Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education on Thursday launched the reconstruction of 71 schools that were destroyed during the two-year conflict in Amhara and Afar regional states.
Education Minister Professor Birhanu Nega told journalists that a total of more than 3,300 educational institutions were completely destroyed by the conflict in northern Ethiopia.
Among those schools, the reconstruction of 71 schools that the ministry has prioritized will begin this year.
Of these, five schools are going to be reconstructed with the support of the Diaspora Trust Fund, 16 schools by Menschen für Menschen, and 50 by the World Bank, the minister said.
The ministry has been collecting finance for the construction of the schools, development partners and organizations as well as the Ethiopian Diaspora.
Up until now, a total of 2.8 billion Birr has been collected for the reconstruction effort, it was learned.
Selection of contractors for the reconstruction of 71 schools was conducted by the regional education bureaus, the construction authorities and the regional contractors associations.
Reconstruction of the schools will be completed in the next few months and the schools will be opened next Ethiopian academic year, the minister added.
A preliminary study conducted by the Amhara Regional state revealed that between 700- 800 billion birr is needed to rebuild the war-affected areas in the regional state.
