Building schools by people for people opens up prospects for the future for thousands of children and young people.
Vienna (OTS) – With the completion of the 450th school, the organization Menschen für Menschen can look forward to another milestone for better educational opportunities in rural Ethiopia. Education is the key to sustainable development in the country where half of the population is under 20 years old. Improving educational opportunities, especially in rural areas, has been an important concern of the organization, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, for many years.

The Wore Illu Higher Secondary School is located around 300 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa in the project area of ​​the same name. It was completed after 18 months of construction and will in future offer around 2,000 pupils in the 9th and 10th grades a place to study. Instead of dark earthen buildings and dilapidated buildings, the young people are now taught in light and functional buildings made of concrete and steel. Since the capacity has also been expanded, the Wore Illu Higher Secondary School now enables the students of the 19 surrounding primary schools to attend a secondary school.

No vocational training without a secondary school
Completion of a secondary school such as the Wore Illu Higher Secondary School is a prerequisite in order to then be able to attend the two-year upper level and qualify for a university place or to begin training as a skilled worker.

Through the training at the Wore Illu Higher Secondary School, thousands of young people now have the chance for a better life and opportunities that would have been denied to them without this school education.

“ Each of us knows how important a good school education is for the future of our children. In Ethiopia, too, especially for the poor rural population, access to schools or further education is of great importance in order to escape poverty. People for people therefore build schools in, particularly remote regions. This is often associated with great challenges. We are therefore very pleased that Menschen für Menschen has succeeded in completing the 450th school, ”said Rupert Weber, Chairman of the Board of the Austrian association Menschen für Menschen.

Education is the key
Schooling is the key to Ethiopia’s development, but there is still a lot of catching up to do. Around half of the population over the age of 15 can neither read nor write. (Source: CIA Factbook) In addition, Ethiopia suffers from a shortage of skilled workers. In order to promote education across the board, Menschen für Menschen is building modern schools in rural regions and equipping them with learning material. The fact that the 450th school has now been completed is both a reason for joy and an incentive for people.

School building by people for people
Menschen für Menschen builds particularly robust schools that will last for many decades. A study by TÜV, which gave the schools by Menschen für Menschen with the top grade “GOOD”, also proves that the construction method has proven itself. The schools are built of concrete and steel, closed off by a robust steel trapezoidal sheet, and have a special feature: Louvre windows that let fresh air and light into the classrooms. They consist of individual lamellas that do not protrude into the room and that can be easily replaced if they break. These schools offer the children a bright and clean learning environment and thus a stable foundation for the future.