Shining girl students Berket Melese (right), first generation student and Sintayehu Temsegen (second generation) started school in Bobocha NFBE center. Both are the leading students of the school. Bereket stood first in grade 6 and Sintayehu also stood first in grade 5. Their school has been upgraded to formal primary. According to 2018. According to Meselech Gebere, principal of the school, the two girls have always been the leading students in their class, winners of inter-school academic competition and among the most active in different school clubs. It is quite revealing to note that first generation students who were average in their former project schools became outstanding students when they were transferred to upper primary non-project schools. Ayele Shoboro, Gomboro WEO cluster supervisor in this regard said “The first generation students from Danmera, NFBE are now in grade 5 in nearby non-project Dil Betigil and Arara primary schools. Wherever the first generations students went, they are among the best. Even those who were low performers in the project schools easily became lead students in the non-project school they joined”. Overall students in project school including first generation students have been rated better by all respondents. WEO officers and cluster supervisors of all the project woredas have attested that dropping out of school and absenteeism are rare and student academic performance are better in project schools compared to non-project schools and that many parents prefer to send their children to former project schools given the chance. According to Meselech Gebre, principal of Mehal Bobicha primary school, her former project school students have excelled in academic performance in competition with nearby non-project government schools of Kindingisa, Masgera and Forkessa who are in the same cluster. Meselch further explained that performance has showed continuous improvement where out of 6 classes in her school, girls ranked 1st in four of them. In the cluster school system where her school is the only former project school out of 5 schools, her students repeatedly stood first in academic competition and got prizes both for the school and themselves. The evaluation team in its review of student rosters from grade 1-6 was able to confirm that the principal’s claim about the girls’ performance was correct. The standing of the school in completion with the other government schools in the cluster has also been verified by the team. 36
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