Debre Work Ayer Tena High School

After seeing the significant improvements in the Debre Work Primary School after Partners’ intervention, the community approached us to partner with them in establishing a new high school as well. The improvements in the primary school were evident not only in the physical facilities and open spaces, but also in classroom practices and student achievements, including those in the special needs program.

Parents sought the same quality of education for their children all the way through grade 12, in a facility near their home.  In response, we built a full-fledged high school comprising 16 classrooms, biology, chemistry, physics and ICT laboratories, admin block with offices and teacher resource centers and first aid room, separate latrines for female and male students and staff, and menstrual hygiene management room for female students and staff.  DWATHS has also a digital library with connectivity, where teachers deliver simulation-based instruction and administer tests, and students can access multimedia content on the lab’s computers or on their mobile phones.

Debre Work is located in the Enarj Enawuga woreda/district of East Gojjam, Amhara region.  The community covered 85% of the cost of DWATHS and provided a three-and-a-half-year salary for Partners to hire a Junior Project officer, based in Debre Work, who will support both schools. 

Since September 2022, Partners has been upgrading the capacities of teachers (71) and leaders (3) in DWATHS.  At the same time, we have been providing students with training and follow-up on hygiene and sanitation, and supporting the school in converting its open spaces (2.5 hectares) into green outdoor classrooms and educational gardens. The outdoor classrooms and gardens are serving as centers of experiential and hands-on learning, improving knowledge of nutrition and horticultural farming, and generating sustained income for the school. In one season alone, the school sold vegetables worth Birr 260,000 (over 6,000 Canadian dollars), which will be used to support children at risk of dropping out due to economic reasons, provide necessary teaching and learning materials, repair the physical facilities, and sustain the improvements we have helped them achieve.

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