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Funder: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100020171, Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000865, Funder: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000996, Funder: University of Cambridge; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000735, Funder: Addis Ababa University; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007941, Motivation: The Government of Ethiopia has a long-standing commitment to improving the quality of education. In recent years, this has shifted to include a more explicit focus on equity in learning outcomes. In this paper, we examine the education reform design process in the context of Ethiopia's political environment which is widely recognised as a strong developmental state. Purpose: The article examines how federal, regional, and international donor actors negotiate their interests in relation to Ethiopia's national quality education reform programme, the General Education Quality Improvement Programme for Equity (GEQIP-E). Methods and approach: We conducted 81 semi-structured, key informant interviews with federal and regional government officials and international donors who were involved in the design of GEQIP-E. Findings: We find that federal government was able to leverage considerable political influence over high-level priorities and the framing of GEQIP-E. Large donors leveraged financial influence to exclude some specific priorities, while smaller donors were able to draw on social influence and technical expertise to include priorities aligned with their interests. Regional governments-which are responsible for policy implementation-were largely excluded from the reform design process. Policy implications: Our analysis highlights the importance of recognizing and understanding different forms of influence in the dynamic process of negotiating reform between government and donors. It identifies that both government and donor voices counted in the process of negotiations, but in different ways and to varying degrees. Understanding how different actors draw on their relative political, financial, and social influence is vital for ensuring successful implementation and sustainability. Importantly, we identify that voices of local actors are left out.

In 2018, the Government of Ethiopia committed to large-scale, donor-supported reforms aimed at improving equitable learning in the basic education system—the General Education Quality Improvement Program for Equity (GEQIP-E). In this paper, we examine the reform design process in the context of Ethiopia’s political environment as a strong developmental state, assessing the influence of different stakeholder priorities which have led to the focus on equity within the quality reforms. Drawing on qualitative data from 81 key informant interviews with federal and regional government officials and donors, we explore the negotiation and power dynamics which have shaped the design of the reforms. We find that a legacy of moderately successful reforms, and a shared commitment to global goals, paved the way for negotiations of more complex and ambitious reforms between government actors and donors. Within government, we identify that regional governments were only tokenistically included in the reform process. Given that regions are responsible for the implementation of these reforms, their limited involvement in the design could have implications for success.

MOTIVATION The Government of Ethiopia has a long-standing commitment to improving the quality of education. In recent years, this has shifted to include a more explicit focus on equity in learning outcomes. In this paper, we examine the education reform design process in the context of Ethiopia’s political environment which is widely recognised as a strong developmental state. PURPOSE The article examines how federal, regional, and international donor actors negotiate their interests in relation to Ethiopia’s national quality education reform programme, the General Education Quality Improvement Programme for Equity (GEQIP-E). METHODS AND APPROACH We conducted 81 semi-structured, key informant interviews with federal and regional government officials and international donors who were involved in the design of GEQIP-E. FINDINGS We find that federal government was able to leverage considerable political influence over high-level priorities and the framing of GEQIP-E. Large donors leveraged financial influence to exclude some specific priorities, while smaller donors were able to draw on social influence and technical expertise to include priorities aligned with their interests. Regional governments—which are responsible for policy implementation—were largely excluded from the reform design process. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Our analysis highlights the importance of recognizing and understanding different forms of influence in the dynamic process of negotiating reform between government and donors. It identifies that both government and donor voices counted in the process of negotiations, but in different ways and to varying degrees. Understanding how different actors draw on their relative political, financial, and social influence is vital for ensuring successful implementation and sustainability. Importantly, we identify that voices of local actors are left out, and so their inclusion requires attention.