Lack of day care facilities is an obstacle to women’s participation in the formal working life in Ethiopia. Together with a number of partners, including central Ethiopian authorities, PfC has a pilot project to establish a Montessori-inspired day care for 0-4 year old children. If we succeed, this could be the start of a national development of day care for toddlers in Ethiopia.
Through our work on competence building and job creation for women, PfC has experienced that a lack of good solutions for childcare is a recurring challenge. Many women cannot participate in education programs or have to say no to job offers because they have no one to look after their youngest children. Investment in the social sector, including daycare development, is crucial to facilitating women’s professional participation.
With this project, which will be implemented in 2017-2021, PfC will contribute to the development of a model that guarantees high-quality kindergartens. Because there are almost no day care centers in Ethiopia today, there are many elements that must be in place. Therefore, many partners are involved in this project. The project consists of the following components:
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Education of pedagogues in collaboration with Waterpark Montessori International during the period March 2018 – June 2019
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Education of daycare assistants (6 months) 33 graduated in September 2019. A new round of education starts in December 2019.
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Management training
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Five daycare pilots at the following locations: Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural Development, Good Samaritan Training Center, vocational education center for poor girls, and Best Day Care, private day care.
- Guidance, monitoring and evaluation
PfC is responsible for the education of pedagogues, the training of assistants and the training of managers. PfC is also responsible for establishing the pilots, ie renovation of premises, furnishing etc. It is important that all parts of the daycare project are transformed into an Ethiopian context.
Anchored by the authorities
The project is anchored by Ethiopian authorities. It is signed MoU with Ministry of Education, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Women, Children and Youth (MWCY). MWCY is also the coordinating department. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will be a key partner in the development and approval of the pedagogical and assistant education.
Women’s participation in the workforce
An expansion of the Ethiopian day care sector will have a broad and positive social impact. First, the youngest children receive a customized educational program in their first years of life – which is of great importance for their further development. In addition, it is a key instrument for facilitating women’s participation in the workforce in line with men.
In addition, a daycare development will help to create a number of new jobs for women. Overall, this will help to include more women in the formal economy to become financially independent and taxpayers.
Contributors
The Grieg Foundation has supported our day care project with 4 million. This has given us the opportunity to:
1. Educate 38 teachers over three years.
2. Educate 180 assistants over three years.
3. Establish, operate and staff a day care center at GSTC. This day care center is helping poverty-stricken mothers who are participating in vocational education, and when they enter the workforce. It also offers room for other marginalized women in the surrounding area.
We thank the Grieg Foundation for their support.
