Private school established by Afriflora Sher
People from the surrounding area have been arriving in Ziway for work ever since Afriflora Sher arrived here in 2005. And while most land was barren at the time, it now houses facilities like a private school for over 6000 pupils. A school was also opened in Adami Tulu in 2019 and we are building new classrooms almost every year. These schools are being partly funded by Afriflora Sher and partly via funding from Fair Trade.
“Learning to read, write and count is an investment that pays dividends for a whole lifetime!”
The Sher School
The Sher School is renowned for the quality of its education, facilities and teachers. The school welcomes the children of Afriflora Sher employees as well as children from the rest of the local community. Afriflora Sher does not ask parents to pay for this education. This is in stark contrast with many other private schools in the region, where the fees are so high that many parents cannot afford to send their children to these schools.
In addition, conditions in government schools are not always ideal. For instance, a single class can sometimes contain 120 pupils. The Sher School has much smaller classes, which feature around 40 children. Children from all faiths are welcome to the Afriflora Sher school. Boys and girls are taught in mixed classes. Girls are allowed to enter the classroom first, which means boys learn to respect women from a young age.
Half of all available places are reserved for the children of Afriflora Sher employees; the other half is available to children from Ziway and Adami Tulu. If employees stop working for Afriflora Sher, this has no impact on their child’s education at the school. They can simply complete their education without disruption.
“We have the best facilities, the best standard of education and the best teachers. And parents don’t have to pay, which makes it the best option in the region. That’s why almost no pupils leave the school. Children and parents do not want to miss the chance of a bricht future.”
– Kidame Mariam (Head of the school, graduated in Addis Abeba)
Afriflora Sher establishes foundations for a better future
By founding and financing the school, Afriflora Sher not only wants to offer education and development to the children of employees, but also wants to serve as a catalyst for long-term development in the region. This will help to establish foundations for a better future for the children.
Education quality
All pupils are educated free of charge. Afriflora Sher also provides free food and drinks for infants. No fewer than 1200 children receive a warm meal at school every day.
The government determines what the children must learn, and Sher schools comply with the government curriculum. Afriflora Sher has decided to teach in accordance with English standards and in two languages: Amharic & Oromo. This approach helps to ensure a high level of quality and has more than proven itself in recent years because the Afriflora Sher School has already been acclaimed as the best school in the whole country. Independent government auditors assess schools based on criteria like education quality, facilities and number of pupils per class.
“The national test scores of our school are better than the government- and public schools because we offer high quality education. The Sher school possesses all necessary facilities . Other schools, for example, do not have enough teachers. We have enough teachers and they are very good at their job. all our teachers are university graduates and come from various parts of the country”
– Kidame Mariam
