What is the state of education in Ethiopia? [Quora]

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Question: What is the state of education in Ethiopia? [Quora]

Answer By Eyob Fitwi Abraham

To be honest, I can’t describe the state of education accurately. I don’t have much in percentages or so. There’s a link for the 2007 census pdf on Page on Csa and the state of literacy is on page 229. It states that overall 39.8% (46.2% male and 33.3% female) over the age of 5 are literate. It has other details which may interest you. But I have my impressions as an ‘insider’.

Currently there is a drive by the government to increase education coverage and you’ll notice increased construction of schools and universities. While this is a great stride quantity-wise, there is some concern on quality.

Let’s start with the lower level education. Things seem to be improving on that front. School enrollment is increasing and general literacy seems to be on the rise. A good job has been done here, especially since considering the priority here is getting students to read and writ and do arithmetic, although there is still room for further improvement. Increasing girls enrollment for example is one that deserves attention.

As you go higher, naturally enrollment decreases, but there’s also criticism of education quality, which I agree with too. Right now the primary motive seems to be playing with big numbers rather than with true knowledge. For example there has been a great increase in the number of universities being built, but the criteria instructors are evaluated by in these new centers of education are less than optimal. It’s not surprising to hear fresh graduates from the more established universities being offered jobs as lecturers in these ‘newcomers’.

Generally, there is a commendable effort being made to increase education but I feel there is a need to revise some of the education policies, especially for tertiary level education. I see there is some unfair bias in favour towards government owned education institutions (what disciplines they are allowed to teach, what students to enroll, etc.) although the private sector needs to work harder too. And I feel the curricula for higher education is a little too uptight. The Ministry of Education needs to loosen up a little.

However, I must also note a paradox. I hear stories of how higher education students who had low grades in Ethiopia enrolled in American or other western universities and score very high grades. The learning process can be tough here, so I guess it helps students in some way when they face more relaxed learning environment.

Hope this sheds a teeny bit of light on what you were looking for.