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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 this paper, we aim to provide robust estimates of wage returns to education in Ethiopia. Previous estimates vary widely based on the scope and size of the study sample, variables employed, and estimation method. We use two recent rounds of national labour force survey data and a pseudo- (or synthetic) panel framework to address the well-known potential endogeneity of schooling in wage regressions. Birth-year cohort based pseudo-panel estimate of the return to an additional year of education is between 14 percent and 16 percent, 4 to 5 percentage points higher than that from ordinary least squares (OLS). The significant downward bias in OLS is further confirmed by two-year pseudo-panel estimates and remains robust, to a large extent, as we use an alternate model, change the estimation sample, and address selection bias concurrently with endogenous schooling using a novel approach. We discuss some possible explanations in the context of Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the perspectives of caregivers and other adults on the nature and timing of childhood transitions, elicited through group discussions in five Ethiopian communities, as reflective of the community norms that shape childhood transitions. The paper uses data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children growing up in poverty, to investigate the transitions made by girls from childhood to the onset of puberty. It argues that these transitions are rarely linear, singular, or focused on 'learning', but instead multiple and often contradictory. While girls are said to be constrained by lack of opportunities, the main constraint to successful transitions in the communities discussed in the paper is having too many potentially contradictory opportunities, too soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of low-income countries, the role of donors in public policymaking is of great importance. Donors use a combination of lending and non-lending instruments as pathways of influence to shape policy directions in aid-recipient countries. This paper reports some findings from a doctoral study on the role of the World Bank in the recent higher education (HE) policy reform process in Ethiopia. It focuses on the nature and impact of non-lending assistance by the Bank to the Ethiopian HE subsystem. Based on an interpretive policy analysis of sector reviews and advisory activities of the Bank, and selected national HE policy documents, the following findings are highlighted. First, as a ‘knowledge institution’, the World Bank produces, systematises and disseminates knowledge through policy advice, policy reports, analytical sector reviews, and thematic conferences and workshops. Second, knowledge aid from the Bank not only has a profound discursive effect on shaping Ethiopian HE policy reform priorities in accordance with its neoliberal educational agenda but also undermines the knowledge production capacity of the nation. The paper also argues that, for an effective education policy support, the Bank needs to shift its modality of engagement from knowledge aid to research capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores some of the indigenous sources available in Ethiopia as a resource for philosophy and philosophy of education. In the process it makes a small contribution to the ongoing debate among philosophers as to whether there is a distinctive African philosophy. The paper illustrates, first, what is sometimes referred to as the ‘deep knowledge’ underlying more day-to-day beliefs in Ethiopia (or more specifically in this case those of the Amhara-Tigre cultural complex) and their application in ‘educational magic’ and, secondly, the 17th century philosophical writing of Zara Ya'eqob and Walda Heywat, which is remarkable for its Enlightenment-style attachment to reason and argumentation. Two more directly educational indigenous sources are then explored: the educational thought and practice of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and non-formal education in villages. Finally, the paper considers the relevance of these sources to contemporary educational development and suggests that they merit continuing attention and reference both from the point of view of preserving cultural identity and continuity and also, more pragmatically, because there are ideas, values and practices in the tradition which have continuing relevance for Ethiopians grappling with educational development issues today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores questions of relevance to Ethiopian primary education policy. It examines (i) the match/mismatch between government-prescribed pedagogy and actual student learning practices and (ii) the relationship between those practices and school, class and teacher level factors. The paper employs evidence from government documents on curriculum and pedagogy, time-based observations of 5,088 students in 776 mathematics classes and interviews with teachers. In recent years the government has prescribed a shift away from teacher-oriented towards student-centred methods of learning for both the first (Grades 1–4) and second (Grades 5–8) cycles of primary education with a target that 30% of class time be spent on student-centred activity. We find that student-centred activities accounted for just 10.7% of time spent, teacher-oriented activities 74.5% and ‘off task’ 14.7%, with first cycle students more ‘off task’ and second cycle students more ‘teacher-oriented’. In both cycles a student is more likely to be ‘on task’ rather than ‘off task’ if taught by a teacher with a Diploma or a degree, who has not been absent recently and has received supervision within the last four weeks; and more likely to be engaged in student-centred rather than teacher-oriented activity if taught by a female teacher with a Diploma. In the first cycle, ‘on task’ activity is associated with female teachers; in the second cycle with male. In the first cycle student-centred activity is associated with class sizes of less than 26; in the second cycle with class sizes of more than 26 and with less experienced teachers. Policy implications are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this article is to provide a more comprehensive picture of teacher preparation in Ethiopia on top of a closer scrutiny of current teacher education reforms. In particular, it presents teacher education within the context of policy implementation over the last six decades by highlighting key reforms and how these reforms impacted the education system in general and the teaching profession in particular. In analysing why and how the policy reforms took place, the paper draws on Chin and Benne’s strategies of change management and the world system theories. Further, based on government statistics, official policy documents, and observations, the paper argues that the series of policy interventions were short of addressing the challenges of teacher preparation, including maintaining minimum quality standards, though the sector’s expansion has had favourable impact on educational access and bridging regional and gender disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mass media, radio and television, have been playing a very important role in the formal education of Ethiopian children for a quarter of a century. The chronological development and future plans of their use for educational purposes are described in this paper. Ethiopia is unique among most Third World countries in the sense that the mass media in Ethiopia function under the Ministry of Education, not under the Ministry of Information, and cover almost ninety percent of the population of the country. This might be an example for other Third World countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The revitalization of Ethiopian higher education (HE) has been underway since the early 2000s. As well as the economic optimism evident in the ‘knowledge-driven poverty reduction’ discourse, social equity goals underscore the reform and expansion of the system. Notwithstanding the widening participation and the equity policy provisions put in place, the problem of inequality has persisted along the lines of ethnicity, gender, rurality and socio-economic background. This paper reviews major equity policy instruments and highlights the enduring inequalities in Ethiopian HE. It argues that this persistence is related in part to the ways in which the problem is represented in policy, and that redressing the problem necessitates framing inequality as capability deprivation rather than as issues of access and disparities in enrolment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In an attempt to describe the historical origins of multilingual education in Eritrea, Horn of Africa, this paper looks at how missionaries, European colonisers, successive Ethiopian rules in Eritrea and the independence movements that fought Ethiopia defined ethnic, religious and linguistic differences of communities in the country. These definitions of differences are then related to broader political aspirations of these forces and their specific education policies. Italian and Ethiopian rules, chiefly concerned with control and pacification of the territory, imposed Italian and Amharic languages, while missionaries, the British Military Administration and the 1950s government of autonomous Eritrea, despite their divergent interests, laid some ground for pluralistic language policies in the country. But it is the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, predecessor to the current government, sceptical of the policies of all these forces and charging them as divisive, that sought to de-politicise diversity by embracing it. As a direct result of this stance on diversity, and as a result of other contributing factors such as the Marxist ideology of the organisation, Eritrea now has a multilingual education policy that uses the country's nine languages in schools. The application of language rights perspectives to the policy raises a number of questions (e.g. on policy implementation) that require further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a paper on early childhood education and care in Ethiopia. It addresses some of the emerging trends and challenges in early education within the context of Ethiopia in the hope that it will inspire others to improve the education systems in other nations. It explains why this stage of development has not received sufficient attention within educational systems around the world despite claims about its significance in improving later outcomes in an individual's life.

This study was prompted by practical confrontation with prospective teachers’ practicum problems, namely fending off effective reflection and harboring silence, each of which debilitated developing adequate skills of planning appropriate lessons and presenting them meaningfully. Choosing a reflective practitioner inquiry design advanced by Donald Schön, ten pre-service EFL student teachers were selected purposefully to take part in the study. Reflective journaling was employed both as a research method and strategy of reflection. The results indicate both opportunities and challenges in the specific EFL reflective practicum context. This paper presents these and the implications for policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent policies in Ethiopia put students at the heart of school improvement through structures for peer leadership and school-level consultation, evaluation and decision-making. This article draws on an ethnographic study of a government school in Tigray, Ethiopia, to explore how the participation and influence of students is achieved and mediated by structures and processes in school. Three key contexts of student participation are explored: positions of peer leadership (monitor, 'one-to-five' network leader); public evaluation sessions (gim gima); and the Parent Student Teacher Association (PSTA). Recommendations are made for sharing and strengthening democratic practices and for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of sibling composition on children's school attendance and participation in market and domestic work in Ethiopia. The major finding is that earlier-born males in rural areas are more likely to attend school than their younger siblings. A similar effect is apparent for rural females and urban children as well, though it is not as robust to varying estimation methods and sensitivity tests. In both areas, the chances of participation in market work are higher for older children, particularly males, while in domestic work, which remains largely the domain of female children, being an earlier-born girl also increases the odds of working. These effects of birth order on work are largely unaffected by the gender of the younger siblings or by the age difference with the last child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong case can be made for developing more flexible and relevant multilingual strategies for teaching and learning within the field of bilingual education. This paper aims to demonstrate how current linguistic and educational practices in countries like Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Ethiopia suggest new directions for research and practice. A practical approach is proposed to illuminate the gap between actual language competence on the part of primary students and teachers and the language competence to which their education system aspires. By applying known language and learning principles, policies and practices can be more realistically directed towards reducing this gap in the short, medium and long terms. This involves a reconstruction of multilingual pedagogy to capitalise on the strengths of learners, teachers and linguistic communities. Meanwhile, there is a need for more research on the following: (1) effective ways to assess multiple language competencies on the part of teachers and learners; (2) the relationship between learners' multilingual oral competence and literacy; and (3) methodologies that facilitate transfer of skills and knowledge between languages. The implications are that language-in-education policy should be based on what is possible in each sociolinguistic situation and should be flexible enough to offer equitable opportunities for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I examine the prospects of Ethiopian children integrating successfully into the Israeli school system. My specific concern is that the children will experience in Israel the same sort of difficulties that beset Afro-Caribbean children in Britain when assimilation and later integration were the dominant concerns of educational policy makers. With particular reference to the Rampton and Swann reports, comparisons between the two groups are made chiefly in terms of racism (both intentional and unintentional), self-esteem, innate ability, linguistic difficulties and the ethnocentricity of the curriculum. Other factors referred to include the impact of bussing, the influence of role models and family disintegration. It is concluded that over the longer term, Ethiopian children in Israel will adapt successfully to the educational system. [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]

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]

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]

This paper traces the history of Library and Information Science (LIS) education in Ethiopia, since its inception in 1959, reviewing both the retrospective (historical background) and prospective (rebirth and future direction). A comparison of the curricula of Jimma and Haramaya Universities demonstrates the transition from a traditional, closed model of librarianship to the contemporary, open model and the changes in programs’ names from Library Science to Information Science. Internationalization of the programs, incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) related courses, and information literacy programs are enhancing the transformation of LIS education. The author recommends continued reorienting of programs to meet rapidly changing needs, expanding the academic as opposed to vocational only dimensions, and increased marketing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A review of donors' most recent policies highlights that the term 'partnership' is firmly embedded in the lexicon of international development. Most donors now only fund INGO programmes if they are partnering LNGOs. This article considers key questions in relation to such programmes: What is meant by an education partnership? Are there features common to all education partnerships? What are the features of an effective education partnership between an INGO and an LNGO? How do these features enable an effective partnership? Based on a review of international developments, research in the field, and case study data of the experience of a programme implemented in Ethiopia, the appropriateness of a planning, implementation and evaluation tool for education partnerships between INGOs and LNGOs, and the strengths and weaknesses of current programmes is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in Ethiopia are faced with crippling economic conditions aggravated by lack of access to basic services. Household economic strengthening initiatives, such as savings groups (SG), seek to enable poor households to improve their livelihoods and mitigate vulnerability. This study unpacks the mechanisms between SG participation by caregivers of highly vulnerable children and children's wellbeing with a focus on education, nutrition, health, and happiness. From the perspectives of caregivers and adolescents, the study contributes to a slim body of evidence on how SGs facilitate vulnerable children's wellbeing. In-depth interviews conducted with 48 SG participants and 33 adolescents yielded descriptive pathways of how SGs affected the household, caregiver and children. We find that caregivers and adolescents tell similar stories, linking wellbeing with livelihoods, though adolescents also link wellbeing with SG training and raising caregiver awareness. This study yields rich information on how SG participation opens and/or smooths pathways to better economic and non-economic wellbeing for participants and their children, supporting SGs as a means to facilitate child wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the relationship between education and fertility is well established, an understanding of young women's fertility responses to education over time is needed to enhance a critical appraisal of education elasticities of fertility. This study thus comparatively investigates education effects on fertility in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Multivariate fixed effects logistic regression and direct decomposition methods were applied to Demographic and Health Survey data between 1999 and 2011. Results showed that declines in youth fertility in Ethiopia and Rwanda were driven by decrease in fertility rates of those with primary education but in the Zimbabwe youth fertility changes were driven by those with secondary or higher educational attainment. We conclude that education elasticities of fertility are not constant but vary by country and stage of fertility transition. Countries that are more advanced in fertility transition therefore need to place focus on enhancing post-secondary education to sustain fertility transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gendered cultural ideologies limit access to education for girls in Ethiopia. Practices like child marriage, a disproportionate work burden for girls, early pregnancy, and social isolation, inhibit the participation of female students in education. This qualitative study analyzes the influence of Girl Effect (a branding agency supported by international development organizations) in promoting pro-education ideologies for girls in Ethiopia. Document analysis of five data sources—including evaluation reports and audio-visual material—was the method used. The findings of the study demonstrate that Girl Effect used girl-centered research and advocacy to promote investment in girls and women. Moreover, this organization is innovative because it attempted to influence popular media through Yegna, a communication platform and youth-led movement, that presents the Ethiopian public with narratives that challenge existing power structures and encourage the empowerment of women. The Yegna communication platform relies on diverse methods of information delivery—including interactive talk shows, music, and toolkits for starting youth clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018 there were demands for the creation of new regional states in Ethiopia by ethnolinguistic groups seeking greater self-determination. Two examples of this were the Sidama and Wolaita, with some members of the latter advocating for the creation of an "Omotic Peoples" regional state. The idea of Omotic unification is not new to southern Ethiopia. When the amalgamated language of Wogagoda was introduced in the 1990s, the peoples of the region rallied in opposition against government. This article explores the intersection of language, politics and power during that period, which resulted in the withdrawal of a language policy and the creation of new, disintegrated administrative structures. Drawing upon historical experiences, this article reflects on the role of ethno-linguistic identities and their implications for contemporary decision making about languages of instruction and administrative boundaries. The results provide insight into situational contexts that may enable or constrain bottom-up and top-down language policy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethiopia provides one of the clearest examples of a 'developmental state' in Africa. Drawing on a deeply entrenched experience of statehood, the present Ethiopian regime has embarked on an ambitious programme, depending on the central capture of 'rents', to fund a massive expansion especially in communications, education, and hydroelectricity. High initial rates of growth have been achieved. However, the political setting is tightly constrained and the state has not allowed the private sector freedom of action to generate the required levels of production. Ultimate success will depend on the capacity to transform a state that has itself been central to the development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1897, four French Franciscan sisters arrived in Ethiopia, having been summoned there by the Capuchin missionaries. In 1925, they ran an orphanage, a dispensary, a leper colony and 10 schools with 350 girl students. The students were freed slaves, orphans and upper-class Ethiopian and European girls. After providing a brief background to the relations between the Ethiopian government and the missionaries, this article describes the general activities of the Sisters, the importance they dedicated to education, and their religious and political motives. In the second part, it analyses the sociological backgrounds of the female students and the way in which education intersected with gender, class and race. Third, it reconstructs the multiple power relations within which the Sisters' educational work was embedded. Finally, it demonstrates how schooling girls in a classbased manner - in conformity with the Franciscan Sisters' perceptions about what lower-class and upper-class women should be - enabled them to secure relations with Ethiopian political elites. These relations both benefited the Ethiopian elites and furthered the cause of French imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community health workers (CHWs) have a unique position between communities and the health sector. The strength of CHWs’ relationships with both sides influences their motivation and performance. This qualitative comparative study aimed at understanding similarities and differences in how relationships between CHWs, communities and the health sector were shaped in different Sub-Saharan African settings. The study demonstrates a complex interplay of influences on trust and CHWs’ relationships with their communities and actors in the health sector. Mechanisms influencing relationships were feelings of (dis)connectedness, (un)familiarity and serving the same goals, and perceptions of received support, respect, competence, honesty, fairness and recognition. Sometimes, constrained relationships between CHWs and the health sector resulted in weaker relationships between CHWs and communities. The broader context (such as the socio-economic situation) and programme context (related to, for example, task-shifting, volunteering and supervision) in which these mechanisms took place were identified. Policy-makers and programme managers should take into account the broader context and could adjust CHW programmes so that they trigger mechanisms that generate trusting relationships between CHWs, communities and other actors in the health system. This can contribute to enabling CHWs to perform well and responding to the opportunities offered by their unique intermediary position. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the actual practice and effectiveness of a satellite educational TV program in Ethiopian secondary schools. Participants in the survey were 228 students and 63 teachers from secondary schools. The results of the data analysis indicate that Ethiopian students and teachers scored highly in the evaluation areas. Levels of students’ general satisfaction with the satellite educational TV program were not equal for the variables of location and gender. It was also found that for students, learning demand, learning content, and class management were factors affecting their satisfaction with the satellite educational TV programs. For teachers, learning content and class management were the factors. The statistical mean difference in the satisfaction with the satellite educational TV program was between students and teachers. These findings suggest that the satellite educational TV program has the possibility of improving the quality of education in Ethiopian secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the last 20 years the Ethiopian education system has rapidly expanded, leading to a 500% increase in primary school enrolment. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has sought to address a perceived decline in educational quality through nationally-mandated programmes for school improvement and teachers’ professional development. Such programmes – imported on the advice of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DfID) and other development partners – are implemented “mechanistically”, without adaptation for societal or organisational cultural contexts. This article reviews empirical research from the last decade, including “grey” literature, in the school improvement (SI) and school effectiveness research (SER) traditions to draw implications for primary school principals in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Students from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds are often underrepresented in public educational programmes for the gifted and talented (G&T), a phenomenon that has concerned educators for the last two decades. Ethiopian-Israeli minority students (EIMS) are a good example of this phenomenon, as more than 95% of the vast resources allocated to promoting this minority population are directed to advancing underachieving students. To explain the roots of this policy, we analysed all reports presented to the Israeli parliament regarding EIMS during the years 2000-2012, as well as all studies that these reports were based on. A policy discourse analysis revealed that the public-political discourse concerning EIMS focuses almost entirely on the weaknesses and needs of this population. In addition, this discourse is led by policy networks of interest groups that are involved in promoting minority students. Analysis of the relative achievement levels of EIMS suggests that some students, and especially those in lower school grades, are suitable candidates for integration within G&T frameworks. We suggest that a change of the discourse concerning EIMS and emphasizing their strengths may lead to a change in policy, which will promote G&T students and reduce the 'stereotype threat' within this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the lived experiences of women in Ethiopian higher education (HE) as a counterpoint to understandings of gender equity informed only by data on admission, progression and completions rates. Drawing on a critical qualitative inquiry approach, we analyse and interpret data drawn from focus group discussions with female students and academic women in two public universities in Ethiopia. Individual accounts and shared experiences of women in HE revealed that despite affirmative action policies that slightly benefit females at entry point, gender inequality persists in qualitative forms. Prejudice against women and sexual violence are highlighted as key expressions of qualitative gender inequalities in the two universities. It is argued that HE institutions in Ethiopia are male-dominated, hierarchical and hostile to women. Furthermore, taken-for-granted gender assumptions and beliefs at institutional, social relational and individual levels operate to make women conform to structures of disadvantage and in effect sustain the repressive gender relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A School Management Committee (SMC) is an administrative tool adopted in many developing countries to decentralise administrative and financial responsibilities at school level, while involving local people in decision-making and making education more responsive to demands. I question the assumption linking administrative decentralisation and popular participation. There is a long-lasting tradition in Africa of schools built and run through local initiatives, even in the absence of governmental education services. Instead of seeing SMCs as a means to promote community participation and evaluating its effectiveness, I investigate people’s motivation to commit to education and the social dynamics beyond the institutionalised framework of SMCs. I also shed light on factors that cause differences in the extent and form of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across the country of Ethiopia, a centrally planned and prescribed professional development programme was implemented in schools, with the intention of enhancing teachers’ knowledge, skills and disposition, thereby improving student learning and achievement. This article explores and describes the lived experiences of teachers involved in continuous professional development in Ethiopian secondary schools. Grounded in constructivist and critical perspectives, data from the study illuminate that there was a disparity between what is conveyed rhetorically about professional development programmes and the actual practices in schools. The major barriers besetting the realization of teachers’ professional development were the narrow conception of professional development, a managerial approach to implementing professional development initiatives, ineffective educational leadership, appalling staff needs and motivation, and the intensification of teachers’ work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite recent focus on health systems strengthening, few studies report large-scale efforts to improve hospital management capacity in low-income countries, a central component of improving health care delivery. We sought to assess the contributions of a systems-based approach, the Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative (EHMI), which established hospital chief executive officers (CEOs) trained through a Masters of Healthcare and Hospital Administration (MHA) degree programme in Ethiopia. We conducted a pre-post study of 24 hospitals that are managed by CEOs in the MHA programme. We measured changes in hospital functioning based on adherence to a set of 86 hospital performance standards across 12 management domains published in the Standards for Hospital Management in Ethiopia. We found that adherence to hospital performance standards increased significantly during the one-year follow-up (27% compared with 51% of standards met at baseline and follow-up, respectively; P-value < 0.001); overall improvement was driven by improvement in seven of the 12 management domains. The EHMI is an example of health systems strengthening with focus on building hospital management capacity. Early evidence suggests that the establishment of hospital CEOs and MHA training to equip them with management skills may promote scalable improvements in health facility functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What keeps some people persistently poor, even in the context of relative high growth? In this article, we explore this question using a 15-year longitudinal data set from Ethiopia. We compare the findings of an empirical growth model with those derived from a model of the determinants of chronic poverty. We ask whether the chronically poor are simply not benefiting in the same way from the same factors that allowed others to escape poverty, or whether there are latent factors that leave them behind? We find that this chronic poverty is associated with several initial characteristics: lack of physical assets, education and ‘remoteness’ in terms of distance to towns or poor roads. The chronically poor appear to benefit from some of the drivers of growth, such as better roads or extension services, in much the same way that the non-chronically poor benefit. However, they appear to have lower growth in this period, related to time-invariant characteristics, and this suggests that they face a considerable growth and standard of living handicap. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: A new course was offered to introduce basic global health concepts to all first year Johns Hopkins medical students, that took advantage of new distance learning capacity to connect medical students in Baltimore with students and faculty in Uganda, Ethiopia, Pakistan and India. Aims: Lessons learned from the launch of this new course will optimize the conduct of future global health courses at JHUSOM and may be of value to other institutions. Methods: Feedback from the Hopkins students was obtained through an on-line structured course evaluation questionnaire. Unstructured student and faculty feedback from partners institutions was solicited via email. Results: Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the course content and format, as well as achievement of course competencies and objectives. Conclusions: Distance learning can support unique, high-quality medical educational experiences that leverage technology and global connectivity, but also the power of group learning and 'South-to-North' capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the magnitude and severity of the problem of climate change, it is not surprising that a marked emphasis had been put on the issue over the last two decades, resulting in a series of proposals containing mitigation and adaptation measures. Education is often considered as one of such measures. This study was aimed at assessing the extent to and ways in which global climate change has been addressed in the geography curriculum guides and students' textbooks for Ethiopian schools. Content analysis has been used as a principal technique to generate data based on the latest versions of the curriculum guides and textbooks. Results show that the curriculum guides for Ethiopian schools' geography provide a huge opportunity to systematically integrate issues related to global climate change. The students' textbooks for all the four grades adequately cover the science behind climate change including its causes and consequences. However, issues related to the 'politics of global climate change' are largely missing in the curriculum guides. The impact of human actions is, for instance, not clearly articulated while discussing factors that contribute to global climate change. Similarly, measures against climate change have been least emphasized in both the curriculum guides and students' textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the complex factors, both individual and social, that contribute to the resiliency and academic achievement of six adolescent African immigrant students from Cape Verde and Ethiopia who were enrolled in a small high school in the United States. The school was designed specifically for recent adolescent immigrant students. Using an in-depth qualitative case study research design, this study provides insight into the educational and social issues confronted by these students and the factors that contributed to their resiliency. The competencies and social capital that students acquired in school and at home were major contributing factors to their resilience and academic achievement. Findings show that these students had a supportive social network of family and friends who had encouraged them to succeed in school and provided mentoring, and material and social resources that helped them to succeed. In addition, teachers encouraged and engaged the students by having high expectations and connecting them to the curriculum in meaningful ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on narrative data from women teachers in a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia, this article explores how women's lived experiences of being teachers in a very local context are shaped within and against globalised geographies. Particular attention is paid to the forces of forced migration, to the complexities of local-global economies and their interplay with the social context and gendered relations of the camp environment. The article begins with a brief description of the conceptual framing in relation to understanding women teachers' lives and continues to describe the context and the research methodology. Research findings are presented and then discussed in sections of broader 'reflections' and 'concluding thoughts'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to a long, pre-colonial as well as contemporary history of successes in mother-tongue literacy and bi/multilingual educational provision in Africa. Two case studies of literacy and language education in Ethiopia and South Africa are presented in order to demonstrate, even under resource-poor conditions, that it is possible to provide bilingual and multilingual education in Africa. System-wide studies in Ethiopia show that such opportunities, developed as a response to the domestic needs of an African country, deliver more successful learning outcomes than do second-language, monolingually driven systems. The South African example shows that although there is a multilingual education policy intent, its application is impelled towards expensive monolingual imperatives which draw on contemporary, external-to-Africa debates on education. Such imperatives have not brought the anticipated educational rewards - rather, the reverse. The data from the case-studies are sufficiently compelling to show that neo- and post-colonial obfuscation in education is outdated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of education on non-scientific beliefs in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, with the technical advice and economic assistance of the United Nations, the United States, and other free countries of the Western World, is making a valiant effort to bridge a thousand-year gap in development. She is investing over one-fourth of her national income in educational programs in the effort to bring about literacy, changes in attitudes, in behavior, and in methods. While technical information and adequate budget are essential elements in achieving the goal of transition to modernity, an equally essential element is knowledge of the people who are involved in the dynamic processes of change. Malaria is one of the greatest health problems in Ethiopia. American advisers of a malaria-control team have expressed the hope that the disease can be eliminated within a decade. The academic curriculum for the government-sponsored schools introduces the scientific study of malaria in the fourth grade; yet one can hear Ethiopian teachers insisting that malaria can be prevented by eating garlic and that the best treatment for the disease is to eat butter that is 15 or 20 years old.

The article reflects on the educational and social problem faced by Ethiopia. It involves achieving a balance between the growth of the economy and the growth of educational facilities, and certain decisions that affects the rate at which educational systems develop, the shape of the educational pyramid and the quality of education. This section also offers certain situations that will helpful in studying Ethiopia's educational growth with reference to: the demographic background, the nature of the economy, and the structure of the educational system.