Strengthening French-language teaching in Ethiopia
For the past two years, France Éducation international (FEI) has been conducting cooperation initiatives as part of a project led by the FSPI (Fonds de Solidarité pour les Projets Innovants, Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects) titled ‘Strengthening French as a lever to employability for young people in Ethiopia through French training and expertise.’ The project is part of the education reform programme in Ethiopia, which includes introducing French for non-native speakers (FLE, français langue étrangère) in public high schools in Ethiopia. Since September 2022, some pilot schools in different regions have started the teaching-learning approach.
The project has two goals: to provide education authorities and professors with framework documents and teaching resources, and to create a group of FLE trainers to ensure sufficient professional training in the future and to strengthen the skills of teachers.
In January and March 2023, experts from the Department of French as a Foreign Language at FEI organised working meetings with the heads of regional education offices and with French teachers. The goal was to set the broad outlines of the future curriculum in French for the four years of secondary school. Workshops were also held to create teaching resources and define the specifications of the teaching booklet planned for the first year of teaching. After the meetings, FEI experts drew up the framework document for French-language teaching, the curriculum, and teaching resources (student worksheets and teacher guide). Teachers tested the resources in class from the start of the school year in 2023 until spring 2024, with the addition of assessment formats.
In early 2024, FEI ran a 60-hour training course to develop skills in training engineering and in educational engineering for eleven FLE teachers who make up a pool of trainers able to roll out teacher-training courses. The training course was divided into two stages, namely a first module in January 2024 (followed by remote tutored work) and a second part in March 2024. A practical guide (Vademecum for trainers) will be sent to the teachers who took part in the course.
FEI’s involvement in the FSPI project will come to an end in June 2024, when the deliverables will be shared, namely the finalised curriculum, educational booklet and the Vademecum for trainers.