News- Staggering 85.9% elementary, middle schools, and 70.9% high schools in Ethiopia ‘completely sub-standard’: Ministry

Addis Abeba – The Ethiopian Ministry of Education has revealed a statistics that only four schools in Ethiopia have met the Ministry’s rigorous standards classified as “high” following an extensive evaluation conducted on 47,000 schools throughout the country. A staggering 85.9% of elementary and middle schools, as well as 70.9% of high schools in Ethiopia are “completely sub-standard.”

Berhanu Nega (PhD), Minister of Education said this while presenting the ministry’s nine months performance to the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) on Tuesday. According to him the evaluations considered factors such as educational resources, teaching methodologies, and student performances.

The Minister told the lawmakers that there are 47,000 schools, of which 99% “do not have favorable conditions for students…”

He added that the ministry was mobilizing the public to improve the standard and quality of these schools and 8,700 schools have undergone renovations accordingly.

In another study conducted by the ministry, a mere 20% of fourth-grade students and 12% of eighth-grade students managed to achieve the minimum 50% mark outlined by education policy.  To address these pressing issues of quality of education, the ministry will commence a nationwide education campaign in the following six weeks, according to Professor Berhanu. 

The campaign will prioritize the implementation of comprehensive measures aimed at revitalizing the education system and improving student results. Key interventions will involve infrastructure enhancements, targeted resource allocation, teacher training programs, and curriculum improvements.

The Minister also revealed that as part of the plan to rebuild schools destroyed in the two years war in Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions of northern Ethiopia, consensus has been reached with the respective regional governments to build 1,335 schools over the coming years. AS