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Language acquisition and learning literatures favour mother-tongue education policies, particularly in the early years of schooling. However, English Medium Instruction (EMI) remains a popular language policy position in multilingual contexts. This paper studies EMI transition policies using a longitudinal dataset from Ethiopia, by leveraging regional variation in education language policy reforms for causal identification. Employing a dynamic value-added model, this paper shows that students in schools using English as a medium of instruction have lower mathematics test scores (−0.25 standard deviations) compared to students in mother tongue education schools. Furthermore, English medium learners do not perform any better in their English test scores compared to mother tongue learners. These findings are in line with the international education literature on skill development, learning and second language acquisition. The main results support the prolonged utilisation of mother tongue instruction in primary education. These results are particularly relevant for policy makers in linguistically diverse contexts. • This paper studies the impact of English medium instruction policies on children's learning outcomes in the context of Ethiopia. • A value-added model of student attainment is used to estimate the impact of English medium instruction on student learning outcomes. • The main results show that mother tongue instruction has a positive impact on student learning. • Social and political contexts matter. As such, there is not one optimal language policy for all multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the persistent effect of the 1998–2000 Ethiopia–Eritrea conflict on human capital accumulation. The empirical findings indicate that exposure to conflict during early childhood increases the probability of grade repetition (for boys and girls) and school dropout (especially for boys), and decreases student achievement in mathematics and language scores (mainly for girls) a decade later. Identification of the effect is based on a difference-in-difference approach that exploits temporal and regional variation of the conflict. These effects are robust when including region-specific trends, school, grade, class, and teacher level fixed effects, and other student and family characteristics. The paper provides the first estimates on the long-term effect of exposure to conflict at early (before school-age) childhood on test scores of primary school students. • I examine the causal effect of Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict on human capital accumulation in Ethiopia. • The analysis uses school survey data from Ethiopia and applies reduced form difference in-difference analysis. • Exposure to the conflict decreases maths and language scores and increases likelihood of grade repetition and school dropout. • Exposure to the conflict during early childhood persists more than exposure at a later ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]