iTemari: Empowering Ethiopian Schools : simplebooklet.com

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540iTEMARI: EMPOWERING SCHOOLS WITH DIGITAL EDUCATION IN ETHIOPIAWe have recently signed a new agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education to continue and expand our collaboration for a further five years, through to 2028, and we urgently need your help to achieve our ambitious goals. The project aims to: • Equip 875 schools with 35,000 computers – 35-40 computers per school• Provide each school with a server hosting local curriculum-alignedcontent and innovative learning platforms• Train 9,450 educators• Impact 790,000 learners.The new eLearning centres will have a number of significant upgrades based on our learning from previous installations including:• Additional refresher training provided annually for four years• Scheduled Maintenance provided annually for four years• Upgraded computer specifications to meet current needs• A variety of updated digital content and software that is aligned with thenational curriculum• Increase from 25 to 35-40 PCs per school, to cope with often very largeclass sizes• Appropriate removal and processing of eWaste from these andpreviously supported schools in conjunction with the Federal Ministry ofEducation (MoE)Camara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

Page 3

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540BACKGROUND: CAMARA EDUCATIONAND OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIACamara Education is a lean, professional organisation charged with delivering the best value for money possible to its donors. We appreciate the generosity of our sponsors, whether corporate or individual, who are good enough to make such a commitment. You can rest assured that your funding will be used wisely and effectively to do what it says on the tin.To date Camara has installed more than 134,000 computers, trained over 65,000 teachers and given over 4.4m students access to technology. Our target is to reach and exceed 5m students by 2024. We work very closely with national education ministries, local government authorities and teachers’ organisations to ensure the sustainability of our programmes.Camara Ethiopia is a registered not-for-profit social enterprise that is managed and run by locals. Our office is located in Addis Ababa and has a team of 14 employees, mainly comprising technicians and trainers. We offer internships and volunteer opportunities to around 40 students every year, and some of them eventually join our team. Since 2011, Camara Ethiopia has worked in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Education to improve access to quality education in disadvantaged communities throughout Ethiopia and to support the education sector in line with government strategies and policies. To date, Camara Ethiopia has installed 63,449 computers in 2,859 schools, impacting almost two million students. By the end of 2024, we will have supported our 3,000th school in Ethiopia.Our local team in Addis Ababa unpacks and thoroughly tests the refurbished computers we ship out. They install an open-source operating system (Ubuntu) and load educational software and content aligned to the national curriculum and in local languages on each computer. All the computers are also loaded with an offline version of Wikipedia, creating an extraordinary learning resource for schools which often have no library books and limited internet connections. And most important of all, the computers are installed with Ministry of Education textbooks covering the entire school curriculum. Textbooks are in very short supply in many of Ethiopia’s 40,000 schools, so this alone is a crucial resource, enabling students to access information even in areas where the lack of good internet connectivity can mean they have no or sporadic access to online content. Camara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

Page 4

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540Our technicians travel to each school and kit out a fully functional eLearning centre, installing cabling and anti-surge protection along with 40 computers and a local server.The most critical element of our programme is to actively train both school management and teachers to ensure they have the necessary digital skills to maximise the use of the eLearning centre in their school. Follow-up training courses are provided annually for four years to ensure sustainability and targets are achieved.We also offer maintenance and support to ensure that the centres remain fully functional – remote support at any time, backed up for four years by an annual maintenance visit from one of our technicians. In addition, we aim to ensure that the disposal and recycling of digital devices and materials is done in an appropriate and environmentally friendly manner through our local partners, HEFLI, an e-waste recycling centre certified by the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA). We collect all e-waste from our supported schools and endeavour to ensure its processed sustainably according to international standards. Bole Secondary schoolCamara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

Page 5

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540YOUR SCHOOLWhen you sponsor a school, above all you will be delivering essential digital skills to around 500 students. Some of the students at these schools may never have seen a computer before – we aim to ensure that they leave school with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century workplace; able to use a spreadsheet and a word-processing programme, and to use digital research tools and the internet. You will also be contributing to the sustainable development of education, technology and society in Ethiopia. We also endeavour to significantly improve students’ ICT skills and exam results in the schools we support (currently, many students take ICT exams that will be administered at school level having studied theory but never having used a real computer). Camara will also launch ICT clubs to help students gain more hands-on digital skills outside of school hours in order to improve their ICT skills. This will provide them with a broader understanding of ICT in addition to what can be covered in class.We will select a school and provide you with its details. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the school will have been vetted to ensure that it provides appropriate infrastructure – concrete floors, a secure and well-ventilated room, surge protection – where we can complete the kit-out with cabling, networking and computers. At the same time, we deliver 1-2 days of leadership training for school management, school committeemembers, school leaders and parents’ representatives. This istremendously important as it sets out clearly what we want to achieve,helps foster a culture of success and of utilising IT extensively in the schooland ensures buy-in from these key stakeholders. We will also engageparents to ensure they are fully informed on progress and continue tosupport the program for the benefit of their children.The eLearning centre will contain 40 desktop computers, a server and, wherever possible, internet access for use by students. All computers will have access to offline educational resources which are aligned to the local curriculum.We will offer 5 days of face-to-face training to at least ten of the school’s teachers to build their digital skills base and equip them with the skills and knowledge to integrate IT in their teaching. Remote support will also be available to teachers, along with two additional days of refresher training in years 2 to 4.Camara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

Page 6

Page 7

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540REPORTING BACK TO YOUMonitoring and Evaluation (M&E) will take place over the four years of the project, with baseline, midline and endline data gathered from the school to measure our impact and serve as the foundation of our reporting to our sponsors and other stakeholders. Progress will be measured through the usage data collected from the computers, surveys and interviews with students, teachers and school leaders.We will provide three reports to you:A preliminary report: to confirm that the eLearning centre has been completed and is fully functional.An interim/midline report: which will let you know how the students are performing and give you an update on progress made and what is happening in the school.A final report: that summarises the project's achievements and challenges over the four years, and that quantifies the project's impact on learning outcomes such as exam results and ICT skills in the schools we supported.Impact reports will also be provided to government authorities and other stakeholders to ensure all have consistent, concise and relevant information about the project and their unique role in it. We will also share testimonials, pictures and video clips demonstrating how teachers and students are benefiting from the project.Expected Key OutcomesThese are the ambitious objectives that we aim to achieve through this project: • Our main goal is to provide at least 500 students per school withessential ICT skills and access to digital content that can enhance theirlearning in core subjects. By the end of the project, we expect thestudents to demonstrate higher levels of satisfaction and confidence inusing well-known ICT applications and tools, including wordprocessors, spreadsheets and PowerPoint. We also expect them todevelop competencies in using educational content and resources toaid their subject learning and for research purposes. These skills willprepare them for the world of work. We will measure this outcome bycollecting and analysing usage data from all computers, such as whichapps and content students interacted with, the duration and frequencyof their usage, as well as through surveys and interviews with students,teachers and school leaders.Camara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

Page 8

Camara Education UK LtdCharity reg 1135540• Our secondary goal is to improve the academic performance and examresults of the students in the schools that we support. According to the2022 Ethiopian Grade 12 National Examination results released by theEthiopia National Educational Assessment and Examination Services inJanuary 2023, only 3.3% of the 896,520 students who took the examscored 350 (50%) or above out of 700. Moreover, only 10 studentsscored 500 or more in the natural sciences, while 263 students scored600 or more in the social sciences. These poor results indicate thechallenges and the low quality of education in the country. We aim toaddress this issue by equipping schools with innovative digital learningsolutions and providing ongoing training and support to both schoolmanagement and teachers. We want to ensure that they have the ICTskills to teach and guide the students effectively. We will monitor thisoutcome by comparing the students’ performance data before andafter the project. We will also provide follow-up support and trainingcourses for teachers to ensure that they sustain their progress andachieve the targets.PROJECT COSTS AND TIMELINESThe cost of sponsoring an Ethiopian school is €10,000 (£9000, $11,000). This covers all cabling and network requirements, 35-40 high-quality, refurbished computers, a server and all leadership and teacher training (including annual refresher training), support and maintenance for a four-year period.Upon receipt of sponsor funds, it will take between 1 and 3 months to have the eLearning centre ready for use. Computers are currently in stock in our hub in Ethiopia and all cabling and other requirements can be sourced locally.We would also like to recognise your generosity through our website and via social media if that would be acceptable to you. There is no pressure to do so and if you prefer anonymity that is completely fine.Finally, it goes without saying that should you visit Ethiopia we would be delighted to provide you with a warm welcome and endeavour to ensure you have the opportunity to visit your sponsored school to see at first-hand how your generosity has made a difference to so many lives. Camara Education CLG Charity RCN 20062088

iTemari: Empowering Ethiopian Schools

Page 1