Ethiopian streetkids turn to PCs in language challenge

david — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:30:04 +0000

Ethiopia: In the shadow of Addis Ababa’s biggest Orthodox church, notes Reuters, more than 100 street children cluster around gazing as Amharic script flashes on computer screens before them. Ethiopia, one of Africa’s biggest and poorest countries, has more than 80 languages. Experts say a quarter of those are on the verge of extinction, and the government faces a tricky balance between protecting its linguistic heritage and training workers to compete in a globalised world.

As a result, the five-year-olds at Medhamiyalus Church’s tiny primary school have to tackle three different tongues: their local language, Amharic — the official language of Ethiopian business and politics — and English. “English is most important for our students, otherwise they cannot cope, they cannot get the proper education intended for them,” school principal Fikre Teferra told Reuters TV.

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USAID Supports English Language Improvement in Primary Schools

david — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:42:01 +0000

Ethiopia & United States: Nazrfet.com notes that as part of its ongoing commitment to support Ethiopia’s educational system, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), launched today a new education training program to strengthen primary school teaching. The Teach English for Life Learning (TELL) program will train 20,000 English language teachers from grades 6, 7 and 8 across schools throughout Ethiopia.

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Ethiopian streetkids turn to PCs in language challenge

USAID Supports English Language Improvement in Primary Schools