Eritrea

The program financed by the US$17.2 million grant will address critical evidence-based challenges identified in the education sector plan and reflected as priority action areas in the multi-year action plan. This is in line with the country’s goal of providing educational access to the most disadvantaged groups and implementing cost-effective strategies to improve learning and learning outcomes of children from those groups.

The activities carried out under the program are grouped under 3 components.

1. Expand access and ensure equity of general education

   This component has 4 sub-components (pre-primary education, primary education “grades 1-5”, middle level education “grades 6-8” and adult and distance education) and focuses on expanding access to education through:

   • building new classrooms
   • training teachers, especially to teach in the mother tongue
   • strengthening management of schools serving nomadic children
   • giving cash grants to girls from vulnerable families to ensure they complete primary education
   • expanding Complementary Elementary Education (which provides an alternative route to middle school education to children who have never enrolled or have dropped out of school)
   • raising community awareness to increase enrollment.
2. Improve quality and relevance of education

   Activities carried under this component include:

   • teachers’ training to improve their level of competencies
   • scaling up the successful early childhood education activity from the previous GPE-funded program by implementing the new curriculum throughout the country along with supplying materials for early childhood care centers
   • a total revision of primary education curriculum to make it more relevant and aligned with the national development goals. A set of National Standards for Quality Education will be developed and disseminated.
3. Enhance system capacity and management to strengthen human and institutional capacity for effective and efficient monitoring and delivery of educational services. This will strengthen regional and sub-regional offices of the Ministry of Education.