NEWS
Ethiopia and UK’s Effective Partnership Contributed to Achievements in General Education
With the objective of strengthening the relationship between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and the Government of UK in the field of education,
Dr TilayeGete, FDRE’s State Minister for General Education, met with James Wharton,UK Government’sParliamentary Undersecretary of State for International Development, in London.
During the meeting, the State Minister described the development and transformation of the education sector in Ethiopia, some of the main challenges requiring attention and how the UK government can support in the effort to address the challenges. Dr Tilayeemphasized FDRE’s commitmentto develop the education sector which is placed at the forefront of the country’s economic development. The State Minister also explained that improving quality, addressing equity and decentralisationhave been the main focus in education development. In addition,he further emphasized that the Ministry of Education is committed to deliverquickresults against its plans using proven methodology such as deliverology.
Responding to Wharton’s questions regarding improvements in increasing access to education in rural areas as compared to other parts of the country, Dr Tilaye said that a comprehensive plan is being drafted by FDRE to improve the situation in emerging regions of the country in addition to addressing challenges in special needs education.
Wharton expressed his eagerness to see more education sector development proposals from Ethiopia to ensure continuation of the ongoing successful programmes.Dr Tilaye on his part appreciated DfID’stechnical and financial support to Ethiopia as well as the effective partnership between the Ministry of Education, DfIDas well as QESSP. According to Dr Tilaye, the partnership has significantly contributed towards FDRE’s current achievements in the general education sub-sector and underscored the need to avoid any gap in support between the currently ongoing General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP) II and the upcoming GEQIP III. He said that the partnership between the Ministry of Education and the UK Government needs to be strengthened with more support to the Ethiopian education to sustain existing results.
While in UK, Dr Tilaye had the opportunity to learn more about other DFID initiatives that Ethiopia can benefit from. These include the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) (http://www.riseprogramme.org/content/what-rise ), the Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education (SPHEIR) (https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/ihe/what-we-do/international-partnerships/spheir or https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/spheir_overview.pdf )and another initiative looking at ICT and education.
In addition to strengthening already existing strong relations between the two countries, DfID used the forum to affirmthe UK Government’s commitment to international development and re-emphasise the importance attached to women and girls, results, and transparency.