‘Building Forward’: EDTF to Build Four Schools in Amhara, Afar Regions
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund or EDTF announced a $3 million school construction project named ‘building forward’.
Under the project, EDTF will build four secondary schools in the most war-affected regions of Ethiopia – Afar and Amhara regional states.
“This initiative allows us to make the greatest impact at this time given the number of schools destroyed because of the war,” says EDTF in a statement sent to EM.
“This project will contribute to meeting the critical need to provide education in the rural and war-affected areas.”
The Fund will build two schools in each region in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education.
The schools will serve a total of 3,840 students.
“After months of feasibility studies and careful deliberation in concert with” the Ministry, EDTF said “this initiative will enable the Ethiopian Diaspora to have a meaningful and critical impact in responding to the current crisis while also contributing to our mission”.
The Fund is now preparing to select the specific locations of the schools based on inaccessibility and increasing demand for secondary education caused by the destruction of schools, and other key criteria .
“Each school will be constructed to meet the standard design requirements established by the Ministry of Education to provide a safe and secure educational environment for students,” said the Fund.
“The requirements include classrooms with adequate space for students, offices for staff, rooms for a library, laboratory, recreation, store, counseling, first aid, latrine, and storage.”
The Fund is a non-profit organization working in coordination with the Ethiopian government to directly involve diaspora Ethiopians in improving the lives of the Ethiopian people by raising funds for vital socio-economic projects in their country.
Featured Image Caption: The Fund plans to build two schools in each regions. In this file photo, Pupils attend a class at Kursa Primary School in Afar Region of Ethiopia 27 November 2013. [Photo File/UNICEF Ethiopia]
