About the School

English Alive Academy, Nazret, Ethiopia

The school

English Alive Academy, Ethiopia, is a registered charity, #1140681, in the UK. Our charity name is Ethiopian Schools for the Poor - English Alive. 

Dawit Hailu and Stephanie Mills founded the English Alive Academy in 2004.

Our mission is to provide a high-quality education to poor children. 

English Alive Academy provides:  

• a full time education to 190 pupils, age 2.5 through 12
• a special needs facility for pupils with learning difficulties
• computer classes ( a rare concept for kindergarten / primary pupils ) 
• the only bus service in Nazret that offers a service to pupils in the surrounding villages
• teacher training
• employment to 21 adults in an area of high employment

English Alive Academy is housed in two converted houses in the centre of the city of Nazret. With dirt roads outside the schools thriving with cattle, donkeys and camels, English Alive Academy is a world apart, with brightly painted walls and furniture and pupils’ work proudly hanging.

With a computer room, libraries and learning support area, English Alive offers more than the basic curriculum. The school encourages pupils to discuss, create, experiment and explore and emerge at the end of the day from English Alive a more empathetic, creative, well-rounded person.

The English Alive Academy operates a native-speaker English volunteer programme designed to teach English to pupils and teachers and to model current educational methods. To date, we have had 29 volunteers from locations such as the UK, USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Australia, and more.

English Alive Academy, Nazret, Ethiopia

The students 

Fifteen per cent of our students have lost one of both of their parents through disease. Our pupils endure daily hardships rooted in poverty, such as illness, unreliable access to food or clean water, and chaotic family lives.

Education is one route out of poverty. However, free government schools can only offer part-time education in classrooms with more than 100 students. This has resulted in an Ethiopian adult literacy rate of only 36 %, primary school enrolment of 61%, and a school dropout rate of 82%.

Children as young as three are on the streets begging or selling chewing gum. It is not a lack of interest in education that holds them back, but the lack of access to a decent education. Some private schools can offer a good education, but the school fees are out of reach to all but the top 10% of earners. English Alive Academy bridges this gap, offering a high-quality, free or subsidized education.

English Alive Academy, Nazret, Ethiopia

Finances 

With subsidized or free school tuition and no governmental financial support, English Alive Academy relies entirely on donations, grants, and volunteer services to support core costs, special programmes and development.

This means that English Alive is constantly struggling to find funds for its core costs, a prudent reserve fund, an emergency fund for unexpected problems such as maintenance, breakages etc., and a land/building fund.
 

English Alive Academy, Nazret, Ethiopia