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Transcript/ScriptEthiopia-Drought Education (TV)
HEADLINE: Drought Prompts Over 600,000 School Dropouts in Ethiopia
TEASER: Aid groups and educators are making efforts to get drought-displaced children back into the classroom
PUBLISHED AT: 05/11/22 at 9:30AM
BYLINE: Linda Givetash & Michele Spatari
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Johannesburg
VIDEOGRAPHER: Michele Spatari
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, BR
VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:02
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: There is a radio story accompanying this piece.))
((INTRO)) [[The U.N. says the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in decades has displaced hundreds of thousands of families and forced more than 600,000 Ethiopian children to drop out of schools. Aid group Save the Children has built centers near displacement camps for children so they can continue their education. Linda Givetash reports from the Ethiopian town of Gode.]]
((NARRATOR))
This may look like fun and games, but these children are developing the skills and confidence they need to transition back to the classroom.
More than 900,000 families have been displaced by the ongoing drought that has wiped out livelihoods for both herders and farmers.
These children are among those who were forced to leave home.
((Alinoor Mohamed, Save the Children, (English, 12 sec))
“Due to the different psychological trauma as a result of the displacement, drought, death of the livestock. And so, we, you know, we had to set up a place where children can come, at least play and have fun, have some fun, and just forget what's going around their family, the household.”
((NARRATOR))
The effort has helped displaced children like Ahmed get excited about their education.
((Ahmed Nour, Fifth-Grade Student (Somali, 20 sec))
“I saw children my age learning. I asked my parents to let me join school. They brought me here and I am now at this level, in grade 5.”
((NARRATOR))
Baseline education standards are poor in parts of Ethiopia — particularly in rural and remote communities.
According to the United Nations’ Children’s Fund, UNICEF, over 60 percent of primary school students aren’t achieving pass rates high enough to succeed at higher levels of education.
This means that only 54 percent of children make it past the eighth grade.
UNICEF officials say that’s why reducing disruptions to schooling is so crucial.
((Gianfranco Rotigliano, UNICEF Ethiopia Country Director (English, 20 sec))
“If they lose one or two school years, they will never go back to school. Because it's the issue, you know, when you are 14, and you have to sit with people that are 11 years old, or 12, you don't feel comfortable. And, you know, the family is poor, so they don't see really a reason to push for that. So the impact is dramatic.”
((NARRATOR))
One of the incentives being offered is school feeding programs.
But Save the Children had to stop offering meals to children at this school late last year because funding was not renewed.
With malnutrition rising because of drought, the organization tries to provide high-nutrition biscuits to keep children from falling ill.
In the meantime, they try other ways to urge parents to enroll their children.
((Shafi Omar Osman, School Director, (Somali, 11 sec))
“We have shown them other school children who have excelled in education and used such examples to raise awareness on the importance of education.”
((NARRATOR))
The chance to get an education they wouldn’t otherwise have in the remote, rural communities can lead to a very different life from their pastoralist families. And that’s what 16-year-old Nour hopes for.
((Ahmed Nour, Fifth Grade Student (Somali, 9 sec))
“I would only be a pastoralist living in the jungle. I would like to learn and then to teach, to help my parents.”
((NARRATOR))
With more families flooding into this displacement camps every week, classrooms are increasingly overcrowded.
Educators say a permanent school will need to be built for the long run.
((Linda Givetash, for VOA News, Gode, Ethiopia))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Johannesburg
Embargo DateMay 11, 2022 16:12 EDT
Byline((Linda Givetash, for VOA News, Gode, Ethiopia))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
