Ethiopian Review

Anew report has ranked Ethiopia as one encouraging countries in school success index. A report launched Wednesday by the Save Children’s 10th annual state of the world’s mothers 2009 finds that nearly 40 percent of all children under age of five in developing countries fail to reach their potential in cognitive development because of poverty, poor health and nutrition and deficient care.

Ethiopia is ranked 84th in the report’s school success index, which is based on an analysis of key indicators such as a country’s under-five child survival rate, grade-one repetition rate, female literacy rate and total fertility rate.

The report came amidst Ethiopia’s encouraging steps to accelerate attainment of Education for All and the MDGs and as the country had successfully halved the percentage of children out of school since 2000 from 62 to 28 percent.

The Ministry of Education, in partnership with member organizations, under the national early child care and education task force, is in the process of developing a policy framework, a strategic operational plan and guidelines for improving access to quality early childhood care and education throughout Ethiopia.

Despite this progress, the report says more work is needed to ensure that children receive pre-primary education, which is vital for their holistic development. In Ethiopia, out of the estimated 6.76 million children of the appropriate age group (4-6) only 263,464 are reported to have access to pre-primary education in 2,740 sites across the nation.

The gross enrollment rate for kindergarten also stood at 3.9 percent, while the dropout rate in grade-one during 2007/2008 was 18.3 percent.

Speaking on behalf of Save the Children Alliance members in Ethiopia, Save the Children USA country director, Margaret Schuler, said, “We need action and commitment at all levels, starting in the home, but also at the community, state and national levels to ensure that children get the care and support they need in the early years in order to succeed in school.”

All actors should ensure coordination efforts to help millions of Ethiopian children succeed in school by investing in their early years, she said. According to her, the Ethiopian government, donor agencies and NGOs should allocate the required resources for proven early childhood development solutions.

Ms. Schuler added that Save the Children continues to work with the Ethiopian government to help ensure children are receiving quality education in their early years and reach their full potential in school.

According to the report, 47 percent of the children who do not succeed in primary school live in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly a third of primary school-aged children are not in school.

The report also presents the school success index for developing countries, which is a first ever international index that ranks 100 developing countries on how well prepared their children are to succeed in school.

Worldwide, the report says 75 million children fail to complete primary school, either because they dropout in the early grades or because they have never got the chance to attend school.

- By Melaku Demissie | The Reporter