Education is one of the rights of children (Article 28 of the CRC). It is hardly possible to fulfillrnthe rights of children without accessing basic education to children. Education is among therndetermining factors of a country's development. One cannot imagine about development whenrnthe actors of development are Illiterate. In connection to this, in Ethiopia, a considerablernattention and priority has been given to education in general and that of primary education inrnparticular. To this effect MOE has established partnership with NGOs, to implement ABE. Thus,rnthe main purpose of this study was to assess the contributions and challenges of alternative basicrneducation supported by SCD. Based on this purpose, brief review related literature, experiencesrnof other countries as well as research findings of others on ABE were assessed. Descriptivernsurvey research method was employed to conduct the study. Data were gathered fromrngovernment and NGO officials and experts, facilitators, CMC members and ABE studentsrnthrough questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussion. The data collected throughrnquestionnaires were analyzed using percentages, and the qualitative data were analyzed inrnnarration. In order to select sample population random, availability and purposive samplingrntechniques were employed. The findings of the study revealed that improving physical access ofrnschools through provision of ABECs, motivated parents to send their children to centers and hasrncreated education opportunity for the disadvantaged segment of society including girls. Thernstudy also showed that the program carried out in the zone is contributing to the achievement ofrnUPE in terms of creating access, gender equity and efficiency. The findings deduced from thernstudy also revealed that both awareness raising and capacity enhancement activities helped thernpartiCipants to understand more about the objectives of the program which in turn contributes tornthe effectiveness of the ABE program. Hence, for the ucces of ABE program in creating anrnopportunity to primary education., it is advisable to promote the change in attitude andrnmotivation of stakeholders toward ABE which will made them to appreciate the ABE a anrnalternative way of creating access to education to needy children.