Educational Reflections from Eritrea Learning for All

EDUCATIONAL REFLECTIONS FROM ERITREA LEARNING FOR ALL Educational Reflections from Eritrea Learning for All Eritrea–Finland Collaboration Project in Higher Education (2015–2017) This volume contains original research papers from the participants of the Eritrea Learning for All (ELFA) project. The ELFA project (2015–2017) was implemented in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, the Eritrea Institute of Technology (EIT), Asmara Community College of Education (ACCE) and the Eritrea Ministry of Ed- ucation (MOE). The ELFA project attempted to contribute towards building the capacity of teacher education in Eritrea by providing professional support and training to staff from different institutions. The volume consists of eight pilot studies conducted to provide opportunities for the Educational Reflections from Eritrea participants to exercise their research skills collaboratively, with support from senior experts from Eritrea and Finland. Research themes included parental involvement and Learning for All support, pedagogy of teacher education, educational leadership and management, technology (ICT) in education, literacy research and instruction, numeracy research and instruction, and understanding and managing learning difficulties. Eritrean and Finn- Eritrea–Finland Collaboration Project in Higher ish experts collaborated on preparing the instruments used in the research. Data were collected from five elementary schools and one teacher education institution in Asmara, Education (2015–2017) and analysed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The studies provide insights into the current situation of education in Eritrea. Challeng- es in providing quality education for all are discussed in the critical areas of literacy and numeracy. Findings on leadership, management and school-community relations en- courage further collaboration in achieving quality learning for all. The studies also iden- Yonas Mesfun Asfaha, Abraham Belay, tify areas for further research on the critical themes. The volume is distributed in both print and PDF formats to ensure wide access to all stakeholders committed to working Sirpa Eskelä-Haapanen & Markku Leskinen (Eds.) towards enhancing the quality of education in Eritrea. © University of Jyväskylä (Finland) & Eritrea Institute of Technology (Eritrea) ISBN: 978-951-39-7300-1 (print) Cover painting by Mokonen Tesfay Educational Reflections from Eritrea Learning for All Educational Reflections from Eritrea Learning for All Eritrea–Finland Collaboration Project in Higher Education (2015–2017) Yonas Mesfun Asfaha, Abraham Belay, Sirpa Eskelä-Haapanen & Markku Leskinen (Eds.) eritrea institute of technology Cover painting by Mokonen Tesfay Layout by Markku Leskinen Permanent link to this publication: http: //urn.fi/URN:ISBN:979-951-39-7301-8 URN: ISBN:978-951-39-7301-8 ISBN 978-951-39-7301-8 (pdf) ISBN 978-951-39-7300-1 (print) Copyright © 2017, by University of Jyväskylä (Finland) & Eritrea Institute of Technology (Eritrea) Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2017 Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ xi Acknowledgments .................................................................................xvii List of abbreviations ............................................................................... xix Educational system in Eritrea �� 1 Educational system and its governance to support literacy and numeracy in Eritrea ................................................................................... 2 Foundational skills �� 35 Analysis of first graders’ spelling of Tigrigna pseudowords .............36 Reading comprehension skills in different text types among fifth graders in Tigrigna mother tongue ........................................................52 The number sense level in the Eritrean classroom – A pilot study in grade 1 and grade 5 ..................................................................................72 Learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy learning in Eritrean context – A document analysis study ....................................................95 Parent–Teacher partnership and support �� 113 Parental involvement in children’s literacy and numeracy skill acquisition ................................................................................................114 Parent–teacher partnership in support of student learning in Eritrean elementary schools ��132 ICT in teacher preparation �� 143 Information and communication technology in Asmara Community College of Education – Student teachers’ perceptions .......................144 Appendixes �� 155 Appendix 1. List of authors ��156 Appendix 2. List of contributors during the book project ...........................158 xi Preface This book is the outcome of an Eritrea-Finland collaboration project on building capacity in institutions of higher education (IHE) in Eritrea. The Eritrea Learning for All (ELFA) project, one of five IHE projects, was aimed at building the professional and research capacity of staff at the College of Education of the Eritrea Institute of Technology (EIT), Asmara Community College of Education (ACCE) and Eritrea Ministry of Education (MOE). To achieve this goal, the project delivered capacity-building modules with the help of Eritrean and Finnish experts in different fields. This volume contains original research papers from the participants of the eight capacity-building modules implemented through different in- structional modes, such as intensive workshops, distance learning and independent work conducted by the participants and realised in pre- and post-workshop assignments, readings and written reflections. The last of these capacity-building modules was on research methodology, including the design, implementation or fieldwork, analysis and reporting of research projects. The following chapters are the reports of these research exercises whereby the participants of the modules formed groups and conducted fieldwork, collected data, and analysed and reported on these in the format of the articles presented in this book The school system in Eritrea comprises two years of pre-school, five years of primary school, three years of middle school and four years of secondary school. Successful completion of secondary school and satisfactory results in the Eritrean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations allow can- didates to continue their tertiary education in one of the seven IHE in the country. Outside these formal channels, the MOE provides adult education programmes and complementary elementary education for out-of-school children (over school age). Public and private vocational centres provide various programmes of training in diverse fields. Some of the major challenges facing schools in Eritrea are high dropout rates and low learning outcomes. Although enrolment rates have steadily increased over the years, dropout rates have reached between 5–7% in primary schools. Many of the possible reasons for this remain understudied; the possibility of unidentified learning difficulties among children and the low acceptability among school communities of some of the home language or ‘mother tongue’ programmes and the effect of these on enrolment and dropout needs further attention. Another closely related problem is the low learning achievement results reported by a number of surveys, such as the Monitoring Learning Achievements and the National Reading Survey, sponsored by the MOE. xii The key to facing these and other challenges in education at all levels in Eritrea was believed to be teachers and teacher education. The ELFA project attempted to contribute towards building the capacity of teacher education in the country by providing professional support and training to staff from different institutions. Established and implemented in 2015, ELFA is a Higher Education Insti- tutional Cooperation project between EIT and the University of Jyväskylä (JYU). The project is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Finnish National Board of Education coordinates it under The Eritrea Specific HEI ICI Programme (Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument). The project will run up to the end of 2017. The overall objective of ELFA is to provide support for advanced professional development of the academic teaching staff at the College of Educa- tion (COE), ACCE and MOE. Over 60 participants, of whom 10 were female, participated in different activities in the two-year life of the project. A number of capacity-building modules were provided to develop the professional capacity of the staff involved in teacher education at COE, ACCE and MOE. The modules in the ELFA project were designed to equip the par- ticipating staff with the most current and relevant knowledge and practices required for teacher education and development in Eritrea by following a research-based teacher education model. Different assignments, such as pre-workshop assignments, self-reflection papers, and learning logs and research plans, were provided to strengthen the capacities

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