Learning and development!

Strengthening access to quality education, implementing early learning and school readiness, improving life skills education, strengthening school gender clubs, and engaging communities to support girls’ education.

Ethiopia has made significant progress toward universal primary education with a net enrollment of 88.7 per cent in the 2021/22 school year.

Although most children enroll in school, many do not progress, with only 33.1 per cent making it to secondary school. The quality of learning is also a major challenge, with 90 per cent of 10-year-olds not knowing how to read or understand a simple text-based sentence. The likelihood of children going to school, staying in school, and performing well is significantly lower in rural settings.

The combined impact of COVID-19, conflict, and climate change has contributed to at least 13 million children being out of school in Ethiopia, with long-term consequences for their future. The impact of emergencies on education is overlaid by other barriers such as traditional gender norms, a high burden of domestic work (especially for girls), and long distances to school. Many of the out-of-school children are from pastoralist, internally displaced, or refugee communities.

Learning and development in numbers

• Out of School Children:  At least 13 million children (pre-primary, primary, and junior secondary) are out of school. Nearly half are girls.
• At-Risk of Drop Out: An estimated 3.5 million additional children (primary and secondary) are at risk of dropping out of school. Nearly half are girls.
• Teachers: The pupil-teacher ratio is an estimated 39:1 at the primary level. Female teachers account for only 39 per cent of all primary school teachers.

 

Solutions

UNICEF supports students, schools, and teachers across the country with materials, training, and technical support. We also support informal learning opportunities for children in emergencies.

Together with partners, we’re working to help every child access their right to quality education – particularly the most disadvantaged.

The foundation of a child’s educational success depends on their early years. Together with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF is helping to strengthen a new primary, pre-primary, and secondary curriculum, which will ultimately help over 26 million children by 2030. UNICEF is also helping train teachers on early childhood development and play-based learning.

Children displaced by conflict and climate change cannot be left behind. In support of refugee and IDP children, UNICEF and partners run programmes through the Bete or ‘My Home’ approach, which integrates education and child protection work and creates safe spaces for learning, psychological support, social services, and skills development for children and young people affected by emergencies or protracted crises.

With partners, UNICEF works to improve educational gender parity. This includes supporting gender clubs where boys and girls can discuss issues affecting them, including child marriage, gender-based violence, and female genital mutilation.

UNICEF works to scale up accessibility and inclusion in the education system for children with disabilities. This includes investing in accessible classrooms, teacher training, and access to assistive tools and technology. We are also working with the Government of Ethiopia to scale up access to digital learning.

UNICEF also helps keep children healthy and in school by installing water, sanitation, and menstrual hygiene management facilities and providing iron and folic acid supplements for adolescent girls.