CURRENT SITUATION

demographic and economic situation

Ethiopia has an estimated population in excess of 70 million spread over an area of 1.1 million square kilometers. The male/female ratio is approximately 50.1% males to 49.9% females. According to projections undertaken by the Central Statistics Authority, the total population of Ethiopia is estimated to reach 81.3 million by 2010, with 16.5 million children of primary school age.

Approximately 15% of the population of Ethiopia is concentrated in urban centers, while 85% of the population resides in rural communities. With such a significant portion of the population dependent on rain-fed subsistence agriculture, which accounts for approximately 42.1% of the country's gross domestic product, the majority of Ethiopians are vulnerable to climatic shifts. The country is one of the poorest in the world with a per capita income of less than US$100, and approximately 44% of the population living in extreme poverty.

the education need

Despite recent efforts, Ethiopia is struggling to meet the universal goal of all children completing primary school by 2015 as stipulated by the United Nations, particularly in the rural and nomadic communities. Ethiopia still has one of the lowest rates of enrolment in the developing world with nearly half of all children not attending school. Furthermore, any increases in enrolment have come at a price.

As more and more students are packed into limited classrooms, the quality of the education for each student is diminished. In 1990, 8,434 schools enrolled 2,063,635 students compared to the year 2000 when 12,089 schools enrolled 7,213,043 students. As a result, the pupil to teacher ratio is the highest in Africa with an average of 64 students per teacher in 2000 increasing to 72 in 2005 (World Bank, 2005). There are currently 171,034 primary teachers in Ethiopia, serving over 11.4 million students. It is estimated by the Ministry of Education that a total of 294,760 teachers have to be recruited to take care of the additional enrolments and reduce the pupil/teacher ratios in both cycles (ESDP 2006). Additionally, a high drop-out rate means that approximately 50% of those that initially enroll are unlikely to complete primary education. Furthermore, although there have been recent decreases in the gender parity gap, the participation of girls in school is still low in Ethiopia, with less than half of primary school-age girls enrolled. With regards to education, Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa. After Somalia, Ethiopia requires the second-highest average annual rate of increase in net enrolment and attendance in Eastern and Southern Africa if it is to meet the Millennium Development Goal of gender parity in primary education by 2015 (UNICEF 2006). It is estimated that over 200,000 classrooms need to be built to provide access for the over 3 million children out of school and to reduce the classroom student/teacher ratios to acceptable levels. The burden is large but achievable with a dedicated and committed effort.

Ethiopia's government education initiatives

In Ethiopia, improving basic education is a vital component of the country's development, a concept clearly recognized by the government of Ethiopia. In line with the Education for All (EFA), and Millennium Declaration, Ethiopia set out to achieve some of the six goals under the EFA Dakar framework. Specifically, the government set about achieving the goals of universal access and completion of primary education, and a 50% reduction in adult illiteracy by 2015 under a 20 year Education Sector Development Program (ESDP), implemented in 1997.

In line with the ESDP, the government of Ethiopia mandated that all children must attend a compulsory 6 years of primary education, divided in to two cycles (Grade 1-4 and 5-8), starting at 7 years old and finishing at 14 years old. As a result, access to education has also increased considerably. In the 1996-1997 school years, 3.7 million children attended primary school as compared to more than 7 million in 2000. The latest ESPD report indicates that in 2004/05, out of 14.3 million primary school age (7-14) children, 11.4 million were enrolled in formal primary schools (55.9% male and 44.1% female). Net enrolment rate at the primary level in the year 2000 was 36%. Government efforts and international support has assisted resulting in an increase to 46% in 2004, and 56% in 2005. This expansion was achieved in part due to the construction of over 6,000 new primary schools, raising the total number of primary schools to 16,513 in 2004/05 , an increase of 70.1% from the 1996/97 level. 85% of these new primary schools were constructed in rural areas (ESDP 2006).

To support this initiative, increases in financial support have been made with approximately 16% of central government expenditure in 2005 allocated to education, compared with 9.7% in 1990.

educational development sector program (EDSP)

The Government of Ethiopia has developed a policy framework around its belief that one of the key pillars of long-term development rests upon increased access to and enhanced quality of education. Ethiopia's Education and Training Policy (ETP) encompasses a four phase Education Sector Development Program (ESDP) that will culminate with its vision to see all children have access to quality primary education by the year 2015.

The ETP is intended to support the government's overall objective to eradicate poverty and transform Ethiopia into a middle-income country in 20 - 30 years by facilitating rural and agricultural development, urban, and industrial development and the building of a democratic society.

The first two phases of the ESDP are complete. The third phase of the Education Sector Development Program (ESDP III) spans five years, from 2005 - 2010.

vision and mission of the government

As stated in the Education Sector Development Program Action Plan (PAP), the Government of Ethiopia's vision is:

"To see all school-age children get access to quality primary education by the year 2015 and realize the creation of trained and skilled human power at all levels who will be driving forces in the promotion of democracy and development in the country".

Its mission is to:

• Extend quality and relevant primary education to all school-age children and expand standardized education and training programs at all levels to bring about rapid and sustainable development with increased involvement of different stakeholders (community, private investors, NGOs, etc.).
• Ensure that educational establishments are production centers for well-rounded, competent, disciplined and educated people through the inclusion of civic and ethical education with trained, competent and committed teachers.
• Take affirmative action to ensure equity of female participation, pastoral and agro-pastoral, and those with special needs in all education and training programs, and increase their role and participation in development.

primary education statistics and goals (grades 1 -8)

successes of ESDP I & II

• Enrolment increased from 3.7 million in 1996 to 11.4 million by 2005.
• 6,000 new primary schools constructed between 1996 and 2005, 85% of which were in rural communities.
• Gross enrolment rate (GER) for girls increased from 40.7% in 1999 to 71.5% by 2005.
• Teacher staff increased by 61.4% between 1997 and 2005.
• National repetition rate at primary fell 7.65 percentage points from 1996 to 2004.

goals for ESDP III

The major objectives of this sub-program over the next few years are increasing enrolment, improving equity and quality and reducing dropout and repetition rates. Following are the goals for 2010:

• GER will reach 109.7% (a target of over 100% GER accounts for the inclusion of overage children, i.e. those that didn't have the opportunity to enter schools at the appropriate age).
• The pupil/section ratio will be reduced to 50.
• The pupil/teacher ratios will be 54 and 45 for first cycle and second cycle primary respectively.
• 194,748 classrooms will be constructed in order to provide space for new pupils and to reduce the pupil/section ratio and the percentage of schools with double shifts.
• Classrooms will be furnished and equipped with basic necessary furniture and equipment. The classrooms could be constructed as new schools or as additional classrooms in existing schools based on the needs of each locality.
• A total of 294,760 teachers will be recruited to take care of the additional enrollments and reduce the pupil/teacher ratios in both cycles.
• 3.7 million sets of textbooks (146.9 million copies) will be printed and distributed to schools to achieve and maintain a pupil/textbook ratio of 1:1 throughout the program period.

In achieving these goals, the Government is committed to:

• Use of local labor and materials to keep construction costs low and to promote community involvement.
• Implementation of Alternative Basic Education Programs (ABE) run by communities, community based organizations and NGOs to expand the provision of secular basic primary education.
• Introduction of multi-grade schools to improve access to and internal efficiency of the first cycle of primary education in hard-to-reach remote rural communities, sparse settlement areas, pastoralists and semi-agriculturalist societies.
• Emphasis on tailoring curriculum for the pastoralist and semi-agriculturalists population base.
• Developing a strategy to include over-age children who were not able to enter primary school at the typical age.
• Expanding school feeding programs in food insecure areas and providing support to vulnerable children.

imagine1day is working closely with the Ministry of Education to achieve these goals.