Major achievements
Since its establishment, BEN-E has made a number of achievements some of which are the following:
Engagement in policy
BEN-E has participated in national level policy consultations on education:
Participation in National Meetings:
Annual Review Meetings (ARM) of the Ministry of Education and donors; In the development of national strategies on ABE, AE, NFTVET, and ECCE on the Implementation guidelines for the AE and ABE national strategies, and also the national three-year Action Plan for AE.
Organizing national meetings:
The 2005 Joint Review Mission (GOV-Donor group); The 2006 Annual Review Meeting (GOV-Donor group); and the 2006 national symposium on Quality of Education in Ethiopia.
Strengthening partnership:
Members’ active engagement in BEA-E activities:
Establishment of various committees on PR and membership affairs; Partnership development and fund-raising; Capacity Building and granting; Advocacy and Campaign; and Program development.
Formation of six Thematic Groups on ABE, AE, Girls education, Pastoral community education, ECCE, and Inclusive education.
Partnership with others:
Participation in the establishment of GO-NGO forum nationally;
Participation in the establishment of the national Pastoral education forum which is on progress.
Work with ANCEFA and GCE as a member.
Capacity building of member organizations:
Trainings/workshops
Various trainings/workshops have been organized to build the capacity of members and partners and to facilitate the realization of the EFA goals in Ethiopia.
External visits/trainings have been organized for members in various African countries.
Granting
Funds raised from donors have been granted to member organizations that submitted sound and innovative proposals with the objective of enhancing capacity to member organizations.. Financial and narrative reports have been submitted to the funding organizations.
Major Achievements in this regarded were:
Seven ABE centers constructed;
Five non-formal education centers constructed;
Two ABE centers renovated;
1,687 male and 1,432 female, a total of 3,119 ABE students have attended schools;
Financial and technical support was provided for typesetting and illustration of ABE textbook production for Addis Ababa City Government Education Bureau;
97 women got access to adult literacy;
Various equipment, furniture, textbooks, blackboards and stationery materials were provided to ABE Centers and Adult and Non-formal Education Literacy Centers:
Various awareness raising activities, capacity building programs, workshops and trainings were conducted;
Adequate supports were provided for children with different types of disabilities.
As it is seen from the Table the total number of students attending in ABE Centers was 3,119 out of which 1,432 or 46% were females.
Celebration of events
BEN-E has been nationally coordinating the Global Action Week in April and the International Literacy Day in September every year for the last eight years with different themes. The international days are celebrated in partnership with the Ministry of Education, international organizations working on education and BEN-E members.
Celebrating the GCE every year:
GCE 2005 was celebrated with the theme “Please Send My Friend to school” coordinated by BEA-E focusing on access to education.
GCE 2006 was marked by various activities in Ethiopia. The theme was “Every child needs a teacher” focusing on teachers and quality of education.
GCE 2007 was celebrated with the theme “Join Up for Education Rights Now” in Addis Ababa and at Regional levels.
GAW 2008 celebrated with the theme “Quality Education to End Exclusion’.
GAW 2009 celebrated with the theme “Youth and Adult Literacy and Lifelong learning”.
GAW 2010 celebrated with the theme “1-GOAL: Education For All Fund it Now!”
GAW 2011 Celebrated with the theme “Women and Girls Education”
Celebrating ILD every year:
The International Literacy Day has been celebrated on September 8 every year.
The ILD 2008 was celebrated in Afar region with the motto “Literacy is the Best Remedy”.
The ILD 2009 has been celebrated at national level with the theme “The Power of Literacy”.
ILD 2010 was celebrated with the theme “The Power of women’s Literacy”
ILD 2011 “ “ “ “ “Literacy for Peace and Sustainable Devpt.
Researches
The following researches were conducted:
An Assessment of NGOs (BEA-E Member and non-member NGOs) Working on Alternative Basic Education in Ethiopia (ABE).
Study on Debt Relief, Development Aid and Financing of Education: with special focus on primary education (With the support of O-GB).
An Assessment of the Implementation Status and Impact of the “Directive for Educational Management, Organization, Public Participation and Finance (Blue Book)” of the Ministry of Education.
A study on the Role and contribution of ABE in Attaining MDGs and EFA goals in Ethiopia: Successes, challenges and prospects.
Gender Budgeting for Advocacy and Promoting Girls’ Education at the Primary Level.
The Quality of ABE in BEN-E member Organizations.
PR and Communication
Quarterly newsletter of BEN-E has been published focusing on profile and good practices of member organizations.
A resource centre has been established with a library and an Internet café that gives services to members.
