Biruh Tesfa for All

The Biruh Tesfa for All project supported 4,605 girls and was implemented by Population Council in Ethiopia.

The project worked with out-of-school girls, many of whom were rural-urban migrants and domestic workers. Rural-urban migrants are often young and female, with many migrating to escape a forced marriage in their rural community. These girls are less like to have attended school that urban natives and lack guardianship, social support and friendship networks. Many see their only option as domestic work which is among the lowest status forms of work in Ethiopia. Domestic work keeps girls and young women confined to the home, socially isolated and burdened with excessive domestic duties. These workers are also vulnerable to labour exploitation and sexual abuse.

The project supported 4,605 highly marginalised, out-of-school girls in Ethiopia with new skills and opportunities to facilitate their transition back into school, to improve their literary and numeracy, and to prepare for future employment. This was done through the establishment of safe spaces which were run local female mentors and teachers. Once in safe spaces groups, participating girls receive nonformal education, life skills, financial literacy and entrepreneurship training. After two years, the programme was designed to support girls’ positive transitions into either formal education following official certification in alternative basic education, further educational or training opportunities, or better forms of work.

Main activities

• Implementing the Ministry of Education's Alternative Basic Education curricula - a 24-month programme –with girls and supporting transition into formal education upon completion.
• Delivering training in life skills, financial literacy and entrepreneurship with mentor-led guidance and individualised counselling plans which included educational and livelihood goal setting.
• Training and continuous professional development of teachers and mentors.
• Working with community members and employers to ensure girls’ education is supported.
• Supporting girls with disabilities through teacher training, improving school accessibility and the provision of assistive devices and school kits
• Working with the Ethiopian Business and Disabilities Network for girls to ensure safe and inclusive employment opportunities.

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

Heavy domestic work burdens and resistance from employers was the main barrier to girls’ attendance. In addition, many girls were not given the time or support for remote learning during COVID-19. While house-to-house visits and community conversations were a good first step in engaging employers and host families in addressing attitudes towards domestic workers and girls’ work burdens, more intensive and continuous work with these stakeholders is needed to ensure girls’ education is supported.

A flexible and adaptable education programs is needed when working with highly marginalised learners. Programmes should consider the most appropriate scheduling and the likelihood of extended absences. Teaching and learning approaches should integrate catch-up and remedial strategies. In addition, multiple rounds of recruitment may be necessary to ensure that newly arriving girls have the opportunity to join and those who disengaged can re-engage, if they so wish.

Mental health interventions were important, especially for domestic workers. A considerable number of girls in the programme reported experiencing frequent anxiety, worry, sadness or depression. Many beneficiaries lack family support systems and many are simply on their own. In future interventions, mental health interventions should be intensified and should include group and individual counselling and linkages with mental health providers.

Additional support should be provided to those with limited ability in the language of instruction. Literacy tests demonstrated that beneficiaries whose native language was not the language of instruction - either Amharic or Oromiffa - had diminished performance compared to girls' whose native language was the language of instruction. More remedial support should be provided to these girls.

Population Council: http://www.popcouncil.org/