degree 2 4
Diploma 15 30
Certificate 23 46
No Formal Training 10 20
Age 25 years and Below 32 64
26-29 years 10 20
30-35 years 8 16
36 years and above
Years of Service 1 year 1 2
2 years 13 26
3 years 22 44
4 years and above 14 28
Type of School worked On Private Primary School 17 34
Private Nursery School 20 40
Public Primary School 5 10
Public Nursery School 8 16

Class Room Size 20-25 19 38

26-35 26 52
36-46 5 10
47 and above
Training about Computer use yes 15 30
No 35
Computer use practice Very good 2 4
Good 5 10
No practice 43 86
Number of Computers in the computer 21 and more 2 4
room
11-20 43 86
10 5 10
No computer 0 0

Table 1: General Information about early childhood education teachers

Examining general information of Table -1, early childhood education teachers who participated
in this study, most of them (46%) are graduated in pre-kg, kg and elementary certificate, 30%
graduated in diploma, only 4% graduated in degree and the rest of them (20%) have no any formal
training. Besides, it can be seen that most of the participants (64%) are 25 or below years of age.
When we consider the type of school the participants working on, 40% worked on private nursery,
34% private elementary, 16% public nursery and the remaining 10% of the participants worked
on public elementary school. It is also seen that participant’s class room contains 26-35 children
which is 52% higher than the one that consists of 20-25 children (38%). Considering other findings,
it is obvious that most of the participants (70%) didn’t take any computer training and 86% of the
participants didn’t practice on computer use and only 10% of them are with good computer use
practice. Schools all participants’ working on have computer room with 11-20 computers (86%).
 Question Response expression Frequency Percentage
Is computer usage appropriate in early Appropriate 45 90
childhoodeducation?
Not Appropriate 5 10
Do children get determined purpose Yes 32 64
andacquirements in the activities where
you usecomputers?
No 5 10
Sometimes 13 26

Are activities where you use Yes 34 68

computer entertaining forchildren?
No 5 10
Sometimes 11 22
Does children’s participation change Girls 2 4
according tosex in the activities where
you use computer?
Boys 5 10
Doesn’t Change 43 86
How did you get information and skills With my own experiences 25 50
aboutcomputer in early childhood edu-
cation?
Through sharing with my 17 34
workmates
With In-service Training 35 70
With High School 38 76
Education

Table-2: Early childhood education teachers views about computer use in class room

From Table-2, all most all of the research participants (90%) stated that the use of computers in early
childhood education is appropriate. Due to the use of computers in their activities, the participants
expressed that daily plan objectives are addressed properly (64%). 68% of the participants said that
the children also have found learning with the use of computers in the learning activities enjoyable.
The participation of the children (86%) in such kind of activities doesn’t change due to sex. Most
of the participants (76%) get information about the computer use in class room in high school
education, 70% with in-service training and 50% with their own experience.
Question Frequency Percentage
Which purposes do you use To support activities in my daily class 35 70
computers for?
To show them draw/paint pictures 30 60

To show them cartoon videos 28 56

To show them how to operate 13 26

computer
To support learning by using 39 78
educational software
To provide personal development 9 18

For activities of assessment and eval- 11 22

uation
For communicating with families and 17 34
knowledge sharing
How often do you give place to 1-2 in a week 22 44
computer usage inactivities you Once in a month or less 6 12
prepared in your program?
I don’t allow for computer 5 10

Two-three times in a month 3 6

3-4 in a week 12 24

Every day 2 4

In which activities in your Musical Activities 35 70

education program do
yougive place to Preparation for read write 19 38
computer usage most?
Math Activities 12 24

Science-Nature Activities 10 20

Game Activities 21 42

Language Activities 23 46

Drama Activities 13 26

Art Activities 18 36

Which development areas of Cognitive development 35 70

children do you intendto support Language development 25 50
most by using computer?
Social emotional development 19 38

Psychomotor development 16 32

Table-3: Early childhood education teachers’ explanation about computer use in class room
From Table-3 one can see that most of the participants (78%) use computers to support learning
with educational software, 70% have benefited computer use to support activities in their daily
program, 60% of the participants used computers for painting and drawing pictures and the rest of
them (56%) used computers in early childhood education to show them cartoon videos. 44% of
early childhood teachers used computers 1-2 days a week and most of them (70%) used computers
for music activities and 46% for language activities. These participants (70%) have supported the
cognitive development of children and 50% for language development.

Question Response expression Frequency Percentage

Do you make evaluation for children I use question and answer method 37 74
after computer usage?
I chat with children 15 30

I want children to talk about their feelings 11 22

I use observation form 9 18

Do you evaluate yourself and the activity I pay attention to children’s participation into the activity 23 46
aftercomputer usage?
I use class work results of student’s participating in the activity 27 57

I keep a report at the end of every single activity 17 34

Table 4: Early childhood education teachers’ evaluation after computer use

When we see Table 4, it can be seen that 74%
of the participants have evaluated the computer
use in their teaching activity based on question
and answering method, 30 % by chatting with
children and 22% based on children feeling
discussion. Participants also expressed their
self evaluation after computer usage with other
methods, for example, 57% of them used
class work results and 46% of the participants
evaluate based on the children’s participation.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The aim of this study was to determine the
skill and practices of early childhood teachers
about the use of computers in early childhood
classroom. From the analysis it is found that
integration of computers in early childhood
education is very much appropriate and it
enabled the teachers to reach to their particular
aim with the use of computers. When early
childhood teachers use computers in their
daily learning activity it interested the children
and the participation of the children was not
affected based on their sex. Vast number of
teachers integrated computers with their
activities and most of the time computers
are used in musical activities and developing
language. Early childhood teachers acquire
information, skill and practice of computer use
in their high school education as well as with
in-service training.
It is very importantto note that the use of
computers in early childhood educations by
teachers should be adequate andreasonableso
as to support children’ development and
learning. Moreover, teachers are supposed
to followpermanently growing technological
advancements and to adapt these innovations
into the education environmentproperly. In this
study, although teachers have positive attitudes
towards the use of computers in classrooms,
it canbe said that they need more proficiencies
in terms of practice.
Besides, based on the general information about
the participants of the study it is determined
that some of them did not participate in an
in-service education about computers use in
early childhood education; mostof them had
11-20 computers and no internet connection
in classrooms though their classrooms
consisted of 26-35children. Early childhood
equipped classrooms are supposed to have a
computer to have active social interactionwith
their teachers and peers during the period of
children’ using computers (Judge, Puckett &
Cabuk, 2004). Despite that, Downes, Arthur,
& Beecher (2001) point out that funds that are
dedicated to support buying computers are not
sufficient and too few computers havebeen
purchased. Hence, Ministry of Education,
non-governmental organizations, local
administrations and otherpublic organizations
are supposed to provide financial aids to
purchase enough computers and equipments
in agreementwith the numbers of children
cooperatively.

Moreover, it is stated that almost all of

teachers did not have any in-service education
about computer inearly childhood education
before. However, the technological support
and receiving education of teachers are
reallysignificant factors. Integration technology
into the program and selecting reliable software
are critically crucial forteachers in terms of
supporting the learning and discovering of
children (Judge, Puckett & Cabuk, 2004). It is
necessary for teachers to haveboth pre-service
and in-service educations in order to follow
the latest technological trends, to be aware of
thepotential opportunities of technology and
to have basic information and skills (Clements,
1999). For that reason, the seminars, education
programs, conferences and workshops that
Ministry of Education, universities and non-
governmentalorganizations will carry out
cooperatively are regarded as beneficial.
Besides, it is regarded that the attitudes of
earlychildhood teachers towards the use of
computer, their beliefs, proficiencies and
practices in the larger sample groupsand
the searching by using different methods
will contribute to the literature of the field
significantly.
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earlychildhood practice.
Contemporary Issues in Early
Childhood, 8(1), 19-29.
 A Review of Studies and Programs
on Preschool Attendance and
Developmental Outcomes
Mebratu Belete
Abstract: The aim of this review was to
examine the key values of early childhood
education in enhancing early learning
capabilities, later developmental outcomes,
the future destiny of preschoolers and the
benefits to the family and the nation at large.
Quantitative studies were systematically
collected from databases such as Elsevier,
Sage, JSTOR, and NIH public access.
Experimental intervention outcomes from such
preschool programs as the becedarian and
Perry Preschool Programs on disadvantaged
children’s developmental outcomes were also
reviewed. The articles reviewed employed
different designs as longitudinal, experimental,
cross-sequential, and retrospective. The
results showed significant reimbursement of
early childhood education in different domains
of child development. As the papers reviewed
preschool attendance greatly benefits children
from economically disadvantaged family
backgrounds compared to children from
privileged families. with regard to cognitive
development, the studies portrayed that early
childhood education has short-term and long-
term impacts on children. Intervention with
educational and stimulation components
evidenced greater cognitive benefits. It
was also indicated that children who have
preschool experiences have positive attitude
towards their further education. When the
economic return is concerned, children who
attended preschools have better chance for
employment and higher annual earnings than
the non-attended ones. For instance, a study
conducted in USA indicated that the economic
return of early childhood education to the family/
country was $244, 812 on an investment of $
15, 166 per participant. Furthermore, children
with preschool background were reported with
fewer arrests than the non-attendant group. In
terms of family responsibility and childrearing,
those who attended preschool education have
effectively raised their children and bestowed
family responsibility than those who did not
attend. Furthermore, studies revealed that the
greatest academic and other developmental
benefits were achieved by children who start at
ages 2-3 rather than at younger or older ages.
Keywords: Early childhood education,
children, cognitive development, early learning
Introduction
Empirical studies unveil that education in
Eastern (sub-Saharan) Africa faces multifaceted
challenges. Some of the frequently mentioned
challenges are lack of appropriate intervention
at early years, professional competence among
teachers, overcrowded classrooms, little
cognitive stimulation from parents, teachers,
and significant others to preschool children.
Lack of the significant ingredients mentioned
above resulted in declining educational
outputs, cognitive achievements, and high
levels of dropouts in grade schools (Murray,
2010; Kholowa & Rose, 2007; King, 2007).
The launching of preschools by a country is
understood as a means of enhancing justice.
Engaging children in preschools helps to fight
against economic deprivation, community
marginalization; and in the promotion of
personal wellbeing and cognitive development
especially for children from disadvantaged
families. Nations across the world are showing
a growing priority and giving policy attention
to early year’s education. Providing access
to quality early childhood education (ECE) is
taken as laying the foundation for later lifelong
learning for children and supporting social, and
other needs of families and even the nation.
As studies show) the early years of life are
very crucial in human development. What
materializes in the early life affects lifetime
developmental outcomes. Stable, responsive,
nurturing relationships and rich learning
experiences in the earliest years provide
lifelong benefits for learning, and healthy
cognitive development. Literature also shows
that lifelong developmental foundation is based
on early years’ exposure to developmentally
appropriate practice, when brain is greatly
affected by external environmen the home and
environmental experiences a child acquires at
early stage shape the developing brain. Taking
an appropriate action at early years helps to
support the enhancement of early cognitive
skills such as language, literacy, and math
(Harvard Center on the Developing Child, 2007).
Other studies also document that experiences
at initial years are fundamental for success in
education and other life paths (e.g., Duncan et
al., 2007; Sylva & Roberts, 2010). Studies on
human beings documented that early years
of life are critically important for establishing
brain architecture, which is a basis for healthy
cognitive development (e.g., Blair & Raver,
2012; Knudsen et al., 2006). As empirical
studies indicate (Fox, Levitt, & Nelson, 2010;
Shonkoff, 2010) the malleability of cognitive
capacities at early years is susceptible to
environmental influences.
The benefits of preschool education are
enormous. Evidently, the first five years of
life have a magnificent impact on economic
and social success, including educational and
career attainment, health and overall well-
being. There was a previous belief that human
abilities are mainly determined by genetics and
fewer by the environment. Presently, experts
in the area believe that the reverse is true.
They accept human development is greatly
influenced by environmental experiences.
Some of the scientists have argued that a
person’s abilities are roughly 80% determined
by their environment and only 20% by genetics.
Indeed, basic abilities can actually be altered
early in life allowing children to reach a higher
potential. Babies are born with a set of genes
but experiences early in life can alter gene
expression and also shape the quality of the
brain architecture. The brain is more amenable
to stimuli before the age of six, signifying that
it is difficult to advance a child’s learning talents
later.
The brain’s capacity for change decreases
with age. It is most malleable early in life to
accommodate a wide range of environmental
experiences. When the maturing brain
becomes specialized to assume complex
roles, it is less capable of familiarizing to new
encounters. Developmentally appropriate
interventions early prevent later developmental
adversities. Studies imply that later
involvements are likely to be less successful.
While there is no “magic age” for intervention,
it is clear that intervening as early as possible
is significantly more effective than expecting
better later. Younger kids benefit greatly from
early learning opportunities, especially children
from disadvantaged family backgrounds.
Studies establish that brain’s sensitivity to
environmental stimuli is higher in early years
compared to its responsiveness in later years
(Shonkoff &Phillips, 2000; Shore, 1997).
Empirical evidences and experimental
interventions confirm instrumental gains of
early learning experiences to preschoolers and
their families. To mention a few, longitudinal
studies such as Perry program and the
Abecedarian Project have shown lifelong
impacts on children’s cognitive development
(National Scientific Council on the Developing
Child, 2007; Nelson, Zeanah, Fox, Marshall,
Smyke, & Guthrie, 2007). Hence, investment
of resources in the early years is a wise deed in
terms of research outputs from psychologists
and economists. In this regard, Carneiro &
Heckman (2003) and Cunha et al. (2006)
stressed the value of early investment in
education. The mentioned researchers added
that the return of wise investment during early
years of children is indispensable as it makes
effort to improve development in later years’
yields less.
Empirical studies further indicate that access
to quality early childhood education is
predictive of positive developmental outcomes
(Sammons et al., 2004), and lasting effects on
cognitive and social development (Belsky et
al., 2007; Duncan et al., 2007). Investigations
conducted in Western countries show reliable
effects of preschool structure, type, and
processes on cognitive and social development
of children. Structural issues of the preschool,
for instance, relevant educational background
of the teachers (Dowsett et al, 2008), type
of preschool (Sammons et al., 2004), and
exposure to use of appropriate learning
resources (Pianta et al, 2002), have been
found to promote children’s cognitive and
social school readiness. Moreover, emotional
support, appropriate scaffolding, and educative
interactions among teachers and children
(Marjanovicet al., 2007) and the use of cognitive
stimulation (La Paro, Pianta, & Stuhlman, 2004)
have been found to be important for enriching
positive developmental outcomes.
The Perry Preschool Program is a scientific
experiment that identified both short
and long-term effects of high quality
preschool education for young children from
disadvantaged family backgrounds. The study
selected children who were assessed to be
at high risk for school failure. After the end of
intervention, the outputs of the program were
found to have an impact on cognitive and
other developmental domains of children. To
mention a few, the children in the intervention
group outperformed on intellectual and
language tests; the group which received
treatment were more employed and had
higher annual earnings, were fewer in lifetime
arrests and shouldered family and child rearing
responsibilities effectively than the non-
intervention group. Moreover, the cost benefit
analysis of early intervention was found to be
high.
In a similar way, the Abecedarian program, which
was an experimental study initiated in North
Carolina showed the fundamental benefits
early childhood intervention. Specifically, it
implied enormous benefits to children who are
living in disadvantaged family contexts. The
program showed that prevention of failure and
promotion of children’s positive development
could not be postponed until they show some
signs of developmental delay. Many cost
benefit analyses have been done on intensive
educational programs of the Abecedarian and
Perry Preschool Programs. These programs
helped children to achieve educational goals
(Barnett & Masse, 2007).
Researchers indicate that investments of
time and money at preschool years have been
shown to be economical than investments
made in other stages of life (e.g., Heckman
& Masterov, 2004; Keatsdale Pty Ltd, 2003).
The skills preschoolers develop at early ages
form stepping-stones for later cognitive
development. Early experiences by children
contribute to a sequence of effects that either
strengthens initial achievements or worsens
initial difficulties (Cunha et al., 2006; Stipek,
2005).
Preschool education in Ethiopia is not
compulsory. The Ethiopian government has
limited allocation of funds for preschool
education. Faith-based institutions, private
investors, and NGOs, which mainly provide
services to middle class parents living in urban
and semi-urban areas, have dominated the
sector of preschool education. Ministry of
Education (2010) reported that the Ethiopian
government does not aggressively participate
in running of preschool education in order
to permit the involvement of other non-
government related parties. Because of the
limited role of government in this sector of
education, the enrollment rate of children is
very low and children specifically from rural
areas join primary level education without
achieving fundamental skills during early
years. Lack of access to preschool education
greatly hampers developmental outcomes of
children especially from disadvantaged family
backgrounds. For instance, the 2013 Statistical
Abstract Report of the Ethiopian Ministry of
Education showed that 22.7% of children who
were enrolled in first grade in 2011 had dropped
out of school before passing to the next
grade. Such instances manifest disparities in
developmental outcomes among children with
different socioeconomic backgrounds. Lack
of access to early learning leads to economic
inequality, reduced cognitive performance and
reduced future employment opportunities
(UNESCO, 2006).
Method
Quantitative and qualitative data were
systematically collected from databases such
as Elsevier, Sage, JSTOR, and NIH public
access. Abecedarian and Perry Preschool
Programs intervention effects on children from
disadvantaged family backgrounds were also
reviewed. The methodological quality was
assessed on designs, reliability and validity
of instruments used, source of data and data
analysis techniques. After methodological
appraisal, only 10 articles were found to meet
the criteria for inclusion.
Results and discussions
Out of the selected 17 articles, only 10 articles
met the criteria to be considered in the review
(see appendix I).
General descriptions of the studies reviewed
Among the final 10 articles identified for
the final review, 4 studies used longitudinal
design, 3 used randomized controlled trials,
1 experimental design, 1 cohort sequential
design and 1 retrospective design. More than
half of the studies reviewed were conducted
in USA, two in Ethiopia, one in Latin America
(Uruguay), and one in Kenya, Uganda and
Zanzibar (see appendix II.
Descriptions of review results and
discussions
The results from articles reviewed are briefly
summarized in Table 2. Detailed descriptions
of results and discussions are presented as
follows. Access to quality early childhood
education assures competencies in basic/early
learning skills and later positive developmental
outcomes. As shown in the table, the studies
indicate that children who start at younger
ages are vulnerable to negative behavioral
development. Similarly, the intensity of
preschool-based care also matters, i.e., more
hours of experiences per day lead to greater
cognitive benefits and other developmental
outcomes. Younger children, especially from
disadvantaged family backgrounds were more
likely benefit from exposure to preschools
in terms of cognitive growth and school
readiness. As the reviewed articles reveal
preschool education is found to be a successful
and cost effective approach to prevent
shortcomings in late development and assure
long lasting developmental consequences
in children. Furthermore, preschool
attendance was positively associated
with substantial improvement in children’s
cognitive development, and Lack of access
to quality early education was manifesting in
gaps in basic developmental attributes [10];
Early educational intervention for children,
especially from impoverished backgrounds,
has long lasting benefits on cognitive and other
developmental domains [2, 4]; larger cognitive
gains are confirmed when intervention is taken
earlier and given enhanced opportunities to
learn new things for children; and the quality
of preschools matter the amount of cognitive
and other developmental gains [1, 6].
Attending quality preschool has a significant
effect on educational and vocational gains that
last into adulthood/old age. For instance, early
intervention programs such as abecedarian
greatly benefited children from low-income
families, and Full-time center based
intervention at early ages was associated with
gaining more developmental benefits at later
ages [2, 3].
A few studies conducted in Ethiopia also
showed that preschool experience have
significant positive impacts on children’s
cognitive development and it is indicated that
the impacts of early learning experiences
last long. The Perry Preschool Program is the
scientific experiment, which has identified
both short and long-term effects of high quality
preschool education for children living adverse
conditions. The finding from the Perry Preschool
intervention has numerous implications for
different domains of human development.
Children who were in the program excelled in
cognitive performance and attitude towards
school. Children who participated in the study
were employed in different sectors at larger
rate than those groups who were not on the
program. The children in the program group
were less dependent on social services at
their old ages. They did not manifest higher
crime and delinquency compared to the control
group. Children involved in the program showed
high responsibility in raising their children and
in taking care of their families. Summing up,
investments at early years yield innumerable
returns and benefits, i.e., for a child, family and
nation [1, 5].
Researches show that lifelong developmental
foundation is set on early years’ exposure to
developmentally appropriate practice, when
the brain is greatly affected by external stimuli.
The home and environmental experiences
a child acquires at early stage shape the
developing brain. Thus, taking an appropriate
action at early years helps to support the
enhancement of early cognitive skills such as
language, literacy, and math (Harvard Center
on the Developing Child, 2007). Other studies
also document that experiences at initial years
are fundamental for success in education and
other life paths (e.g., Duncan et al., 2007;
Sylva & Roberts, 2010). Emphasizing the role
of caregivers/parents and home environment,
researches also indicated that before attending
preschools children should have an awareness
of numbers and letters (e.g., Al Otaiba et al.,
2010; Manolitsis & Tafa, 2011; Sylva et al.,
2010).
There is a great deal of literature showing
compelling evidence of the benefits of early
learning. Not only do high quality early childhood
education programs benefit children; they
also have positive impacts on parents and the
economy as a whole. Learning takes place in all
stages of life, but the biggest impact happens
early in life. While it is well acknowledged
that primary, secondary and post-secondary
schooling develops and enhances key life
skills and abilities, the learning that occurs
during the first few years of life after birth can
have important, long lasting effects that are
often underestimated. There is a great deal of
literature showing overwhelming benefits of
high quality, early childhood education benefits
not only for children, but also for parents and
the nation’s economy as a whole. A large
number of studies estimate that the benefits of
early learning far outweigh the costs (Haskins
& Barnett, 2010; Hart & Risley, 1995).
The benefits of early childhood education are
widespread but they start with the children.
There is scientific evidence showing that
experiences during the first five years of life
have a material impact on economic and social
success, including educational and career
attainment, health and overall well-being. While
it was previously thought that human abilities
were driven largely by genetics and less by the
environment, many scientists now believe that
the opposite is true, with a person’s outcome in
life driven largely by what happens after birth.
The literature is overwhelmingly consistent in
finding that exposure to high-quality education
in the early years generally leads to improve
cognitive and language development as well as
better numeracy and literacy abilities. In fact,
research indicates that early math, reading
and attention skills are the best indicators
of educational attainment. In addition, early
language exposure influences the extent of a
child’s vocabulary, as well as verbal and literacy
skills later in life (Haskins & Barnett, 2010;
McCain, Mustard, & McCuaig, 2011).
In addition to building fundamental skills, early
childhood education programs can help to
identify learning or developmental delays at an
early stage and provide children and parents
with appropriate support. Not only does early
detection allow the child to receive specialized
help sooner, addressing such issues at the
onset can help to prevent the problem from
intensifying at a later age, which could prove to
be more costly. Widespread use of high quality
early childhood education programs not only
benefit the children and their families but also
can have a positive effect on the economy
and social transformation of the country
hence building human capital through better-
educated children means that the country’s
future workforce will be more highly skilled
(Owen, 2011).
Conclusion and implication
• Given benefits that early childhood
education can provide, it follows that more
focus should be put on investing in and
improving the system in the preschool
education.
• Investment in early education can help
to address core economic and social
challenges facing a given nation. It can help
to reduce poverty, address skills shortages,
and improve productivity and innovation.
• Well-designed preschool education
programs produce long-term improvements
in school success, including higher
achievement test scores, lower rates of
grade repetition and higher educational
 attainment.
• The strongest evidence suggests that
economically disadvantaged children
gain long-term benefits from preschool.
However, children from all other
socioeconomic backgrounds can benefit
from early educational services as well.
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Practice of Early childhood education and
care in Tigray Regional state: challenges
and opportunities
Mengesha Eyasu*
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to
examine some challenges that influence the
practice of early childhood education and care
in Kindergarten schools and governmental ‘o’
class .The study also attempted to identify
existed opportunities to the practice of ECCE.
The participants of this study were early
childhood education and care Focal persons
in Tigrai region Educational bureau (TREB),
schooldirectors, teachers’ andcollege dean.
The design of the study was qualitative case
study. In Depth semi structure interviewwith all
these participants, observation and document
analysis were employed to gather the relevance
data.The data was analysis by thematic
narration. The result of the study displayed that
both kindergarten and ‘o’ classes were twined
by many problems. As most kindergarten
schools were private investments, they lack
governmental focus.Hence, they don’t have
harmonized subjects, method and learning
materials. As a result, they used individual
school based prepared materials; the media
of instruction was not mother tongue which is
against the education policy; no governmental
intervention in supporting and supervising
these schools’ quality despite the Kindergarten
syllabus. However; they have relaxed
classrooms, worthy class size, and adequate
play game materials.Whereas governmental
‘o’ classes, there is physical expansion of
program, teacher guide books are available,
and‘o’ class graduated teachers are assigned.
Nevertheless; the schools lack to own suitable
class rooms, chairs that fit to children age,
adequate water, play game materials, suitable
room to relax and special toilet.Considering
this, possible recommendation was forwarded
by the researcher to Kindergarten owners,
woreda education officers, and education
bureau accordingly.
Key words: Early childhood education,
challenges, opportunities
Introduction
Ethiopia is on the right track regarding to
expansion of basic education. Schools are built
here and there on the reasonable distance
.School age children have been assembled
in schools since recent few years. A number
of things have been attempted to realize the
millennium development goals that no child
shall be left out of school. This country has
made rapid progress towards universal primary
education, despite being among the poorest
countries in the world. But access to pre-school
remains very limited, particularly in rural areas.
In 2010, the Government of Ethiopia adopted a
new policy framework to provide a holistic and
comprehensive approach to the development
of children from the prenatal period to seven
years of age (Nueman&Devercelli, 2012).
Nueman&Devercelli further explained that
there is strong ownership of the National
Policy for ECD, which was developed through
a participatory and multi-sectoral process
spearheaded by the Minister of Education, in
coordination with the Ministers of Health and
Women’s Affairs. To support the National Policy
Framework, the Government of Ethiopia has
formulated a Strategic Operational Plan with
four main pillars: (1) parental education, (2)
healthy and early child stimulation from pre-natal
to 3 years, (3) preschools and kindergartens
for 4-6 years and (4) non-formal school
readiness such as child-to-child programs.
The latter two pillars are more concern of
minister of education. Since current, resources
are insufficient for providing even basic
primary education to Ethiopian children.The
minister of Education (MOE, 2001) currently
deemphasize onpreprimary education. The
Ministry is currently strongly encouraging
the involvement of private institutions and
individuals to invest ineducation at this level.
However, still in Ethiopia pre-school remains
a minority experience, attended by just one in
four children in the sample(YL,2010).
In Ethiopia, ECCE, pre-primary education in this
context, hastwomodalities: kindergarten, “O”
class, and child-to-child programs (Kassahun,
2015).Kindergarten has been put one of
Ethiopian education policy structure (FDRE-
ETP 1994: 12) but the other two modalities
are currently inspired programs. Kindergarten
education is the pre-school preparatory
education for children and can take up to three
years. In this program, children between
the ages of four to six years are offered fun-
like education that would enable them to
express their feelings, to appreciate beauty,
and to learn to distinguish and form letters
and numbers (MoE, 2002). In Ethiopia, most
religious institutes, investors, non-government
organization preferred the urban areas and as
a result most kindergartens accumulated and
served to urban young children (MOE, 2015&
Kassahun, 2013, Younth Lives policy brief,
2010).
Kindergarten schools in Tigrai region are
owned by non-governmental institutions-
private owners, religious institutes, and
charities. Even though they are concentrated
in big towns, expansionof kindergarten schools
in Tigrai region is encouraging (TREB experts:
2008 E.C) .For instance, the TREBabstract
report 2008 E.C indicated that 27037 kids are
learning in 207 kindergarten centers. Nearly
half of them are found in Mekelle .These
institutes can be categorizedin to four based
on the kind of service they provide: day care,
kindergarten, kindergarten combined with
primary schools, day care combined with
kindergarten and primary school. Some Private
kindergarten schools, which are economical
potential, prepared privately important learning
materialssuch asbooks.
Kindergarten teachers, possible to say all,
have been graduated from private owned
institute of training kindergarten teacher (TREB
ECCEE). Kindergartens, in Tigrai, have income
and capacity difference among themselves.
As result their services differaccordingly.
Furthermore; there is educational fee difference
among them.
Whereas the ECCE has also practiced by other
related programs in the region since recent few
years. As ECCE in kindergarten schools is more
concentrated around urban, most part of the
children in the region had been disadvantaged
from this pre-primary education (MoE,
2014/2015, TREB ECCE experts). Another
alternative program, ‘O’ classes and Child to
child, was launched by the regional government
education bureau with association of UNICEF
in 2011. Recently, as a result of a joint effort
by UNICEF and the aforementioned ministries,
a new ECEC policy framework has been
developedthat is relatively comprehensive
(TREB, 2016, Kassahun, 2013). Although it is
not yet fully in place, it is the first of its kind in
the country, andthere is hope that it will bring
a positive change. This program has been
good alternative and developed meaningful
fruit from its infant period. Within few years,
about 107535 children are participating in
1933 primary schools of the region. Qualified
teachers have been assigned to ‘O’ classes as
well as teachers guide books are distributed
to all governmental primarily schools (TREB,
2008E.C.).
At this time the homework of ECCE has not
been left completely to non-governmental
institutes. The government has been attempted
to involve and go ahead ECCE. As program
has been practiced since recent few years, the
progress has been accompanied by promising
and challenges. The ECCE has implemented
by two different mechanisms –kindergarten
and ‘O’ classes. Hence, the opportunities and
the challenges may be varied.
Statement of the problem
Education in Ethiopia has shown a dynamic
progress. Its expansion is so dramatic; basic
education become encouraging, the secondary
and tertiary education has begun to show
bright spot light. The Ethiopia Federal minister
of education (MoE) has made a number of
effort and work on these levels of education.
Furthermore; regional education bureaus have
nearly realized the millennium development
goal. Constructing schools, bringing school
age children to school, distributing text books
and assigning qualified teachers, have brought
fundamental improvement. The Ethiopia
minister of education has designed meaningful
document -education policy and strategy (MoE,
1994). However; government of Ethiopia has
not given meaningful emphasis to early child
educationparticularly to kindergarten.
Though the 1994 education policy includes the
way how kindergarten education should be
implemented, other institutions such as non-
government organization, private sectors and
religion institutes have taken the lion share to
own the program. Hence, the kindergartens
are limited in urban and beneficiary of this
program are parents who can afford the
tuition fee.Consequently, kindergartens have
not been inclusive to all kinds’ children who
demand them.More than half of children, who
can attend the early childhood education, are
found in the rural area.
Within last few years, TREB has achieved fruitful
success in the expansion of ‘O’ classes and
child to child program.Number of children,who
are attending in this program, has increased
time to time.The newprograms ,‘O’ classes
and child to child ,have given a big reliefto
parents-who cannot afford the tuition fee to
kindergarten schools. In spite of its quality, the
program has created additional alternatives to
all kinds of society. Therefore, it is possible to
notice that MoE in general TREBin particularly
has waked up from deep sleep.However; the
investigator of this study had a chance to visit
daily to one of the private kindergarten schools
and see its learning materials in deep details for
personal purpose.As a result there were more
encouraging as well as unpromising conditions.
This initiated the researcher to assess the
promising and challenging situations to ECCE
in some selected private and government pre-
primary schools.Furthermore,as the program in
its infancy stage, it can be faced byproblems.
Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify
challenges of early child education in general
as well as its promising both kindergarten and
‘O’ classes. As a result, the following leading
questions were going to be addressed in this
study:
Research questions
1. What are challenges thatearly childhood
education practice faced?
2. How the classroom and learning materials
are conducive to preschool children over all
development?
3. How does government make intervention
to realization of early childhood education
both in Kindergarten and ‘O’ classes?
4. What opportunities are in earlychildhood
education compare practice of early child
education in kindergarten and ‘O’ class?
Review Related Literature
Introduction
At this 21 century, world countries have done
a lot of things to the realization basic education
to all their school age children. Now a day,
though countries still have a number of home
works to make inclusive or education for all-
any child including disadvantage, they confirm
the expansion of basic education. Scholars
noted that early childhood development can
have a significant effect on later life.EFA Global
monitoring and report (2009) showed that
only educated citizens can achieve economic
growth and this requires equalized access to
quality education, now more than ever. Country
or society today can afford to exclude anyone
from education because of poverty, ethnicity,
religion or gender. The Report argues at length
about wider benefits of education in economic
terms. Considering this investing in education
has much relevance particularly in its early
stage.
Early childhood development
ECCE should encourage holistic learning
and development .It means must reflect all
domains of development, which are interlaced
and includes the social, emotional, intellectual,
physical and moral .As Papalia, Old and
Feldman (1999:26) noted development results
from learning education and care. The first
five years of a child’s life is a period of rapid
growth and learning. Therefore; children need
activities which will stimulate their social,
physical, intellectual, linguistic, emotional and
moral development (Curtis & O’Hagan, 2003).
Early Child Care and education (ECCE):
based onthe definitiongiven by UNESCO
(2016) early childhood is the period from birth
to eight years old. It is a time of remarkable
brain growth, these years laid the basis for
subsequent development. Early childhood care
and education (ECCE) is more than a preparatory
stage assisting the child’s transition to formal
schooling. It places emphasis on developing
the whole child - attending to his or her social,
emotional, cognitive and physical needs - to
establish a solid and broad foundation for
lifelong learning and wellbeing. Preprimary,
in this context fosters cognitive, social,
motivational and emotional development of
young children in order to provide them with a
good start in formal primary education. A good
start in primary school, in turn, increases the
likelihood of favourable educational and social
outcomes later in life. ECCE is important to
continuity between the ECCE centers, as well
as between ECCE centers and the early years
of primary school.
ECCE teachers
ECCE is a public good which should be an
integral part of every country’s education
system. Scholars recommended that ECCE
staff should receive pre- and in-service training
of good quality, continuous professional
development and support. Their salaries and
conditions of service should be comparable
to those of teachers with the same level of
qualifications in other sectors (GMR, 2009).
Teaching in ECCE is not that much easy. Hence,
an effective teacher of ECCE should have
characteristics include: passion about children
and teaching, perseverance, risk taking,
pragmatism, patience, flexibility, respect,
creativity, authenticity, love of learning, high
energy, and sense of humor (Laura, 2008).
While the wider educational infrastructure is
vital, it is teachers who have the mostimpact on
the day-to-day experience of children in school.
A quality education, in which children want to
take part, is dependent on the commitment,
enthusiasm, creativity and skill of teachers.
ECCE media of instruction-language,
and learning materials
Education is more than skills for economic
sustainability. Schools are cultural institutions
where children learn the languages, history
and culture of their respective societies,
acquire social skills and self-confidence,
broaden their horizons and address issues as
full and active citizens. People who are denied
this full broad-based education are less likely
to participate actively in their societies and
influence decisions that alter their lives and
those of others. That is why education is also
fundamental to democracy and government
accountability (GMR, 2009). Learning materials
are more than academic issue. They can help
them the all-round development. As Piaget
indicated children need to handle, touch and
manipulate local available materials. Isenberg
and Jalongo (2010) indicated that materials
for preschoolers and kindergarteners should
support their developing social skills and
interest in adult roles, growing imaginations,
increasing motor skills, and rapidly expanding
vocabularies.
Boissiere( 2004) cited in world vision(2016)
stated that in developing countries, where
there are limited resources, textbooks in
appropriate languages and at appropriate
levels of difficulty are shown to be relatively
low-cost inputs with high returns in terms of
student achievement . Hence language has a
significant to children learning and development
.Learning and supporting materials need to be
prepared in language which children commonly
used in their communities.Children are more
likely to enroll and succeed in school when ECCE in Ethiopia
they are instructed in their mother tongue
(Kosonen, 2005) cited in world vision (2016). Ethiopia has made rapid progress towards
Elliot(2000) expressed language become a universal primary education, despite being
vehicle for thought .He further explained that among the poorest countries in the world (Young
parent ,teachers and others provide ample lives, 2010). But access to pre-school remains
opportunity for children to talk with adults and very limited, particularly in rural areas. In the
with each other’s. Similarly Language is a tool 1994 Ethiopian education policy kindergarten
of communication and knowledge as well as an has been put as one of the frame structure.
indicator of cultural identity of an individual or a However; there is clear guideline how it would
group. Hence, learning in a language that is not be implemented, what should be its media
familiar to the child is a problem in sofar as the of instruction etc. Now days, the government
child has to learn that language first before it is established a Strategic Operational Plan and
able to understand the contentsof the lectures Guidelines for ECCE. The strategy encourages
(Seidel & Moritz, 2009) . private investors, faith-based organizations
and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Merits of ECCE: intothe delivery of ECCE (MoE, 2015/16) &
MoE, 2010). One study reported that Only 25%
The pre-primary age is an especially sensitive
of caregivers reported their child had attended
period in children’s development. Scholars
pre-school, and this figure dropped to just 4%
recommend that considering the early
among rural children. Meanwhile attendance
childhood care and education has a significant
levels in urban areas are strongly linked to
worth to a country overall development.
income levels, with only around 20% of the
UNESCO (2006) stated that the main aim of pre-
poorest households accessing pre-school,
primary education is the all-round development
compared to around 70% of better-off families
of children in order to prepare them for formal
(Young lives, 2010).
schooling. Boocock (1995) indicated that
Early childhood care and education (ECCE),
participation in preschool promotes cognitive
which was formerly called pre-primary
development and school success, although
education, includes kindergartens, non-formal
the specific type of program attended matters
pre-school services, and “O” classes.
little. Boocock further stated that preschool
The enrollment rates in pre-primary education
experiencehelps low-income children narrow,
are increasing every year, despite the fact that
but not close, the achievement gap separating
underreporting remains a persistent issue in
them from more advantaged children. He
the kindergartens (Kassahu, 2015). In 2005
further indicated that research from a number
E.C. (2012/13 G.C.), out of the estimated 7.71
of nations that varyeconomically, socially, and
million children age 4-6, about 2.01 million have
politically suggests that large-scale national
been reported to have access to pre-primary
efforts to expand preschool systems at
education. Neuman and Devercelli (2012)
reasonble levels of quality can reduce rates
pointed that Ethiopia government support the
of early school failure.Furthermore, Papalia,
National Policy Framework and has formulated
Old and Feldman (1999:26) mentioned that
a Strategic Operational Plan with four main
children in day care have more sociable,
pillars: (1) parental education, (2) healthy and
self-confidence, persistence, achieving and
early child stimulation from pre-natal to 3
better at solving problems. Day care (A.Clark-
years, (3) preschools and kindergartens for 4-6
Stewart,1992; K.A.Clarke-Stewart,1989) as
years and (4) non-formal school readiness such
cited by Papalia,Oldand Feldman(1999:26)
as child-to-child programs. The Ministry of
noted that day care raised preschoolers also
Education is the leading institution in the ECD
tends to be more comfortable in new situation
taskforce. The Ministry of Health is responsible
,more outgoing, less timed and fearful, more
for children age 0-3/4 and the Ministry of
helpful and cooperative and more verbally
Education is responsible for children aged 4-6/7.
expressive.
MOE (2015). The system will endeavour to
increase the numbers of pre-school children
who have access to ECCE in all regions,
with a focus on providing first for the most
disadvantaged groups(MOE,2015).
The private sector, NGOs and the community
usually invest in the development of pre-school
programs and facilities. The parents support
their children through the payment of tuition
fees and provision of educational materials.
The government plays a crucial role in policy
development and standard setting (UNESCO,
2006).
Child to child in Ethiopia
Non-formal pre-school service is being
delivered mainly through the child to child
initiatives. Early childhood education coverage
has shown remarkable improvement: the
registered participation rate is child to child =
5.8%. This program is also a part of the pre-
primary education system by which older
brothers or sisters play with their younger
siblings and other neighborhood children. The
playing becomes a learning process benefiting
the children, for example, the children will
learn how to count, learn the different names
of colors, or to identify letters, etc. Through
this process, the preschool child gets ready for
school. In 2014, 433,473 children in Ethiopia
were participating in Child-to-Child program
(Kassahun, 2015). The children of this program
are coached by selected teachers from the
local primary school. The government is also
involved in developing curriculum, training
teachers, and providing supervisory support..
This program has its own curriculum, trained
teachers, administrative staffs, and school
compounds regardless of its quality.However,
it is very difficult to see its effect, as the setting
is out of school.
“O” class in Ethiopia
“O” classes are an initiative of the Ethiopian
government, and serve children age six who
are enrolled in ECCE. However; there are
some schools which give opportunities even
to children at age five. The government
introduced “O” classes and child to child
programs to the primary education system
within the past few years and the rate 0-class
= 21.6%, (Kassahun, 2015, Demake, 2014).
“O” classes involve six-year-old children who
do not have access to a kindergarten. These
children are taught by teachers from their
local primary schools. Through this process,
the pre-school children are prepared for 1st
grade. 2013-2014 1,578,494 children attended
an “O” class (Kassahun, 2015).
Kindergarten in Ethiopia
Kindergarten education is one to early
childhood education and care. It requires
high investment and trained manpower. In
Ethiopia, kindergartens are predominantly
operated by non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), communities, private institutions, and
faith-based organizations (Kassahun, 2014,
MOE, 2002). Supporting this, the Ethiopian
government attributed to the country’s economy
for its less investment to kindergarten .The
government viewed that from the perspective
of Ethiopia’s economic capacity. The opening of
kindergartens involving massive expenditure a
s a result it cannot be a top priority, asregular
universal primary education has not yet been
achieved. Thus, theopening of kindergartens is
an area that has been left for private investors’
andreligious organizations, and for parents
who can afford to pay the fees. Thisdoes not,
however, mean that the government does
not involve at all. Thegovernment indirectly
supports the initiative for private kindergartens
by preparing the curriculum as well as by
training kindergarten teachers (MOE, 2005).
Learning materials and instructional
media of ECCE in Ethiopia
Though Ethiopia is in the progress of change,
the economy of the country is not well matured
yet. Therefore, it could be so challenging to
access quality technology product materials.
Local available products as supplementary and
learning materials may be the right choice to
the country’s education system.A document
from world vision international (2016)
suggested that Producing learning materials
from local materials has a positive impact both
on children and society overall development.
Local language materials comprise community
generated reading materials, teaching and
learning materials made from locally available
resources. The document further noted that
those materials provide a way for children and
their families to access important information,
provide a variety of platforms for learning and
knowledge sharing, and spaces for community
advocacy.
Preparation of ECCE teachers
Before few recent years, there was a problem
in preparation of pre-primary school teachers
.It was almost dominated by few private
institutes to give year training. Now a day there
is slightly promising attention by government in
preparation of ECCE teachers.The government
has strongly inspired to take share ECCE
program. Some governmental colleges of
teachers’ education have provided training to
ECCE’s teachers. In the final year of ESDP IV, 7
out of 36 colleges of teacher education (CTEs)
began a multi-year diploma specifically for
pre-primary teachers. Among these, one has
skilled teacher educators for ECCE and during
ESDP V activities will seek to improve teacher
educators’ knowledge, skills and experience
for ECCE instruction across all CTEs.For
instance, in Tigrai region two governmental
teacher colleges have provided training and
diploma to ‘O’ class’ teachers (TREB ECCE
experts).The language of teacher training for
kindergarten and primary education will be the
nationality language used in the area. English
will be taught as a subject starting from grade
one (MoE, 1994).
Method
Participant of the study
The purpose of the study was to identify
challenges and opportunities to the practice
of early childhood education (kindergarten
and ‘O’ class program) in Tigrai region. The
researcher consider the different category
of early childhood education and care as
organization .Out of the 27035 kids learning in
kindergarten ,almost half of (12345) in Mekelle
zone .It was also considered the diversity of
early childhood education. As result Mekelle
zones as well as four Kindergartens from
nearby zone, which were selected using
convenience sampling, were mainly the
center of this study:From Eastern-Wukro and
south east-Hagerselam,Southern-Alamata,
Abi Adi-Central and made close observation
accordingly. Thus, From one private school
which provides nursery to preparatory-one
principal and three teachers ,from three
schools which have only Kindergartens-one
principal and three teachers from each, from
three schools which have kindergarten and
primary-one principal and five teachers from
each , one college of kindergarten teacher –the
dean and the owner ,were participants of this
study. In addition to this, two early childhood
education and care experts at TREB level and
one deputy principal and three teachers from
each five governmental primary schools ,which
have ‘O’ class center ,were also participants of
this study. Totally 12 principals and 42 teachers
both from privateand government schools
were participants of this study.
Data gathering tools
As study is case and more qualitative,
depth semi-structured interviews as well as
classroom observations were mainly used
to gather the relevance data.The interviews
were made with whole participants in these
selected kindergartens, schools which run ‘O’
classes and child to child and other concern
bodies mentioned as participants. In addition
to this, documents analyses such as leaning
materials were analysis.
Results and Discussion
(Based on the collected data, the analysis
was done against five mainly themed and
the researchers attempted to paraphrase
and summarize the collected data based on
mentioned theme.
Physical environment:
Conducive environment in this context
is related to make children feel comfort,
availability of toilet, enough water, suitable of
chairs to physical development, and availability
of resting room, appropriateness of learning
materials. Scholars and theorists indicated that
children’s physical need must be met. Children
must feel psychological safe and secure. For
teachers to play the critical role expected of
them, the classroom design and layout should
be right for them and should provide and
organize teaching and learning materials and
activities appropriately (UNICEF, 2009).
Result found from school directors and teachers,
the availability and quality of furniture, toilet
which is appropriate to children age, relatively
conducive external environmental and resting
room is not available in ‘O’ classes’ centers.
The evidence obtained from school directors
and teachers indicated that the availability and
quality of furniture, toilet which is appropriate
to children age, relatively conducive external
environmental and resting room isnot available
in ‘O’ classes’centers. This idea was also
supported by education bureau experts and
school directors that attention was not given
and specific budget are not allocated for that
specific program. They further explained
that children suffered to use and share
commontoilet, water, similar furniture with
primary school children. Respondents further
explained as the physical environment is within
the school of primary education learners, the
playing materials are easily out of service in
short time. From the practical observation of
the researcher, chairs were not appropriate to
children in ’O’ classes and that made them not to
sit down for long time. There were not suitable
toilets to children physical development, no
different water service as result they were
suffering to get it but young children were
forced to bring water from home; children were
sitting in dusts and uncomfortablestones. This
is against the physical setting recommended
by scholars and other institutes which concern
more on child development .For instance,
UNICEF manual (2009) recommended what
preprimary children do not have to be seated
in chairs, but could insteadhave mats to sit
on, materials to learn from and room to play
on their own or in small groups. Preschool-age
children need space where they can dance,
climb, and jump and move things about. The
area should be large enough to accommodate
structures, such as a slide or tunnel, and open
enough to allow for riding and push-and-pull
toys to foster their motor skill.
It may be a good progress to open this program
by the Ethiopian government .However;
expansion of the program without the basic
facilities cannot realize quality preprimary
education.Schools with ‘O’ classes center
have not made meaningful effort to create
safe and conducive environment .Result from
interview with school directors clarified that
there were not special attention other than the
regular budget( 50 birr per child)be allocated to
all children.
However,’O’ classes teachers as well as the
school community can prepared easily from
local resources.For example, it is possible to
substitute sitting chairswith other plastic or
wood products which can fit to young children
physical development with reasonable price or
possible to buy local produce doormats with
low cost. However; the bureaucracy trend and
attention deficit by school administrators made
children to sit in discomfort class room.
However; some ‘O’ class centers, have
been supported by other non-governmental
organization-Save children.As much as
possible, this school had special toilet and
classroom. According to TREB and woreda
of officers, save children is in big aspiration
to establish one model ‘O’ class per woreda.
For instance, from the studied ‘O’ classes one
model school was observed by researcher .This
school is being believed most stakeholders in
implementing this program. The school has
appropriate chairs to children, the classroom
very cleaned, and the class has enough
learning aid materials and teachers were with
great initiation and motivation as observed by
researcher. As much as possible this attempted
Whereas the kindergarten have the necessary
furniture that can fit to children age, special
toilet, resting room, full of local produce and
other materials as schools are purposely built
to these service. But some kindergartens
are providing the service in rent house which
was built for other purpose .Hence, the water
service, toilet service and physical comfortably
was not appropriate to early school children.
Therefore, it was difficult to conclude that
all kindergartens have appropriate physical
environments.
Learning materials and
media of instruction
The investigator attempted to observe and
analysis kindergartens’ and ‘O’ classes’
learning materials context, language and
content. Some kindergarten schools which are
included in this study had text books. The books
were prepared school based and with English
language. Some others again had not any well
prepared materials such as books. They simply
prepared materials that can use for daily lesson
consumption. Whereas in ‘O’ classes, teachers
guide books, which are prepared by TREB in
Tigrigna, are available in schools though are
not access to children and lacks quality in their
appropriateness.
Scholars explained child’s competences
in language depend on the way he/she is
taughtlanguage in the home, in school.
From the interview and physical observation,
differenceswas observedbetween
kindergartens and ‘O’ class, ‘O’ to ‘’ classes
.Teacher guidesbooks are already prepared and
distributed by TREB to ‘O’ classes program,.
Practically, the researcher observed,the
materials in ‘O’ classes were prepared in local
language-Tigrigna. This practice in line with idea
of UNESCO 2008 cited in World vision(2016)
that children’s first language is the optimal
language for literacy and learning throughout
primary school. Children are more likely to enroll
and succeed in school when they’re instructed
in their mother tongue. Furthermore, UNCIEF
2000 mentioned that the languages schools
use for instruction can have an impact on
learning and academic achievement in general.
UNICEF suggests that many benefits can be
gained by beginningprimary education in the
student’s home language.
This study further attempted to check text
books availability to students, however; it is
impossible to conclude there is textbooks
as students could not access these books.
Hence; this may limit the home based
support of parents to their children.Where
as in the kindergartens, booksare prepared
by individual school or collected somewhere
else. Practically, English is media of instruction
used to prepare their materials except one
subject –Tigrigna. TREBcomplained that
most kindergarten schools use English as
their practical media of instruction. Education
Bureau early childhood experts further clarified
“kindergartens prepare their materials mainly
in English .For instance ‘mathematic in English,
science in English, and the only thing what they
left with is Tigrigna in English”. The investigator
of this study attempted to triangulate how far
this was practical observed .The kindergartens
involved in this study used combined media
of instruction –Tigrigna rarely and English
often.Children were forced togive greeting
in English. This is against the government’s
education policy-which is stated as ‘Themedia
of instruction in pre-primary and primary school
education need to be mother language (MoE,
1994).
The researcher made interview with three
kindergarten school leaders whose schools
mostly prefer English as media instruction.
Respondents attributed to parents’ interest
why they usually prefer and use English as
media of instruction .They further revealed
that the attitude of parentsto prefer quality
kindergarten schools is if children speak or
read in English. The challenge is not only
matter of language but also its context.
Materials, pictures, and other related things
in kindergartens’ books and posters are not
indicatingdomestic feature.Regardless of its
push and pull factor to exercise English, it may
affect the children’s holistic development as
language and context matters to success of
all-round children development.
It may be considered as positive progress
and opportunities to children at some KG at
least to be worthy from access of materials,
.Nevertheless; the language, the context, and
illustration of learning materials should be
in the context of Ethiopia. Materials which
are prepared by Local language comprise
community generated reading materials,
teaching and learning materials made from
locally available resources (World Vision, 2016).
Law, Rush, Clegg, and Peters(2011) further
indicated thatdespite the strong influence of
social class, children’s early language made
an important contribution to the variation in
children’s performance when they entered
primary school. So, a child’s language added
value to their development irrespective of their
social background.
Furthermore, Children, who are attending
in kindergartens, need to be supported by
their family. As a result materials, which are
produced with local language, provide a way for
children and their families to access important
information, provide a variety of platforms for
learning and knowledge sharing, and spaces
for community advocacy (World Vision, 2016).
However; make the media of instruction in
English limit parents involvement to help their
children as all parents may not be educated
enough to do that.
Government involvement
This part includes how government monitors,
evaluate, and supervise, supporting in
material, and give attention. Government’s
participation and commitment can create
meaningful impact to the realization and
quality education. Supporting this, quality
of preschool education can be improved if
the government participates in one or other
way (UNESCO, 2010). Considering this MOE
(2005) declared thatthe REBs have provided
supervision services to kindergartens; and
created supportive environment for the private
sector and the community to enhance the de
livery of pre-primary education.
However; the participation of government
on practice ECCE particularly kindergartens
have not shown promising results. According
to some kindergarten directors and owners
response, the involvement of government to
support them in material and strengthening
their human resource, to provide applicable
supervision and others was not encouraging.
One respondent revealed` that government
supervisors rarely visit and make mere
physical judgment. In line this, TREB early
childhood education expertadmitted that
supervision and supporting materials was not
done yet to private kindergarten schools.Some
respondents attributed that lack of uniformity
among private kindergartens was because of
limited intervention by government. In other
way, government has significant and hopeful
effort on ‘O’ class and child to childprograms.
According to Kindergarten schools’community
involved in this study, the only thing what
government has done to kindergarten schools
is providing curriculum guide line.
However, Tigrai Regional education bureau
participation in ‘O’ class is encouraging. Based
on the evidences gathered from TREB and
school directors, there is interesting initiation
and practice by government to prepare to
‘O’class teachers. Evidences from side
of government clarified that government
involvement in ‘O’ class program and child
to child is promising. As a result, important
learning materials were distributed to schools
, teachers with the right qualification to ‘O’
class are assigned ,‘O’ classes’ teachers are
made to obtain opportunities to upgrade their
qualification in the region teacher colleges,
50 birr per child is allocated .However; private
kindergartens had not been benefited from
teachers colleges with paying tuition fee.
Teachers to Early childhood education
Teachers play a pivotal role in the process of
promoting change within their own classrooms
as well as in schools and education systems
generally. The success of child learning in
schools will depend to a large extent on the
teachers’involvement. Qualifications and
experience are very important in this regard,
but more significantly, the pedagogic style
practiced by teachers will need to be child-
centered to address classroomlearning and
school-based practices that put the best
interest of children at the center of all decision-
making processes (UNICEF, 2009). Moreover,
the manual clarified whatever furniture,
equipment and teaching aids are available,
promoting learning depends on how the
teacher organizes and manages the teaching-
learning process. Hence, the result of this
study revealed that teachers are prepared by
governmental and private institutions in Tigrai
regions though their quality becomes urgent
issue.
Response from kindergarten teachers
indicated that almost all of them graduate from
a single private kindergartens training institute.
Regardless of quality that teachershold,
kindergartens in this study have enough man
power. This can be considered as promising to
the expansion of kindergartens in the region.
However, the kindergarten teachers and others
responded that they could not upgrade their
in the governmental colleges as ‘O’ classes
teachers unless they pay tuition fee. This
challenges made them not to improve their over
skill other than the previous one year training.
TREB ECCE expert ensured “The government
direction and intention at this time is to build
the capacity of ‘O’ classes’ teachers overall
skill after that may to kindergartens teachers”.
This indicated that the problem of kindergarten
teachers may not be solving easily.
Result from curriculum document analysis
and practical observation showed that local
language, Tigrigna, is used as media instruction
to the trainingECCE teachers at both ‘O’
classes and kindergartens training institutes.
This is in line with Ethiopia education policy
that “The language of teacher training for
kindergarten and primary education will be the
nationality language used in the area” (FDRGE,
1994).Nevertheless; result from kindergartens
teachers designated that they were being
forced to use English in more frequent
than Tigrigna in classroom. The researcher
confirmed this when he made continuous
practical class room observation.Teachers
usually opened their daily lesson by greeting
and communicate with broken English.
Whereas teachers to “O” class, have been
graduated from regional government teacher
colleges.Tigragna language has used as media
of instruction to train them. ‘O’ classes teachers
have a three months training certificate and
they have been upgraded to diploma with
three summer programs in two governmental
teachers’ colleges (ECCE teachers and TREB
ECCE experts).
This study also tried to show the quality of the
curriculum which has been practiced in train ‘O’
classes. The study found that curriculum has
not that much difference from the curriculum
prepared to primary school teachers. The
curriculum focused on the future education
life of teachers in steady of valuing the need of
young children.The curriculum which colleges
usually have practiced was full of complex
theories, calculations etc.Furthermore;
thestudy revealed thatcollege teachershave
not got adequate skill and training except two
or three days in service workshop. This might
be reason why ‘O’classes teachers have not
made difference in their pedagogy.
However, in some selected NGO (save children)
supported schools, sophisticated in service
training have been given to ‘O’class’steachers.
According to ECCE teachers, who participated
in the training, the training given by this
organization has added them meaningful value
on them.Hence, they become passion, happy
and confidence to treat preschool learners. The
researcher confirmed that teachers in these
schools were eager, happier and active than
other studied ‘O’ classes’ teachers.
Accessibility and inclusion.
From the researcher practical physical
observation, the studied Kindergartens, which
are included in this study, are launched at
reasonable distance.They are also built in
relatively more comfortable both to public
and private transport access. The data further
revealed that kindergarten schools are opened
here and there with alternative tuition fee that
can be afford by medium to higher economy
status part of society. The distance children
can travel is relatively short than governmental
‘O’ classes. The kindergartens’ school time is
longer than that of ‘O’ classes. This might be
made them preferable by the society.Some
kindergartens also provided transport to children
with additional fee. Whereasthe ‘O’ classes
are opened in governmental primary schools.
Comparing to private kindergartens,‘O’ classes
are not at reasonable distance .However;
their availability created another alternative to
parents whocannot afford to kindergarten’s
fee.
This study also revealed that there was good
acceptance to ‘O’ class program but primary
schools had limited capacity to accommodate
the demand of society.Still there is demand
by society to send their children to these
schools .However,schools limited themselves
to children at age six- except one school, which
has ‘O’ classes to age five and age six.
Conclusion
This study concluded that time of early
childhood education has been appeared.
Kindergartens are here and there with minimal
distance. Government primary schools,
included in this study, have ‘O’ classes. This
can provide another opportunity to different
groups of society.
Government has taken only tip of idea early
childhood education that is expansion.Mere
practice and expansion of ECCE may not
help to realize it.Though the contribution of
the Ethiopian government is less focused in
kindergartens, there is meaningful role in the
improvements of early education. Regardless
of the degree and kind of challenges, early
childhood education has faced many challenges
that require more attention by stakeholders.
There are challenge discrepancies between
‘O’ classes and kindergarten .According to this
study, thechanges of early childhood education
progress is not in the required speed.
There is business oriented competition among
the kindergartens. Though the impact of
kindergartens played a big role to enhance
early childhood education, the way how
kindergartens implemented has become profit
oriented. This may hammer the quality of ECCE
to children all-round development.
Even though some ‘O’ classes teachers
are trained with the so called relevant
qualification, they become reluctant to apply
that in classroom. This may lead to question
the quality of the training they obtained from
training institutes.This designates there is a
gap between how preprimary school teachers
practice and how should preprimary education
be implemented.
There is societal pushes and perceptions have
great impact to make quality early childhood
education. In this study, Parents’ attitudinal
towards Kindergarten quality has deficit.
Uttering letter or words in English may not
be the characteristic of quality kindergarten
education.
Some challenges are need only minimal
attention .For example, make continuous share
experience among model ‘O’ classes and non-
model schools can make easy to minimize
some problems in preparation and producing
local materials.If there is strong communication
among stakeholders of ECCE, there will be
promising base to go ahead the practice of it.
Recommendation
Quality early educationprograms give to
children social, language and numbers skills
they need; they prepare children, especially
at-risk children, for school. They make children
more likely to start kindergarten readyto learn,
and therefore they do better throughout school.
Some challenges mentioned here in study
are in simple loose. They required minor
monitoring and evaluation by government. As
the young children attending in early childhood
education are the country’s citizens, they
should get similar attention by government.The
government, for example, can make regular
follow up, material distribution, and teachers’
development to kindergartens.
• To Government bodies (Woreda education
officers, education bureau etc). As the
ECCE shows a promising achievement and
the program is already established, the track
is already lined and the remaining thing
is to go ahead and foster the progressive
of thisprogram. In service training on
the practice of ECCE should be given to
teachers. Beyond this, opportunities should
be set to share experience from school
to school. For example, save children has
made meaningful effort to make a model
ECCE classrooms .Teachers of this school
has obtained sophisticated in service
training and as a result they could createvery
smartclassroom, produce learning materials
are from local products.
• The ‘O’ curriculum and the way of delivering
 in colleges may need revision to realize
quality preprimary education. The curriculum
need to be modified in accordance young
children age and interest appropriateness
as student-teachers in these colleges are
going to treat these children. Therefore,
the regional education bureau curriculum
expert should make consistence follow up
and monitoring this program. In addition,
it is necessary to give in-service training
to equip preprimary school teachers with
relevant skill to young children.
• The effort of government to expand ‘O’ or
child to child may not be the sole mechanism
to put preprimary education in the ground.
Therefore; strengthen, supporting and
monitoring private kindergartens is crucial.
• Parent side: Indeed the interest of parents
may be utterEnglish words by their children,
not on issue of media instruction. Hence
parents should be aware that learning is
beyond uttering words and writing letters.
It is mechanism of promote holistic child
development.
• Kindergarten owners: It is not known that
KG existence is more depend on parents’
preference. However; if question of parent
is English, owners of kindergarten should
encourage teachers to improve their English
instead of changing subject’s language.
• Educators: educators, for example
universities and colleges, shall to go up to
the practice in steady of claim others. Most
of new programs in Ethiopia are initiated by
other external body .This is a lit bit bitter
to Ethiopia educators as we don’t have
alternative idea and practice other than of
criticizing .
The society, owner of kindergartens, regional
education bureau, and other organization
which run programs on children need to take
their share and should work collaboratively.
All stakeholders of early childhood education
are working to wellness of the country. Hence
owner of kindergartens should go beyond
investing to open kindergartens. They need
to consider the country’s policy, regulations,
culture and existed situations.
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Papalia,D. Olds,S. and Feldman,R.(1999). A
 Preschoolers’ Mastery Motivation and
its Role in Acquiring Learning Tasks
at Some Selected Preschools in Addis
Ababa: Implication for Caregiving
Moges Ayele
Abstract: Several studies showed that human
beings have an inherent need to master
their environment. This mastery motivation
energizes children’s behavior and enables
them to acquire learning tasks with relative
ease and researchers have observed individual
differences in the mastery motivation. The
objective of this study was, thus, to explore
preschoolers’ level of mastery motivation and
its influence on acquiring learning tasks. To
this end two preschools were selected from
Addis Ababa City Administration. Thirty one
preschoolers were sampled from the selected
preschools. Preschoolers were involved in
novel shape creation tasks with toys and their
engagement and persistence in the activity
was recorded. Concerned preschool teachers
were asked about the records that show
performance of the sampled children. The
level of mastery motivation was assessed by
the time children spent on the novel task and
the acquisition of learning tasks was assessed
by the level of success they achieved on that
task and on other learning tasks. The collected
data were analyzed by both descriptive and
inferential statistics including frequency
distribution, mean, standard deviation, Pearson
r and regression. The results revealed that
more than half of children (51.6%) involved
in the study exhibited high level of mastery
motivation. It was also seen that there was
statistically significant positive correlation
between children’s age and their performance
on learning tasks. However, the regression
model employed in investigating the relative
contribution of mastery motivation and age
indicated that there was no statistically
significant contribution of these variables in
predicating the performance of children on
learning tasks. Further investigation is required
with other preschoolers in order to re-examine
the role of mastery motivation in influencing
acquisition of learning tasks.
Introduction
Human beings are born with an inherent
need to relate with the world. In due process
of relating with the world children develop
knowledge about the world and about the
environment where they live and function.
The motivation underlying this learning and
development basically resides within children
and not come from outside (Carlton &Winsler,
1998). This is what Deci (1975) named as
intrinsic motivation to learn. This is to mean that
children are intrinsically motivated to relate with
the world, to learn about it and to develop the
capacity and skills to manage the challenges
that are emanating from the environment.
In short they would like to gain control over
the forces operating in their environment.
This is what researchers conceptualize as
mastery motivation. Mastery motivation is a
psychological energy that triggers a person to
try by his/her own in a directed perseverant
way to handle and solve a problem, to learn
and master a job or a skill that is modestly
challenging to that person (Morgan, Harmon &
Maslin-Cole, 1990). It is an intrinsically aroused
state to master a given skill, activity, process, or
target (Kelity& Freund, 2004). Though mastery
motivation is understood slightly differently
by different researchers the common features
shared by most writers revolve around the
fact that the motivation is from within rather
than from outside and it involves the need to
explore, discover, learn and gain control over
the environment (Turner & Johnson, 2003).
Researchers think that mastery motivation
is an essential component of human
motivation and it emerges early in infants’ life
and affects their behaviors that contribute
to their learning and development (Turner
& Johnson, 2003).Mastery motivation is
reflected in diverse overt behaviors such as
continued effort or perseverance in exploring
environments or different activities and tasks,
expression of happiness or joy as a result of
achieving task mastery or solely engaging in
exploratory endeavors, and adjusting readily
to consequences of unsuccessful attempts
(Barrett, Morgan, & Maslin-Cole, 1993; Busch-
Rossnagel, 1997; Cain &Dweck, 1995).It is
through observing these externally manifested
behaviors that we can investigate about
mastery motivation.
In relation to this in psychological literatures
drive reduction theories of motivation have
been dominating research until the views were
challenged by White (1959) who was convinced
that some human behaviors are triggered not
by drive states meant for drive reduction but
for gaining control over ones’ environment.
For instance, White claimed that children’s
play and exploration is basically triggered by
their need to learn about their environment
and gain control of their environment and
feel competent about themselves and their
ability. Thus, as mentioned above the research
by White (1959) influenced further studies in
mastery motivation. In this connection some
writers pointed that it is worth investigating
infants’ motivation of competence than
indictors of intellectual ability. This is because
the measures of infants’ intelligence are less
predictive of their future functioning in diverse
areas of life. But those that measure infants’
motivation of competence are important in
predicting their future functioning (Yarrow &
Messer, 1983). In this line of inquiry Yarrow, et
al. (1984) carried out a study to investigate the
relationship of parental stimulation to infants’
mastery motivation. In this study the authors
have found that at 6 months of age when
infants received sensory stimulation both boys
and girls were seen to persevere in problem
solving activities. They also noted differential
outcomes in relation to mastery motivation
depending on the age of the child, sex of the
child, stimulation modality and parental sex.
Being influenced by various forces, researchers
thought that mastery motivation develops
in different phases in the first three years of
children’s life. The researchers considered
that initially mastery behaviors are reflected
as infants try to control objects or playing
materials in their surroundings. In their second
phase children try to complete a task according
to the standards specified to them and finally
children evaluate themselves on several task
accomplishments per the set standards for
each of the tasks (Barrett & Morgan, 1995).
With successful task accomplishment the
children develop pride especially if the task
is difficult and if they fail in the task that they
consider as easy (Stipek, Recchia, &McClintic,
1992). In due course of their development
children exhibit individual differences in their
mastery of motivation (Barrett & Morgan,
1995; Kelley, Brownell, & Campbell, 2000). The
difference in mastery motivation appears to
be contributing to children’s academic related
outcomes (Barrett & Morgan, 1995; Dweck,
1986; Skinner & Belmont, 1993).
This study is intended to investigate individual
differences in preschoolers’ mastery motivation
that is expressed in their persistence while
dealing with novel games presented to
them. It is also aimed to assess how this
difference in mastery motivation accounts for
these children’s mastery of the games and
performance in their learning tasks. In line
with this, two hypotheses were formulated in
conducting this research:
• preschoolers who are younger would show
high level of mastery motivation than those
who are older; and,
• preschoolers who have high level of
mastery motivation would perform better
in the novel games as well as in the other
learning related tasks than those who have
low level of mastery motivation.
Methods
The study employed descriptive research
design whereby data were collected by
observing preschoolers as they were engaged
in manipulating the toys presented to them
by the researcher. This was done in two
preschools of Addis Ababa city administration.
The preschools were Entoto Mekaneyesus and
Eyerusalem preschools located in Gulele sub-
city. Thirty one preschoolers were randomly
selected from these two preschools. As
indicated above the children were made to see
how to create shapes using the toys designed
for this purpose on one-to-one basis. The toys
were purchased by the researcher himself.
To observe how long the children manipulate
the toys the protocol set by Morgan, Busch-
Rossangel, Maslin-Cole and Harmon (1992) was
used. In this protocol children’s performance
on a given task was recorded for four minutes Class Interval Frequency Cumulative
in which the minutes were segmented into Frequency
seconds. The children’s frequent behaviors in 1 to 5 1 1
all these segments were carefully observed 6 to 10 2 3
and recorded. Children’s behaviors were
coded as ‘T’ if they were working on the 11 to 15 12 15
tasks demonstrated to them and as ‘O’ if their 16 to 20 16 31
behavior was focused on other things such as
at other objects or manipulating other things in Table 1: Preschoolers Scores on
their surroundings. These codes were counted Mastery Motivation
for each child and the higher the number of the
T’s the greater the persistence of the child on It is shown in table 1 that more than half of
the task and that shows the child’s motivation preschoolers obtained the maximum rating
to master. In other words the persistence on in mastery motivation. Specifically 51.6% of
the task was an index of mastery motivation. the preschoolers who were involved in this
Successfully creating the shapes demonstrated study obtained the rating of 16 which was the
to children was an outcome measure. maximum rating as indicated above. Only one
The other criterion variable that was evaluated preschooler obtained the minimum rating of 4.
in this study was the age of preschoolers. The remaining 14 children obtained the ratings
The first outcome variable was immediately ranging from 7 to 15.
determined while the children were engaged Class Interval Frequency Cumulative
in the tasks they were told to perform and the Frequency
latter one was collected from the children’s
0.5 to 1.00 - -
portfolio recordings. For this study, it was
the latter outcome variable that was used. In 1.01 to 1.50 1 1
connection to this each child’s performance 1.51 to 2.00 7 8
was rated monthly in rating scale that took 2.01 to 2.50 8 16
into account the learning tasks that the 2.51 to 3.00 15 31
children were expected to master. Children
received ratings ranging from 1 to 3 depending Table 2: Preschoolers Scores on
on their level of mastery of the task they were School Learning Tasks
expected to master. The average rating for
each child was calculated and that was used Table 2 depicts that nearly half of the
as an outcome variable in this study. preschoolers in this study obtained ratings on
their school performance that ranged from
Results 2.51 to 3.00. This is about 48.4% from the
Thirty one preschoolers did take part in this total preschoolers who took part in this study.
investigation. Thirteen of them were males The other 48.4% of the preschoolers obtained
and the remaining 18 were females. Their age ratings that ranged from 1.51 to 2.50.
ranged from 36 months to 72 months. The
mean age was 62.13 months with standard
deviation of 11.24. Concerning the ratings
on mastery motivation the preschoolers’
persistence on the mastery task ranged from
4 to 16. Sixteen was the maximum rating that
students obtained. The possible minimum
rating could have been zero if the children
failed to persist on mastery task or did not
start doing it after demonstration.
 Variables Mean Standard Model Sum of df Mean F Sig.
Deviation Squares Square
Regression 0.941 2 0.471 2.356 0.113
School 2.412 0.467
Performance
Residual 5.592 28 0.200
Mastery 14.129 3.063
Motivation
Total 6.533 30
Age (in months) 62.129 11.236

Table 5: The result of Regression Analysis

Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of
Criterion and Outcome Variables
Table 3 shows the results of criterion and
outcome variables in this study. As one can see
from this table the two criterion variables that
were used in this study were scores of mastery
motivation and the age of preschoolers. The
mean for the first variable was 14.129 with the
standard deviation of 3.063 whereas the mean
for the latter variable was 62.129 with the
standard of 11.236. The mean of the outcome
variable was 2.412 with the standard deviation
0.467.
School P Mastery M Age
School 1 variables while the remaining variance was left
Performance
Mastery 0.088 1
motivation
Age 0.367* - 0.026 1
Table 4: Correlations between Variables
In table 4 it is shown that most of the
correlation coefficients obtained between
the variables were not statistically significant
except the correlation between age and school
performance which was statistically significant
at 0.05 levels. Even if it not statistically
significant negative correlation was obtained
between age and mastery motivation.
The above table 5 shows the result of the
regression analysis. In the model children’s
mastery motivation and age were used as
predictor variables and children’s performance
on learning tasks was used as dependent
variable. As one can see from the table the
model yielded the finding which was not
statistically significant (F (2, 28) =2.356, P
> 0.05). When these two predictor variables
entered the regression model the multiple R
resulted was 0.380. The adjusted R square
was 0.083. This shows that 8.3% of the
variance in children’s score of learning tasks
was accounted for by the two predictor
unexplained.
Discussion
This study was carried out to investigate
the role of mastery motivation in enhancing
the acquisition of learning tasks among
preschoolers in selected preschools of Addis
Ababa City Administration. Two hypotheses
were formulated while conducting this study.
The first hypothesis was that children’s
mastery motivation would decrease as their
age increases. The second hypothesis was
that children who exhibit high level of mastery
motivation would achieve better scores in
learning tasks. These two hypotheses were
not supported by the data collected in this
study. However, other interesting findings
were obtained in the study which was not
hypothesized initially. These include the
finding that most of the children involved in the
study (51.6%) showed high level of mastery
motivation. This means most of them showed
high degree of persistence in engaging in the
tasks demonstrated to them. In other words • More than half of the preschoolers involved
there was no significant variation in the level in the study showed high level of mastery
of mastery motivation of the preschoolers motivation.
who were involved in this study to a greater • There was no statistically significant
extent. This was why it failed to support the contribution of mastery motivation and age
hypothesis formulated at the beginning. This in predicting preschoolers’ performance on
finding was inconsistent with the conclusion learning tasks.
reached by Barrett and Morgan (1995), Dweck • There was statistically significant positive
(1986), and Skinner and Belmont (1993) that correlation between age and preschoolers
showed the link between learning tasks and performance on the learning tasks.
mastery motivation. The inconsistency may be • Further study is needed to uncover how
due to the procedures that were used in those this inconsistent finding was obtained in
early researches and in the current study. In relation to other studies reviewed especially
the current study the procedure was a simple in contribution of mastery motivation in
one where children performed on a game school learning tasks.
like task with enjoyment and engagement.
In other studies they used more structured
tasks that posed certain level of challenges to
children where their mastery motivation has
been tempted. The other finding that was not
hypothesized but obtained in due course was
the positive correlation between children’s age
and the ratings they received in learning tasks.
There was statistically significant positive
correlation between these two variables.
Though the children who were involved in this
study were young in general but even within
this limited age range there was positive
association between the age of the children
and their performance in learning tasks.
Concerning the other hypothesis about
decrease in mastery motivation as the children
get older there was no significant association
between the children’s mastery motivation and
their age. However, the correlation obtained was
negative even if it was statistically insignificant.
Thus, though it is difficult to boldly say that
there was a decrease in mastery motivation
there is an indication of that claim to some
extent. This demands further investigation in
order to see how the hypothesis formulated
was not supported by the data collected.
Conclusion

This research was conducted to see the role

of mastery motivation in the acquisition of
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 The Practice of Learning through Play
in Ethiopian Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE) Centers
Sewalem Tsega*
Abstract Learning through Play (LTP) is a
concept used in education and psychology to
describe how children can learn to make sense
of the world around them. Through play children
can develop social and cognitive skills, mature
emotionally, and gain the self-confidence
required to engage in new experiences and
environment create images in their minds
to do with their feelings, thoughts and ideas
(Bruce, 2011). The main objective of this work
is to examine the experiences of LTP that help
children develop the aforementioned benefits.
To this end, a qualitative methods research
approach (interview guide and observation
checklists being instruments) was used for this
article despite the fact that this qualitative data
was taken from a large nation wide survey
research data (both qualitative and qualitative)
collected from participants of 29 curriculum/
education experts (as key informants) and
46 Preschool centers selected using both
probability and non-probability sampling
techniques in the country. Play in most of the
cases is understood as the time of routines
that are not usually directed for teaching.
It could be dancing or singing for fun or
enjoyment and sometimes learning letters and
numbers by music. Despite scarcity of indoor
and outdoor playing materials being the most
critical problem in most government owned
preschool centers, most of the facilitators
and curriculum experts are aware of the
importance of LTP and those who are familiar
with the curriculum asserted that it ensures
LTP. Inconsistencies were observed in the use
of play for learning despite the fact that most
are aware of its relevance. As indoor plays are
the least understood and traditional or locally
made play materials are less used, capacity
building trainings on how to implement LTP
and prepare and use traditional play materials
from the locally available resources and
duplication of best experiences in this regard
is recommended. Details can be seen in the
manuscript of this work.
Key words: Learning through Play, Play
Materials, and ECCE.
Introduction
The LTP (Learning through Play) - ECCE
Concepts
The concept of LTP which is used in education
and psychology describes how children could
learn and make sense of the environment
around them. By LTP, they can develop
cognitive and social skills, mature emotionally
and develop self confidence needed to engage
in new experiences and create images in their
minds to do with their thoughts and ideas as
well as their feelings (Bruce, 2011).
The intellectual and cognitive benefits of play
have been well documented as (Bodrova and
Leong, 2005 cited in Lester and Russell, 2008)
indicated that children who engage in quality
play experiences are more likely to have well-
developed language, memory skills and are
able to regulate their behavior which will lead
them to enhanced school adjustment and
academic learning.
In relation to brain development, (Lester and
Russell, 2008) also stated that as secure
attachments and stimulation are significant
aspects of brain development, play shapes the
structural design of the brain by creating a brain
that has increased ‘flexibility and improved
potential for learning later in life’, provides
active exploration that assists in building and
strengthening brain pathways.
Moreover, in relation to the role of play in
children’s development and learning across
cultures, Shipley (2008) pointed that it is
impossible to disentangle children’s play,
learning and development as it is research
based.
The expression Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE) is used interchangeably
with other terms such as Early Childhood Care
and Development (ECCD), Early Childhood
and Education (ECE) and Early Childhood and
Development (ECD). ECCD encompasses all
and is a general classification that refers to the
processes by which children from birth to six/
seven years of age grow and flourish socially,
physically, mentally, emotionally and morally
(National ECCE Curriculum Assessment, 2015).
Objectives
The objectives of this work were:
• To examine the extent to which children
aged 3 to 6 learn through play (LTP) and if
traditional plays are employed
• To identify the challenges faced by Preschool
facilitators in implementing the LTP
• To identify best practices in using LTP that
could be duplicated in Ethiopian ECCE
centers.
To this end, the following are the major
questions to be addressed:
• To what extent do the children aged 3 to 6
learn through play (LTP)?
• Are there play materials in ECCE centers
and if traditional plays are used?
• Are children with special needs included in
ECCE centers?
• What are the challenges encountered by
preschool facilitators in using LTP?
• What are the best experiences and
inconsistencies?
Significance of the Study
LTP is found to be the best way to support
children develop their social, emotional and
cognitive skills. Hence, these works will
highlighting the use of LTP in Preschool centers
of children aged 3 to 6.
Limitations of the Study
Like any other work, this work is not free from
limitation. The major limitation can be seen on
its budget constraint which pushed dwell on
sample size smaller than what was calculated
and planned but with significant representation.
Hence, sample was made to reach 46 sample
size for time and financial reasons considering
the similarity in the majority of the ECCE
centers despite the fact that the calculated
sample size was 96 which might be seen as a
limitation.
Operational Definition of Terms
Familiarity: knowledge of Preschool Facilitators/
Center heads about LTP
Preschool Centers: centers that use the
curriculum for children 3-4, 4-5 and 5-6 years
separately. It does not include 0-classes.
Play Materials: outdoor and indoor play
materials either locally made or bought
materials
Learning through Play (LTP): using both
indoor and outdoor plays for teaching children.
Describes how children can learn to make
sense of the world around them through play.
Inconsistencies: differences among ECCE
centers in using LTP
Research Design
Data collection consists of nine regional states
and two city administrations. These regional
states and city administrations were used for
the national ECCE Curriculum Implementation
Assessment study data collection. Hence,
the inputs of the team from Curriculum
Development and Implementation Directorate
in the Federal Ministry of Education (CDID) and
Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) for
the field work and financial support are well
acknowledged. A qualitative research design
was employed as it serves the purpose depth
of understanding and (Creswell and Clark,
2011).
Population and Sample
The population of this study includes all
facilitators/ centre heads in all the nine regional
states and the two city administrations of
Ethiopia.
A multistage sampling procedure was
employed in the selection of participants. The
main sampling units were Preschool Centers
where the actual practice of using LTP takes
place. According to the Ethiopian Education
Statistics Annual Abstract (2011/2012), there
are 3,580 Preschool Centers in the country
distributed around the 9 regions and the 2 city
administrations.
Purposive and availability sampling clustered
by each region was employed. Hence, attempt
was made to consider all the available regions and city administrations employing availability and
cluster sampling technique as far as the resource allows. Then among the sample size 96 Preschool
centers (calculated with precision level sampling error of 0.1), quota sampling was employed as
shown in the following table. Finally, convenience and simple random sampling was done to reach
46 sample size for time and financial reasons considering the similarity in the majority of the ECCE
centers.

Regions No. of KGs (population) SampleSize(+/-10%) Actual Sample Size

Tigray 170 4.55 4

Afar 25 0.67 1
Amhara 384 10.29 10

Oromia 1282 34.37 34

Somali 0 0 1

BenishangulGumuz 35 0.93 1

SNNPR 554 14.85 14

Gambella 16 0.42 1

Harari 30 0.80 1

Addis Ababa 1013 27.16 27

Dire Dawa 71 1.93 2

Total 3580 95.97 96

Source: Ethiopian Education Statistics Annual Abstract (2011/2012).

Kindergarten (KG) by Regions and City Administrations

All the available Preschool facilitators and
center heads at the time of data collection
in the sampled Preschool centers were the
respondents of the study where each center
compound and one randomly chosen Preschool
class was also observed. Moreover, one
Woreda curriculum expert as key informant
interview (KII) was conducted for each region
in the nearby Preschool centers. The case
studies best experiences were chosen by
using snow ball sampling technique and based
on the observations made in the actual setting.
Sources of Data and Instruments
Data were collected from both primary
and secondary sources. The primary data
were generated from Preschool facilitators/
center heads, curriculum/ education experts,
Preschool focal persons, etc. Besides existing
studies, rules and regulations, policies,
strategies, international frameworks, etc. were
used as secondary sources of information for
the study. The study employed qualitative data
collection tools as summarized below.
Key Informants’ Interview: This was
conducted through face-to-face interviews with
key survey team members. Key informants
who could provide the needed information
were Woreda Preschool/curriculum experts.
Observation Checklists: observation
checklists were prepared to collect relevant data
through observing the Preschool centers and
services, observing Preschool centers physical
status which includes but not limited to: the
set-up of the Preschool compound, indoor and
outdoor play materials, play grounds/ field and
other related Preschool environments.
Case study: Case study of ECCE centers
was used to see if there are best experiences
(extraordinary experiences) of institutions
in the study areas in relation to LTP under
consideration.
Ethical consideration of the study
The field work research team took care of ethical
consideration as the usual work. Bearing this in
mind, before interviewing targeted population,
the research team asked permission from
respondents: Preschool facilitators/heads,
School principals, and local authorities and
curriculum experts, etc. accordingly.
The Pilot Study and Validity of the
Instruments
The pilot study was conducted in Preschool
centers of SNNPR region to see the face validity
of the KII guide and the need for modifications
of items in the questionnaire. Hence, the
following conclusions were made from the
pilot study; like a strong need for translating
it to the local language, time needed to fill
the questionnaire demanded more time than
planned. However, no ambiguity was found in
the Key Informant Interview (KII) Guide.
The validity of instruments was pre-tested at
two levels. First, the instruments were tried
out using some of the pre schools in Butajira
(SNNP Regional State). The second was during
joint in house validation meeting conducted
by the team from Curriculum Development
and Implementation Directorate in the Federal
Ministry of Education (CDID) and Christian
Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) the main
purpose being for the national ECCE Curriculum
Implementation Assessment. Hence, all the
participants and instruments used for this
work are those used in the above mentioned
study. Despite the fact that the work was
done by the support of CCFC and experts in
CDID who were deployed for field work, one
aspect of the end result is dissemination of
the findings using different mechanisms as
it was done by presentations for different
stakeholders. Hence, this part could be seen
as a dissemination of its part for the ultimate
goal is to maximize the quality of ECCE centers
throughout the country and I would also like
to acknowledge those who supported me
financially as well as during the field work and
providing feedback while I did the presentation
for stakeholders.
Findings and Discussion
The significance of early childhood experiences
on the future development and schooling
of children has been acknowledged both by
researchers and practitioners. Psychologists
in general and developmental psychologists
in particular give due attention to the first
few years of a child’s life that establish the
foundation upon which the child grows and
develops. In this section, the data generated
are analyzed and discussed in such a way that
the results would reflect the status of LTP in
Preschools.
Overview of Participants
Both quantitative and qualitative data were
collected from study participants of 29
curriculum/ education experts and 46 Preschool
centers selected using both probability and
non-probability sampling techniques. The
data collected were analyzed using qualitative
methods of data analysis
The Issue of Children( ages 3 to 6 )learn
through play (LTP)
Play in most of the cases is understood as the
time of routines that are not usually directed
for teaching. It could be dancing or singing
for fun or enjoyment and sometimes learning
letters and numbers by music. Despite the
scarcity of indoor and outdoor playing materials
being the most critical problem in most
government owned Preschool centers, most
of the facilitators and curriculum experts are
aware of the importance of LTP and those who
are familiar with the curriculum asserted that
it ensures LTP. As indoor plays are the least
understood and traditional or locally made
play materials are less used, capacity building
trainings on how to implement LTP and prepare
and use traditional play materials from the
locally available resources is recommended.
Best experiences in this regard should be
shared or duplicated. The FMOE can organize
experience exchange programs and award
those who are best examples in implementing
the curriculum using LTP.
If Children (ages 3 to 6) learn through play
(LTP) and If Traditional Plays are used in ECCE
centers
Facilitators/ center heads were asked about
the extent to which the children ages 3 to 6
learn through play and if traditional plays are
employed in ECCE centers, most experts
in SNNPR agreed that LTP is very important
for the child’s development. However, they
explained with a deep concern that they could
get neither the national Preschool curriculum
nor orientation and manuals how to use it.
In the Arsi Neggele Woreda context, unlike
the Worda education expert in Halaba Qulito,
explained that some centers like Lalisa
intervened by NGO are using LTP. He added,
despite the absence of the national Preschool
curriculum, most facilitators are trained and
apply LTP with the minimum play materials
they have and traditionally made materials as
well as traditional plays like story teller “Oduu
Durii” and making lines on the ground for their
physical and cognitive development “Lakkii
Lakkicho”. The Halaba expert noted that they
do not have budget to buy play materials as
the sector has no owner, no training on how
to use LTP except the traditional outdoor
plays and songs for the play classes. The KI
at Welaita Sodo also mentioned that traditional
play materials which are made of bamboo are
used in centers. The case in Addis Ababa is
different, most Preschool centers have the
national Preschool curriculum despite they are
not using it.
Similarly, in Tigray, the training on Learning
through Play (LTP) for Preschool teachers and
Woreda experts have created understanding of
the importance and to some extent on practical
use of play in teaching children. All KII in Adwa,
Axum and Ahferom districts believe that
visible change is witnessed in the use of play
in teaching children ensuring the development
of physical, emotional and cognitive skill of
children.
Moreover, around Adwa including Ahferom and
Axum, the concept of LTP is very popular and
well bought idea because of the LTP project
implemented by Adwa TTC. Everybody in office
is at least well aware of the importance of the
play in teaching young children in Preschool
centers. Since, most of the KII involved in
this interview have limited knowledge in
curriculum; they are not confident if the
curriculum materials addresses or not LTP. But,
from their observation they know that teachers
in Preschool/KG are using play in their teaching.
The KII from Axum town education office has
commented that the syllabus prescribe play as
a method, however, it doesn’t indicate types
of play appropriate to the competence children
needs to develop in each area of domains.
Neither does it show traditional plays.
Though the national Preschool syllabus does
not give specific play activities, in Addis Ababa
all centers (private, government or community
owned) are using other teaching materials
which are prepared based on the objective of
the syllabus that gives appropriate plays for
each specific learning competence.
Scarcity of indoor and outdoor playing materials
is the most critical problem in government
owned Preschool centers in Tigray.
Some of experts in Oromia also agreed that LTP
is very important for the child’s development.
The expert from Wulinchiti Woreda indicated
that play is included in the syllabus but not
sufficiently. The expert in Ada’a indicated that
he knows about the development of syllabus
at national level but no one sent this material
to the Woreda. He further emphasized that
curricular materials do not exist in Afan Oromo
language, as well as he noted lack of budget to
buy playing materials. The experts in Dera and
Meki mentioned that they know nothing about
play. The expert in Adama on the contrary said
that he knows nothing about the syllabus.
The KIs in Amhara region, asked about the extent
of implementing learning through play indicated
that play is more exercised in government
schools than in private school. One KI pointed
out that: “In government schools play is highly
implemented. But, in the private schools more
value is given to numeracy and literacy rather
than to play because parents want to see their
children read and write promptly.”
As to employing traditional plays to teach
children are concerned, all the KIs agreed that
contextual dances songs are addressed. In
line with this, one KI (Kawot Woreda -Rural)
said that: “Yes we use traditional plays, songs
dances because we do not have outdoor play
materials. Hence, the children are made to
learn through theses traditional songs, dances
hide and seek, etc. in place.”
The interviewees in Amhara region indicated
that it is unfair to have a mention about whether
it addresses play or not. On the other hand,
the interviewees that confirmed the presence
of the National Preschool curriculum in their
Woreda believed that it is more of play other
than education. Hence, they said education
should be focused than play which shows that
there was little awareness on LTP.
One KI (AA- Kolfe Keranio) pointed out that:
Despite the fact that we are abided by the
national ECCE curriculum which addresses
play, it gives more weight to play than to
education which is a weakness. Hence, it is
not been appreciated by the Preschool centers.
The rational is that it should have given more
emphasis to education rather than to play.
This is similar with what has been said in the
Amhara region showing still little awareness
on LTP.
On the contrary, another KI (Debre Berhan)
pointed out that:
Even though the National Preschool curriculum
addresses play which could be taken as its
strong point, we have a problem to fully
implement it for there is shortage of play
materials at our centers.
The experts from Gambella, Afar and Somali
agreed that they don’t know about the national
ECCE Curriculum or syllabus and play. The
experts from Benishangul Gumuz- Assosa,
Dire Dawa and Harari agreed that LTP is very
important for the child’s development and
indicated that play is included in the syllabus
and the expert from Benishangul Gumuz-
Assosa, further added that children exercise
play through role play, peer play, drama,
storytelling etc. Except the Afar’s Expert who
doesn’t have the idea how it is implemented,
all agree that children learn through play be
it in private or government KGs. In Harari,
Dire Dawa, Benishangul Gumuz- Assosa and
Gambella it is indicated that children use
traditional play.
In addition, key informants participated in the
in-depth interview emphatically expressed the
relevance of Preschool programs for improving
children’s growth, development and learning. of Preschool Centers Preschool class and
One of the KIs said that: compound observations were made using
observation checklists. Their status varies from
Preschool programs are very much relevant center to center as shown clearly below.
both for the optimal development of children Results of Preschool Classroom/ Facilitator
and formal schooling. These programs will observation
help children to socialize and get motivated The findings of the Classroom/ Facilitator
for formal schooling. The programs will also observation checklist showed that more than
prepare children very well for formal schooling 50% yes on the items; has indoor playing/
than their counterparts without similar learning materials each (54.3%), uses locally
background. made learning/ play materials, uses indoor
playing/learning material and uses play for
Children with Additional Needs
daily routines 58.7%, 56.5% and, 71.7%
The interviewer observed very few children respectively.
with disabilities in some Preschool center who
are older than the age group. In relation to this,
when it comes to the issue of children with
disabilities, the KIs stressed, little was done
so far in the Woreda. They stay at home for
fear of bully and tease by students without
disabilities in the schools and centers. As far
as the KI is concerned, parents of children with
disabilities are aware of sending their children
to school or to Preschool programs. However,
for fear of being their children with disabilities
teased at, for the inaccessibility of the centers,
for lack of skilled human resource in Special
Needs Education in the Woreda, children
with disabilities are left behind. As noted by
the KI, inclusion in the Preschool programs in
this Woreda seems totally forgotten and the
“School for All” issue is not well-thought-out.
In addition to the general pits for Preschool
mentioned above, lack of professionals and
inability for facilitators to get short term trainings
in Special Needs Education seems the main
barrier. Children with disability agenda is of
great concern according to the KIs. They finally
concluded that NGOs and other concerned
bodies should work hard to solve Preschool
problems and to make them accessible for all
children including children with disabilities or to
establish a Preschool for all environment. Like
the KI in Arsi Neggele, the KI in Welaita Sodo
did not deny the idea of opening Preschool for
children with disabilities in a separate setting if
it is not possible/ takes time to accommodate
them in regular programs. He emphasized that
as it is a new trend, it demands team approach
and engagement in the program. The Status
 Observation Themes In the class: Yes No
Freq % Freq %
has indoor playing/learning materials 25 54.3 21 46
uses locally made learning/ play materials 27 58.7 19 41
uses indoor playing/learning material 26 56.5 20 44
uses play for daily routines 33 71.7 13 28
uses play while teaching (applies 25 54.3 21 46
Learning through play)
Total 46 100%
Results of the Classroom/ Compound Observation Checklist
Results of Preschool Compound Observation
As it was for Preschool classroom observation, Preschool compound was also observed using
observation checklist. The results revealed that ECCE centers have outdoor playing field
(82.6%) and outdoor playing/learning materials (73.9%) as shown in Table 7 below.
Results of the Preschool compound observation checklist.

Observation Themes Preschool Compound Yes No

has:
Freq. % Freq. %
outdoor playing field 38 82.6 8 17.4
outdoor playing/learning materials 34 73.9 12 26.1
Total 46 100%

Challenges Encountered by Preschool
facilitators in Using LTP
Budgetary and material challenges: The KIs
were asked about the challenges encountered
by Preschool facilitators in Using LTP in their
Woreda, all the KIs in SNNPR agreed on
material and budget constraint. As per the
KII perception in Tigray the major challenges
encountered by Preschool facilitators includes;
unavailability of teacher’s guide and children
books to practice the syllabus, lack of training
and orientation to teachers on how to use LTP,
material and budget limitation to fulfill the
necessary playing materials and lack of skilled
and well trained professionals at districts level
to supervise and support Preschool teachers.
Therefore, the lack of teachers’ guide and
children books, absence of playing materials
and lack of professional support and follow up
from the districts are the critical areas that need
improvement to ensure quality of learning in
most KG/Preschool centers. However, in Addis
Ababa, KGs are relatively better equipped with
learning/playing materials.
Lack of awareness in LTP: The KIs in Oromia,
asked about the challenges encountered by
Preschool facilitators in implementing the
national Preschool curriculum in their Woreda.
Unlike Ada’a and Wulinchiti all the KIs agreed
that they are unaware about the extent to
which play is implemented. The expert from
Wulinchiti Woreda indicated that despite the
fact that play is not included in sufficient manner
in the syllabus, facilitators try to implement the
syllabus and play to the best of their capacities.
Some Preschool centers and facilitators fully
apply play in and out of the classroom and some
use it in a limited manner. He commented that
the issue of Play is based on the will of the
Preschool centers. The focal person from Ada’a
explains the implementation of play from two Success stories/ best experiences:
perspectives. The first one is from the LEAP
project supported by CCFC and according In Amhara region are, supports from
to him facilitators working in the project are stakeholders: Efforts made to get support
trained in play and Preschool in a way that it is from NGOs and other organizations like play
implemented adequately. The other ones are materials; pledges to construct classrooms
government Preschool centers in such a way and supplementary books are also best
that facilitators are low paid (the government experiences in the region.
doesn’t allocate budget and the community is Moreover, the rural GO Preschool center
mainly responsible for their salary), do not have supported by an NGO in Oromia having a
training on play and Preschool, no curricula resource corner in the class, with better indoor
materials lack of well trained professionals in and outdoor play facilities and relatively better
Preschool in the Woreda. salary of facilitators can be seen as success
story. However, it is worth mentioning that
Lack of qualified facilitators: Regarding the infrastructure (the road) to and from the
challenges faced by Preschool facilitators, in school to the Woreda town needs serious
government schools, in the use of LTP, the improvement.
KIs in Amhara region mentioned that shortage
or lack of trained facilitators, play materials, In SNNP, the GO zero-classes which are changed
national curriculum, and awareness on the to Preschool centers are best experiences that
part of educational leaders at all levels about other regions should take a lesson. Availability
the importance of Preschool as drawbacks to of indoor and outdoor play facilities are the
implement it effectively. In line with this one best experiences observed.
KI (Kawot Woreda-Rural) indicated that: “Since
the children come to school without lunch or
any type of food to eat, they resist learning and
staying happily in the center for a long time.”
To sum up, all experts agreed that there
are challenges in using LTP such as; lack
of common Preschool curricular materials
such as children’s books and teacher guides,
shortage of trained facilitators and Preschool
focal persons, budget constraint, shortage
of conducive environment (compound) for
Preschool, lack of playing materials, teachers’
turnover are the challenges faced.

Best Experiences in using LTP

Finally, experts have been asked about the
success stories of their respective Woreda
schools under their leaderships and areas
of improvement in the future. Accordingly,
the following have been pointed out as
achievements and areas of for improving.
Governmental O- classes which were changed
to formal KGs are mentioned below as success
stories.
Inconsistencies in Using LTP
The KIs in SNNPR generally listed many inconsistencies among Preschool centers in using LTP:
• some Preschool centers which are intervened by NGOs and given in-service training and play
materials use LTP in teaching while others use LTP as a mere play outside the classroom.
• The quality of the Preschool classes and compounds and availability of local and bought play
materials: some GO centers were observed with child appropriate seats, toilets and clean
Preschool compounds. Play materials are also of diverse quality some being from locally made
materials and others form modern materials which are bought.

As KIs in Tigray mentioned, the performance and use of curriculum materials varies on the experience
and training of the Preschool teachers. Some are very creative and enthusiastic in teaching children
using play. The types of play they use are wide in variety. Songs, stories, games and physical
exercises are used that could help development of children` different skills. But, such kind of skilled
teachers are very rare that most classes are dominated by traditional teaching.

Picture: Outdoor play in Preschool centers local A and Modern

As it can be seen from the above picture, some
Preschool centers use outdoor play materials
which are hand-made from the locally available
materials and yet others have bought outdoor
play materials only for routines but not for the
purpose of learning.
study participants of 29 curriculum/ education
experts and 46 Preschool centers selected
using both probability and non-probability
sampling techniques. The data collected were
analyzed using qualitative and qualitative
methods of data analysis.

Concluding remarks and recommendations In relation to using LTP, most Preschool

This work was committed in finding out
the reality how LTP is implemented and in
identifying gaps of the existing practice and
inconsistencies in implementation LTP which
ultimately give input/feedback for revision of
the existing curriculum if deemed necessary.
To this end, a qualitative research approach
was employed. Data were collected from
facilitators (60%) confessed that they do not
use it for their perceived reasons of they fall
short of either training guideline on how to
implement it in the actual Preschool centers.
There were only GO* (Preschool like O- classes)
in Rural settings. However, the rest types of
Preschool centers were not unfortunately
found in rural settings.
• The use of LTP in Preschool centers: two
Preschool centers which are intervened by
NGOs given training and play materials use
 LTP in teaching while others use LTP as a consists of detailed lesson using all forms of
mere play outside the classroom. play culturally relevant and sensitive stories,
songs, and games that help facilitators directly
• What is more, the FBO Preschool centers
use in teaching children).
mix pray than play in teaching children.
There is a need to integrate LTP in facilitators’
• The quality of the Preschool classes and training to effectively implement LTP as
compounds and availability of local and prescribed in the curriculum. Given the
bought play materials: some GO centers scarcity in resource FMOE in collaboration
were observed with child appropriate seats, with stakeholders has to develop a short term
toilets and clean Preschool compounds. training package that can address knowledge
Play materials are also of diverse quality and skill gaps among facilitators in teaching
some being from locally made materials children using LTP approach.
and others form modern materials which
The best experiences mentioned as in-service
are bought.
training on LTP in one Woreda of Tigray and the
Observation of Preschool centers and changing of 0-classes to Preschool centers in
qualitative data collected through KII from KIs one Woreda of SNNP should be duplicated to
generally revealed low level of participation of the rest of the regions and city administrations.
children with disabilities in Preschool program.
There is little high quality government
Preschool program in most Woreda and the
Preschool programs run by the government
hardly meet the minimum requirement to be
considered as quality Preschool program as
mentioned by the KIs. However, it was noted
that in some Woredas, former O-classes run
by the government are in a tendency to be
changed to formal Preschool programs. The
experience in using LTP in one Woreda which
is remarkable should be replicated to other
Woredas as well. Facilitators have knowledge
about the national Preschool curriculum
designed in terms of the physical, cognitive,
language and socio-emotional development of
children ages 3-6.
Regarding learning through play (LTP), Preschool
centers which are intervened by NGOs given
training and play materials use LTP in teaching
while others use LTP as a mere play outside
the classroom. Yet play is understood in most
of the Preschool centers as outdoor play only.
Training on LTP for Preschool facilitators and
Woreda education experts as well as changing
former 0-classes to full-fledged Preschool
centers are best experience to be mentioned.
There is a need to develop locally-adapted
curricular materials including facilitators’ guide
(where learning competencies of the syllabus
can be broken down in to lessons which
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 Oung Children’s Emotion and Self-Regulation Predict Classroom Interactions and
Academic Achievement: A Discussion of the Evidence and Implications
Carlos Valiente*1, Tirussew Teferra+2, Rebecca H. Berger+1& Nancy Eisenberg+1
A successful transition into the formal schooling environment is a major

developmental milestone that is important for children’s concurrent and future social, emotional,
and academic achievement (Caspi, Elder, & Bem, 1987; Ensminger & Slusarcick, 1992). Due to the
importance of this developmental season, researchers, policy makers, and teachers have worked
to identify ways children can be supported so that they are most likely to succeed. The purpose of
this manuscript is to synthesize research that suggests that academic achievement during the pre-
school (e.g., O class) and early elementary years can be supported by working to improve children’s
social and emotional functioning. As Raver (2002)correctly noted, “Emotions Matter”, and in the
following pages we aim to make the case for why emotions, and the regulation of emotion, matter
for academic achievement. We conclude with a discussion of how to support the development of
skills critical for a successful transition into, and out of, early elementary school.
Since Raver (2002) made the case that emotions matter, there has been a surge of scholarship
supporting and advancing her claims. To

* 1 Arizona State University.

+2 Addis Ababa University.
Some of the research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) (R01HD068522), a National Science Foundation Grant (BCS-0546096), and Arizona State
University. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarilyrepresent
the official views of the funding organizations.
contextualize the rapidly growing body of literature, my colleagues and I have conducted several
studies showing when and why emotions (and the regulation thereof) matter. During the course
of this scholarship, we developed (and continue to refine) the heuristic model displayed in Figure 1
.As shown in Figure 1, we hypothesize that temperament is related to academic achievement and
that this relationship is mediated by the relationships students form at school, students’ problem
behaviors, and school engagement.Further, we expect that the interactions between indices of
temperament will predict key outcomes.
Temperament
Temperament is often defined as
“constitutionally based individual differences
in reactivity and self-regulation, in the domains
of affect, activity, and attention” (Rothbart
& Bates, 2006, p. 100). Reactivity refers, in
part, to the emotions individuals experience,
whereas self-regulation involves processes
such as effortful control (i.e., ‘‘the efficiencyof
executive attention—including the ability to
inhibit a dominant response and—or to activate
a subdominant response, to plan, and to detect
errors”, Rothbart & Bates, 2006, p. 129) that
modulate reactivity. A growing body of research
indicates that measures of temperament predict
academic related outcomes (Raver, 2002;
Valiente, Swanson, & Eisenberg, 2012). Below,
we suggest that these relations are present,
to some extent, because of the associations
these variables have on students’ relationships
with others and their school engagement.
11
In this model, and in some recent scholarship,
we focus on positive and negative emotion.
However, for parsimony, in this report we focus
on the following emotions: anger-frustrations,
sadness, and shyness. Interested readers can
refer to the following papers to examine our
work on positive emotions: (Hernández et al.,
2015; Hernández, Eisenberg, Valiente, Spinrad,
et al., 2017; Valiente, Swanson, & Eisenberg,
2012).
In the following sections, we review evidence
in support of this hypothesis; however, it is
important to note that these studies were
almost all conducted in the United States. We
acknowledge that societal and family values in
Ethiopia are likely different than those in the
United States and may, to some extent, alter
these associations. My colleagues and I are
in the process of testing the model in Figure
1 in Ethiopia, and we hope this presentation
encourages a conversation that extends this
scholarship to Ethiopia.
Direct Relations between Temperament
and Academic Achievement
Emotion
There is a growing, yet still limited,
understanding of roles of anger, sadness, and
shyness for students’ academic achievement.
When students experience high levels of
these emotions, theyare likely to struggle
with concentration, attendance, and test
performance (Cacioppo, 2003; Izard, 2002;
Loewenstein & Lerner, 2003; McDonald,
2001). Further, these emotions can interfere
with problem solving, planning, creative
thinking and subsequently learning (Blair, 2002;
Fredrickson, 2001). Pekrun and colleagues have
also suggested, and to some degree shown,
that negative emotions can be detrimental
because of their negative impact on
motivational processes (Pekrun, 2006; Pekrun,
Elliot, & Maier, 2009). A number of studies
show that anger and anxiety are negatively
related to academic achievement (Hernández,
Eisenberg, Valiente, VanSchyndel, et al., 2017;
Valiente, Lemery-Chalfant, & Swanson, 2010;
Zhou, Main, & Wang, 2010), but some studies
do not identify significant effects (Pekrun, Elliot,
& Maier, 2006; Supplee, Shaw, Hailstones, &
Hartman, 2004) and typically the associated
effect sizes are small.
Effortful control. There is broad agreement that
effortful control is important to developmental
outcomes – including academic achievement.
In fact, effortful control and related abilities
have been referred to as a cornerstone of
development (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
Students who are high in effortful control can
control their behaviors, emotions, and attention
as needed.Most early educators assert that
these skills are critical to early learning and
achievement, perhaps more so than traditional
makers of academic achievement(e.g.,
langauge problems and formal pre-school
Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000). Though
not all findings are consistent (Willoughby,
Kupersmidt, & Voegler-Lee, 2012), there is now
evidence that effortful control and closely related
abilities are related to measures of academic
achievement (e.g., grades and performance
on standardized tests) when the relations are
examined concurrently or longitudinally and via
reported or observed methodologies (Blair &
Razza, 2007; Duckworth, Quinn, & Tsukayama,
2011; NICHD Early Child Care Research
Network, 2003; Valiente et al., 2011; Valiente
et al., 2010).
Interactions between emotion and
effortful control
Rothbart and Bates (2006)urged scholars
to test for the presence of temperament X
temperament interactions. As noted above,
negative emotion is likely to interfere with
positive outcomes, and this is especially
likely if students fail to regulate their negative
emotion and subsequent behaviors.Further,
relations between emotion and academic
achievement are often weak, suggesting that
the relation may be moderated. If students
can regulate their negative emotion, one may
not find a relation between negative emotion
and positive outcomes. In other words,
negative emotion may only be significantly
related to academic achievement (and related
outcomes) at low, but not high, levels of
effortful control.Interactions between negative
emotion and effortful control in the prediction
of social adjustment (e.g., social competence
or problem behaviors) have been reported
for some time by a number of research
groups(e.g., Belsky, Friedman, & Hsieh, 2001;
Eisenberg et al., 2000),but only recently have
scholars examined similar interactions in
theacademic domain, and findings are mixed.
Gumora and Arsenio (2002) did not find an
interaction between adolescents’ effortful
controland negative affect on academic
achievement, whereas Belsky et al. (2001)
found positive relations between distressand
measures ofyoung children’s school readiness,
but only at high levels of effortful control.More
recently, Valiente et al. (2012)found negative
relations between anger and a close student-
teacher relationship at low, but not high, levels
of effortful controlamongst students in early
elementary school. More studies are needed
to better understand how effortful control
interacts with emotions in academic settings.
As specified in the heuristic model, we expect
that the association between temperament and
academic achievement may also be explained
by mediating mechanisms.
Mediated Relations between
Temperament and Academic
Achievement
Many of the findings linking temperament
to academic achievement are of a relatively
modest in magnitude. As such, and consistent
with prior hypotheses (Blair, 2002; Eisenberg,
Sadovsky, & Spinrad, 2005; Raver, 2002) there
are good reasons to expect that a number
of variables may be operating as mediators.
Here, we focus on the relational and school
engagement reasons to expect mediation.
The mediational role of relationships
Students who display an easy temperament
(e.g., who are low in negative emotion,
moderately high in positive emotion and high in
effortful control) are likely to do well in school
partly because they are likely to develop and
maintain good quality relationships with their
peers and teachers. This hypothesis has a good
deal of support in the empirical literature. For
example, high levels of negative emotionality
predict poor social status among peers
(Dougherty, 2006; Hernández, Eisenberg,
Valiente, Spinrad, et al., 2017) as well as difficult
student-teacher interactions (Hernández,
Eisenberg, Valiente, VanSchyndel, et al., 2017;
Valiente, Swanson, & Lemery-Chalfant, 2012).
In contrast, effortful control is consistently
positively related to social competence
(see Rothbart & Bates, 2006, for a review).
Negative emotion is often a positive predictor
of externalizing problem behaviors, whereas
effortful control is generally negatively related
to externalizing problem behaviors (Eisenberg
et al., 2000; Rothbart & Bates, 2006).
A growing body of literature suggests that when
students form close, low conflict, relationships
with their teachers they are likely to do well
academically. When children have conflictual
relationships with teachers they are prone to
behaviorally and emotionally disengage from
the classroom and are at-risk for poor academic
achievement (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Ladd, Birch,
& Buhs, 1999; Portilla, Ballard, Adler, Boyce,
& Obradovic, 2014; Spilt, Hughes, Wu, &
Kwok, 2012). In contrast, a number of research
teams have shown that a close relationship
is often associated with engagement and
high academic achievement(Ladd et al., 1999;
Valiente, Lemery-Chalfant, Swanson, & Reiser,
2008).Similarly, students who are well-liked
by their peers and treated kindly are likely to
participate in academic activities, learn, and
earn high academic scores(Rubin, Bukowski, &
Parker, 2006; Valiente et al., 2008). The reverse
pattern of findings is often present when
students are treated poorly by their peers(Ladd
et al., 1999).
The number of explicit tests of the hypothesis
that relational variables mediate the links
between temperament and academic
achievement is growing. For example, in a
study involving students in early elementary
school,Valiente and colleagues found evidence
that a quality student-teacher relationship
and social competence partially mediated the
relations between effortful control and changes
in academic achievement across a school year
(Valiente et al., 2008). In a longitudinal study
that started when children were approximately
8 years old, the association between effortful
control attime 1 and achievement measured
four years later was mediated by adjustment
(i.e., a composite comprised of low externalizing
problems and high social competence)
two years after the assessment of effortful
control(Valiente et al., 2011).
The mediational role of school
engagement
According to Fredricks and colleagues (2004),
school engagement is a multidimensional
construct that can be understood as involving
behaviors, emotions, and cognitions. For
the purposes of this manuscript, we will
focus on students’ behavioral and emotional
engagement. Behavioral engagement involves
participation in academic tasks – either during or
outside of school hours(Fredricks et al., 2004).
This form of engagement is often measured,
or operationalized, as classroom participation
(e.g., willingness to be involved in classroom
activities and meeting classroom expectations,
see Ladd et al., 1999; Valiente, Swanson,
Lemery-Chalfant, & Berger, 2014). Emotional
engagement, in contrast, involves students’
emotional feelings about those in school and
the classroom(Fredricks et al., 2004). It is
common for researchers to use measures
of students’ school liking and avoidance to
assess the extent to which students are
emotionally engaged in school. Students who
are prone towards anger, sadness, and anxiety
could be expected to be low in both forms
of engagement because these emotions
are likely to decrease one’s motivation to be
positively involved in school (Linnenbrink,
2007).When students are high in effortful
control, however, they could be expected to be
high in these forms of engagement because
they are likely to enjoy interacting with others
as well as taking on the student role and the
associated expectations to compete classroom
assignments. Students who are high in these
forms of participation are likely to earn high
academic marks becausethey are motivated to
learn, behave in ways consistent with school
based expectations, and benefit from the
activities that are designed to promote learning
(Dweck, 1986; Ladd et al., 1999).
There are only a handful of studies that
have directly examined the links between
temperament and either classroom participation
or school liking. In one study involving students
in early elementary school, Valiente et al.(2008)
found that classroom participation partially
mediated the relations between effortful control
and changes in academic achievement across
the school year. In a similar study, the relation
between effortful control and language and
math/science achievement was mediated by
the student-teacher relationship and students’
emotional engagement (Swanson, Valiente, &
Lemery-Chalfant, 2012). Iyer and colleagues
also found evidence of positive associations
between effortful control and both behavioral
and emotional engagement (Iyer, Kochenderfer-
Ladd, Eisenberg, & Thompson, 2010).
Empirical tests of the proposed heuristic
model. As discussed above, there are good
reasons to expect temperament to be related
to academic achievement during the early
elementary years. Our research group has been working to explain when and why these relations
are present, and we now turn our attention to further describing results from two relatively recent
studies.
In each study, we collected data in multiple ways and controlled for key covariates (e.g., sex, age,
socioeconomic status). Based on current theory and available empirical evidence, we expected to
find negative relations between negative emotion and academic achievement and related variables
(quality relationships and engagement). The reverse pattern was expected for effortful control. In
addition, we expected students’ relationships with others and school engagement to mediate the
relations between effortful control and academic achievement. Lastly, we expected effortful control
to moderate the relations between negative emotion and the mediators identified in Figure 1.

Methodologies and Results

Study 1: The PACK Project. A central goal of the PACK Project was totest why temperament is
related to students’ academic achievement. Towards this goal, our research team worked with
about 300 students from the United States as they made the transition from Kindergarten to 2nd
grade. For the purpose of the work presentedhere, weprovideda table listing some of the key
measures obtained at each assessment, while noting who completed the assessment. The sample
was recruited from Phoenix Arizona, in the United States, included approximately an equal number
of boys and girls, and was mostly representative of the schools (e.g., mostly White, middle class
families from the USA, see Eggum-Wilkens, Valiente, Swanson, & Lemery-Chalfant, 2014; Valiente
et al., 2014 for more details on the methods and findings).
PACK Project
Methodology

Table 1. Informant

Construct Grade Child Parent Teacher

Effortful Control K Continuous Child Behavior Questionnaire: Attention Child Behavior Questionnaire: Attention
Performance Task focusing and inhibitory control focusing and inhibitory control
(NICHD Early Child scales(Rothbart, Ahadi, Hersey, & Fisher, scales(Rothbart et al., 2001)
Care Research 2001)
Network, 2003)
Shyness K Child Behavior Questionnaire: Shyness Child Behavior Questionnaire: Shyness
scale (Rothbart et al., 2001) scale (Rothbart et al., 2001)
Popularity G1 Harter’s Perceived Competence Scale Harter’s Perceived Competence Scale
for Children (modified): Peer acceptance for Children (modified): Peer acceptance
(Eisenberg et al., 1997; Eisenberg, Fabes, (Eisenberg et al., 1997; Eisenberg,
Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000; Harter, 1982) Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000; Harter,
1982)
Relational peer G1 Peer Victimization Measure (Crick, Casas, Peer Victimization Measure (Crick et al.,
victimization & Ku, 1999) 1999)
Internalizing problems G2 MacArthur Health & Behavior MacArthur Health & Behavior
Questionnaire (Armstrong, Goldstein, Questionnaire (Armstrong et al., 2003)
& The MacArthur Working Group on
Outcome Assessment, 2003)
Classroom participation G1, G2 Teacher Rating Scale of School
Adjustment (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Ladd et
al., 1999)

School liking G2 School liking & Avoidance Questionnaire School liking & Avoidance Questionnaire
(Ladd & Price, 1987) (Ladd & Price, 1987)
Academic achievement K, G1 Applied problems Teacher reports of achievement.
& Passage
comprehension
tests (Woodcock,
McGrew, & Mather,
2000)
Note. G1 = 1st Grade,
G2 = 2nd Grade, K =
kindergarten.
In support of our predictions, data from the PACK (PEERS). A key goal of the study was to test if
Project suggests that the relations between the interaction between emotion and effortful
effortful control and academic achievement are control predicted academic achievement and
mediated via school engagement processes related outcomes. A total of 301 kindergartners,
(Valiente et al., 2014). For example, in a short- their parents, and teachers participated
term longitudinal study, children’s effortful in the study. There was approximately an
control in kindergarten was positively related equal number of boys and girls in the study
to their academic achievement (measured and approximately 50% of the sample was
in multiple ways) at the end of 1st grade Hispanic and low income(see Diaz et al., 2017;
(see Table 1 for details on the measures). Hernández et al., 2015; Hernández, Eisenberg,
Furthermore, effortful control was positively Valiente, Spinrad, et al., 2017 for more details
related to student’s classroom participation on the methodology).
and negatively related to relational peer
victimization. These two variables were also
related to academic achievement in expected
ways. In partial support of our heuristic model,
classroom participation, but not relational
peer victimization, mediated (i.e., explained)
the relations between effortful control and
academic achievement.
In another study using the same sample,
we tested whether shyness was related to
early indicators of academic achievement for
relational reasons (see Eggum-Wilkens et al.,
2014 and Table 1 for details on the measures).
Specifically, we tested if shyness was related
to internalizing problems, school liking, and
participation directly or via students’ popularity.
Again, findings partially supported our heuristic
model. For example, popularity partially
mediated the relations between shyness
and school liking and participation, but not
internalizing problems (see Figure 2).
In summary, the findings presented here, as
well as in other published works from the
PACKProject (e.g., Swanson, Valiente, Lemery
Chalfant, Bradley, & Eggum-Wilkens, 2014;
Valiente et al., 2010; Valiente et al., 2014),
support the hypothesis that temperament
is often related to academic achievement for
relational and school engagement reasons.
Study 2: Project PEERS.In 2012, we began a
project to better understand Peers Everyday
Emotions and Relationships at School
Project PEERS
Methodology
Table 2. Informant
Construct Grade Child/Observer
Observed negative K Members of the research team
emotion observed students’ naturally
occurring negative emotion during
the school day.
Effortful control K Continuous Performance Task
(NICHD Early Child Care Research
Network, 2003)
Observed K Members of the research team
academic observed students’ school
engagement engagement during the school day.
Student-teacher K Student-teacher relationship
relationship
Externalizing K MacArthur Health and Behavior
problems
Note. K =
kindergarten
Using data from Project PEERS, we found
evidence that effortful control moderates the
relations between emotion and student-teacher
conflict, externalizing problems, and classroom
engagement(Diaz et al., 2017). Specifically, and
as shown in Figure 3, negative emotion was
positively related to student-teacher conflict
and externalizing problems, and negatively
related to classroom engagement, at low, but
not high, levels of EC. A similar, albeit weaker,
pattern was found for the relations between
positive emotion and classroom engagement.
Collectively, these findings suggest that
students low in effortful control are particularly
at risk for experiencing negative school-related
outcomes when they are prone to high levels
of emotion.
Discussion
In 2002, Raver rightly asserted that “Emotions
Matter”. Since the publication of this seminal
piece, my colleagues and I have been working
to demonstrate when and why emotions
matter (Valiente, Swanson, & Eisenberg,
2012). Using data from multiple studies,
reporters, and methods, our scholarship is
Parent Teacher
Child Behavior Child Behavior Questionnaire:
Questionnaire: Attention focusing and inhibitory
Attention focusing control scales (Rothbart et al.,
and inhibitory control 2001)
scales(Rothbart et al.,
2001)
scale (Pianta, 2001)
Questionnaire (Armstrong et al.,
2003)
consistent with the premise that emotion,
and the regulation of emotion, is related to
academic achievement for social and school
engagement reasons. Further, the available
evidence suggests that the associations
between emotion and academic outcomes are
strongest for children who are low in effortful
control. In the remaining portion of this paper
we further situate these findings in the extant
literature, offer directions for further research,
and discuss several intervention programs
designed to help bolster children’s emotions
and effortful control in an effort to facilitate
education during the early schooling years.
Temperament Often Predicts
Achievement
The empirical findings presented here are
largely supportive of our heuristic model.The
mediational findings presented suggest that
students’ emotions or self-control relate to
academic achievement due, at least in part, to
the role these variables play in the relationships
students form in the class and the extent to
which they engage in learning activities. These
findings are in line with several studies showing
that students’ emotionality and effortful control
are indirectly related to academic achievement
through their relationships with teachers
and peers(Hernández et al., 2016; Valiente,
Lemery-Chalfant, Swanson, & Reiser, 2008;
Viljaranta et al., 2015; Zhou, Main, & Wang,
2010), problem behaviors (Zhou et al., 2010),
and school engagement (Iyer, Kochenderfer-
Ladd, Eisenberg, & Thompson, 2010; Portilla
et at., 2014; Valiente et al., 2008). Generally,
these results suggest that higher effortful
control, lower negativity, and higher positivity
are related to more positive relationships
with teachers and peers, more behavioral
engagement in school, and subsequently
higher academic achievement.
The data plotted in Figure 3show that effortful
control buffers students from some of the
negative effects of high levels of negative, and
even positive, emotion(Diaz et al., 2017). These
findings serve as a partial replication to data
showing that the negative relations between
impulsivity and classroom participation
and a close student-teacher relationship
are significant at low, but not high, levels of
effortful control(Valiente, Swanson, & Lemery-
Chalfant, 2012). Some data also suggests
that when children are low in negativity they
achieve higher math and reading scores when
their effortful controlis high (Valiente, Lemery-
Chalfant, & Swanson, 2010). Overall effortful
controlcan act in a protective capacity against
negativity and exuberance (i.e., high positivity)
in student’s adjustment and achievement.
Can we intervene?
Given the evidence that students’ emotions,
effortful control, relationships with others and
engagement are important for their academic
achievement, research teams have worked to
design and implement interventions in an effort
to bolsters these assets in hopes of improving
academic achievement. Many of the programs
are promising.
In one of the first programs to demonstrate
significant effects, the Tools of the Mind program
aimed to impact academic achievement by
targeting students’ effortful control. Based
on the work of Vygotsky, pre-school teachers
had students engage in many activities (e.g.,
dramatic play, self-regulatory private speech)
designed to promote effortful control(Diamond
& Lee, 2011). These activities took place during
approximately 80% of the school day. Evidence
suggests that the Tools of the Mind program
can positively impact classroom quality, lower
students’ problem behaviors, increase effortful
control, and may have some positive effects
on language development (Barnett et al., 2008;
Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007).
The PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking
Strategies) project is likely the best known and
most widely researched program in this area.
PATHS is comprehensive (e.g., it focuses on
many aspects of development), and of central
interest here, a main objective is to teach
children how to recognize feelings (their own
and others), increase responsibility, and effortful
control related abilities. The intervention
activities take place in 30 minute segments
once a week that focus on compliments,
feelings, self-control, and problem solving.
In addition to the formal curriculum, teachers
were taught how to integrate social-emotional
activities (e.g., group games, art projects, and
books) into traditional lessons (language arts,
music, art). Teachers were also given guidance
on how to promote social-emotional skills during
naturally occurring situations in the classroom.
Results are quite promising. Indeed, the PATHS
program has demonstrated significant effects
(in the desired directions) on the following
list of outcomes: problem behaviors, effortful
control related abilities, classroom behavior, and
academic achievement(Bierman, Domitrovich,
et al., 2008; Bierman, Nix, Greenberg, Blair, &
Domitrovich, 2008).
Lastly, a newer program aims to foster
students’ working memory, attentional control,
and inhibitory control – all critical components
of effortful control– via low cost classroom
based games that were delivered twice a week
for 16 weeks. The intervention games require
students to engage in activities that targeted
inhibitory control (e.g., startingand stopping
to various cues and engaging in non-dominant
responses). Results are promising, with
some evidence of improvement in effortful
control (but sometimes only for children who
were lowest in effortful controlprior to the
intervention), language development, and math
skills for English language learners (Schmitt,
McClelland, Tominey, & Acock, 2015; Tominey
& McClelland, 2011).
In summary, there is mounting evidence that
scholars have tools for improving students’
effortful controland associated academic
abilities. A major limitation of this line of
research is that there have been few efforts to
examine the extent to which the interventions
work for students who live outside of the USA.
There is some available evidence from studies
in the Netherlands, Germany, and Jamaicathat
is promising (Hacker, Losel, Stemmler, Jaursch,
& Beelmann, 2007; Louwe, Van Overveld,
Merk, De Castro, & Koops, 2007), but much
more additional work is needed in this regard.

Conclusions
The findings presented here provide strong
evidence that it is important to consider
young children’s temperament when trying
to understand the development of academic
achievement. Although temperament is
constitutionally based (Rothbart & Bates,
2006), available evidence indicates that it is
amenable to change via intervention programs.
The limited cross-cultural evidence suggests
that similar processes operate for children
who reside outside of the United States of
America, but more work is needed before firm
conclusions are made. While efforts to foster
students’ effortful control do come at a modest
cost, both In terms of time and money, it is
likely that the cost of not working to support
the development of students’effortful control
and related abilities is likely much larger.
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Partial view of the workshop participants
College of Education and Behavioral
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