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Ministry of Education of Ethiopia and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the MUST Project (Mathematical Understanding for Science and Technology) conducted a School Baseline Survey on Grade 9 to Grade 12 Mathematics from April 19 to 24, in collaboration with the Addis Ababa City Administration Education Bureau (AAEB). The survey was conducted in six secondary schools in Addis Ababa selected by the Bureau.

The main objective of the survey is to grasp the current status of teaching and learning process and students' academic performance in mathematics. For this purpose, the surveyors formed by MoE, AAEB and MUST Project administered Student's Achievement Tests, conducted questionnaire survey of mathematics teachers, and observed mathematics lessons while interviewing the teacher atter each lesson.

This survey was conducted as part of the MoE's curriculum reform process led by Curriculum Development and Implementation Directorate (CDID). The findings of this rapid appraisal on Mathematics will be fully utilized to provide inputs to the curriculum revision and the development of new Mathematics textbooks and teacher's guides for grades 9-12.

Unlike other achievement tests, this survey has given a number of primary-level questions to secondary school students. This is to understand how well the students have mastered the primary-level mathematics. The test results will have profound implications for curricula of primary mathematics as well as of secondary mathematics.

One of the findings of the interviews was that teachers are trying hard to cover all the topics specified in the syllabus within the allocated lesson periods by focusing only on main points to teach and selecting a few examples and exercises only from the textbook. Majority of the teachers feel that it would be better if the content of new textbooks is structured well and concisely. The analysis of the survey results will be shared with the stakeholders and textbook developers in the coming months.

Student's Achievement Test in one Secondary School in Addis Ababa.

Lesson Observation in one Secondary School in Addis Ababa.