The need for literacy improvement in primary school for sustainable development: the case of primary schools in Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to investigate the use of literacy input to improve language literacy skills of primary school students in Ethiopia. It envisaged the effort of primary school English language teachers to improve the learners’ English language literacy, and to introduce the strategies of improving literacy skills that promote achievement of the country's development goals. The study was conducted in two primary schools in the South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' region of Ethiopia. The subjects of this study were 40 grade five learners and 6 English language teachers in two primary schools. Both Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study. Questionnaire and interview were used for data collection. The findings of this study show that the primary school teachers in the study did not practice literacy instruction effectively and students spent little time both at school and at their homes on literacy learning activities. The major contributing factors for this were lack of appropriate textbook companions and other instructional materials. In addition, monitoring students' literacy progress was limited to poorly designed tests and the teachers do not use the assessment information to remedy student errors or to construct learning opportunities for students who learn at a different pace. There are English language literacy barriers in the school and at home environment and these seem to be major problems in reading development of many learners. Finally, some recommendations were given to different stakeholders on how to act on the identified obstacles of the students’ English language literacy improvement.