1
Present Status and Challenges of Education for
all in Ethiopia
Tirussew Teferra, Professor & Laureate in Education
Addis Ababa University
Jyvaskula , Finland
November 17-19, 2011
2
1. Introduction
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa (estimated around 80 million, of which
approximately 12 million are pastoralists and 80 percent of the population live in rural areas),
and has a decentralized government structure. In Ethiopia, primary education lasts 8 years and is
split into grades 1-4 (primary first cycle) and grades 5-8 (primary second cycle). Secondary
education is also divided into two cycles, each with its own specific goals. Grades 9-10
(secondary first cycle) provide general secondary education and, upon completion, students are
streamed either into grades 11-12 (secondary second cycle) as preparation for university, or into
technical and vocational education and training (TVET), based on the performance in the
secondary education completion certificate examination. General education comprises grades 1
to 12. The provision of education is the concurrent responsibility of federal, regional and local
governments. The Federal Government plays the dominant role in the provision of postsecondary
education, while also setting standards and providing overall policy guidance and monitoring and
evaluation for the entire sector. Regional governments are responsible for the oversight of the
training of primary school teachers, for providing primary textbooks and for adapting the
primary syllabus to local conditions. Woreda (district) governments are responsible for paying
and recruiting primary and secondary teachers, and for supervision and training of primary and
secondary teachers (World Bank, 2008).
The Education and Training policy, (TGE, 1994), was the initial policy document that set the
year 2015 as the target for achieving the goal of good quality universal primary education. This
policy has introduced major changes and reforms to address the country’s educational problems.
3
The education sector programs are sector-wide and covers all levels and areas of education, all
tiers of governments and all forms of expenditures. The duration of the programs is designed to
be 20 years (1997-2016) with four consecutive phases. The basic aims of the programs is
“increasing access, improving quality, increasing effectiveness, achieving equity and expanding
finance at all levels of education within Ethiopia” (Checkole K, 2004) .
The first Education Sector Development Progr am (ESDP I) was launched in 1997 within the
framework of the Education and Training Policy to cover the period 1997/98- 2001/02.
The Government later developed a comprehensive Five Year Education Program 2000/012004/05, aligned with the five year term of the government. ESDP II had also to be aligned with
that program and had as a result only three years 2002/03 to 2004/05 The ESDP III is now
synchronized with the Government’s five year planning cycle and covers the period 2005/062010/11 ( Ministry of Education, 2008).During ESDP III (2005/06-2010/11) access at all levels
of the education system increased at a rapid rate, in line with a sharp increase in the number of
teachers, schools and institutions. There were improvements in the availability of trained
teachers and some other inputs which are indispensable for a quality education system. Sound
improvements were observed in the education of the disadvantaged and deprived groups and of
the emerging regions. Furthermore, efforts were made to make the content and the organization
of education more relevant to the diversified needs of the population, for instance through the
introduction of alternative basic education and the development of innovative models such as
mobile schools. Woreda education offices and communities have strengthened their involvement
in education planning, management and delivery. Strategies were developed for (Alternative for
Basic Education (ABE), Early Childhood Care and Education ( ECCE) and Functional Adult
Education (FAL), and new school health and nutrition initiatives were launched (ESDP IV,
2011/2012).
2. Status of EFA in Ethiopia
In the following section attempt is made to highlight the achievements made mainly focusing on
the Six EFA Goals in Ethiopia. The data is heavily dependent on the Education Statistics Annual
Abstract of the Ministry of Education, 2010, Ethiopia.
4
2.1
Goal 1: Early Childhood Care and Education
This goal relates to the expansion and improvement of comprehensive early childhood care and
education for all children. It is aimed at making ECCE accessible to all children of the
appropriate age group (age 4-6) with out any form of discrimination (UNESCO, 2011).
In Ethiopia, in the year 2008/09 out of the estimated 6.95 million children of the appropriate age
group (age 4-6) only about 294,767 children have been reported to have access to ECCE centers all
over the country. Though the enrollment is small when compared to the appropriate age group,
enrollment is higher than the previous year by about 11.0%. Moreover, since the data at this level
does not cover all schools (data from some NGOs and faith-based schools are not captured) total
enrollment could be higher than the figure indicated. . The Gross Enrollment Rate for ECCE in the
year 2008/09 is 4.2% which is very daunting (Ministry of Education,2010).
Table 1: ECCE gross enrollment
Year
1996/97
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
AAG*
Enrollment
-
153,280
186,728
219,068
263,464
292,641
17.5
ECCE centers
-
1,497
1,794
2,313
2,740
2,893
17.9%
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09) * Annual Average Growth
2.2
Goal 2: Universal Primary Education
This is ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances
and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free and compulsory
primary education of good quality (UNESCO, 2011).
2.2.1 Primary School Enrollment
Table 2: Growth of primary schools in the last five years
Year
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
AA G*
Primary
16,513
19,412
20,660
23,354
25,212
11.2%
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09) * Annual Average Growth
5
An impressive growth of primary schools is observed in the last five years in Ethiopia, however,
there are still large class sizes and shift systems across regions.
Table 3: Gross enrollment rate (GER) at primary level (1-8)
Primary 1st Year Cycle (1-4) (%)
Primary 2nd Cycle (5-8) (%)
Boys
Girls
Total
Boys
Girls
Total
Boys
Girls
Total
2004/05
109.8
95.5
102.7
62.0
42.6
52.5
88.0
71.5
79.8
2005/06
123.9
111.2
117.6
67.4
49.8
58.8
98.6
83.9
91.3
2006/07
122.9
111.2
117.1
68.3
53.7
61.1
98.0
85.1
91.7
2007/08
133.0
122.5
127.8
64.8
55.5
60.2
100.5
90.5
95.6
2008/09
126.7
118.4
122.6
65.6
60.5
63.1
97.6
90.7
94.2
Year
Primary (1-8) (%)
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
The GER has shown drastic change in the last five years with the exception of 2007/08 with a
minor decrease. An increase in Gender Parity Index (GPI) is also observed ranging from GPI 1
to 0.76 in the last five years. Indicating the improvement from no gender disparity to a relatively
low gender disparity. The following table depicts the gender disparity observed across regions.
Table 4:
Gross enrollment rate by region and gender
Gender/Region
Male
Female
Total
Tigray
95.6 %
98.1%
96.9 %
SNNP*
94.3 %
84.5 %
89.4 %
Afar
25.3 %
23.2 %
24.4 %
6
Gambella
80.2 %
69.7 %
75.2 %
Amhara
101.4 %
103.1 %
102.2 %
Harari
100.2 %
83.6 %
91.9 %
Oromia
80.9 %
74.8 %
77.9 %
Addis AbabA
78.2%
74.4%
76.1%
Somali
33.3 %
29.4 %
31.6 %
Dire Dawa
76.5 %
70.2 %
73.4 %
Benishangul-Gemuz
97.0 %
80.1 %
88.6 %
Total
84.6 %
81.3 %
83.0 %
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09 *SNNP Southern Nations ,Nationalities & Peoples
Table 4: Net enrollment rate (NER) at primary level (1-8)
Grade/Year
Primary 1st Cycle (1-4) (%)
Primary 2nd Cycle (5-8) (%)
Primary (1-8) (%)
2005/06
73.0%
37.6%
68.5%
2006/07
79.9%
39.4%
77.5%
2007/08
90.1%
39.9%
79.1%
2008/09
88.7%
46.0%
83.4%
AARG
-
-
4.9%
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
NER is the best way of measuring organized on-time school participation and is a more refined indicator
of school and enrollment coverage in terms of explaining the proportion of students enrolled from the
official age group. NER is calculated by dividing the number of properly aged primary students (for
Ethiopia ages 7-14) by the number of children of school going age (7-14). NER is usually lower than the
GER since it excludes over-aged and under-aged pupils
(MoE, 2010).
2.2.1.1 Enrollment of children with special educational needs
According to the data available, the total number of students with special educational needs in 2008/09
in primary (Grades 1-8) is around 41,509. This is nationally insignificant figure compared to number of
primary school-age children with disabilities in the country. The following table desegregates students
with disability served in primary schools by type of disability and gender.
Table 4: Enrollment of children with special educational needs
7
Primary 1-8
Type of disability
Male
Female
Total
Visual Impairment
4,034
2,777
6,811
Physical/Motor Impairment
8,516
6,075
14,591
Hearing Impairment
5,061
3,666
8,727
Intellectual Disability
5,323
3,856
9,179
Total
24,142
17,367
41,509
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
As can be noted from the Table above the participation rate of girls with disability is lower than that of
boys with disabilities.
2.2.2 Secondary School Enrollment
The table below depicts, the steady growth rate of the secondary schools in the last five years.
Table 7: Growth of secondary schools in the last five years
Year
Secondary
2004/05
706
2005/06
835
2006/07
952
2007/08
2008/09
1,087
1,197
AA G
14.1%
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
Table 8: Net enrollment rate (NER) at secondary education
Level/Year
General Secondary1st
Preparatory 2nd Cycle (11-
Cycle (9-10)
12)
Secondary Education (9-12)
2004/05
860,734
92,483
953,217
2005/06
1,066,423
123,683
1,190,106
2006/07
1,223,662
175,219
1,398,881
2007/08
1,308,689
193,444
1,502,133
2008/09
1,383,946
205,261
1,589,207
AARG
12.6
22.1
13.6
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
Table :Gross enrollment ratio by gender at secondary education level (9-12)
General Secondary, 1st Cycle (9-10)
8
Preparatory 2nd Cycle (11-12)
Enrollment Ratio %
Enrollment Ratio %
Boys
Girls
Total
Boys
Girls
Total
2004/05
34.6
19.8
27.3
4.3
1.7
3.0
2005/06
41.6
24.5 3
33.2
5.7
2.0
3.9
2006/07
45.7
28.6
37.3
7.3
3.7
5.5
2007/08
44.4
29.6
37.1
7.8
3.8
5.8
2008/09
43.7
32.4
38.1
8.5
3.5
6.0
AAG
9.7
17.2
12.6
21.4
23.7
22.1
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for first cycle secondary education (grades 9-10) shows that GPI for
2008/09 is 0.74 and for the second cycle (grades 11-12) is 0.41. This indicates that the number of
girls joining preparatory is smaller than that of boys. The pattern in the second cycle of
secondary will obviously affect the gender gap in tertiary education.
2.3 Goal 3 & 4: Learning Needs of Young People and Adults & Improving
levels of Adult Literacy
These two goals complement and ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults
are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programs. It is aimed at
achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women,
and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. Governments have mainly
responded to the learning needs of young people and adults by expanding formal secondary and
tertiary education. However, a great variety of structured learning activities for youth and adults
takes place outside formal education systems, often targeting school dropouts and disadvantaged
groups. Improved monitoring of the supply and demand for non-formal education is urgently
needed (UNESCO, 2008).
The ESDP III (2005/2006- 2010/2011) specifically discusses the adult and non-formal education
program and defines it to include a range of basic education and training components for out-ofschool children and adults. The action plan defines the content of the adult and non-formal
9
education to include literacy, numeracy and the development of skills that enable learners to
solve problems and to change their lives. The action plan also outlines three sub-component
modes of delivery for adult and non-formal education (Anis,2007) :
1) Alternative basic education for out-of-school children between the ages of 7-14
2) A functional adult literacy program for youth and adults over 15 and
3) Community skills training centers for youth and adults .
The Ethiopian Government set the target of reaching 5.2 million adults between 2005-201
through functional adult literacy and 143,500 adults through the nation’s existing 287
Community Skills Training Centers (CSTCs). In the Education Sector Development Plan III, the
Government committed itself to develop an equivalence system between skills gained through
non-formal education and those gained through formal education.
The Government has also adopted alternative basic education as a strategy to increase enrollment
and ensure greater equity for “disadvantaged children including girls, children with special
needs, and children from pastoralist, semi-agriculturalist and in isolated rural areas” (Ministry of
Education, 2005 in Anís, 2007)
2.3.1 Alternative Basic Education (ABE)
In order to realize the goal of universalizing access to primary education by 2015, ESDP IV
envisaged provision of basic education through alternative modes. Accordingly, in the last two to
three years, in specific regions ABE centers were established. Most ABE activities are
accomplished in Basic Education Centers, and are designed to enroll the same age group as
regular primary education. Since 2005-06, ABE enrollment has been included in the reporting of
the regular education—and therefore GER and NER reflect the contribution of ABE to primary
education in Ethiopia. The following table depicts the pattern of ABE centers by year and
gender.
Table 10 : Alternative Basic Education (ABE)
Year/Gender
Male
2004/05
250,243
2005/06
426,036
2006/07
311,427
10
2007/08
349,863
2008/09
422,512
AAGR
14.0%
Female
491,515
391,296
271,339
287,380
357,830
Total
741,758
817,332
582,766
637,243
780,342
-7.6%
1.3%
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
1
2.3.2 Adult & non-formal education
Adult and non-formal education is designed to address the primary education needs of adults and
others who are substantially older than the traditional primary school going ages of 7-14. Data
capturing these programs, as acknowledged by the Government are comparatively new in
Ethiopia, and reporting accuracy is very uneven-both because many such programs are operated
by non-government entities, and because many regions are not yet fully sensitized to the role of
this type of education (Minstry of Education,2010).
Table 11: Adult non-formal basic education enrollment by gender & region
Gender/Region
Male
Female
Total
Tigray
830
830
1660
SNNP
6,196
4,813
11,009
Afar
23
7
30
Gambella
277
276
5,530
Amhara
3,807
1,798
5,605
Oromia
77,863
3,8052
115,915
Addis AbabA
6,949
1,4804
21,753
Total
95,998
60,590
156,588
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
According to the above data, adult and non-formal education program run by government and
non-governmental organizations are predominantly in Oromia and Addis Ababa predominated
(MoE,2010). The ESDP III notes that the adult and non-formal education program includes a
range of basic education and training components for out-of school children and adults and that it
is basically focused on literacy, numeracy and other relevant skills to enable learners to develop
problem-solving abilities and change their lives. It is explained in the situation analysis of ESDP
III that the CSTCs offer specific learning skills related to the specific needs of the rural
11
community and prepare the community to participate efficiently in the development activities
and to upgrade and improve the traditional rural skills. ESDP III recognizes that government
alone cannot provide sufficient financial or human resources to support the program and hence
will seek support from other stakeholders: multi-lateral and bilateral development partners,
NGOs, local governments and communities (Ministry of Education, 2008). The role parents can
play in promoting primary school completion rate, improving quality education and increasing
gender-parity in primary education in Ethiopia is underlined by ESDP III.
2.4 Goal 5: Gender parity and equality
Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving
gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and
achievement in basic education of good quality. The Dakar Framework for Action set bold
targets for overcoming gender disparities, some of which have already been missed. Even so,
there has been progress across much of the world in the past decade. Viewed from a global
perspective, the world is edging slowly towards gender parity in school enrolment. Convergence
towards parity at the primary school level has been particularly marked in the Arab States, South
and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa – the regions that started the decade with the largest
gender gaps (UNESCO,2008). At Dakar forum it was agreed that the necessary first step towards
the goal was to bring about parity of enrolments, and beyond that there was a wide consensus on
the importance of a number of measures to ensure
retention, completion and satisfactory
attainments ( International Working Group on Education,2003).
Gender disparities have been reduced in primary education, but not eliminated. In Africa only
Mauritius and Seychelles had achieved gender parity in their GERs for both primary and
secondary education by 2005.Gender disparities remain widespread in sub-Saharan Africa where
they often favor boys, and are greater at higher levels of the educational ladder: According to
35% of the countries whose data available in 2005 had achieved gender parity in primary
education, compared with 6% in secondary and 3% in tertiary (UNESCO, 2008).
12
As indicated in the forgoing discussion, Ethiopia
has demonstrated
an impressive
improvements gender parity in primary education but there is still a notable gender disparity
in secondary and higher education . Furthermore, evidences suggest that the participation of
females in ABE and adult and non-formal basic education is lower than males.
2.5 Goal 6: Quality of education
Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that
recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy,
numeracy and essential life skills (UNESCO.2011). Evidences suggest that there are several
indicators of quality education and others the following are most frequently mentioned in several
international documents include:
teachers’ qualification, pupils-teacher ratio, learning and
school environment, amount of instructional time and learning outcomes.
2.5.1 Pupil-teacher ratio (PTR)
Pupil teacher ratio is one of the common education indicators for efficiency and quality.
However, there are two views on PTR, namely: a) The lower the PTR the better the opportunity
for contact between the teacher and pupils for the teacher to provide support to students
individually, thereby improving the quality of education. This indicator is useful for setting
minimum standards throughout the country-and ensuring a certain level of equality around the
country. In Ethiopia, the standard set for the pupil/teacher ratio is 50 pupils per teacher at
primary (1-8) and 40 pupils per teacher at the secondary level. As per the report of the Ministry
of Education Statistical Abstract (2008/09) indicates that
PTR is closer to national standard,
which is about 4 percentage points above the national standard of 50 pupils per teacher.,
However, large class sizes and practices of shift systems are still in place both in primary and
secondary schools.
2.5.2 Learning Achievements
Since 2000, countries have increasingly conducted national learning assessments; in sub-Saharan
Africa, the percentage of countries that carried out at least one national assessment between 2000
13
and 2006 was 33%. The national assessments focus more on grades 4 to 6 than on grades 1 to 3
or 7 to 9, and are predominantly curriculum-based and subject-oriented, in contrast to
international assessments, which focus on cross-curricular knowledge, skills or competencies.
(UNESCO, 2008). In some areas, quality has deteriorated at least partly as a result of rapid
expansion. For instance, The Ethiopian National Learning Assessment showed that the mean
score for all subjects of grade 4 and grade 8 students declined from 48.48% and 39.74%
respectively in 2004 to 39.8% and 36.6% respectively in 2007 (ANFEAE, 2008).The decline in
quality and the decreasing trend of students’ performance might therefore be attributed to
multiple factors including those discussed under this section.
2.5.3.1 Primary school teacher’s qualification
Table 12: Primary school teachers’ qualification
Teachers” Qualification (%)
Year/Cycle
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
1st Cycle
97.1
97.6
96.3
97.3
89.4
Male
96.5
97.2
96.4
97.0
90.8
Female
57.4
62.6
56.8
72.5
76.8
2nd Cycle
54.8
59.4
53.4
66.3
71.6
Male
54.2
58.6
52.2
64.1
69.6
Female
57.4
62.6
56.8
72.5
76.8
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
Generally, the qualification of teachers in the first cycle is very impressive with the exception of
the year 2008/09.From the above Table, it encouraging to note that the number of female
qualified teachers exceed from that of males in the second cycle but the males surpass females.
This should be subject for further investigation.
2.5.3.2 Secondary school teachers’ qualification y S
The qualification, motivation and availability of teachers are important quality measures. In
contrast with primary education overall, the percentage of qualified teachers is lower in
14
secondary education. Nationally only 75.2% of all secondary teachers are qualified for their level
of teaching. Although we do not yet have exact statistics, it is likely that preparatory cycle
(Grade 11-12) teachers may be even less qualified for their level than those teaching first cycle
(Grade 9-10). As Chart 4.21 quite clearly shows, Tigray, Dire Dawa, Addis Ababa and Amhara
had the better percentage of qualified teachers which is above the national average. There is no
gender disparity nationally; but there appear to be significant disparity in Somali and
Beneshangul gumuz with regard to qualified teachers.10), general secondary. Additionally, there
is also considerable variation by region in the percentage of qualified teachers (MoE, 2010).
2.5.3 Learning and school environment in primary schools (1-8)
School facilities have impact on access, quality, efficiency and equity. The school facilities are
tools to attract students in general and girls in particular. The type of school system (shiftoperated or non-shift) and availability of water, latrines, clinics, libraries, laboratories and
pedagogical centers in schools in 2008-09 are presented in the table
below(Ministry of
Education, 2010).
Table 11: Availability of facilities in primary schools
Type
Percentage
Remark
Shift System
28.4%
Double shift
Water
34.2%
Tap & Well
Latrines
90.5%
Some boys & girls pit
Clinics
11.6%
-
Libraries
35.7%
-
Pedagogical Centers
49.6%
-
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
This is a very daunting figure at national level, worse among these many of the facilities such
as the tap water, latrines, and libraries and clinics are ill-equipped, overused or not functional.
2.5.4 Instructional time
15
Worldwide, countries officially require an average of 700 annual hours of instruction in grades 1
and 2 and nearly 750 hours in grade 3. By grade 6 the average is 810 hours. Official
requirements in sub-Sahran Africa are close to the global medians but the actual number of
instructional hours children receive is often less than required. In the region, official school year
starts late due to high teacher turnover and late teacher postings. Schools often start the school
year a month late, end it a month early and have high student absenteeism, which results in as
many as 200 to 300 fewer hours of instructional time than the official calendar requires.
Significant loss of instructional time and inefficient use of classroom time are indications of poor
education quality, with detrimental effects on learning outcomes (Regional Overview subSaharan Africa, UNESCO, 2008). The instructional time does not seem to be optimally used in
Ethiopia because of various reasons including cultural and economic factors.
3. Challenges of Education for all in Ethiopia
3.1
Inefficiency of the system of education
3.1.1 Repetition rate
This indicator measures the proportion of students who have remained in the same grade for
more than one year. Current national policy requires that promotion be based on students’
continuous assessment results for the first three grades of primary school. Repeaters in these
grades are still being reported since the policy it is not fully implemented in all schools.
Table 14: Repetition rate by grade & gender in 2008/09
Grade/Gender 1 %
2%
3%
4%
.5%
6%
7%
8%
Male
6.4
5.7
5.7
6.7
8.3
6.4
9.1
10.5
Female
6.0
5.2
5.0
5.9
7.5
5.6
8.7
9.5
Total
6.3
5.5
5.4
6.3
8.1
6.3
9.0
10
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
As noted in the above Table, the lowest repetition rate was at grade 2 and the highest in grade 8.
In grade 8, girls’ repetition rate was lower than that for boys. Repetition rates for grade 8 are
16
higher, in part, because of a national policy that those who do not pass the School Leaving
Examination must repeat grade 8 prior to retaking the exam.
Table 15: Repetition rate by gender
Gender/Year
Boys (%)
Girls (%)
Total (%)
2004/05
3.6
4.0
3.7
2005/06
3.8
3.7
3.8
2006/07
6.4
5.7
6.1
2007/08
6.6
5.7
6.1
2008/09
7.0
6.3
6.7
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
Even though repetition something that should be eliminated in both gender, it is encouraging to
observe that the pattern of repetition rate of girls tend to be lower than that of boys. Further
more; evidences suggest that the repetition rates are relatively similar across regions, with the
exception of Tigray, Amhara, Somali, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa where the repetition rates
are below the national average of 6.7%. Benishangul-Gumuz had the highest repetition rates and
Somali had the lowest. Female repetition rate is highest in Benishangul-Gumuz and low in
Somali—conceivably because of some underreporting.
3.1.2 Drop-Out Rate
Drop-out rate is a measure, typically by grade, of those who leave formal schooling. In most
cases it is calculated as the remainder after subtracting from enrollment, those who repeat and
those who are promoted to the next grade. As many countries have discovered, often students do
not completely drop-out, they may enter education several years later, or seek out alternative
education or other less easily measured opportunities for education.
e
Table 16: Primary school dropout rates by grade and gender (Grade 1-8)
Grade/Gender
Drop out Rate in Percent
1 %
2 %
3%
4 %
5 %
6 %
7%
8 %
1-8%
Male
24.1
16.8
12.3
12.6
16.8
9.6
8.6
10.3
15.9
Female
21.6
13.6
8.8
10.1
13.0
5.9
3.9
13.4
13.2
17
Total
22.9
15.3
10.6
11.4
15.0
7.9
6.5
11.6
14.6
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
The proportion of pupils who leave school varies from grade to grade. In most cases this figure is
higher for grade one than for later grades. At national level, 22.9% of pupils enrolled in grade 1,
in 2007/08 , have left school before reaching grade two in 2008/09).The figure above shows that
dropout rate is highest at Grade 1 and lowest at Grade 7. As noted in the above Table, for all
grades except 8, the rate of dropout is slightly higher for boys than for girls. 2
00
1 E.C. (2008/09
3.1.2 Primary completion rate (PCR)
The Primary Completion Rate is, internationally, an established measure of the outcomes of an
education system. It has been specified as one of the two major education indicators for the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Table 17: Primary completion rate by year & gender
Gender/year
Grade 5
Grade 8
Male
Female
Average
Male
Female
Average
2004/05
65.2
49.5
57.4
42.1
26.3
34.3
2005/06
69.2
56.0
62.7
50.1
32.9
41.7
2006/07
71.6
61.6
66.6
51.3
36.9
44.2
2007/08
71.7
67.0
69.4
49.4
39.9
44.7
2008/09
79.4
78.4
78.9
48.4
40.5
43.6
MoE, Annual Abstract (2008/09)
The PCR is low and shows clear gender disparity in completion rate which requires immediate
intervention.
3.2
Access to educational opportunities
18
Access to education opportunities continues to be an obstacle, especially for females and other
“most vulnerable children” children with disabilities, children from low income families and
students from pastoral areas (e.g., Somali and Afar). Inequities in access to quality education are
widespread, as better resourced schools are generally located in urban areas and in the nonemerging regions, particularly in secondary schools.
3.3
Lack of sufficient number and uneven distribution of teachers
Following the the National Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO,2003), there has been a
lot of expansion and reform teacher development reform in place both in primary and secondary
teacher education programs. However, evidences suggest that there is still a shortage of teachers
and uneven distribution of teachers across different regions. Unlike the primary teacher
education program which follows the blended approached, that is pedagogical and subject area
integrated, currently the secondary teacher education program is redesigned to follow the addon which is not popularly accepted by teacher educators.
3.4
Limited access and uneven distribution pattern of ECCE
Early childhood care and education has been one of the most neglected areas in the country. In
the year 2007, The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has for the first time developed
National Policy Framework on Early Childhood Care and Education in the country. The Policy
Framework was jointly developed by the three sector ministries which include the Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs. This is
a
very encouraging step taken by the Government, and it is envisaged to expand and make ECCE
accessible to all children in the years to come. At present, the participation rate of children
accessing ECCE is nationally negligible. However, there are noticeable innovative approaches
undertaken by public primary schools, that is opening/ and hosting early childhood programs in
their premises in cooperation with the community.
3.5
Inadequate attention and uneven pattern of growth of adult and nonformal basic education
19
As indicated in ESDP 111 (2005/2010), a strategy to address the issue of adult and non-formal
basic education through organizing programs for out of school children, young people as well as
adults through organizing alterative basic education, functional literacy and skills training has
been developed respectively. However, the number of persons served in these programs is far
behind from the target set for the sector. The massive and complex problems related to
expanding adult literacy and attaining sustainable national development cannot be solved unless
adequate resources are allocated by the Government and mobilized regional and international
organizations. Apparently, rich nations and international bilateral and multilateral organizations
have also failed to maintain their promises(Ministry of Education, 2008). Therefore, there is a
need to make series of follow-up and put a lot of pressures so that they can keep their promises
or come-up with new initiatives to realize the targets set..
3.6 Education quality
Evidences suggest that achievements in access have noo nt been accompanied by adequate
improvements in quality. In some areas, quality has deteriorated at least partly as a result of rapid
expansion. The 2007 National Learning Assessment (NLA) in grades 4 and 8 show that student
achievement is below the required levels and has declined during the period of expansion. For
example, the composite score for learning achievement in grade 4 shows a reduction from 48
percent in the 1999/2000 baseline learning assessment to 41 percent in the 2007 NLA. Similarly,
the composite score for grade 8 shows a decline from 43 percent in 2000 to 40 percent in 2007.
Key factors identified in the 2007 NLA relating to low student learning outcomes include school
organization and management; teacher development programs; school facilities and supplies;
availability of textbooks, curricular and instructional materials, and language of instruction.
The Ethiopian National Learning Assessment showed that the mean score for all subjects of
grade 4 and grade 8 students declined from 48.48% and 39.74% respectively in 2004 to 39.8%
and 36.6% respectively in 2007 .The decline in quality and the decreasing trend of students’
performance might therefore be attributed to the above mentioned interrelated factors (Ethiopian
National Learning Assessment (2008).
20
3.7 The gab b/w the rate of enrollment & financing of the education system
The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has been committed to the
provision of better and inclusive education for its citizens. This is demonstrated, in part, through
the more than doubling of the commitment to education as a part of the total government budget.
For instance, both the absolute increase of funds to education and its continous to increase as a
percentage of total spending on the past five years has made the education budget to reach
24.0% in 2008/09.
Table 18: Education budget & expenditures
Year/Category
2004/05
2005/06
2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
%
Education
4,538.9
5,990.6
7,632.5
9,632.5
11,340.7
25
30,998.2
41,070.9
48,035.2
14.6
24.6%
22.8%
23.6
Expenditure (million Birr)*
Total Government Expenditure 27,803.8 33,615.9
(million Birr)
%
of
Education
of
total 16.7%
17.8%
Government
*Birr : Ethiopian local currency, currently its exchange rate is I USD is about 17 Birr
According to f ESDP IV (2010/11-2014/2015) the overall cost is around 134 billion Birr. 74%
of the cost goes to recurrent spending and 26% for capital spending. About 37% of the program
costs are for primary level, 11.2% for secondary education, 8.8% for adult education and some
21.7% dedicated to higher education. The relatively limited spending on TVET (8.0%) is, to a
large extent, due to the important share of students expected to enroll in non-government
schools. Spending on administration, advisory and support services is estimated at 7.2%.The
Table hereunder presents the indicative financing plan, with a financing gap for each of the five
years of ESDP IV, which compares the overall cost with the government contribution.
Table 19:Estimated financing gap for ESDP IV (2010/11-2014/2015) (in billion Birr)
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
21
2013/14
2014/15
Total
a.
Estimated
18,286
19,748
21,802
24,113
26,742
110,691
b. Projected costs
21,898
26,533
26,871
29,834
29,102
134,239
Gap (a-b)
-3,613
-6,784
-5,068
-5,721
-2,361
-23,547
Education budget
The financing gap is estimated on the basis of assumptions about economic growth and about shares of
education in the budget (ESDP 1V, 2010/2011-2014/15).
4. The Way Forward
The
ESDP IV focus of education policies will shift towards priority programs which address
these challenges. Accordingly, the main challenges which ESDP IV will address in the years to
come are spelt out as follows:
i.
Improvement in student achievement through a consistent focus on the enhancement of
the teaching/learning process and the transformation of the school into a motivational and
child-friendly learning environment;
ii.
The creation of inclusive programs which can accommodate the needs of all children
with special needs , such as , the unreached, the socially disadvantaged and those with
disabilities. It is further underlined that a significant decrease in the drop-out rates in the
early grades and that also requires the promotion of ECCE.
iii.
A renewal of adult education with a specific focus on functional adult literacy.
iv.
Capacity building for knowledge creation in the domain of science and technology,
through expanding TVET and higher education without sacrificing quality.
v.
Improvement of the effectiveness of the educational management and administration at
all levels, through capacity development and the creation of motivational and attractive
working environments.
Finally, within the framework of the ESDP III, the MOE has developed a draft General
Education Quality Improvement Program (World Bank, 2008). The proposed Program focuses
on six components (i) Teacher Development Program (TDP) including English Language
22
Quality Improvement Program (ELQIP); (ii) Curriculum, Textbooks and Assessment; (iii)
Management and Administration Program (MAP) with an Education Management Information
System (EMIS) sub-component; and (iv) School Improvement Program (SIP) with a School
Grants sub-component ( World Bank,2008). The program has been in place in the last two years
in the primary and secondary schools all over the country, and its envisaged to make a difference
in the quality of the educational system.
Reference
Anis K. 2007. Ethiopia Non-formal education. Country profile prepared for the Education for
All Global Monitoring Report 2008 Education for All by 2015: will we make it?
Checkole K, 2004. Paper commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005, The
Quality Imperative, UNESCO.
International Working Group on Education 2003.Critical issues in Education for all: gender
parity , emergencies, Tuusula-Helsinki, Finland, Paris UNESCO International Institute for
Educational Planning.
Ministry of Education,1997. Education Sector Development Program I (ESDP I) 1997/982001/02, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education 2005. Education Sector Development Program (ESDP III), 2005/2006
– 2010/2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Ministry of
Education 2010. Education
Sector
Development
program IV (ESDP IV),
2010/11 – 2014/15, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Women’s ,Children & Youth
Affairs,2010.National Policy Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education, 2003.National Curriculum Pre-service for Teacher Education
Programs, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education, 2008. Ethiopian National Learning Assessment (ANFEAE) Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education, 2007. National Learning Assessment (NLA) in grades 4 and 8.
Ministry of Education, 2008. National Report on the Development and State of the Art of Adult
Learning and Education (ALE), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education,2010.Education Statistics Annual Abstract,/2008-2009/.
EMIS, Planning and Resource Mobilization Management Process, Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Ministry of Education, 2003. Teacher Education Overhaul Handbook (TESO),
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Transitional Government of Ethiopia , 1994. Education and Training Policy, Transitional
Government of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
UNESCO, 2011. Education for All Global Monitoring Report The hidden crisis: Armed conflict
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UNESCO, 2008. Regional Overview : Sub-Saharan Africa..
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World Bank,2008. Project Appraisal Document. In support of the First Phase of the General
Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP).
25