Education and Training in Ethiopia An Evaluation of Approaching EFA Goals

Only one out of ten children who enter primary school complete Grade 12 of generaleducation. In 1998/99 there was a total enrolment of 521,728 students in less than 400upper secondary schools.1614121086FemaleMaleTotal420%1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 YearFigure 3. Secondary-school (Grades 9-12) GER in the school years 1996/97 – 2000/01.The numbers of secondary education students have steadily increased as comparedwith the age cohort. GER was 19.3 per cent in the school year 2002/03: 24.0 per cent formales and 14.3 per cent for females. Enrolment varies substantially by region (Ministry ofEducation, 2004).Although overall access to primary education is increasing, the gender gap remainsnearly unchanged. Table 4 describes the gender gap trends between school years 2000/01and 2002/03 in primary and secondary education.Table 4Gender Gap in Primary and Secondary Education (Ministry of Education, 2004.)YearPRIMARY EDUCATION(GRADES 1-8)SECONDARY EDUCATION(GRADES 9-10)Gender Gap byGERGender Gap byNERGender Gap byGER2000-2001 20.3 14.0 3.42001-2002 20.5 13.8 6.72002-2003 20.8 13.4 9.7In primary education the gender gap persist at the level of 20 per cent in GER at thenational level. The ESDP II target is to reduce the gender gap to 16 per cent by 2004-2005—the target for boys is 78 per cent and for girls 62 per cent (Joint Mission Review38