Education System in Ethiopia

Primary Education

Education in Ethiopia remains less than satisfactory, especially in rural areas where facilities are often thinly spread. It begins with 8 years of primary school followed by 2 years each of middle and high school. Sadly, children in urban areas are far more likely to succeed because many poorer tribes consider work more important for compelling reasons.

Middle Education

Although education in Ethiopia continues to be free and compulsory in theory, in practice enrolment at middle schools is stuck at 60%. Here children often from poverty-stricken backgrounds are unable to make the cultural transition to an education tailored to the middle classes, and simply drop out.

Secondary Education

The system continues to be skewed at urban high schools where a white collar culture dominates and those who do menial work are regarded as inferior. Away from cities though, poorer communities are realizing that education is their path to a better future, and are demanding more local schools. Educators continue to struggle in a system beset by inadequacies. In truth only those children whose parents can afford private schools receive a decent education.

Vocational Education

Ethiopia has a population of 80 million and half its youth are either unemployed or underemployed. Prodigious efforts in terms of technical vocational and education programs are making inroads and now nearly 10% of the youth are improving skills.

Tertiary Education

Higher education institutions are monitored by a higher education institutions board that approves their plans and budgets. They are then free to recruit their own staff whose performance is assessed in terms of input by teachers and peer-group staff.


The oldest university in Ethiopia is the University of Addis Ababa established in 1940. In centuries past the Ethiopian Orthodox Church dominated the education system and its roots go back into the mists of time.