Where we do it > Eritrea

Facts & Figures Population: 5m Capital city: Asmara GDP per capita: $1109 HDI ranking: 157 out of 177 countries * Life expectancy: 60

Country background

VSO Eritrea volunteers are working in the area of education. There are three areas of focus: to improve the quality of English language teaching; address needs in pre-service and in-service teacher training and support institutional development for vocational learning centres and selected departments of the Ministry of Education (MOE) including the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Unit.

There is a severe shortage of teachers in Eritrea across all school levels and only a limited number of them are qualified for the particular school level in which they are employed. There is also a very big gender gap in the teaching profession in Eritrea. Female teachers comprise 40%, 12% and 10% of the teaching force at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels respectively, which means that many girls who attend school lack female role models.

The capacity of the teacher training institutes to train sufficient numbers of new teachers is weak so education management and teacher trainer volunteers are working with these institutions to train and retrain national teachers to deliver higher quality teaching. Volunteers are also supporting the Adult Education and Media Unit of the MOE to develop its distance learning programme, and supporting district education offices in the development and management of resources centres for teachers.

English is the medium of instruction starting at the junior secondary level in Eritrea. However, English teaching at earlier stages is so poor that students who complete primary education are often unable to communicate in English. Volunteers with English language teaching experience are working to improve quality of teaching mainly by providing professional support for teachers.

The Ministry of Education is also promoting the role of vocational training institutes, which offer students the opportunity to develop skills that will later help secure employment. Volunteers in this area are helping to develop relevant and practical curricula; assisting technical and vocational instructors to link training to the needs in the job market; helping to develop and implement apprenticeship schemes to provide students with practical work experience.

Another area where volunteers are making valuable contributions is in supporting the MOE to refine and implement its ICT in Education policy. In this area volunteers are involved in developing appropriate teaching materials, providing ICT training and helping develop ICT infrastructures and systems within the MOE.