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Trends of educational policy formulation and implementation in Ethiopia: A

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International Journal of Education & Management © 2019 Indian Association of Health, Research and Welfare
Studies, 2019, 9(4), 264-272 ISSN-p-2231-5632-e-2321-3671
http://www.iahrw.com/index.php/home/journal_detail/21#list NAAS Rating 4.79

Trends of educational policy formulation and implementation

in Ethiopia: A historical analysis
Solomon Melesse Mengistie
Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, East Africa

Ethiopia, with its diversified cultural groups, has its own distinctive calendar, writing, art, music, poetic forms and
numeration system (Alemayehu & Solomon, 2017). This seems to have laid a foundation to establish traditional
education for the purpose of transmitting these cultural heritages to the next generation. In addition, the introduction
of different religious beliefs into Ethiopia has also led to the introduction of religious education in the country. These
social and cultural foundations were influential factors that made the philosophy of Ethiopian education to be the
training of the child in the beliefs and social values of the society. Hence the purpose of education became the
transmission of worthwhile cultural heritages of the past to reconstruct the education system of the present. By
doing so, retainable and worthwhile cultural heritages can be scrutinized and sustained; nonscientific and dogmatic
beliefs and harmful cultural practices can be eliminated or at least be minimized. At the same time, knowledge of
modern school system is to be used as a frame of reference to evaluate the merits and demerits of the traditional
school system. This paper, after having outlined a review of the history of Ethiopian education past to present, has
suggested some relevant recommendations.

Keywords: trends of education, policy formulation, policy implementation, historical analysis, Ethiopia

Traditional education in Ethiopia
Traditional education in Ethiopia has two forms. One is the
indigenous education and the other is the religious education. As is
the case in any society, Ethiopian societies have their own
indigenous type of education which was responsible for the
socialization of its children. The purpose of indigenous education
was to make the child socially fit. To this effect, the child has to learn
the values, norms, beliefs, ideals, etc. of the respective social group
where s/he is in there by s/he knows the rules and regulations, the
taboos, his/her roles and responsibilities in the respective society and
be prepared for life in the society. Thus, the child learns through
interaction with its family and the respective community members.
At first the family is the school and later on the larger community
shares the role. The community elderly are selected as role models
and the child acquires knowledge and develops skills through oral
interaction and observation s/he imitates what adults are doing. S/he
practices what s/he has learned under the supervision of the family or
the elders in the community. When it is believed that s/he has reached
an age and mastered the necessary knowledge and skills that prepare
her/him for adult life, s/he is examined through the method of
initiation. During initiation, the young person is expected to exhibit
knowledge, skills and physical strength that meet the standards set
by the social group. Upon passing this test of mental and physical
fitness, the young person is allowed to enjoy the privileges of the
adult and is made to know the secrets of the social group and
shoulders certain responsibilities. On the other hand, the traditional
Corresponding Author:
Dr. Solomon Melesse Mengistie
Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education and
Curriculum Studies, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, East Africa
E-mail: solomonmelessebdu@gmail.com
church education system in Ethiopia is said to date back to the sixth
C.B.C., which is seen in connection with the time when the Sabian
alphabet was used in the Axumite kingdom (Yalew, 1976). However,
it is towards the beginning of the 4th C.A.D. that the church became a
formal indigenous institution of education when king Ezana
accepted Christianity (Ibid). At the beginning, there were three
languages, namely, the Sabean, Greek, and Geez that were used in
the church education where later on Geez became dominant.
The primary purpose of Ethiopian Church education was to teach
the doctrines of Christianity and it aimed at producing church men
such as priests and deacons for church services (Alemayehu &
Solomon, 2017). The content was mainly Biblical which included
theology, history, poetry, music, and the like. Later on, it involved the
training of personnel for clerical services in the government and
production of civil servants such as governors, treasurers and
administrators (Teshome, 1979). It is believed that the church has acted
as the guardian and preserver of traditional Ethiopian culture. Moral
and ethical elements, reading and writing were also part of the
curriculum. Sophisticated literacy forms such as 'Kine' (poem) and
music were soon developed as a result of the teachings of Yared the
most known church music composer (Alemayehu & Solomon, 2017).
Despite this fact, church education was not accepted as mass
education in the country since it was reserved for the few elite and
did not offer any opportunity for employment. Moreover, a child
enrolled in church education has to face hardships in the search for
instruction. In most cases, the child traveled long distances to find
well versed teachers and depended on begging for survival. It might
be due to this fact that church education was mainly attended by boys
than girls in Ethiopia. It was also true that the traditional church
school had no buildings but students were taught in the church yard
or in the teacher's house. The size of the class and the qualification of
teachers varied from school to school depending on the location and
the level of learning. The number is greater at monasteries but gets
smaller at the higher levels.
 International Journal of Education & Management Studies, 2019, 9(4), 264-272
The structure of church education included elementary, intermediary
and higher levels of learning. To this effect, the church has developed
a complex system of education which includes various stages that
are logically organized. The first stage is known as Nebabbet, which
aims at training the child to read the alphabets at the onset and
religious books later on. At this stage, the child is constantly drilled
to master the alphabets and gradually exposed to reading skills till
s/he becomes proficient in reading the 'Daw it'. The second stage is
'Zemabet', which includes singing, drumming and dancing. The third
stage is 'Akuakuam' or 'Kidase Bet',which aimed at the training of the
altar priest for the service of the church. The fourth stage is 'Quene
Bet' (poetry school) and the last stage is known as 'Meshaf bet'
(school of commentaries) where astronomy is taught (Alemayehu &
Solomon, 2017).
In each of the above specialized branches, the student learns the
traditions of the church, i.e., church music, poetry, theology, church
history and laws (Yalew, 1976). Completion of the traditional church
school is very difficult and long-lasting. The traditional scholar's
road is, therefore, long and arduous, which takes 30-40 years of a
man's life before the highest qualifications are obtained (Yalew,
1976). Despite all these hardships, the teacher never expresses any
sign of dissatisfaction. Particularly, the highly qualified 'leq' is
highly devoted to his profession and therefore, imparts his
knowledge to his fellow students without pay. As an authority in his
field of specialization, he feels a king of himself and servant of
mankind (Yalew, 1976) a very good quality that is lacking in the
modern education system of Ethiopia.
Despite the hardship encountered in the journey of church
education, the relationship between the teacher and the student was
paternalistic and cordial. On a certain festival day, for instance,
students bring food and liquor to their teacher and wish him a good
day. In return, they get blessing from the teacher. Teachers were also
highly praised by their students. One of the applaud and good wishes
to their teacher as the literal translation may mean, 'in the throat of
the teacher let 'Tej' (Ethiopian liquor made of honey) pour, in my
throat let a bone splinter tore'.
The strategy employed at all levels was mainly oral, which
involved memorization and recitation. This approach pays little
attention for student learning and is said to be a mechanical approach
that does not contribute to develop the learner's creativity and
imagination. The current methodology literature confirms that
memorization and recitation as methods of teaching have the
following limitations:
● little is done by the teacher as his role is minimized to the hearing
of lessons,
● recitation does not allow students to follow up personal interests
as the whole operation is textbook dominated, and
● too much time is spent by students in memorizing abstract
concepts from religious books like the 'Bible'.
In religious education, corporal punishment was also used as a
means to motivate students to work hard. There is also exposure to
misery and hardships as is said before. Though the church school
teachers were admired for their sincerity and devotion to the
profession, they are highly criticized for their traditional method of
teaching (recitation) as behavioral change especially at the higher
level needs the active involvement of the learner.
With regards to the evaluation mechanisms of church schools in
Ethiopia, there is no formal evaluation to test the child's work. But,
265
the teacher monitors the day to day progress of his student and finally
the student will be asked to orally recite on previously assigned
material and upon successful recitation of the assigned material (i.e.,
when the teacher is convinced that the child has mastered the art)
then the student will be promoted to the next level. If not, he will
study the same material or is turned back.
Generally, church education has been the vehicle of church
literature and religious ceremonial for many centuries. It has
reserved the cultural heritage and has passed it to the coming
generation. It trained various categories of church personnel. Above
all, it provided literacy to many children and equipped them with the
initial tools of learning. Despite this fact, however, church education
is criticized for its indoctrination, preaching that life on earth is
meaningless and so there is no need to worry about what to eat or
wear, but to think about life after death. That is, the major philosophy
in church education is that 'to flourish your soul you need to punish
your body'. Such an approach is said to block the advancement of
science and technology and the introduction of modern education
and innovation (Alemayehu & Solomon, 2017).
The other religious education in Ethiopia is known as the
traditional Koranic education. Even though the Islamic religion was
known in Ethiopia from the time of the coming of the first followers
of Mohammed in the 5th C.A.D, it was only the 16th century A.D.
onwards, after Ahmed Gragn's invasion, that the religion of Islam
has developed its own system of education and the teaching of Kuran
was started. The aim of the Koranic School was mainly to teach the
doctrines of Islam. The structure of Kuranic School included
elementary and higher levels of learning. At the primary level, the
students learn reading and writing in Arabic. At the next higher levels
of learning, contents such as the teaching of the Islamic Canon Law
(Fith), Arabic grammar (Naheu) and the commentaries (Tefsir) are
offered (Yalew, 1976).
The process of instruction and evaluation are more or less the
same as that of the educational practice in the church school.
Different from church educational practice, most Kuranic schools
are not attached to mosques; rather they are usually established in a
Muslim community by a teacher known as 'Sheik' who is well versed
in Islamic faith. The teacher depends for his livelihood on parents
gifts, which he gets when children succeed various levels of the
course.
Another educational influence in the educational practices of
Ethiopia was emanated from missionaries. Starting from the second
half of the 16th century A.D., European missionaries have played
significant roles in the education system of Ethiopia. This was the
time when Christopher de Gama of Portugal arrived in Ethiopia with
an expeditionary force to assist Emperor Libne Dingil whose
country had been largely overrun by Ahmed Grange (Bender, 1976).
At the beginning of mission schools in Ethiopia, the Portuguese
attempt to preach Catholic doctrine was in vain. However, they were
able to open school through the support of the then Ethiopian
Emperor Susinyos who was converted to Catholicism in 1622 and
who then forced his subjects to adopt his faith (Bender, 1976). This
was followed by strong opposition and revolt against the emperor by
the large sector of the Ethiopian population. Consequently, Emperor
Susinyos abdicated in 1632 in favor of his son Fasiledes who then
expelled the Jesuits and began reinforcing the original Orthodox
Christian faith (Ibid).This resulted in isolation of the country due to
its cut off from missionary activities for about 299 years. In the early
266 MENGISTIE / TRENDS OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
years of the 19th Century, contact with Europe protestant
missionaries revived again (MOE, 1973). In the 1830s, Iseberg and
Kraft (protestant missionaries) taught boys in Shoa in their mission
school (Bender, 1976). In 1841/42, Isenberg published the first
secular book in Amharic-the Ethiopian national language (Benders,
1976). Unlike the traditional schools, through the effort of these
missionaries, modern type of education like spelling, reading a book,
geography and history were introduced in the school curriculum.
The Roman Catholic missions of the nineteenth century were
predominately French and their schools taught French in three major
centers: Eriteria, Shoa, and later Harar (places in Ethiopia).While the
Catholic missions employed French as the medium of instruction,
the protestant missions used English which later on became an
important language in Ethiopian school ever since (MOE, 1971). At
present, mission schools are disseminated throughout the country
and they offer all types of education including teacher training.
Many mission schools have gained higher standard of education than
any of the traditional schools. Perhaps this can be attributed as one of
the major factors for the expansion of mission schools in the country
(Yalew, 1976).
Modern education in Ethiopia during the era of Minilik II
Minilik II, as the then emperor of Ethiopia, was so convinced about
the importance of modern education that he issued the first education
proclamation in 1906. This historic proclamation reads in part as
follows:
In other countries, not only do they learn, even more they make
new things. Hence, as of today all six year old boys and girls
should attend school. As for parents who would not send their
children to school, when the former die, their wealth, instead of
pass to children, will be transferred to the government. My
government will prepare the schools and avail the teachers
(translation mine).
The proclamation gave modern education legitimacy through the
force of law. Two other points are also worth noting from the
preceding proclamation. The first one is that the emperor's interest in
education was not for its own sake but rather to use it as an
instrument to make new things. And the second was that the
inclusion of "girls" in the educational proclamation in itself is a step
forward as traditional educational practices were the exclusive
domain of the male.
Although the Emperor was enthusiastic about expansion of school
all over the country, the decision to open and maintain schools that
were independent of the church required deliberation and caution,
even for a ruler of Menelik's stature. He had to make a number of
compromises with the church, among which were that all teachers
imported were orthodox Christians, the orthodox faith was taught as
a subject, and the Ministry of Religion was responsible to look after
the Schools. Accordingly, Coptic teachers were hired from Egypt,
the head of the Church became responsible for educational matters,
and religion was included in the curriculum, which was mostly
language-dominated with French, English, Italian, Arabic, Amharic
and, Geez were taught.
In spite of all these arrangements, however, much was not
achieved in Menelik's reign. By the time of his death in 1913, only
three more schools were established in the provincial centers, one of
each in Harar, Dessie, and Ankobar. Although attendance was free,
the schools attracted neither the attention of the people nor the
interest of the youth, mainly due to the influence of the clergy. In this
regard, Teshome (1979) forwarded the following comments:
The public had no concept of education outside the church, i.e.,
sending one's child to a modem school was tantamount to being
anti-Ethiopian. Since the teachers were mostly foreigners
associated in the public mind with Catholics, attending a modern
school seemed like an acceptance of Catholicism-a betrayal of
one's honor and religion or willingness to become instrument in
the hands of aliens. By encouraging such attitudes, the leaders of
the organized church seriously hampered the government's plan to
expand learning throughout the land (p.36).
The early history of Menelik II School underlined the problem to
be faced in developing a more modern and secular system of
education. On its establishment, the student population amounted to
one hundred students, nearly all the sons of chiefs. But, the nobles
did not take easily to this departure from tradition and began to send
the children of their servants' or members of the extended family.
This contributed to some mobility in the system, which continued
after the death of Menelk II and promoted the growth of educated
elite who were influential in the next stage of development.
Later on, there was a felt need for modern public education
during the early beginning of the 20th century, where neither the
Church nor Quran education were in a position to satisfy the
demands or the needs (political, economic, foreign relations,
maintaining the sovereignty) of the country. Among the conditions
were formation of a centralized government at the close of the 19th
Century which demanded the establishment of diplomatic relations
with the external world, establishment of the Franco-Ethiopian
railway which linked the country with the external world and
demanded mechanics and technicians for its running, and the
introduction of modern means of communication such as telephone,
radio, postal system which required trained personnel to maintain
the establishments functioning. These cumulative effects had
necessitated Emperor Menilik II (who ruled, 1889-1913) to
introduce modern public education in Ethiopia in 1908.
The aim of education during this time was to produce Ethiopians
who are knowledgeable in European languages as thought to
contribute for maintaining sovereignty of the country. Generally, the
purposes of education were to keep the ruling elite for better contact
with the outside world and to make the elite competent in court
affairs and in defining law articles. In order to realize the purpose of
education, French (the Language of instruction), English, Italian and
Amharic as well as mathematics, science, Physical training and
sports were part of the curriculum. Mainly the curriculum in
operation was not indigenous but was one which was brought from
France. This entailed the offering of education in French. Ethiopians
were alien to the French experience and the curriculum become
alien. In addition, French education was characterized by
assimilation.
While introducing modern education in Ethiopia, Emperor
Menilik II had faced strong opposition from the Church. It was
opposed by the Coptic Church of Alexanderia and Syria for its
emphasis on worldly affairs. The then opponents of modern
education believed that such education could promote anti-
Ethiopian attitude particularly in introducing foreign religion as well
as sinister ideas to destabilize the status quo. However, Emperor
Menilik wisely overcame the challenges particularly that of the
church by adopting the diplomatic policy of recruiting teachers from
among the Copts of Egypt. Such expatriate teachers coming from
 International Journal of Education & Management Studies, 2019, 9(4), 264-272
Egypt, because of their faith were assumed to give due respect for the
Ethiopia orthodox church. Emphasizing that school would only be
engaged in the teaching of foreign language in order to maintain the
country's sovereignty was the other mechanism employed by
Menilik to make mollify the challengers. As a result of this
opposition, the curriculum was also made to include moral
education, Ethiopian history, Geez, reading, and writing.
By the 1920's the opposition of the church on the modern
education as well as the activity of missionaries in education had
greatly reduced (Tekest, 1990). The reign of Menilik had also
contributed in the growth of non-Government education. However,
the attitude of the people toward modern education was at an infant
stage. As recent as the 1960's, for instance, associating modern
education with conversion to other Christian denominations-
catholic and protestant-was continued and resulted in strong
opposition when planning to erect secondary schools in the northern
and central highlands of Ethiopia (Menz, Axum, etc.) by the
Government. Obviously this had an adverse effect on the expansion
of modern education.
After Menelik's death, the more religious and conservative
Ethiopian leader, Empress Zewditu (daughter of Menelik II) came to
power in Ethiopia. Following the examples of her father, she also
made an education proclamation in 1929. However, the type of
education envisaged was more of the traditional church education
type. The educational proclamation charted out by the Empress was
translated as in the following:
Those parents who failed to send their children to schools and
made them learn reading and writing skills, respecting the
empress and God would have to be penalized 50 Ethiopian birr
each and the birr collected from such penalties would be given to
the respective church and being used to serve the needy people.
The baptism priest was also requested to advice his religious
children to send their children to schools. If they failed to send
their children to schools, the priest should inform this to the
respective government representatives. The teachers are
requested to teach children. Church leaders are also expected to
provide life skill advice to its people. Moreover, parents need to
initiate their children to learn local skills that could help them to
lead their future (Translation mine).
Modern education in Ethiopia during the Haile
Sellassie era
The impetus for advancing education was largely halted by the death
of Menilik II in 1913. However, the coming of Emperor Haile
Sellassie to power (first as regent & heir to the throne in 1916, second
since becoming Emperor as of 1930) was a hallmark in the history of
Ethiopian Education. Until the Italian invasion attempts were made
to promote education in the country. Teferi Mekonen School, the
second government school- next to Menelik II school- was
inaugurated by Emperor Haile Sellassie and had started to provide
education as of 1925. Like Menilik II, the Emperor had faced
opposition from conservatives while making all his efforts for the
opening of this school. However, he had delayed the project for a
couple of years to overcome the opposition. There were two main
streams of instruction-French and English-albeit, most of the
instruction was in French. The curriculum consisted of French,
English, Arabic, Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, History,
Geography, Gymnastics and sport as well as Amharic. Most of the
teaching staff was composed of expatriate teachers (i.e., French &
267
Lebanese). However, there were also some Ethiopian teachers who
had been engaged in teaching Amharic and elementary French.
Since the curricula in both schools (i.e., Menelik II & Teferi
Mekonen) were emphasizing the acquisition of Languages, they
resembled as "language schools" rather than a proper school.
Assuming that modern education was highly vital for the creation
of modem government, Emperor Haile Sellassie established a
Ministry of Education and Fine Arts in 1930. During this time, some
steps were taken including the allocation of education budget, an
order that soldiers should learn to read and write, and that priests
should indulge themselves to teach the youth. Furthermore,
Professor Ernest Work (an American Educational Advisor to
Ethiopia) was appointed, and in due course produced a proposal on
curriculum. Ernest Work suggested six years of primary, six years of
secondary, and four years of University Education with high
emphasis on teacher education (teacher training) and agriculture. In
fact Ernest Work stressed the need to consider the issue of
Ethiopianization in the curriculum. However, the non-existence of
qualified teachers was cited as the bottlenecks for implementing this
proposal. In spite of the problems, a modest attempt was taken.
Accordingly, for instance, provincial schools, community schools
for children of foreigners were established and a teacher Training
and a Boy Scouts' school were opened in the years 1930-35. By and
large, as Pankhurst (1974) notes, the decade or so prior to the Italian
invasion was characterized by significant advances in literacy as
well as education.
The modest attempt that was made by Emperor Menilik II and
further enhanced by Emperor Haileselassie to modernize the country
through Western education was disrupted by Italian occupation
(Seyoum, 1996). As Markakis (1974) notes, the Italian occupation
(May 1936-May 1941) was to "nip the novel process of modem
education in the bud" (p.24). Although the occupation had not
created over-all impact on the country, its effect on this particular
area was significant and lasting. The functioning of education was
suspended for five years, the hiatus was extended for some years
after liberation until the state machinery could be reassembled and
the schools reopened (Ibid). Markakis (1974) writes the severity of
this problem as follows:
The fledging system of state education was completely
demolished, students and teachers were dispersed, the meager
collection of educational materials was scattered and destroyed,
foreign teachers left or were expelled, the school building were
commandeered by the occupying army (p. 147).
The occupation had not taken long time. However, the damage
was so devastating both in the education area and others. That is, the
schools were closed down and 'the educated Ethiopians were
systematically eliminated; the Fascist Italy's educational policy
aimed at providing native education that makes Ethiopia merely
loyal servants of their Fascist Italian masters; rejection of any kind of
national language of Ethiopia, rather adopted an edict that teaching
should be in the main language of administrative unit, and advancing
rigid discrimination in the schools they opened (Tekeste, 1990;
Seyoum, 1996).
After the expulsion of the Italians in 1941, the task of reorganizing
the education system started from nothing, because of the serious
destruction made by the Italian during their occupation. This evil act
was prevalent not only in the education sector but in other sectors,
too. The period between 1944 and 1950 was characterized by
268 MENGISTIE / TRENDS OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
sluggish growth (characterized by an acute shortage of resources) in
the Ethiopian education system although efforts were made to
organize the education system.
The objectives of the Ethiopian education during the post-war
periods were different from the pre-war periods. During the pre-war
period, the teaching of foreign languages was primarily the objective
of Ethiopian education. Contrary to this, the post-liberation period
proved that the teaching of languages was not adequate for modern
administration because, the development of the governmental
bureaucracy and the growth of the modern sector demanded
qualified civil servants, trained professionals and technocrats.
Thus, the education system prior to 1950 was aimed at fulfilling
the objective of providing the leadership that was necessary after the
restoration. However, fulfilling this objective was not easy. On the
problems that had been existed for years with regard to elementary
and secondary education, Assefa (1967) writes:
The provision of basic elementary education was the result of the
need for clerical personnel in the Civil Service just after the
liberation. A stammering of languages, some elementary
mathematics, history and science was all that formed the
education provided in the elementary schools. The courses were
often short and promotion did not follow the regular grade by
grade procedure. The curriculum was neither standardized nor
oriented towards what one might call "the Ethiopian world" in
view of the fact that the teaching staff was overwhelmingly
foreigners....Prior to 1950, however, almost all the secondary
schools provided only academic education (p.14).
During the first years of this period, i.e., post liberation period,
foreign advisors and teachers were instrumental in the formation of
directives given to the nation's schools. The system obtaining then
was somewhat equivalent to that of the British system in which the
headmasters submit to the Ministry their schedule and curricula that,
if accepted, become the guide for instruction and teaching. The
directives were craftily prepared mainly with British assistance,
during which English became the medium of instruction. The
curriculum, the structure and the textbooks used were that of East
African British colonies and even students were prepared for the
London General Certificate Examination, GCE which was
functional in the Ethiopian education system from 1947-1958
(Tekeste, 1990).
The structure of education has varied throughout the history of
modern education in Ethiopia. Along the structural changes,
different curricula that comply with the structures were suggested.
The curriculum change during Halle Sellassie period could be
divided into four phases: the first curriculum, a 6-6 structure; the
second curriculum consisted of 8-4 structure; the third curriculum -
Experimental curriculum; and the fourth curriculum, a 6-2-4
structures.
The first curriculum, a 6-6 structure: A committee consisting of
largely foreign staff published the first formal school curriculum in
Ethiopia in 1947. This curriculum consists of the structure of six
years of primary education to be followed by six years of secondary
education. The purpose of introducing such structure was that the
elementary program would eventually expand to include the work of
Grades 7 and 8, while the secondary program would then be reduced
to Grades 9 through 12. Subjects included in the curriculum were
Amharic, English, Science, Art, Geography, History, Arithmetic,
Music, Handcraft, and Physical education. Amharic was the medium
of instruction for all subjects during the first two years. There was an
assumption that a gradual transition to the use of English in Grades 3
and 4 in the teaching of art, science, physical training, handicraft,
music, geography, history, and arithmetic. English was suggested to
be the medium of instruction in 5th and 6th grades with the exception
of Amharic.
In spite of attempts to structure the curriculum, some problems
were proliferated in this curriculum. First, books in some instances
were translated from other languages and printed in Amharic, which
hardly reflected the Ethiopian reality. Second, no effective steps
were taken to implement the curriculum, for instance, with regard to
the availability of teaching and learning materials. Teachers in many
instances were provided neither textbooks nor suggestions of
specific titles for their use. Third, the secondary school syllabus was
based entirely upon the London School Leaving Certificate
Examination, without regard to its relevance to Ethiopia. Fourth, in
the teaching of Amharic on the elementary level, because of the
recognition of the Christian heritage of the country and an inability
to find other suitable text material, the Bible was selected as the
textbook from Grades 1 through 4. Although the country had large
Christian population, there is also a large number of non-Christian
populations, hence, teaching Bible for the non-Christian became a
debate. Fifth, the teaching of English required considerable
improvements, as pupils were not gaining sufficient fluency in the
language during their elementary schooling. Such lack of fluency
had made a negative impact in the students' later learning
particularly at the secondary school.
As a result, this curriculum was criticized for reasons that the aim
was remaining national and the content being foreign. The educated
was expected to apply his knowledge in solving immediate problems
of the society but failed to do so for the learning experiences he had
acquired were alien to the Ethiopian situation and could not use his
knowledge. As a result, knowledge became impractical to achieve
the intent. The selection of contents was said to be examination
oriented. Most of the time was devoted to academic subject, English
having the lion's share. Overall the contents were borrowed from
foreign countries and were directly implanted without any
adaptation. As a result, there was a disparity between objectives and
contents and the contents could not serve to achieve the desired ends.
The subjects were more theoretical. There was also a mix up of
contents. For instance, in mathematics the students were made to
learn the British system after having learned the metric system and
this created complication. The history and geography contents were
more of the external world jumping from continent to continent,
from country to country. As a result, the syllabi of most of the
subjects lacked relevance to Ethiopian needs.
To overcome these problems, a long term planning committee was
appointed in 1953 and this committee designed the 8-4 curriculum
structure. The original tendency of the educational system was
designed to develop the humanities, later on; however, the emphasis
had been on technical and vocational education to provide plumbers,
engineers, mechanics of various kinds, electricians, agriculturalists,
artisans as well as experts. The committee recommended that the
curriculum be designed to prepare the learner for life in his
community or immediate environment.
The second curriculum consisted of 8-4 structure: Accepting the
suggestions made in the first curriculum, two more grades, i.e.,
grades 7 and 8 became part of the primary level, thereby
 International Journal of Education & Management Studies, 2019, 9(4), 264-272
making Elementary School consisting of grade one to eight as of
1949, thereby changing the structure from 6-6 to 8-4. The main
reason for adopting 8-4 structure was connected with overcoming
language problem particularly English difficulty and the desire to
extend and expand elementary education. The language of
instruction became English as of Grade 4. The course outlines as
specified in the curricula for Grades 7 and 8 were given in somewhat
more detail which provided for greater standardization than those
which had been listed in the earlier volume covering the lower
grades. During the same year (in 1949), a secondary school
curriculum was approved and issued by the Board of Education
(ICDR, 1996). Until 1963 all schools in Ethiopia with the exception
of experimental schools, followed a system that consisted of eight
years of elementary education and four years of secondary
education.
The curriculum emphasizing 8-4 structure (developed before
1963) was criticized. Some of the criticisms include hardly
considering the Ethiopian situation, not containing streaming rather
focused on one type of education, and resulting in language
difficulty, i.e., English. It was reported that when pupils learn both
foreign language and content during their elementary years, they had
difficulty of grasping either. The structure of education was foreign
reflecting the country that had influence in the education sector.
Usually the structure adopted during 1941-1955 was a hybrid from
Great Britain and from neighboring African countries such as the
Sudan, Kenya (Tekeste, 1990).
The third curriculum-experimental curriculum: This curriculum
was associated with the influence of the Americans in the education
sector of Ethiopia from 1952-1974 (Tekeste, 1995). As of 1954, the
Americans had begun to shape the Ethiopian Education policy
through the Advisory Group assimilated into the Long-Term
Planning Committee (Tekeste, 1990). The recommendation of this
committee included the introduction of the community schools for
basic education; the curriculum should be designed to fit the student
for better life in his community; the educational objectives should be
geared to the quickest possible spread of universal fundamental
education; students should display effective command of
communication in Amharic (Tekeste, 1990, p. 6). With the
assumption that further improvement would someday be made, five
schools were provided with an experimental curriculum, presuming
that after the study and revision this curriculum would then serve as
the basis for any future change.
In 1957, the "Department of Research and Curriculum
Development" put forward a proposal for a new scheme with regard
to the medium of instruction in schools (based on the suggestions
made by the advisory group) that the Ministry of Education
approved the curriculum for a pilot study before nationwide
implementation. The main reasons that necessitated the pilot study,
particularly, a change in medium of instruction from English to
Amharic in primary grades was as follows. First, the children were
being handicapped by having to learn in a foreign language which
more than 60 per cent of them would not need to use after leaving the
school. Second, much of the contents of the courses were incorrectly
or inadequately conveyed, partly because of the language barrier.
Third, foreign teachers were paid 45 per cent more on average than
Ethiopian teachers, where this money could profitably be used to
train teachers and to supply books and materials for the primary
schools. Fourth, since books would have to be written in Amharic
they would be produced locally, and the cost of the books would
269
consequently be greatly reduced. Fifth, the question of national
prestige may also have played an important role in planning this
curriculum.
The result of the pilot study revealed that both teaching and
learning were improved when Amharic was used as the medium of
instruction, however, lack of suitable books and teaching materials
were reported. To alleviate this problem, a Textbook Production Unit
was established within the Ministry's "Department of Research and
Curriculum Development". The major aim of the Unit was to
produce all the basic textbooks necessary for Ethiopian elementary
education in Amharic.
The "fourth curriculum”: Another curricular change was made for
the fourth time, i.e., after the experimental program in 1963, which
changed the structure from 8-4 to 6-2-4. This structure provided six
years of primary education followed by two years of junior
secondary education and then followed by four years of senior
secondary education.
Actually the change of this structure as well as the introduction of
the new curriculum was the result of a pilot project initiated in 1958,
with the new structure, i.e., 6-2-4, Amharic became the medium of
instruction 'at the primary level (i.e., grades 1-6) throughout the
country as of 1963-1964, where Tekeste (1990) (one of the Ethiopian
noble educator) considered this measure as “the most significant
reform of the decade". The curriculum at the primary level consisted
of syllabi, which were classified as academic and non-academic.
Subjects in the academic area included Amharic, English,
Arithmetic, Social studies, Natural science, and Health and safety.
On the other hand, the non-academic subjects were Morals,
Agriculture, Arts and crafts, Homemaking, Physical training and
games, and Music. The revised secondary school curriculum, which
came into being in 1963, marked a departure from the previously
academically dominated secondary school system. It was due to this
influence that the writer was highly initiated by his early secondary
school teachers to join one of the Technical and Vocational Colleges
of the country though the researcher failed to accept his early
teachers invitation due to the influence of favoring the long aged
elite education primacy in the country.
Despite all these efforts, there was an enormous disparity between
the educational program and the needs arising from the social
situations. As a result, there were strong calls from educators,
intellectuals, university students, government officials, and students
often echoed by parents, for further improvement of the educational
system. Dissatisfaction with the educational sector was also
voiced by conservative elements. The church and the nobility
pointed out that those who passed through the modern school were
disrespectful of their society and its institutions. They argued that
there was very little that was Ethiopian in the curriculum.
Furthermore, they jointed to the problem of employment facing
secondary graduates- a most paradoxical situation in a country
where only about four percent of the age group had access to
secondary education and where over 90 percent of the population
was illiterate.
As a response to the above criticisms, the Education Sector
Review (ESR) was officially constituted in 1971 with the following
responsibilities:
● Analyze the education and training system of Ethiopia and its
capability of promoting economic, social and cultural
development;
270 MENGISTIE / TRENDS OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
● Suggest whenever necessary ways to improve and expand the
education and training system in order that it might achieve aims
relevant both to the society and the overall development of the
country;
● Suggest ways in which education could best be utilized to promote
a natural integration; and
● Identify priority studies and investments in education and training
(Tekeste, 1990).
Study results of the Education sector Review proposed three
alternatives designed to hasten the pace of primary education. The
first alternative proposed a three tier system based on six years of
primary, four years of junior secondary and four years of senior
secondary schooling (6+4+4). Alternative two called for a system
based on four years of primary education (known as minimum
formation education) for the great majority of the population. This is
followed by another four years junior secondary program, and next
four years of senior secondary program (4+4+4). Alternative three
(4+2+2) was a modification of alternative two where the junior
secondary and senior secondary are reduced from four to two years.
It was also suggested that students begin grade one at nine years of
age.
The ESR conference that met in August 1972 approved alternative
two (4+4+4). According to this system, a great majority of school-
age population attend a four year primary education. About 20
percent would then proceed to follow another four year junior
secondary program. The best of those completing grade eight would
be allowed to attend the four year senior secondary program.
Moreover, the ESR made the rural population the target of
educational policy. It was also envisaged that secondary education
would increase at the rate of the growth of the population, estimated
at 2.1 percent per annum. This was indeed a sharp decrease
compared with the over 10 percent annual increment of senior
secondary enrolment during the decade of the 1960s (Tekeste, 1990).
The recommendations of the ESR were not implemented, partly
because the urban population- parents, students, teachers-perceived
the decrease in secondary enrolment and the emphasis given to the
rural population as a detrimental to their interests. The crisis in
education and the recommendations of the ESR mobilized students
and teachers to strike and led to successive wave of local and national
strikes that began early in 1974 and continued unabated until the
overthrow of the Imperial system in September 1974.
Modern education in Ethiopia during the Derg era
The new government known as “Derg” came to power by throwing
Emperor Haile Sellassie in 1974 through coup. Derg considered
education as a key to development, mainly to manifest the socialist
ideology, as a result adopted a new education policy. This view was
charted in the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) in 1976,
further elaborated in the five volumes policy document known as
General Directives of Ethiopian Education produced by the Ministry
of Education in 1980 (Tekeste, 1990). Again another aim of
education was endorsed by the ruling party in 1984 (WPE, 1984):
The aim of socialist education is to mold citizens who have an all-
rounded personality by inculcating the entire society with
socialist ideology thus arming them with the required knowledge
for socialist construction. The fundamental aim of education
is...to cultivate Marxist-Leninist ideology in the young
generation, to develop knowledge in science and technology, in
the new culture and the arts, and to integrate and co-ordinate
research with production to enable the revolution to move forward
and secure productive citizens (p. 14).
As discussed previously, the major problems of education during
Haile Sellassie's regime were low enrolment of secondary education
and failure to achieve universal education (illiteracy was very high).
The new government-Derg-was encouraged to overcome these
problems by developing various strategies. Literacy campaign,
expansion of education both in primary and secondary education
were some of the issues that were given emphasis by the specified
government.
Quite a vigorous national campaign was launched; by July 1990 a
75.3 percent national literacy rate was reported by the government.
The campaign had its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the
strong points of the campaign are: creating an awareness on the value
of literacy among the populace; if systematically studied, can-
inform and positively influence future literacy initiatives and
programs; providing educational opportunity for large number of
adults as well as children; sensitizing the general public toward
continuing education; considering the local languages-fifteen
languages-for literacy use. On the other hand, its weak points are
lacking an explicitly stated educational philosophy to guide actions
and practices; highly centralized. Such condition resulted in several
problems such as evasion of accountability, curtailment of local
initiative and independent action, concealment of individual and
group waste and inefficiency.
The rate of expansion both in primary and secondary education
during Derg era was very high as compared with Haile Sellassie's
regime. Tekeste (1990) comparison reveals this assertion (the
expansion) between Haile Sellassies's regime and Derg regime as
follows: Enrollment (including-those in private schools) increased
from 224,934 in 1959-1960 to 1,042,900 in 1974-75 or at the rate of
about 15 percent per annum. During the 1975-89 period enrollment
increased from 1,042,900 to 3,926,700 or at a rate of about 12 per
cent annually.”
Despite, the educational system of the Derg period was high in
terms of expansion, however, faced meager educational resources,
shortage of qualified teachers etc. resulting in the deterioration of the
quality of education (Seyoum, 1996). Indeed these problems were
identified by the Government, and led to take further action, i.e., to
review the education sector. In view of this, in 1983, the Government
adopted a resolution, which reads:
[t] he formal education sector expanded rapidly after the
revolution, but the fact that there are some weaknesses in the
quality of education must now be recognized. The content and
quality of education must fully prepare students to meet the
objective demands of the nation and the ideological needs of the
society.[S]teps should be taken without delay to implement the
program for expansion of technical and vocational education in
line with the manpower demands of the country (COPWE, 1983,
3; in Tekeste, 1990, 18).
In response to this resolution, the Ministry of Education launched
a project known as the Evaluative Research on the General
Education System of Ethiopia (ERGESE) in 1983, which was
completed by 1986. This study focused on four major areas:
Curriculum Development and Teaching-Learning Process;
Educational Administration Structure and Planning; Educational
Logistics, Supportive Services and Manpower Training; and
 International Journal of Education & Management Studies, 2019, 9(4), 264-272
Educational Evaluation and Research. However, the study was
shelved (Tekeste, 1990; Seyoum, 1996).
Some of the objectives of the ERGESE regarding curriculum
development and the teaching learning process are: to examine the
degree of integration of each subject with the national educational
objectives; to analyze student textbooks with the aim of
understanding their integration (content & clarity) with the national
objectives; to assess the impact of time allocation, language of
instruction, and the material delivery system on educational
objectives. In light of this, the findings of the study reveal:
● The syllabi of secondary school subjects reflected the national
objectives; textbooks do not reflect national educational
objectives and that most of them pay attention to the teaching
rather than learning dimensions;
● The subjects (except agriculture) suffer either from lack of clarity,
coherence, and consistency of content or from poor style of
presentation;
● Amharic as a medium of instruction in the primary school (grades
1-6) has created difficulties for students whose mother tongue is
not Amharic;
● using English as a medium of instruction from grade seven up to
grade twelve created difficulties both for teachers as well as
students;
● The stages of the education ladder, i.e., primary (1-6), junior
secondary (7-8), and senior secondary (9-12) are not satisfactorily
integrated and coordinated;
● The expansion of the educational system is not in accordance with
the economic resource capability of the state;
● The problem of Ethiopian education is a result of poor textbooks,
lack of instruments, and widespread incompetence among
teaching staff.
Some of the recommendations of the study with regard to
curriculum are: the need for informing the results of the study for
experts at the curriculum department and establishing of curriculum
institute. Furthermore, the study recommended the preparation of
textbooks for vocational education. This is because the Ten-Year
Development Plan envisages that vocational education ought to
match with the country's Socialist economic orientation and to meet
its target by the end of the plan period. ERGESE also recommended
for further study with regard to the use of Amharic and English as the
medium of instruction.
As was discussed earlier a new proposal for reforming education
came primarily as a result of the expansion of secondary education.
Basically, the expansion of secondary education was beyond the
capacity of the economy, particularly created unemployable
graduates (Tekeste, 1990; Seyoum, 1996). Hence, the MOE devised
a plan eight year universal Polytechnic Education--assuming that
such program could contribute to the creation of skilled manpower
into the economy. The new reform was partially accepted by the
government to be implemented by 1986. The idea of the reform,
particularly to promote polytechnic education was contained in the
Ten year Plan of the sector on the bases of the following aims: to
enhance respect for work; to make the curriculum relevant; to
intensify the eradication of illiteracy; to strengthen Amharic as the
medium of instruction at primary level; to improve teacher
education; to upgrade the teaching profession, and to provide
education to the physically and mentally handicapped (PMGSE,
1985, 436-39; in Seyoum, 1996). The overall objective was to obtain
271
a middle-level trained manpower. Though an attempt had begun to
implement some aspects of these objectives, by 1991 with the
collapse of the regime, the Ten Year Plan faced a deathblow once and
for all.
Curriculum change, undertaking and organization: Two curriculum
packages -transitional and the general polytechnic had been
operated side by side. The latter was subjected for experiment (pilot
study) before replacing the former at national level. In these
experimental program considerable professional efforts, financial
input, etc. were made.
However, it was not then found feasible in terms of in-puts and
other situational factors to implement such program at nationwide.
Both lack of sufficient financial investment and its coincidence with
the apparent downfall of the communist ideology in its country of
origin (Soviet Union) had made the program in vain except its slim
memories (ICDR, 1996).
After the collapse of the monarchy in 1974, a group of curriculum
developers-curriculum experts, subject experts and experienced
teachers were formed to revise the curriculum on the bases of the
new educational goals, which took the task for two years.
Subsequently, the responsibility for further refinement and
development of new curricular materials was given for the then
Curriculum Department (now known as the Institute for Curriculum
Development & Research -ICDR). The curriculum planning was too
centralized, where syllabuses and curriculum materials were
prepared and distributed from the center.
Criticisms of the education system and the curriculum: The
education system does not escape criticisms. The MOE (1996) for
instance, forwarded flak criticisms that include: Various proposals
were made to change the structure of the education system, but not
implemented; most of the regular budget (56.8%) was allocated to
the military and other related activities at the expense of education
and other social development issues and endeavors; teachers' and
students' attention was directed to political and propaganda
activities; the literacy campaign, which was inefficiently launched in
fifteen nationality languages which had many setbacks due to lack of
genuine commitment, undemocratic nature of planning and
implementation. In fact all of the criticisms of the MOE were
focusing on the shortcomings.
The other criticism is associated with curriculum undertaking.
Basically, a very few authors made study on the curriculum of
Ethiopia. Feleke (1990) for instance, in his study indicates the type
of curriculum approach employed at the Department of Curriculum.
The same author findings reveal that first, the process of the
development of the Transitional curriculum (it refers to the
curriculum that replaced the one before 1974 & was in operational
schools except those seventy schools where polytechnic education
was under experiment) followed neither and established set of
procedures nor was founded on the bases of the evaluation results of
the old curriculum. It was rather patchwork, and piecemeal in its
approach, characterized by more inclusion and exclusion of content
in the same old curriculum of the day.
Second, the goals of Ethiopian education in the Derg regime were
that education for production, class struggle and consciousness and
scientific research had become the philosophical bases for planning
the curriculum. The goals were vague, too general and broad to
provide necessary direction to education throughout the country.
Similarly Seyoum (1996) considers the goal of education, for
272 MENGISTIE / TRENDS OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
instance, which was endorsed in 1984 in a report on the formation of
Workers Party of Ethiopia as unrealistic, i.e., “sounded more of
rhetoric than realistic". Two reasons were given for his premise. First
creating an all-round socialist personality is far reaching in a society
which had the culture of deep-rooted feudalism for so many years.
Second, indoctrinating with an alien and radical ideology -Marxism-
Leninism was incompatible and incomprehensible for the majority
of the children.
Although Tekeste's (1990) study mainly based on the history
curriculum for secondary education, it provides very useful
information of curriculum of the era. The findings of this study
reveal that “although the new state [Derg] showed a far more
consistent concern over the need of evolving an appropriate
curriculum, the case of the history curriculum for secondary schools
strongly suggests that in reality far less has been done."
Implications for the current education in Ethiopia
The educational histories of Ethiopia reviewed here have a multitude
of implications to the current educational practice in Ethiopia. Of
which, the researcher has suggested the following basic
implications:
● Educational practices of Ethiopia should primarily emanated
from its social, political, cultural, economic, and educational
contexts,
● Reasonable balance needs to be maintained between deep
understanding of relevant issues and coverage, urban and rural
experiences, local, national and international experiences, the
three domains of behavioral changes (i.e., affective, cognitive,
and psychomotor), etc.
● As educational reforms are evolutionary in nature, indigenous
education should be the starting point for modern education in any
nation and educational reforms of any nature should emanate
from strengths of early educational practices,
● Educators in Ethiopia who know the organic nature of the country
need to take the centerpiece of managing educational practices in
the country, and
View publication stats
● Educational programs should be suggested on the basis of the
strong deliberations made by different stakeholders in Ethiopia
who are conversant with local, national, and international
experiences
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