Weeding gartens

Opening a kindergarten seemed like a ticket to financial independence for Mekdes Belete, whose own education is limited to kes timihirt bet, a traditional school teaching the Amharic alphabet and some basic Orthodox prayers.

She did not open an official school initially, opting instead to gather four children in her parents’ courtyard in Kirkos District, six years ago, and informally started giving free lessons.

“I have never attended any school other than the kes timihirt bets,” Mekdes said. “The first thing that came to my mind when I thought about a business was to open a school.”

In keeping with her ambition, as the number of students increased, she started charging 15 Br a month for each child. Eventually, the rising number of households sending their children to her attracted the attention of the Trade & Industry Bureau, which demanded that she get an official license. This prompted her to open a kindergarten, named Adonay, which was registered under the Ministry of Trade (MoT) as a formal educational institution, unlike her previous venture. But it was closed after a year by her Woreda’s educational office since it did not meet the standard required of a school.

Undeterred, she opened another school – Elshaday – a year later, in the same district, behind the Exhibition Centre. The school now teaches up to grade six. This is not, however, without a challenge. Inspectors tasked with ensuring school standards are met are threatening to shut down her operation once again.

Mekdes’ case is not an exception. While the number of schools at all educational levels in Addis Abeba is rising, kindergartens have seen a dramatic leap in the last five years alone. In the 2006/07 fiscal year, the total number of such schools in the city was 689 – a figure that reached 1,015 in the 2012/13 fiscal year.

While numbers are rising fast, standard adherence is not keeping up. Out of all schools in the country, only 19pc met the facilities standards in the last fiscal year, according to the performance report at the Ministry of Education (MoE).

In Addis Abeba alone, out of the 1,015 kindergartens last fiscal year, 85 were shut down for not meeting standards.

“The number would be more if we were really strict on the standards,” claims Mulualem Tefera, kindergarten education expert at the Addis Abeba Education Bureau (AAEB).

Out of the five kindergartens in Woreda 9, Mekdes’ area, one has been ordered closed while another two have been warned. Tariku Lakew, a mathematics and science training officer at the Education Office of the Woreda, states this has barely touched the problem.

“If it were not for the absence of educational experts that can assess standard implementation, even the remaining schools would not exist,” he explained.

He is assigned to the standard assuring unit due to the scarcity of manpower, even though that responsibility is normally not part of his duties.

The standards that the inspectors are to monitor are numerous. For instance, the courtyard is expected to be at least 500sqm, and include an area with a variety of playground equipment. Each classroom must be at least 63sqm wide, and have equipment like mattresses for naps.

The reality is, however, that even finding schools that have facilities to provide basic first aid services for emergencies is difficult, according to Mulualem.

Out of the five schools visited by Fortune in two districts, three use restrooms and dining rooms made of temporary plastic roofs and walls. Another standard that states ‘the placement of a school should be far from noisy areas,’ seemed hardly enforced, as Fortune observed a number of kindergartens located in areas where loud speakers roar, bars are full, and khat is sold.

In Mekdes’ case, in the last fiscal year alone, her school received three warnings. In theory, the supervisors are supposed to assess the facility standards of schools at least once a month. All three times the supervisors visited Elshaday, they indicated that they would likely be closed. Even after many changes on the structure of the school, Mekdes claims, receiving a warning on a quarterly basis is not new to her.

In an effort to improve her chances of staying open, Mekdes complied with one criterion. According to the MoE, every school at this level must have a director who has a degree in educational management, yet Mekdes played both the role of a teacher and a director until recently. Eventually, however, sustained pressure from the Woreda pushed her to hire a director.

Nonetheless, her effort was insufficient. On Thursday, October 17, notices stating that the school will not continue in its current state were posted around the courtyard.

According to Mulualem from the Education Bureau, trying to apply each and every criterion in the standards is difficult given that the financial capacities of both the schools and the parents who send their children vary.

The standards set for kindergartens by both MoE at the national level and the AAEB for the capital, require up to 36,000 Br to be met, according to a study.

“The standard is designed mainly considering the maximum goal. We strive to meet it in the long run but not overnight,” Mulualem asserts.

For Azmera Dessie, a janitor at a private cafe, sending her child to Elshaday is a given, although there are at least three other schools closer to her residence.

“I brought my child here because that is what I can afford,” she explained.

While Elshaday charges 300 Br a child on a monthly basis, the others can cost as much as 1,200 Br.

The cost of kindergarten schools, while high for parents like Azmera, attracts significant number of entrepreneurs. In fact, 70.7pc of kindergartens in the city are operated privately, according to the available data at the MoE. This state of affairs is not short of critics, and is in fact put forward as a possible reason for the low standards.

“I can see the sector has become a silent but profitable business, where owners often do not consider it an academic sector,” complained a teacher who has worked at five different private-owned kindergartens in Gulele District.

This assertion is supported by an expert who explains that the dominance of the private sector in running kindergarten schools has its own negative impact on the overall operation and care.

“Unless there can be a consensus about the standards among the actors and enforcers, actors are likely to abuse the implementation whenever the enforcers are absent,” stated Abraham Asfaw, a curriculum and teacher development professional familiar with kindergarten education.

“When taken as a profit-making venture, the nature of the business may be changed and abused, the focus will merely be on generating money rather than treating it as a public service,” added the expert who has been conducting research on this topic.

The demand for more kindergartens and the low involvement of the government in the sector are contradictory, which leads educational offices within the government to become lenient in taking measures on those schools that do not fully meet the standards, according to Abraham.

For Mulualem, the only option for schools opened before the standards became functional five years ago, is to advise them to meet the standard. For those opened afterwards, on the other hand, fulfilling 75pc of the required standards is demanded of them.

This is still open for subjectivity and difficult to implement, according to Dagnachew Birhanu, education quality assurance and inspection officer at the Woreda education office.

“There are schools that are judged as meeting 75pc of standards, even when basic and visible gaps, such as tiny classrooms and small compounds, are observed,” he stated.

Abraham, agreeing with Dagnachew, argues the problem with the implementation emanates from the fact that the standards are not necessarily set by considering the local scenario.

“Policymakers are not informed of the local environment because there is little research done with regard to what should be included,” he concluded.

In the meantime, the demand for kindergartens in the city is projected to reach 2,006 in the 2013/14 fiscal year, which is almost twice the current number of schools. This figure is expected to increase further to 2,186 by the 2016/17 fiscal year.

The supply, however, is likely to still lag, in particular when considering school closures for not meeting standards. This gap keeps school costs high for parents like Azmera, who, though aware of the struggle to maintain standards, are left with little choice.  The Woreda where Tariku works now has five educational experts, up from zero three years ago; they may go around with some enforcement measures on kindergartens in their Woreda.


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