Summary
In the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS), over 80% of the physical facilities of schools are reportedly below standard, not suitable for children to learn comfortably. Moreover they lack books other than text, science kits and other materials that can provide children with hands-on learning opportunities. Knowing that education is key for their children to escape poverty, parents are willing to contribute an amount compromising their other needs. They have to because the educational departments only have a small budget for teachers' salaries and other running costs.
Partners in Education Ethiopia is very successful in community fundraising and also manages to convince other stakeholders to get involved and contribute, either financially or with in-kind donations.
Tips and lessons learned
The 'Tips and lessons learned' were formulated jointly by Partners in Education Ethiopia and some participating schools:
• Someone has to take the initiative. Some parents or teachers, one or more people have to see the problem.
• Then involve as many people as possible. Bring everyone to the school and show them the current situation. Make sure that everyone understands that the situation is not good and agrees that together you can improve. This is not only for parents, but also for potential donors, everyone should be aware of the importance and the urgency of the problem. In other words: ‘If it is near and dear to you, you can do a lot'.
• Appoint a committee to coordinate. The committee should consist of the people who are most trusted by the community. People have to be sure that the committee members will take good care of their money and will really do the project.
• Put all money raised in a bank account. In this way, it will be safe.
• Work with receipts; this increases the trust. So make sure you can issue an official receipt when people donate.
• All committees were very happy with the support of Partners in Education. They could help to connect to the government offices for example where needed. Their input and commitment are highly valued by the communities. They are really feeling it like a partnership.
• In case of a new school, make sure that the government is involved and will pay teachers' salaries, etc. when finished.
• Trust and commitment are the key aspects. If these are in place, it will be fine.
• Keep the community involved about progress, be transparent.
• Use the momentum, if we don't do it now, when will it be possible!
Review by Wilde Ganzen Foundation
All Partners in Education projects include construction of classroom blocks, latrines, a library, administrative and science laboratory blocks, as well as provision of furniture and library books. Part of the project budget also goes towards: training workshops for all teachers and administrators; sanitation and hygiene workshops for students and teachers; provision of access to clean water; playing fields, with basic sports equipment; eye health; and a greening and gardening programme. Partners in Education does not just build schools and run. Rather, as much as possible, they establish long-term relationships with the schools and communities until the envisaged changes happen and local capacities are strengthened such that the benefits of the project can continue long after the end of the project.
This comprehensive approach is one of the strongest points of the programme. Partners in Education also deserves a compliment for the way in which they form strong partnerships with each community in which they work.
And although we have termed this an action for slightly experienced organisations, please remember that Partners in Education developed this method of working and fundraising right at the start of their activities, so don't be put off if you are a starting organisation and wish to embark on a similar course.
Details
Short description of the organisation the funds were raised for
The mission of Partners in Education Ethiopia (formerly Frances G. Cosco Foundation) is to improve the lives of disadvantaged people in Ethiopia through quality education. We follow a holistic approach to addressing the multiple barriers children and youth in poor communities face in accessing, and succeeding in, education. Partners in Education Ethiopia pursues a bottom up approach in project selection, requires communities to share costs of projects, and implements projects in partnership with target schools, local communities, education offices, academic institutions and other partners over 3-5 years.
We are very proud of what we have accomplished since coming together as an organisation in 2015. In that short time we have upgraded the entire physical facilities of 10 primary schools and built 3 new primary and 3 high schools. We have been implementing our holistic approach in all the 16 schools, benefiting 25,805 children to date. Of the total students, 95 (41 deaf, 16 blind and 38 mentally challenged) learn in the special needs units of five of our primary schools We will be opening 3 new primary schools and a high school in 2022.
Short description of the project or programme the funds were raised for
Funds locally raised have been used and will be used for improving/increasing access to, and quality of, primary and general secondary education.
Many children who strive to get out of poverty through education are not achieving their dreams because of the poor quality of education in almost all public schools.
The funds are used for achieving the following key results:
1. Upgrading existing physical facilities/building new schools: demolishing all falling and hard to use physical facilities and replacing them by new cement, well lighted and ventilated rooms and furnishing them all.
2. Improving quality of learning by providing library books, science kits and digital contents in different formats, equipment and materials for after school activities and training on running book clubs and other co-curricular activities.
3. Improving quality of teaching and instructional leadership through training on best teaching practices, classroom follow up and personalised support for 3-5 years, as well as exposure visits.
4. Improving access to water and latrines and practices of personal hygiene and environmental sanitation.
5. Converting school open spaces into green hands-on outdoor learning environments, environmental learning centers and sources of sustainable income for the school and children whose parents could not buy them uniforms and learning materials.
Apart from cash, Partners in Education also solicits a lot of in kind support. A few examples:
. they get tree seedlings and expertise from the Bahir Dar University and the district agricultural office;
. the district health offices help to identify sites for construction of latrines and train students in personal hygiene and sanitation;
. the community and students take care of the tree planting and protecting work at no cost to the project.
Summary of fundraising action
All communities have to raise a lot of money. They used various techniques to so:
• The poorest community members were brought together to agree on a minimum amount that every parent should contribute. They ended up with 500 birr (a bit less than 10 euro) per child in school. Richer parents were asked to donate more.
• The committee formed sub committees in different regions; a subcommittee in Bahir Dar, in Addis, in the USA, etc. to approach community members who moved there.
• The committee developed lists of people to be approached. In one village, they took the old registers of the primary school to see which people attended the school in the past and where they are now. Once they knew who to approach, they would assess the person’s wealth and decide what amount to ask. And they would also develop a strategy: who will call this person, do we invite him to the school to see the situation, will we send her a WhatsApp message, etc. In short: a personalised approach.
• Every committee organised a number of bazars with an auction. The community was invited to join and donate money or something else. People came to donate oxes, donkeys, jewellery, etc. besides cash. People were invited to come and buy the donated items in an auction. These people were government officials, people from neighbouring communities, etc.
Targeted donors
Members of the community, government and non-government agencies, churches and mosques. Bahir Dar University and local governments also make cash in in-kind contributions to the projects within their jurisdictions.
Results
| Cost/benefit |
National currency (Birr |
Euro |
| Total amount raised |
0 |
0 |
| (-) Total amount invested |
0 |
0 |
| Net amount raised |
0 |
0 |
Description of preparatory work
1. Investigate the proposal of the community.
2. Bring together possible project partners.
3. Discuss project plan, responsibilities and cost sharing.
4. Record agreements in a multi-party contract.
Description of implementation
1. Communities and other local partners raise their share of the project budget.
2. The agreed amounts should be deposited into the bank account of Partner in Education prior to starting the project. This approach enables Partners in Education to go to implementation after securing 100% of the estimated cost of the multi-year project and it enhances broader community participation and a true sense of ownership as well as creating synergy among multiple actors.
Plans to repeat the action
Partners in Education will continue to build and rehabilitate schools, using the same holistic, bottom-up and participatory approach to funding and project implementation.
