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The Murulle Foundation
All Rights Reserved.

Updated: December 11, 2007

Current Projects

Education
School Supplies Program

In conversations with the staff of Balé Mountains National Park and community officials, TMF has learned of the need for textbooks, supplies, and equipment for approximately nine primary and one secondary school adjacent to the boundaries of the park.

Theoretically, there is a six-year compulsory education for children in Ethiopia. The sequence is six years of primary school, two years of lower secondary school, and two years of higher secondary school. However, according to a report in 1996, only 43% of the school-age children were enrolled in primary school, 12% in secondary school, and less than 1% in higher education. These figures are probably about the same today.

The student/teacher ratio can be as high as 100:1. As many as 200 children are packed into poorly ventilated, dirt-floored classrooms with few desks and teaching materials. In Dinsho, the town with the largest school near the park, there are so many students that the school day is split, with half of the students going in the morning and half in the afternoon. Students in grades 1-4 have some books but students in grades 5-8 have none. The teachers have no desks and only a small blackboard for visual instruction. The tenth grade is the highest grade level in Dinsho.

Each school adjacent to BMNP will receive up to $1,000 for books, supplies, and equipment (all of the books and supplies can be purchased in the capital city, Addis Ababa). If the schools cannot afford the cost of transporting the books from Addis Ababa, some of the funds will be used to help defray the cost of transportation. The schools will be asked for an in-kind contribution such as volunteering in the park.

If anyone is interested in participating in this project, please send your donation to TMF and mark it for the School Supplies Progam.

For more information, please contact Karel Waltermire.