What could be done to improve quality education in Ethiopia? Improving quality education in this country must begin from preschool level by bringing up the kids in a disciplined manner in the spirit of civility and love for one’s country and fostering unity right from the beginning.
Extra classes and tutorials that are currently offered in secondary schools and universities in the country need to focus on upgrading the quality of lectures by preparing additional educational materials which the students can use in person.
Quality education does not come over night, it is a process that should be achieved over time. Students need to be supported to focus on their lessons instead of being tied down in non-educational issues like on campus political engagements.
Vocational trainings and promotion of experiments in the laboratories will help students to become more innovative and creative. This is important because quality education also entails preparing young persons for quality life and not just passing examinations at all levels. Mentoring of students and making all the necessary follow up on their progress will help weaker students to enjoy their progress and appreciate their achievements over time.
Through the General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E), the Government of Ethiopia has made significant strides in enhancing internal efficiency, equitable access, and the overall quality of education. Launched in 2017, GEQIP-E has implemented a range of targeted interventions across all of Ethiopia’s primary and secondary public schools. It is a government-led and multi-donor-supported initiative to strengthen the education sector from the bottom up and ensure students and teachers receive the support they need. First introduced in 2010, the O-class provides pre-primary children with a strong foundation for handling primary school challenges and navigating their transition from first to second grade.
This program has been instrumental in promoting education quality in Ethiopia. However, with the ongoing donor fatigue and newly introduced tariffs globally, Ethiopia needs to generate local income to enhance the quality of education in the country.
Quality education in Ethiopia requires far more expenditure than usually anticipated and the government needs to increase operational budget for all educational establishments at all levels.
In addition, the operational linkage among stakeholders in education including university presidents, school directors, community and family representatives, teachers and local community organizations and CSOs need to cooperate in school and university improvement programs for promoting quality education at all levels.
It must be stressed that ultimately, the quality of any level of education is measured through the changes it could bring in the quality of life of students, their families and the entire communities in the country.
Although theoretical education is useful and important, quality education is practical and applicable in the development process of a country. Speaking to government officials recently, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed on the need to introduce agriculture as a leaning activity in which students can gain practical education from their teachers. He also noted that local farmers could sell their products to teachers to ensure food security for the farmers, teachers and their students.
The promotion of quality education can be further accelerated through the use of IT and AI sources. Students may also utilize the current online training on Five Million Coders program across the educational establishments and local private sector in the country.
Conditions of war which result in the crisis in education in Ethiopia certainly affect not only the normal process of education in the country but also do a serious disservice to the promotion of quality education in areas affected by war and natural and manmade calamities.
The school feeding programs that were launched several years back had acquired international acclamation and this needs to continue across all regions in the country as they would fairly contribute to normal progress of education and quality education in particular.
Many people take the growing or declining of scores attained by the number of students who sit for national examinations as a single indicator for growth of quality education. It is difficult to measure the improvements in quality education by a single variable like the number of students who pass examination. This could be one of the indicators but cannot be taken as the only indicator because those who pass their examinations including university entry examination may drop off due to low examination results in the first semester of their enrolment in the universities.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2025
