Education and Training in Ethiopia An Evaluation of Approaching EFA Goals

approximately 73 per cent for females and 50 per cent for males. Primary-school enrolmenthas risen from 3,1 million in 1994/95 to 5,7 million in 1998/99, the percentage for girlsbeing all the time approximately 37. Secondary-school enrolment has also increased butremains very low. In 1997 the Government launched the Education Sector DevelopmentProject (ESDP), whose aims include that of increasing school attendance among ruralchildren and especially girls to 45 per cent by 2001/2002 (FDRE, 2000b).Since 1992, Ethiopia has been implementing a long-term strategy, ADLI (theAgricultural-Development-Led Industrialization Strategy) that identifies agriculture as thekey to growth and poverty reduction in the short and medium term, with an envisaged risein rural incomes and exports stimulating industrialization at later stages. ADLI containsvarious components needed for agricultural growth, including the provision of technologyand finance, the construction of a rural infrastructure and internal and external markets,and paying attention to the role of the private sector.Additionally, the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper prepared by the Ethiopianauthorities in November 2000 contains a declaration of the Government’s commitment toreducing poverty. Poverty reduction is one of the key objectives of the first (1995-2000)and second (2000-2005) National Development Programs (NDP) (FDRE, 2000b).16