ETAS, Zimbabwe
The English Teachers Association of Switzerland (ETAS) has been running the Teacher-to-Teacher project in Zimbabwe since 2007. The project began with one primary school, Matopo Primary, and it is planned to expand it to five more primary schools and two secondary schools in the Matopo region within a time frame of five years, starting in 2010.
While Zimbabwe once boasted one of the best education systems in Africa, the current economic collapse and political unrest has driven many teachers away, leaving many schools closed or simply gathering places for unwillingly idle children. Thanks to ETAS, this has not been the case at Matopo Primary School. The Teacher-to-Teacher project at Matopo Primary began with the basics: uniforms for the neediest pupils, text books, materials and teacher training. The other schools in the region are also in desperate need of this kind of help.
www.e-tas.ch
The RogerFedererFoundation (RFF) is supporting the improvement of the infrastructure of the 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2'000 children in the Matopo region with the following measures:
The RogerFedererFoundation supports this education project of ETAS with an annual grant of CHF 80'000.
Zimbabwe Facts
*Unesco Report 2001
**s. Human Development Report 2007 (UNDP)
While Zimbabwe once boasted one of the best education systems in Africa, the current economic collapse and political unrest has driven many teachers away, leaving many schools closed or simply gathering places for unwillingly idle children. Thanks to ETAS, this has not been the case at Matopo Primary School. The Teacher-to-Teacher project at Matopo Primary began with the basics: uniforms for the neediest pupils, text books, materials and teacher training. The other schools in the region are also in desperate need of this kind of help.
www.e-tas.ch
The RogerFedererFoundation (RFF) is supporting the improvement of the infrastructure of the 8 schools, as well as investing in teacher training and the quality of education for about 2'000 children in the Matopo region with the following measures:
- Rebuilding and repair of classrooms in the six primary and two secondary schools.
- Building of toilets and sanitation facilities for all children in the eight schools
- Providing classroom materials, text books and pedagogical materials for the teachers
- Establishment of an ECO Awareness Club to help children learn how to care for the environment
The RogerFedererFoundation supports this education project of ETAS with an annual grant of CHF 80'000.
Zimbabwe Facts
| Population (2006)**: | 12 Mio. |
| School attendance*: | for children aged 6-13 is officially compulsory and free, but many families cannot afford school fees. |
| Access to Education**: | 52% |
| Illiteracy rate**: | 10% |
| Life expectancy**: | 41 years, the lowest in the world |
| Access to clean water**: | 81% |
| Nutrition**: | 17% of the children under 5 years of age are undernourished |
| Couriosity: | The Victoria Falls, forming part of the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia to the northeast, forms the largest sheet of falling water in the world. The indigenous Kololo call the waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya: “the Smoke that Thunders”. |
*Unesco Report 2001
**s. Human Development Report 2007 (UNDP)