1. CIES Atlanta, March 9, 2017
Dessalegn Garsamo
Gabbiso

2. 1. Ethiopia- Contextual Background
1.1 Introduction of MT Instruction
Ethiopia a multiethnic, multilingual country in the horn of Africa- over 80 ethnic groups and languages.
Adopted positions and conventions in the international forums into its constitution and education policy.
Providing education in about fifty MT languages since through developing curriculum materials and capacity building

3. 1.1 Ethiopia: Contextual Background
The approach:
Educational experts from the MTs recommend whether the mother tongue should be used as a subject or medium of instruction at the first cycle or complete primary levels.
Regional/Zonal/District councils approve implementation modality and allocation of resources.

4. 1.2 Objectives Provisions in its constitution
Discuss the prospects existing in Ethiopian education system
Provisions in its constitution
Education and Training Policy and frameworks
Implementation modalities
Identify core challenges in the process of MT curriculum development and implementation
Suggest possible recommendations for future actions in line with relevant perspectives

5. 2. Data Source
Secondary data source, namely, document review at Federal MOE, RSEBs, and previous works;
Primary data, viz., interview with Federal MOE and Regional education officers particularly from Afar, Amhara, SNNPR, and Tigray

6. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions
Mother tongue as an integral part of prior knowledge necessary for students to move forward with their education.
Mother Tongue based bilingual programs use the learner’s first language to teach beginning reading and writing skills

7. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions…
The second or foreign language should be taught systematically so that learners can gradually transfer skills from the familiar language to the unfamiliar one.

8. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions…
In the Ethiopian Constitution of 1995, each regional state has the constitutional right to choose, develop and use the MTLs and promote the cultures of its citizens.
This, in other words, enables regional, zonal or district (woreda) councils to decide on the status of their languages to use as a subject or medium of instruction based on their context.

9. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions….
Article 39, 2
Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history.
Ethiopian Constitution (August 21, 1995),
Article 5, 1-3
All Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal state of recognition.

10. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions…
Ethiopian Education and Training Policy (April 1994) Promises
3.5 Languages and Education,
Cognizant of the pedagogical advantage of the child in learning in mother tongue and the rights of nationalities to promote the use of their languages, primary education will be given in nationality languages.
Making the necessary preparation, nations and nationalities can either learn in their own language or can choose from among those selected on the basis of national and countrywide distribution.

11. 3. Perspectives and Policy Provisions…
Amharic shall be the working language of the Federal Government .
Members of the Federation may determine their respective languages.
The language of teacher training for kindergarten and primary education will be the nationality language used in the area.

12. 4. What is happening Now?
From over 80 Mother Tongues (MTs) Ethiopia provides instruction in about 50 MTs as medium of instruction at primary level, and as a subject from primary to tertiary levels depending on their context.
The SNNP (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People) is using 10 MTLs as medium of instruction in G1-4, and about 20 MTs as a subject at different stages .

13. 4. Current Experience….
At national level, the remaining more than 30 languages have not yet developed orthography, and children who are speakers of these languages mostly use Amharic or a regional dominant language as media of instruction.

14. 4. What is happening….
4.1 MT Curriculum Development Status

15. 4. Current Experience… 3 MTs are being piloted at grade 1 level
11 MTs are being used for instruction at G1-4 level
17 MTs for G1-8; 2 MTs G1-10; 2 MTs for G1- 12
The remaining over 30 MTs are not used for instruction but use dominant languages instead.

16. 4. What is happening… 4.2 Teacher Development
12 MTs have pre-service (CTE) opportunity.
Two MTs for G1-8+CTE;
10 MTs for G1-University;
Massive short term and summer in-service teacher training takes place

17. 5. Challenges Difficulty in implementing all MTs: Resource:
Finance: developing curriculum and building capacity in all languages appears difficult
Human: skilled curriculum experts and teachers in the minority languages

18. 6. Recommendation
Strengthen the current effort through informed planning and mobilize resources
More integration of partner efforts in strengthening comprehensive strategy/framework:
MT based bilingual and/or multilingual approach
Informed decision on second language instruction for minority languages

19. dgabbiso@read.rti.org/
Thank You!

20. References
Benson, Carole. (2005). The Importance of Mother Tongue-based schooling for educational quality, p: 2.
Brown, Katie. (2016). Best Practices in Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education, for UNESCO
____ (1995). The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
MOE. (1994). Education and Training Policy of the FDRE
Malone, S. (2010). Planning Mother Tongue-Based Education Programs in Minority Language Communities
Seidel, K & Moritz, J. (2009). Changes in Ethiopia’s Language and Education Policy- Pioneering Reforms?