AGroup Assignment II

1. Read the Education and Training Policy of Ethiopia (TGE, 1994) and
A. Describe the major problems with the indicators identified by the document
 Our country's education in general is entangled with complex problems of
relevance, quality, accessibility and equity.
 The objectives of education do not take cognizance of the society's needs and do
not adequately indicate future direction.
 The absence of interrelated contents and mode of presentation that can develop
student's knowledge, cognitive abilities and behavioral change by level, to
adequately enrich problem-solving ability and attitude, are some of the major
problems of our education system.
 Inadequate facilities, insufficient training of teachers, overcrowded classes,
shortage of books and other teaching materials, all indicate the low quality of
education provided.
 The gross participation rate of primary education is below 22% of the relevant age
cohort. Of these a large number discontinues and relapse to illiteracy. The disparity
among regions is high. illiteracy is an overall problem of the society. Opportunities
for high school education and technical and vocational training are limited to big
towns. Higher education institutions are found only in very few regions. they are
overcrowded and their research capacity is very low.
 The necessary infrastructure to provide relevant quality education to the rural
population, which is over eighty-five percent of the population of the country, is
at an insignificant level of development.

B. What is the implication of these problems when examined from the perspectives
of economics of education?
The implication of these problems are:
 The problem of equal distribution of economy among competing
individuals and groups.

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  Difficulty to get the required Human capital/ educated man power to bring
the desired economic growth and economic development.
 It brings the problem of migration.
 Difficulty to cope up with the new information and technology.

2. Read ESDP I, II, III and IV.

A. Describe their thematic focus and explain their implications for the education
sector development. Do not forget explaining their link with poverty reduction
strategy’ PASDEPs and other economic development programs plus the
national and international policy direction?
ESDP I
 Realizing the fact that education plays a significant role in reducing poverty and
enhancing the development of society, the Government of Ethiopia gives high
priority to the education sector. However, low enrolment, high gender and regional
disparities and low quality of education have been the major issues to be solved in
the Ethiopian Education System for a long period of time. In order to redress those
underserved situations, the Government of Ethiopia has adopted, along with its
Education Sector Strategy drawn up in 1994, a new Education and Training Policy
(ETP) which outlined the mission and goals for the education system of Ethiopia.
The ETP focuses on Universal Primary Education by the year 2015 by increasing
access to education opportunities and improving quality, quantity and efficiency of
education.

 To rectify the situation, a decentralization policy was adopted to delegate a

substantial part of authority concerning the implementation of primary and
secondary education to regional governments. Each Regional Education Bureau
(REB), according to new curricula, developed their own textbooks, teachers’
guidelines, syllabi, and other educational materials. In addition, the
primary/secondary education system that consisted of the Primary Course (1st to
6th grade), the First Secondary Course (7th to 8th grade), and the Latter Secondary
Course (9th to 12th grade) was changed to a new system comprised of the Primary
Course (first cycle: 1st to 4th, second cycle: 5th to 8th), the First Secondary Course

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 (9th to 10th), and the Latter Secondary Course (11th to 12th). Under this system,
the Primary Course given in the first eight years is taught in respective local
languages used in the region in place of the official language Amhara.
 To achieve the long-term goal of Universal Primary Education by the year 2015,
the Government of Ethiopia implemented a 5-year Education Sector Development
Program (ESDPI 1997/98-2001/02) to improve the following issues in
collaboration with the donor organizations.

i. Improvement of low enrollment ratio (to raise primary school enrollment ratio to
50% by 2000)

ii. Enhancement of educational services in remote areas and for girls (to raise the
enrollment ratio of girls to 45%)

iii. Provision of high-quality education (to distribute textbooks to individual

students, upgrade school facilities, enhance teacher’s training)

iv.Rationalization of the inefficient educational system (to optimize the school

operations by reviewing educational program, and to decrease dropouts and
repeaters)

v. Securing of adequate fund

vi.Enhancement of the planning/management capabilities in each region

ESDP II

 Produce good citizens who understand, respect and defend the constitution; students
who respect democratic values and human rights; develop attitude for research and
work and capacity to solve problems, develop skill in various professions and with a
sense of citizenship to participate in and contribute to the development of community
and the nation.
 Realize the goal of achieving universal primary education through expanding access
and coverage of primary education with equity and improved quality.
 Meet the quantitative and qualitative demand for trained manpower at all levels in
order to respond to the socio-economic development needs, bearing in mind the needs

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 of poverty reduction, the strategy of agricultural- development- led- industrialization
of the country through vertical integration of the secondary, technical- vocational, and
higher education programs.
 Build the capacity within the education system for sustainable development of the
system through organizational capacity building for program implementation,
continuous innovation, and quality leadership at various levels.
 EFA goals are treated within ESDP II in an integrated manner, through a sector wide
approach.
 ESDP II pays special attention to the question of equity.
 Attention is also paid to improving access to education for the children of highly
marginalized and pastoralist communities, to narrowing the urban rural gap in access
to education, and to reducing the regional disparities.
 Adult and non-formal education is also treated in ESDP II, as an integral part of the
strategies for achieving the goals of universal primary education and education for all.
 Non-formal education modes are proposed within the program as an alternative to
school based primary education for out of school children and for very sparsely
populated and remote communities, of course, with options for graduates of these
programs to join the regular schools. Adult and non-formal education programs are
also seen as vehicles for improving the occupational and life skills of the general
adult population as part of the poverty alleviation strategy.
 The overall goals of ESDP-II are in line with priorities of PRSP and the Millennium
Development Goals, i.e. good quality universal primary education by 2015, meeting
qualitative and quantitative demand for manpower, etc. Hence, the overall mission of
all educational institutions in the country is to produce good citizens who respect and
defend the rights and responsibilities stated in the constitution, build the capacity and
tendency to solve problems, trained in various professions and skills so as to
participate in the economic development of the society, with positive outlook for the
expansion and dissemination of science and technology.

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ESDP lll
 General Education
 Produce responsible and competent citizens
 Increase access to educational opportunities at primary level, to achieve UPE by the
year 2015.
 Improve the quality of education,
 Enhance efficiency and use resources wisely.
 Address equity issues by narrowing the gap between male and female, among regions
and rural and urban areas,
 Provide increased access to Adult and Non-Formal Education in order to combat the
problem of adult illiteracy.
 Increase access to quality secondary education based on the demand of the economy
for trained human power at middle and higher level and the intake capacity at the
tertiary level.
 Technical Vocational Education and Training
 Provide relevant and demand-driven education and training that corresponds to the
needs of economic and social sectors for employment and self-employment through
labor market assessments and by re-orienting and re-focusing the existing TVET
system.
 Assure the quality of TVET training programs.
 Develop demand-oriented curricula based on Occupational Standard and
Occupational
 Training Standard for non-formal and formal education and training by involving
experts from the world of work.
 Tertiary Education
 Develop responsible and competent citizens who meet the quantitative and
qualitative demand for a high-level trained labor force based on the socio-
economic development needs of the country.
 Ensure democratic management and governance in Higher Education system.

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  Set up a cost effective, efficient and results-oriented system in order to develop an
appropriate range of modern and effective human resources management
procedures and practices.
 Develop the volume, quality and relevance of research and consultancy services
which are necessarily directed to the needs of the country.

 The overall goals of ESDP-III are in line with the priorities of SDPRP and the
Millennium Development Goals, i.e. good quality universal primary education by
2015, meeting qualitative and quantitative demand for manpower, etc. Hence, the
overall mission of all educational institutions in the country is to produce good
citizens who respect and defend the rights and responsibilities stated in the
constitution, build the capacity to solve problems, train in various professions and
skills so as to participate in the economic development of the society, with positive
outlook for the expansion and dissemination of science and technology.

 Secondary education is an important part of any industrialization and modernization

program. It shall be made to expand in line with the expected upsurge in primary
enrollments and the directions set for the economic development of the country.
Investment into secondary education should be increased.

 Producing qualified human power in sufficient numbers in order to meet the needs of
the economy at all levels will require the maintenance of greater vertical integration
among programs ranging from secondary to technical and vocational education and
training (TVET) to all levels of higher education.

 There is a need to prove that education is a powerful force in combating the spread
of HIV/AIDS by making concerted efforts for the realization of the education sector
response to HIV/AIDS strategy outlined in the February 2004 national seminar.

ESDP IV
 A strong improvement in student achievement through a consistent focus on the
enhancement of the teaching/learning process and the transformation of the school
into a motivational and child‐friendly learning environment;

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 The development of programs which help attract the unreached and the
disadvantaged into school and ensure that they complete basic education. Without a
significant decrease in the drop‐out rates in the early grades (which also demands the
promotion of Early Childhood Education), universal primary enrolment will never
be achieved.
 A renewal of adult education with a specific focus on Functional Adult Literacy. The
number of illiterates has remained high and, for reasons of justice as well as
economic and social development, efforts need to be strengthened to build
partnerships against illiteracy.
 The strengthening of the capacity for knowledge creation, in particular in the domain
of science and technology, through an expansion of access to TVET and to higher
education without sacrificing quality.
 Further improvement of the effectiveness of the educational administration at all
levels, through capacity development and the creation of motivational work
environments.
 For general education, the main goals are to generalize access to quality basic
education in order to make sure that all children, youngsters and adults, with
particular emphasis on females, acquire the competencies, skills, values and attitudes
enabling them to participate fully in the social, economic and political development
of Ethiopia and to sustain equitable access to quality secondary education services as
the basis and bridge to the demand of the economy for middle level and higher level
human resources.
 ESDP IV also foresees a major program in adult education, the objective of which is
to allow all adult illiterates to participate in a two year Functional Adult Literacy
(FAL) course. A Master Plan for Adult Education has been drafted and it is expected
to guide efforts in this sub‐sector during ESDP IV implementation.
 Special support programs will be developed for the emerging regions and to allow
for a steep and swift decrease in pupil drop‐out rates.
 Student repetition and drop‐out rates decreased through higher quality of teaching
and learning

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 Learning outcomes improved at primary and secondary schools through the
reinforcement and better coordination of key quality inputs and processes.
 Equitable access to quality primary and secondary education expanded amongst the
four emerging regions in which the gap between the emerging regions and other
regions reduced, by giving special support to the education of emerging regions’
children (both female and male)
 Capacity of educational management bodies at various levels strengthened
 All adult illiterates will participate in a two‐year FAL program.
 Quality of TVET (formal and non‐formal) improved at all levels and made
responsive to the needs of the labor market
 comprehensive, integrated, outcome based and decentralized TVET system for
Ethiopia established
 Number of rich/advanced Medium and small enterprises created through the
transferred technologies.
 A balanced distribution of higher education opportunities throughout the country
through the widening of access to higher education, in particular to science and
technology
 Increased student learning, personal growth and improved employability through
high quality higher education and relevant professional mix
 Eight crosscutting issues aim to focus attention on the situation of specific groups
and on issues of particular importance: Capacity development for improved
management; Gender and education; Special needs education; HIV/AIDS and
education; Environmental education and protection; Education in emergencies;
School health and nutrition and Drug and substances abuse prevention in education.

ESDP V
 ESDP V will involve a concentrated focus on a few select important policy priorities
(for example, improving teacher quality, developing core foundation skills, reducing
high drop-out and repetition rates and ensuring relevance of middle- and higher-level
training) rather than on trying to spread limited resources across too many priorities.

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 Makes clear the expected changes in the structure of the economy over the next five
years and the implications for education and training, as a main source of supply of
human capital to the emerging economic and productive sectors.

 The priorities of ESDP V are also consistent with those of regional and international
agreements, such as Education for All, the Sustainable Development Goals and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 Strong leadership and direction, and effective cooperation and communication across
all education levels and amongst ministries in multi-sectoral efforts, will be essential.

 In order to bring about the improved outcomes that we expect within the education
sector over the next five years, we need to identify and expand those approaches that
have been successful. Focus is essential if every child is to achieve at least the core
foundation skills needed to contribute to achieving a lower middle income economy
for Ethiopia.

 Capacity development for improved management

 General education: quality

 General education: access, equity and internal efficiency

 Adult and non-formal education

 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

 Higher education

B. Identify how finance related issues were handled (ESDP I, II, III, IV) and to be
handled (ESDP V).

 Financial planning and implementation has been improved from time to time. As a
result better financial utilization capacity was developed as we go from ESDP I –
ESDP V. But still efforts need to be exerted to further improve capacity in timely
closing regional accounts.

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 For example :
 In ESDPII the total financial requirement of ESDP-II was Birr15.1 billion. During the
preparation of this document disaggregated data were not available to analyze the
financial resources allocated to education from different sources and their utilizations.
 However, from the total Government budget figures, it was learned that the total
budget allocation to education during ESDP-II (2002/03 –2004/05) was Birr12.5
billion, which is 83% of the total requirement of the program. Since the community
contribution in expanding education was significant (though there is no proper
documentation), the total amount of funds that were made available to ESDP-II
is much higher than what is indicated in the budget.
 At the Woreda level the education sector is receiving the largest amount of the block
grant varying from 33 – 60% of which the largest part is for teachers’ salaries,
whereas the non-salary budget per student is small.

 In ESDP III the total financing requirements were estimated at around 53 billion
birr. ESDP III assumed the rate of growth of GDP to be in the range of 7.3% to 9.6%.
The Government also committed to increase the share of education from GDP to over
7% in 2009/10/03 from 3.1% in 1996/97. Based on a 9.6% growth rate, the
Government allocation to education was estimated to increase from about Birr5
billion in 1998 to Birr10.9 billion in 2009/10. Community contributions were
estimated to increase from Birr784.5 million in 1998 to Birr1.13 billion in 2009/10
and from cost sharing in TVET and tertiary from Birr32.4 million in 1998 to
Birr106.9 million in 2009/10. These sources together were estimated to cover 85% of
program costs.

 The model generated a financing gap of around 2.4 billion birr in 1998 but this fell to
zero in 2009/10. The gap was expected to be covered by bilateral and multilateral
partners. It was anticipated that expenditure on salaries would fall to around 60% of
recurrent spending.
 The draft Public Expenditure Review (March 26, 2010) shows the overall resource
envelope for education rose to 9.6 billion birr in 2000 (around two billion less than

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 the ESDP III cost projection). This represented around 4% of GDP in 2000 (down
from 4.7%). Of that around 46% was spent on primary, and 9.4% on secondary, 3.7%
on TVET and over 40% on higher education.
 The university expansion program has driven up higher education spending. Primary
spending held up, while both secondary and TVET have been receiving less funds
than indicated in ESDP III.
 There has also been a continued squeeze on non‐salary recurrent costs which continue
to be only around 5% of recurrent expenditure for primary schools. The PER also
estimates sources of financing of the education budget for 2008/2009. Of total
available funds of 15 billion around 2.7 billion birr (or 18%) came from donors, 328
million birr came from community contributions, and 635 million birr came from cost
sharing. So, while the total volume of financing has increased, it has not to date kept
pace with the expansion of the system.
 Contributions from donors however appear to have exceeded the expectations set in
the ESDP III planning period.

 In ESDP IV the cost of the further expansion and improvement of the Ethiopian
education system under depends strongly on the norms and standards related to the
use and the cost of human and material resources.

3. Describe and explain the supply and demand factors in education. Do not forget
to relate your answer/s with the context of Ethiopian schools.
The demand for education
 Refers to how much (quantity) of product or service is desired by buyers.
 The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a
certain price.
 The law of demand states that if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price
of a good, less people demand that good. The higher the price the lower the
quantity demanded. The amount of a good that buyer purchase at a higher price is
less because as a price of a good increases, so does the opportunity cost of buying
that good.
 The demand for place in primary school will depend on a number of factors

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 1. The price schools charge all other things being equal, the higher the price of
schools charge in the country X, the lower the demand for primary school place.
2. The price of other goods and services that are complements to private primary
school education. The higher the price of complements, the lower the demand for
primary school places. Example of complements to primary education may be
uniform, meals and transportation.
3. The price of other goods and services that are substitutes for private primary
school education. The higher the price of substitutes in country x, the lower the
demand for primary school places in that country. Examples of substitutes for
secondary school education might be apprenticeships, if craftsmen in the country
charge families a particular fee for providing apprenticeships to older primary
school students.
4. The opportunity cost of children’s time (oc) that is the value of the child’s time if
the child were to work instead of going to school. The higher the opportunity cost
of children’s time, the lower the demand for primary school places.
5. The number of families in the country (pop). Assuming that all families have one
child of primary school age, then the greater the number of families in a country,
the higher the demand for primary school places.
6. The distribution of income among the families in the country. The higher the
average income of the families, the higher the demand for primary school place.
The supply of education
 Supply represents how much the market can offer.
 The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to
supply when receiving a certain price.
 The law of supply demonstrates the quantities that will be sold at a certain price.
 The supply relationship is shows an upward slope. Producers supply more at a higher
price because selling a higher quantity at higher price increase revenue.
 Factors that determine the available places in the schools.
a. The price that paid by families for a year of school education. The higher the
price, the higher the supply of the school places.

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 b. The price the school owners must pay for inputs including teachers, books,
teaching materials, building rent, and so on (the price of inputs). The higher
inputs, the lower the supply of school places.
 In general, there are three important determinants of the supply of education services.
These are:
i. Time precedence
ii. Unity of supply
iii. Complementarily of the components.
i. Time precedence
 This pertains to providing in advance accommodation for the various types of
schools, and training teachers in sufficient number and quality to meet the
requirements. This is applied when there is a serious shortage of resources.
 Time precedence in the supply of education service implies also the preparation, on
the base of demand projection, of adequate accommodation, equipment, non-teaching
staff, all of which go to make up an education service.
ii. Unity of supply
 The second factor affecting the supply of education service is its unity. When it opens
up the doors of elementary education to everyone and makes every efforts to increase
the school rate, the government has a duty to expand secondary school and higher
education. It does not lend itself a differential development of separate levels.
 Too rapid expansion at one level tend to provoke, on one hand, deterioration in the
quality of services offered at that level. Means less qualified teachers may have to be
used, classroom will be cramped and equipment scarce, and less gifted students.
iii. Complementarily of the components of supply
 The supply of educational services is the complementarities of such components as
premises, teaching staffs, equipment, and non-teaching staff. All these components
have to be present in fixed proportions or at least in the proportion which can vary
only within narrow limits.
Interaction between supply and demand
 Supply and demand analysis examines the effect of a single change, holding constant
the other factors that affect the demand and supply (the ceteris paribus assumption) in
a given market.

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 When supply and demand are equal the economy is said to be at equilibrium. At this
point the allocation of good is as it is most efficient because the amount of goods
being supplied is exactly the same as the amount of goods being demanded. Thus,
every individuals, firms or countries is satisfied with the current economic condition.

4. Fiscal decentralization.
A. Explain the nature of educational financing in Ethiopia?
 Following fiscal decentralization in Ethiopia, regional and local governments
undertake planning and resource mobilization for the education sector. As a result,
over the last decade, more than half of the national education spending was
administered by regional and local governments. This demonstrates the
government’s effort in promoting universal access to primary education at the
grassroots level, and the implementation of targeted interventions to close the
existing regional, gender and urban-rural enrolment differentials to achieve universal
primary education across the board. Improvements in access to primary schools with
innovations such as mobile schools are helping to reach disadvantaged groups and
children living in remote rural areas.

B. Who finances education in Ethiopia? Why?

 The national education system is financed through domestic funds from the state
budget, external funds received from bilateral and multilateral donors, private
sector investments and household contributions.
 A portion of external financing to the education sector is directed through off-
budget channels, the amounts of which are challenging to track. Hence this
budget brief is limited to analysing on-budget finances, and leaves out significant
financial resources channelled to the education sector through off-budget donor
resources, private sector investments and households’ contributions.
 Information on the sources of on-budget education sector financing has been made
available only for federal capital expenditures. Regarding on-budget financing,
domestic resources cover the majority of the federal education capital
expenditure, while donor contributions (on-budget) to the federal Government
capital education expenditure have been rising from time to time.

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C. Describe and explain the essence free of fee education in the context of Ethiopia

 The framework of the educational policy takes into account the poverty of the
country and the complex problems that face the society. Thus, it aims to produce
democratic-minded and productive citizens who are capable of solving problems,
and are generally resourceful and creative.
 Primary school education contributes to the society at large by empowering students
with knowledge and skills to improve their standard of living and to solve
problems. Thus, it should be given priority, encouraged, and expanded. Basic
education is useful both to the society at large and to the individual, for it has
economic, social, and political benefits. It has a critical role in providing a
productive labor force that is essential for development.
 Basic and universal primary education abolishes earlier inequities and enables
citizens to participate in the democratic process. Further, it contributes to
agricultural development, to family life, health care, nutrition, birth control, and the
proper nurture of children.
 The education finance strategy has taken all the above into account. Up to the
present, the government treasury is still the primary financial source for education.
Given the social utility of basic education and its contribution to the improvement
of the society's living conditions, it is proper that it is provided free of charge.
 The costs for tuition, educational materials, books purchase, administration and
infrastructure are so high that it is unrealistic to expect the student to cover them.
The most important consideration has to be the allocation of government finance on
the most important and timely needs of the society.
 The priority for government financial support will be up to the completion of
general secondary education and related training (grade 10) with increased cost
sharing at higher levels of education and training.

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D. Describe and explain the major problems educational financing in Ethiopia?
 According to the findings of the current studies the major problems of educational
financing in Ethiopia were:
 Shortage of budget is a common problem faced by the O-class program which in
deed requires the immediate attention of the Government.
 Over reliance on development partners for funding;
 Lack of transparency in the allocation of budget;
 Lack of accountable system in the utilization of the budget;
 Inadequacy of the budget allocated to schools;
 Highly centralized system of government financing;
 Limited participation of the community in funding schools.
 Even if for secondary and preparatory school the budget accounted for roughly
20% of total government spending, the required budget to the sector needed
additional financial and in-kind contributions from international partners, NGOs
and community contributions ,and Yet, a high quality education demands more
resources than that.

5. What determine the share of education budget from the GDP of a nation (relate
to Ethiopia)? How about the share of education budget from the public
expenditure? What share of the education budget of the regional state is
covered by the Federal government?

 Out of the internationally agreed targets set out by the Education for All (EFA)
coalition, Ethiopia meets the target on education expenditure accounting for 20
per cent of total government expenditure, whereas it is yet to meet the
international target for 6 per cent of GDP being allocated to education
 For example, in 2015/16, the aggregate expenditure in the education sector was
Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 67.9 billion in nominal value and ETB 16.8 billion in real
terms, at 2006/07 prices (Figure 4)9. Compared to the spending levels in
2007/08, expenditure in nominal and real terms grew at an average rate of 27
per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively

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  In terms of types of expenditure, spending in the education sector remained
predominantly recurrent in nature. Over the last decade, nearly 62.6 per cent was
on average allocated to finance recurrent education expenditure. Salaries and non-
salary recurrent spending, including textbooks and teacher training, account for the
bulk of education recurrent expenditure. The remaining 37.4 per cent was on
average absorbed by capital education expenditure.
 In the presence of competing investment requirements in other sectors such as
transport and energy infrastructure, the GoE has remained committed to
maintaining its large capital education expenditure that has more recently been
driven by the construction and expansion of universities.
 At the regional level however the composition is different. The bulk of regional
governments’ education expenditure is allocated to finance recurrent
education expenditure. Salaries, textbooks and teachers’ training account for a
substantial part of regional recurrent education spending, while capital spending at
the regional level has stagnated, reflecting the policy to mobilize communities’
contribution for primary school construction and expansion.
6. Read the MoE guideline of educational organization, finance and community
participation. Analyze issues that are related financing and describe its economic
implications in details.
 Communities and PTAs are playing important roles in all aspects of education from
generating resources to managing schools. Resources are mobilized for purchasing
basic equipment and materials, hiring contract teachers, and building classrooms and
schools.
 PTAs are active in raising the awareness of the general community on the benefits of
education and in encouraging parents to send their children to school so as to increase
access and reduce dropout. PTAs are involved in school management, preparing
annual plans and follow-up disciplinary cases.
 Hence, communities are funding new school buildings, building teachers’ houses,
running non-formal education initiatives, and encouraging girls to go to school and be
retained in school until they complete a given level of education. However, PTAs and

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 communities still need further capacity enhancement in order to enable them to carry
out the quality of support that schools need to help them function as desired.
 The 2002 guideline, which is under implementation, clearly defines the duties and
responsibilities of each stakeholder in the education sector. It also highlights each
stake holder’s accountability at each level. As a result, the last two years have shown
an unprecedented community turn-out, not only in raising funds and constructing
classrooms, but also in owning and managing the development of education in their
respective communities.
 Education and training boards and PTA’s have become instrumental in lowering
dropout and repetition rates and restoring good discipline in schools. community
involvement will go beyond financial, material and labour contributions; communities
will be expected to exercise leadership, participate in school management in such a
manner that it reflects their ownership of the school.
 In this context, the communities will continue to contribute to financing education, in
particular through support to low-cost classroom construction through provision of
local materials and labour.
 The community may also, based on its ability and development level, help out with
non-salary recurrent expenditure.

7. Read GTP I and II documents and try to single out the focus to education. Do
not forget to relate to the essence of economics of education and its implication to
the sector
GTP I
 Enhancing expansion and quality of social development
 Expanding human capital and improving human development outcomes is still a
central pillar strategy of Growth and Transformation Plan. The Government has been
taking measures to improve the human resource development as healthy, productive,
and trained human resource is essential for the implementation of government
policies, strategies and programs. The main ingredients of this pillar are higher
education and adult education, better primary health care, better and closer access to

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 safe water and sanitation facilities, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and other
infectious diseases, better food security and nutrition, and housing conditions.
 Education and Training
 In order to build on the progressive achievements in this regard, the Government
will increase its efforts in human resource development through improving access and
quality of education in the next five years. In terms of improving access to education,
efforts will be made to gradually address issues that limit children in particular girls
and women enrollment.
 As for improving quality of education measures will be taken to address the
shortcomings through increasing the number of teachers and schools. The
Government will enhance the implementation of General Education Quality
Improvement Program.
 The TVET System will continue to serve as a potential instrument for technology
transfer, through the development of occupational standards, accreditation of
competencies, occupational assessment and accreditation, establishment and the
strengthening of the curriculum development system. TVET institutions will serve as
the centers of technology accumulation for MSEs. Rigorous and regular monitoring
and evaluation will be carried out amongst TVET institutions; both government and
private monitoring will enable them to ensure the minimum levels of competency.
 The key priority for higher education during the forthcoming five years will be
ensuring quality and relevance. To this end, the management and administration
system of universities will be improved and strengthened, and efforts will be made to
enable the Higher Education Strategic Center and the Higher Education Quality
Assurance Agency to achieve their missions. The performance and implementation
capacity of technology institutes will also be built upon. Adequate supply of
university teachers will be ensured through the implementation of a full fledged
teacher development program. The revised curricula will be implemented in line with
critical issues, such as, instructional process, assessment and examinations and
student achievement.
 A cost effective and participatory early childhood care and education will be
expanded in both formal and non formal delivery mechanisms. The education strategy

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 for children with special needs will be fully implemented to meet the needs of this
group. Further, functional adult literacy will be expanded across the country.
 General education
 The initiatives, already in place to expand basic educational services to all and achieve
the MDG goals, will be strengthened. A cost effective and participatory early
childhood care and education (ECCE) will be expanded in both formal and non-formal
delivery mechanisms.
 The role of the government will be to facilitate policy based services, such as,
supervision of quality, support of materials, development and provision of curriculum,
standards, guidelines, provision of ECCE classrooms, and space within formal primary
schools for community driven programs, etc.
 Ensure equitable access to quality primary education (EFA) will be continued and
strengthened. The gender disparity will be eliminated by the end of the plan period.
The education strategy for children with special needs will be fully implemented to
meet the needs of this group.
 Improving and ensuring the quality and efficiency of education at all levels. To realize
this priority, the General Education Quality Improvement Package/GEQIP will be
fully implemented. Its subsequent impact in improving student achievement (in terms
of knowledge, skill and attitude) will be verified through regular monitoring and
evaluation schemes; and through the National Assessments of Student Achievement
conducted every three years. The findings of which shall serve as inputs to further
enrich GEQIP and achieve excellence access to quality education for all.
 Functional adult literacy (FAL) will be expanded to all regions. Youths and adults
within the 15-60 age range would participate in the program as per the FAL strategy.
 Technical and Vocational Education and Training/TVET
 A quality and efficient TVET system will be established through full implementation
of the TVET strategy. As a result, Government investment will be strengthened and
cooperative training will be fully implemented in order to ensure provision of middle
level human power that will satisfy the national labor market.
 The TVET System will continue to serve as a potential instrument for technology
transfer, through the development of occupational standards, accreditation of

20
 competencies, occupational assessment and accreditation, establishment and the
strengthening of the curriculum development system. TVET institutions will serve as
the centers of technology accumulation for MSEs. Rigorous and regular monitoring
and evaluation will be carried out amongst TVET institutions; both government and
private monitoring will enable them to ensure the minimum levels of competency.

 Higher Education
 The key priority for higher education during the forthcoming five years will be
ensuring quality and relevance. To this end, the management and administration
system of universities will be improved and strengthened, and efforts will be made to
enable the Higher Education Strategic Center and the Higher Education Quality
Assurance Agency to achieve their missions.
 The performance and implementation capacity of technology institutes will also be
built upon. Adequate supply of university teachers will be ensured through the
implementation of a full fledged teacher development program. The revised curricula
will be implemented in line with critical issues, such as, instructional process,
assessment and examinations and student achievement.
 The education provided at higher education institution level will be made compatible
with the quantity, type and quality of the human power demanded by the economy and
/or national labour market. Accordingly, the increase in enrolment in graduate and post
graduate programs will be in line with the 70/30 Program. There will be a system
introduced which will enable universities to raise their own internal incomes, which in
turn, will help them promote quality and relevance of education.
 There will be a technology transfer-centered research system for higher education
institutions (HEIs). Capacity building will be undertaken to improve performance,
especially of Science and Technology Institutes and departments in order to make
them support the economic development through technology transfer. In general, the
research system in HEIs will be guided by the role it plays in the economic growth and
development of the country.

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 Through continuous support and monitoring, higher education institutions will be
made effective/efficient and have student friendly environment especially for girls and
students with special needs.

GTP ll
 The goal of the educational sector plan was to raise the quality of education and
consolidate the expansion of the education service coverage.
 Hence, to enhance the coverage of general secondary education, additional secondary
schools need to be constructed, while also making concerted efforts to improve the
completion rate of primary education and thereby also of the student population
promoted to join secondary education. Significant progress has been achieved in the
preparatory secondary education (grade 11-12) during the period under review.
 To improve the quality of education, a host of activities have been carried out on
teacher`s development program, curriculum improvement, school improvement and
expansion and improvement of information and communication technology.
 There has been a critical problem in reducing repetition and dropout rates. Therefore,
factors behind these generally high student dropout and repetition rates have to be
investigated and addressed during the second growth and transformation plan period.
 Quality and relevance of the TVET system are still crucial issues that call for
concerted efforts to bring basic improvement during the GTP II period. In addition,
efforts should be made to resolve the flawed perception towards TVET and address the
rent-seeking problems in the sub-sector.
 To enhance the relevance of higher education to the needs of the country, 70 percent
of undergraduate students were enrolled in Science and Technology program and 30
percent of them were enrolled in engineering and technology program. This is well in
line with the policy objective of the government. However, to improve quality of
education farther, the on-going higher education quality improvement program needs
to be fully implemented. In addition, to link the higher education and training systems
with development activities to keep up with technology development, the momentum
to strengthen existing linkage of university with industries need to be continued.

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8. Describe and explain the focus of ESDP V by focusing on the elements introduced
by describing their financial implications
 The cost of the implementation of ESDP V depends on several factors, which can be
grouped as follows:
 Policy objectives, as translated into targets for admission and internal efficiency
 Assumptions about the use of resources (such as pupil/section ratios or
pupil/textbook ratios)
 Assumptions about the cost of specific items and their evolution over the five year
period (such as salaries)
 The description of the priority programmes has mentioned the various targets.
Taking these targets as a basis, a full cost estimate has been made for ESDP V, by
sub-sector and by category of spending. Subsequently, an estimate is made of
available financing. This estimate is also based on a number of assumptions. This
allows for an estimate of the financing gap to be filled. Much of the financing for
general education is a regional responsibility so it is dependent on the commitment
of regions and wored as to the sub-sector.
 One indicator of future financing is how education financing has progressed over the
life of ESDP IV. The forthcoming Education Public Expenditure Review (2015)
provides some indications of recent financing trends in education. These are:
 a result of the expansion of the system, with school enrolment (up to Grade 12)
rising from 10 million to 19 million .
 Recurrent spending, largely composed of teacher salaries, doubled during this
period.
 There was a massive increase in capital spending as construction of the third
generation of universities got under way.
 Despite special attention to education at all levels of government, the sector is
likely to face financial constraints in the coming period due to the visibly rising
households demand for education and increasing unit cost of service provision
including teaching materials and supplies and need to keep teachers in the
education system with good incentives in the face of widening economic
opportunities elsewhere.

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 The cost of ESDP V depends firstly on its major policy objectives which are translated
into specific targets for admission and internal efficiency.
 Within the government’s overall vision to become a lower-middle-income country by
2025, several key objectives for ESDP V have been defined:
 the achievement of universal primary education by the end of the ESDP V period;
 expansion of secondary education, with a view to achieving universal secondary
education by 2025;
 and the expansion of TVET and undergraduate options to train middle- and
higher-level skilled manpower for a middle-income economy, are among the key
objectives.
 The enrolment patterns in upper primary, secondary, TVET and higher education
depend to a large extent on the evolution of enrolment in the early grades.
 They also depend on policy choices made with regard to these higher levels, such
as the transition rate between Grades 8 and 9 and the distribution of students
between TVET and preparatory education after Grade 10.
 The description of the priority programmes has mentioned all specific targets. The
most important ones are briefly recalled here. They are all to be achieved by 2019/20
except if otherwise indicated:
 The GER of pre-primary will reach 80%
 The Gross Intake Rate to Grade 1 will reach 112%
 The GER of Grades 1–4 will reach 115%
 The GER of Grades 5–8 will reach 95%
 The GER of Grades 9–10 will reach 74%
 Dropout rates in Grade 1 will reach 5%
 Dropout rates in all other grades will reach 2%
 The repetition rates in all grades of general education will reach 2%
 After Grade 10, 20% of students will enter preparatory education, the remainder
will be eligible for teacher education and TVET
 The share of illiterate adults that enroll in a two year course of functional adult
literacy will reach 100%
 90% of Grade 12 students will enter university

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 Reference

i. FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC GOVERNMENT OF ETHIOPIA

EDUCATION AND TRAINING POLICY Addis Ababa April, 1994
ii. EDUCATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ESDP I (2007-2010)
August 2006 TA Number 4754 (NEP) : Preparing the Education Sector
Development Program I
iii. ESDP II of MoE

iv. MoE. (2005). Education Sector Development Program III (Action Plan). FDRE.
Addis Ababa.

v. ESDP IV of MoE

vi. Education Sector Development Programme V (ESDP V) 2008 - 2012 E.C. 2015/16 -
2019/20 G.C.Federal Ministry of Education 2015 Addis Ababa

vii. MoE guideline of educational organization, finance and community participation ,

2002 Addis Ababa.

viii. The Education and Training Policy and its Implementation Ministry of Education
February 2002 Addis Ababa

ix. Economic Focus Education and Development in Ethiopia Seyoum Teffera*

Translated by Yonas Admassu

x. The Economics and Financing of Education (EdPM 614) ; Jeilu Oumer (PhD) ,
AAU, 2008 Addis Ababa.

xi. Financing and Efficiency in Education Reference for Administration and

Policymaking MANUEL ZYMELMAN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

xii. Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap (2018-30)

xiii. Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II: 2016-2020)

xiv. First Growth and Transiformation Plan (GDP I)

xv. Different Sample Education Materials related to the questions from the web site.

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