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This paper presents the findings of longitudinal research conducted in Ethiopia exploring the effects of COVID-19 school closures on children's holistic learning, including their socioemotional and academic learning. It draws on data from over 2,000 pupils captured in 2019 and 2021 to compare primary school children's dropout and learning before and after school closures. The study adapts self-reporting scales used in similar contexts to measure grade 4-6 pupils' social skills and numeracy. Findings highlight the risk of widening inequality regarding educational access and outcomes, related to pupils' gender, age, wealth and location. They also highlight a decline in social skills following school closures and identify a positive and significant relationship between pupils' social skills and numeracy over time. In conclusion, we recommend a need for education systems to promote children's holistic learning, which is even more vital in the aftermath of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides insights into the experiences of children with disabilities in an Ethiopian context during prolonged school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data gathered through telephone surveys from parents of children with disabilities who had been attending school prior to closures and teachers working in different educational settings, we discuss children's learning journeys during closures, motivations to return to school and the implications of this on current educational reform efforts in Ethiopia. Our findings highlight the significant merits of including children with disabilities explicitly in wider education reform efforts; the many positive gains seen in parental desires to send their child back to school; and the need to recognize and strengthen the role of schools as spaces for promoting children's socio-emotional well-being. Schooling of children with disabilities in Ethiopia was significantly impacted due to the lack of accessible learning materials available at home and in schools Caregivers expressed that returning to school was a strong priority for their child with disabilities Teachers and caregivers noted significant negative impact of closures on children's social and emotional well-being, with many reporting heightened feelings of sadness, loneliness, isolation, and diminished interest in learning and playing among their children. Caregivers and teachers felt that more could be done to support families and schools during such times, especially with better allocation of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008, a partnership between the academic pediatric radiology department at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the USA and the radiology department at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Ethiopia, was established. The partnership aims to support pediatric radiology education during radiology residency and to establish pediatric radiology subspeciality training in Ethiopia. In this paper, we review the needs that elicit this type of partnership, its structure, achievements, challenges and future state as a successful roadmap to the establishment of a high-impact subspeciality program in a bilateral partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reforms striving to bridge the humanitarian–development divide in refugee-hosting countries can alter the status quo related to refugee management and service provision. Such changes can result in obstacles to sustainable refugee inclusion when they challenge vested interests. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework outlining the conditions under which government bureaucracies are likely to cooperate in donor-initiated refugee integration reforms as well as when and how they resist with a focus on the role of governance structures. We draw on archival data, observation, and key informant interviews to apply our framework to the case of Ethiopia as the government and international partners engage in reform efforts to include refugees in the national education system and to move from a humanitarian- to development-oriented model of financing. In this case, we find that reforms backed by international donors fundamentally challenged the vested interests of existing bureaucracies and that the resulting resistance substantially narrowed the original policy goals and will likely have implications for bridging the humanitarian–development divide going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the book Democracy, Schooling and Political Education, written by Colin Wringe (published in 2012 by Routledge, first ed. in 1984, 126 p.). Although, the book was written in the last quarter of the 20th century towards the end of the cold war period, it is highly up-to-date in terms of the topic it covers. Wringe's work addresses the teachers and other professionals in education, and also all who are interested in relationship between education and democracy, without a strong background in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on our participatory multi‐faceted community‐wide intervention to change gender perceptions and encourage support for girls' education to improve their school attendance and performance. The intervention involved community and education stakeholders in implementing a context‐specific multi‐faceted intervention to improve opportunities for girls in 123 primary schools in the rural Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. We implemented a repeated‐measures quasi‐experimental design in a sample of 30 schools (15 project and 15 control schools) to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness. Over 3 years we assessed gender perceptions of a cohort of 750 Grade 6 girls, their parents and teachers in project and control schools. In addition, participative group discussions were conducted with various stakeholders. In project schools, we recorded significant changes (e.g., provision of sanitary pads, counselling, tutorial classes and community involvement). Teachers and parents reported improved gender attitudes and support for girls' education; while girls' self‐esteem scores and educational aspirations increased. The findings showed a change in community perceptions of the value of girls' education and some evidence of increased equality in gender perceptions. We concluded that these systemic changes marked the start of a long‐term change process. This intervention showed the value of a participatory approach in a systemic community intervention. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compulsory schooling has become a social good that is so much taken for granted that it is hardly criticized anymore. Due to the prevalence of this norm, the paradoxical effects of its global implementation are often overlooked. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Hamar District, southwest Ethiopia, this paper analyses why 'schooling for all' that is supposed to bring development and a better life is violently contested among agro-pastoralists in Hamar. Along with the expansion of 'Western'-style schooling, school-educated youth unemployment is increasing, and the attempt to implement compulsory schooling has created a violent conflict in Hamar District. Following the lives of first-generation schoolchildren from agro-pastoral families, this article shows how schoolchildren become intermediaries between their agro-pastoral kin and the Ethiopian government. Both groups use children and education in struggling over power and change, which creates dilemmas for school-educated youths who are related to both groups and have to navigate these political tensions throughout their life courses. The violent conflict over the implementation of compulsory schooling in Hamar District shows how schooling can turn not only into a metaphorical arena but into a literal battlefield, in which the relations between agropastoralists, the state and (inter)national development are negotiated. Various actors claim competing rights to decide about young people's education and schooling, but young people are also taking their own decisions about their lives. These educational decisions about learning in and outside school shape wider social, political and economic processes. The increasing number of schoolchildren from agro-pastoralist families blurs the boundaries between agro-pastoralists and the central government, making it fruitful to integrate the study of schooling into research on infrastructure and politics in order to understand processes of rural transformations and conflicts. Young people mediate multiple and at times antagonistic visions of future livelihoods and corresponding forms of education, which creates dilemmas and conflicts throughout their life courses that need to be taken into account in developing sustainable ways of education beyond schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with accurate knowledge that goes beyond knowing a few contraceptive methods, such as knowledge of fertility, benefits, and contraceptive side effects, are more likely to use and less likely to discontinue using family planning.Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of family planning education on knowledge, attitude, and practice towards family planning among married couples in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia.Methods: A quasi-experimental study was done on 766 married couples sampled using a random sampling technique and analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The significance of differences in mean knowledge and attitude between control and experimental couples was measured using the non-parametric 2-independent sample analysis (P < 0.05).Results: The comparison of knowledge score means and significance of their differences between control and experimental women was found to be significant at the posttest (P = 0.001; r = 0.045). Similarly, the experimental men's knowledge score means and their difference was significant at posttest (P = 0.001, r = 0.26). With respect to a comparison of mean score of attitude and the significance of their difference between control and experimental women at posttest was significant with (P < 0.001; r = 0.13). Similarly, the comparison of the male partners in the control and experimental groups was significant at posttest (P = 0.001; r = 0.12). At the posttest, the proportion of experimental couples using each contraceptive method relatively increased, with a shift to relatively effective ones. Two hundred and ninety five (77.6%) of the control and 318 (83.5%) of the experimental men reported supporting their wives in the use of contraceptives, showing more improvement among the experimental men than the control group.Conclusion: Along with routine counseling, a well-structured behavioral model-based family planning education is required for effective and continuous use of contraceptives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women's education is the base for faster economic growth, longer life expectancy, lower population growth, improved quality of life, and a high rate of investment return in developing countries. Historically, girls were denied opportunities for schooling in most of the regions and societies of Ethiopia. So this study targeted a multilevel analysis of women's education in Ethiopia using the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data. Methods: Secondary data on women's data sets were obtained from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey. A population-based cross-sectional study design was used for the survey. The sampling technique used for the survey was the two-stage sampling technique, which is stratified in the first stage and equal probability systematic selection technique in the second stage. The multi-level ordinal logistic regression model was fitted to identify the determinants of women's education in Ethiopia. Results: Among the random sample of 17137 women, the majority, 65.6 percent were rural residents. Somali regional state (75.3 percent) and the capital city Addis Ababa (8.6 percent) had the highest and lowest percentages of women illiteracy respectively than the remaining administrative units of Ethiopia. The minimum values for the fit statistics and the indicative value of the intra-class correlation (68.3%) of the multilevel model showed its appropriateness to the data. Among the predictors in the final multilevel ordinal logistic regression analysis, women's age at first marriage, residence, and family's wealth index were significant predictors of women's education in Ethiopia. Moreover, the estimates from the random effect result revealed that there is more variation in women's education between the enumeration areas than within the enumeration areas. Conclusion: A multi-level ordinal logistic regression analysis has determined higher-level differences in women's education that could not be addressed by a single-level approach. So, the application of standard models by ignoring this variation ought to embrace spurious results, then for such hierarchical data, multilevel modeling is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the trend of early marriage among adolescent girls in eastern Ethiopia. We analyzed data extracted from the Kersa community-based surveillance database for girls in the age group of 10 to 17 for the decade ending in 2018. The Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Kersa HDSS) is a demographic and health surveillance and research center established in 2007 by Haramaya University to serve as a research center and source of health and demographic data in Eastern Ethiopia. The annual incidence of early marriage was calculated per 1,000 person-time. Chi-square test for linear trend was done using Epitools Software to examine the change in rates over time. The overall incidence of early marriage among the study participants was 40.48/1,000 per year (95% confidence interval [CI], 39.1–41.9) with an increasing incidence rate from 32.38/1,000 girls per year in 2008 (95% CI, 27.4–38.3) to 40.18/1,000 girls per year in 2018. A relatively high incidence of early marriage was observed among rural girls, those who had no formal education, and unemployed girls. Empowering rural girls through increased access to education is needed to reduce the incidence of early marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary diversity is important for pregnant women since it has been associated with nutrient adequacy. It is very crucial to ensure optimal fetal health and development. There is no evidence at the community level on the magnitude of dietary diversity and its predictors among pregnant women in okra-producing areas of western Ethiopia. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of dietary diversity and its associated factors among pregnant women. Design: A community-based cross-sectional study was employed among randomly selected 224 pregnant women in western Ethiopia. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The qualitative open 24-h recall was used to assess the level of dietary diversity. Ordinal logistic regression analyses were used by SPSS version 25. An adjusted proportional odds ratio along with a 95% confidence interval [CI] was computed to measure the strengths of the association at a P ≤ 0.05. Result: This study revealed that more than one-fourth, 64 (28.6%), of the respondents were found to have high dietary diversity scores. Antenatal Care [ANC] visits (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 2.10, [95% CI: 1.13, 3.90], P = 0.01), changing food intake (AOR = 2.97, [95% CI: 1.16, 3.67], P = 0.002), and being food secure household (AOR = 2.63, [95% CI: 1.38, 5.00], P = 0.003) were significantly associated with a higher probability of having high dietary diversity score. However, lack of formal education (AOR = 0.34, [95% CI: 0.61, 0.89]) was inversely associated with the probability of having high dietary diversity. Conclusion: More than half of pregnant women in western Ethiopia were found to have low dietary diversity. Therefore, ANC follow-up, dietary modification, and promotion of frequent use of wild edible plants (okra) to maintain household food security were very crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable proportions of pregnant women consume inadequately diversified diets in Ethiopia. On the other hand, women's empowerment is identified as a means of achieving maternal nutrition improvement. However, evidence on the relationship between multiple dimensions of women's empowerment and dietary diversity during pregnancy is limited in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the mediating effects of women's empowerment in the pathway between women's education and dietary diversity during pregnancy in West Shewa zone, Ethiopia. A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,383 pregnant women in 2021. Dietary diversity was measured using the minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W) tool. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to identify and validate women's empowerment dimensions. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the pathways linking pregnant women's education and empowerment to dietary diversity during pregnancy. From the latent dimensions of women's empowerment produced by factor analyses, pregnant women's education was directly associated with household decision-making power, psychological and time dimensions. In turn, household decision-making power, psychological and time dimensions were associated with dietary diversity during pregnancy. The direct relationship between pregnant women's education and dietary diversity was insignificant, but the total indirect effect and total effect were significant. Household decision-making power, psychological and time dimensions were significant mediators in the relationship between pregnant women's education and dietary diversity. However, economic dimension was related to neither pregnant women's education nor dietary diversity. This study highlights pregnant women with better education are more likely to be empowered in household decision-making, psychological and time dimensions; and those empowered pregnant women are more likely to consume more diverse diets, suggesting women's access to higher education could have a positive indirect effect on consumption of more diverse diets during pregnancy by empowering women in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The Covid‐19 pandemic delivered an unprecedented shock to education systems globally, with school closures affecting 1.6 billion children. Education systems in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are facing significant budget cuts further constraining capacities to adapt to Covid‐19 impacts. The need for evidence to inform policy dialogues about how best to mitigate impacts and support education systems to "build back better" is pressing. Purpose: In Ethiopia, schools reopened in October 2020 after a seven‐month pandemic‐related closure. Employing an adapted resilience systems analysis framework, this article focuses on the extent to which Ethiopia's education system—which has in recent decades seen rapid progress in enrolment rates—has adapted to the impacts of the pandemic on adolescents' education and learning, and has achieved this equitably. Methods and approach: The article draws on mixed‐methods data from Ethiopia collected virtually with a pre‐existing cohort of 3,066 adolescents (1,683 girls and 1,383 boys) during the immediate onset of the pandemic (April–June 2020) and following the reopening of schools (November 2020–February 2021). Adolescent perspectives are complemented by 27 key informant interviews at community and district levels. Findings: Rural adolescents, girls, and adolescents with disabilities were less likely to access distance education during school closures due to connectivity challenges and discriminatory norms, and to subsequently re‐enrol. Implementation of adaptive measures, including hygiene guidance, smaller class sizes, and catch‐up classes, has been highly uneven, and outreach to support re‐enrolment of socially marginalized adolescents has been very limited. Policy implications: For LMICs like Ethiopia to build back better post‐pandemic and stay on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4's commitment to inclusive and equitable quality education for all, scaled‐up investments in blended learning approaches, addressing the digital divide, and ensuring targeted outreach and social protection to support re‐enrolment of socially marginalized adolescents are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In line with the basic tenets of human capital development theory, the present study examines and presents the determinants of human capital development (Human Development Index [HDI]) in Ethiopia using time-series data from 1980/81 to 2019/20. Based on the Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron unit root test results, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds co-integration and error correction models are employed. The bounds test indicated the existence of significant long-run equilibrium relationship between HDI and its human capital input indicators. Results of the estimated long-run selected model indicated that public recurrent expenditure on education and health as well as its capital education expenditures and basic health coverage have a positive and significant contribution in improving the HDI of the country. On the contrary, government development expenditure on health, population–physician, student–school and age dependency ratios has an adverse effect on human capital development of Ethiopia. On the other hand, the short-run error correction model showed that a temporary disequilibrium level of HDI in the previous period is corrected by approximately 79.37 per cent in the current period to restore to a long-run equilibrium. Thus, a concerted effort is needed to expand and use public expenditure on education and health in an economic, accountable and transparent way. Furthermore, the turnover level of qualified teachers and medical doctors has to be reduced in addition to building and upgrading adequate quality education and health infrastructures and facilities in the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explored, through a quantitative case study approach, the views of academics toward the importance and components of an internal quality assurance system of St Mary's University in Ethiopia. The findings revealed that while academics value positively the importance of an internal quality assurance system in general and institutional frameworks deployed to achieve the same goal in particular, they are critical of the limited level of engagement at the lower levels of the system. This suggests the need for strengthening grassroot functional units and effectively integrating the participation of academics and students in future internal quality assurance efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ethiopia, being in the Sub Saharan region of Africa, is one of the countries with a substantial burden of HIV infection. Because of the high burden of HIV and poor health care settings, HAND is prevalent as demonstrated in various cross-sectional studies. However, no review has been conducted to report the consolidated magnitude of HAND among people with HIV in Ethiopia. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of HAND in Ethiopia. Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed studies that investigated the prevalence of HAND in Ethiopia from PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, HINARI, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases. We also looked at the reference lists of the included studies to include other relevant studies. Subgroup analysis was performed based on publication year, study location, and sample size. Heterogeneity across studies was evaluated using the I2 test. Potential publication bias was assessed using Egger's test and visual inspection of symmetry in the funnel plots. Results: In the present meta-analysis, 627 articles were initially identified and evaluated. Of these, 8 studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of HAND in people with HIV in Ethiopia was 39.15% (95% CI 29.36, 48.94). The highest prevalence observed in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) with 53.20% (95% CI 25.96, 80.44) followed by others 34.87% (Tigray, Addis Ababa, and Oromia) (95% CI 33.49, 36.24) and Amhara 34.07% (95% CI 25.39, 42.74).The funnel plot was asymmetrical. However, Egger's regression tests provided no evidence of publication bias in the prevalence of HAND. Conclusion: In this meta-analysis, the pooled prevalence of HAND, in Ethiopia, was high. Older age, substance use, advanced stages of the disease, and lack of education were the main determinants of HAND in Ethiopia. Health education, early screening of people with HIV, and training of health professionals working in hospitals on HAND are highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) has a crucial contribution to the future life of children, and overall quality of learning and development of a country. Even though there are no well-established international criteria to evaluate the quality of ECCE programmes because of the variability in nations' economies, workforces, political regimes and cultures, there are some common standards. Therefore, the purpose of this review article is to assess the status of ECCE in Ethiopia and its contribution to quality education. This review is based on a document analysis from different sources (i.e. policy documents, books, journals, theses and dissertations). The study focuses on identifying common quality indicators/dimensions for ECCE and the challenges that Ethiopian ECCE faces in terms of these dimensions. Indicating that the practice of ECCE in Ethiopia is faced with diverse challenges. Some of the challenges are lack of proper training for teachers and caregivers; use of developmentally inappropriate curriculum; lack of pedagogical skill; unfavourable working conditions; inadequate resources; lack of continuous supervision and programme evaluation; inactive parental and community participation; ineffective school organisation and leadership; imbalanced staff-child ratios; and improper healthcare and hygiene. Therefore, the Ministry of Education (MoE) in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA), the community and other concerned bodies should work together to improve the practice of ECCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Development Research is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Motivation: Although many countries have made progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on inclusive and equitable education for all, vulnerable children and adolescents in low‐income countries often face significant barriers to realizing educational opportunities, especially at secondary and post‐secondary or tertiary levels. Purpose: In line with the aim of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to "leave no one behind", the article explores the factors that shape the educational trajectories of vulnerable population groups and contributes to evidence‐informed policy and programming to tackle school dropout in rural Ethiopia. Approach and Methods: The article draws on qualitative research on 150 girls and boys aged 10–19 years, along with their caregivers and key informants, in communities from three diverse regions in Ethiopia: pastoralist Afar, highland Amhara, and lowland Oromia. Findings: Although Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in increasing secondary enrolment since 2000, intersecting barriers put vulnerable adolescents' educational opportunities at risk. Children and adolescents from poor households, those with disabilities, and who are internally displaced, out‐of‐school or working face a range of challenges at the household, community and system levels. These barriers are also shaped by gender norms that restrict adolescent girls' and boys' education, often in contrasting ways. Policy Implications: A multi‐pronged approach is critical to promoting educational opportunities that leave no adolescent behind, including investments in school quality, positive disciplinary approaches, competency‐based grade progression, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities and school‐feeding programmes; the wider enabling environment, including social protection and safe, subsidized transport; initiatives to tackle age‐ and gender‐based violence that discourages school attendance; and tailored strategies to support the most vulnerable young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]