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Ethiopia Dialogue Supports Policymakers to Create Strategies for 2022-2023

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UNESCO IICBA

The second national Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) Africa 19 Hub Dialogue was held on January 29th, 2022, at the Executive Hotel in Adama, Ethiopia, following the first national dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2021. The dialogue brought together more than 25 participants from different directories of the Ministry of Education (MoE); the National Commission for UNESCO; the Ethiopia Teachers Association; and the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building for Africa (IICBA). The policymakers spent the day deliberating over evidence and identifying priorities and promising practices in four themes selected by the MoE: education planning, school improvement programs, early childhood education, and education management information systems.

Moderated by Dr. Eyeursalem Azmeraw, a Project Officer at UNESCO IICBA, the dialogue commenced with introductions from the GPE KIX focal point, Ato Getachew Admasu, who serves as the Resource Mobilization Senior Expert at the MoE. Joy Nafungo, Senior Programme Manager at the International Development Research Centre, and Dr. Bezawit Girma, Secretary General for UNESCO Natcom in Ethiopia, also helped frame the relevance and significance of the objectives of the GPE KIX project in Ethiopia. Further welcoming remarks from UNESCO IICBA, the African Union’s Education Program, and UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) also provided context to the scope of technical assistance provided by the project’s consortium partners.

Opening the presentation and panel component of the dialogue, Dr. Yohannes Benti, President of the Teachers Association in Ethiopia, led a session on translating research in policy and practice. Following this, Ato Wodajo Yohannes, Director General of the School Improvement Program, shared some of the Ministry's evolving responses to educational learning challenges caused by the global pandemic which included the utilization of technology and school reopening strategies.

Additionally, participants also heard the great strides achieved by the MoE through its education planning in roadmaps such as various iterations of the Education Sector Development Programme from Ato Biazen, Planning and Resource Mobilization Team Leader. Ato Sebsibie Lema, EMIS Director, furthermore shared progress as well as challenges related to education management information systems.

In the final part of the day, participants working in groups identified and agreed upon priorities by formulating strategies targeting specific thematic areas in a call to action. The KIX Africa 19 Hub will provide support to the participants as they pursue the priorities and strategies in the call to action.

The KIX Africa 19 Hub is a four-year project funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) that supports 18 countries in Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa in their pursuit of their educational development goals, particularly in teaching and learning; learning assessment systems; early childhood education; gender equity and inclusion; and confronting the data challenge in education.

For more information on the KIX Africa 19 Hub, please visit our website housed on UNESCO IICBA’s website, and visit our digital repository to access more than two hundred national and regional policies, research, and resources on teaching and learning, assessment, early childhood education, gender equity and inclusion, and the data challenge in education.