Sebatamit Pre-Primary & Primary School

Sebatamit is a farming community where annual per capita income is roughly $200. About 22 years ago, villagers built an elementary school exclusively from community cash contributions to accommodate a growing student population that would otherwise have to travel 7 kilometers to the nearest school in Bahir Dar. All the buildings were made of mud block without any foundation, doors, or windows. The dusty floors forced teachers to cancel the last two classes every Friday afternoon to enable students to plaster them with fresh cow dung. In 2015, Partners in Education’s first project was to demolish those old buildings, replace them with new cement block ones, and apply our holistic model to Sebatamit’s education program.

Sebatamit has become a poster child for the educational gardening program, hosting visits from government dignitaries as well as other regional schools and NGOs who want to learn from, and emulate, the model. The fruit and vegetable gardens are prolific, thanks to the attention and nurturing of students, staff and community members, to the point where they are generating income for the school. Apart from that, the experiential learning that the students are receiving is awe-inspiring, particularly in the area of hands-on science projects.

Sebatamit has benefited enormously from a sharing of experiences by teachers from other schools and education departments, and particularly from International Community School (ICS) volunteers.

Teachers have continuously had training over the past 4-5 years, in teaching methods as well as water, sanitation and hygiene, and those programs are becoming self-sustaining. An innovative science program is ongoing. Students who have taken the water and sanitation workshop take the lead in educating other students as well as their own families in the areas of good hygiene. An active health club has been formed. More recently, girls were included in a workshop to learn about hygiene through menstruation and how to prepare reusable sanitary pads from local materials.