Teacher Education in Ethiopia:

History, Development, and Current Status

Tesfaye SEMELA, PhD

Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at
University of Tübingen, IfE, School Pedagogy

1
Outline

• Introduction to Ethiopia: Geography, People, and

Culture
• History of Education
• Education System
• Teacher Education in Ethiopia
– Beginning of Teacher Education
– Pre-Primary
– Primary
– Secondary
• Key problems, challenges , and Future
Research.
2
Ethiopia: Introduction
• Location
– Northeast Africa or Horn of
Africa
• Size: 1.21 mil. Sq.Km
• Population 80 mil.
• 85 ethnic groups/
Languages
• Three major religions
– Eth. Orthodox (42%)
– Muslim (34%)
– Protestant (19%)
– Catholic (1%)
– -Others (3%)
• Currency: ETB, 1Euro =18ETB
3
Indegenious Education

• Interface between
relegion and education
– Education begun with the
entry of christainaity in
Ethiopia in the 4th Century
A.D
– The Ethiopian Orthodox
Church was (in some
instances, still is)
responsible for the
education of the population
(Wagaw 1979; Negash
1990).

Rock hewn church of Lalibela (above) , St. Mary's’ 4

Orthodox Church, Addis Ababa.
Indegenious Education …cont‘d

• Mosque Education – Maderesa (Islamic schools)

– Islamic education has joined Orthodox Church after
the introduction of Islam in Ethiopia in 12th century
A.D.

• Achievements of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

– The Saba (ethiopic) script – Ethiopia the only country
in SSA with written script of its own.
– Recording and developing Ethiopian cultural, social,
religious, and intellectual wealth ..\Videos\RealPlayer
Downloads\Learn Amharic Now!!! The Entire Order - The Language of
RasTafari - ethiov.com.flv 5
Teaching Profession: Pre-modern period

Church Education (Amare, 1967)

• Primary Education : Fedel(learning the ethiopic
alphabets, Acts of the Apostles and Psalms of David )
• Secondary Education: Zema bet (Singing i.e. Church
Music and dance)
• College Education: Kene bet (Ge‘ez Grammer,
translation of texts, and composition of versus and
Logic )
• University Education: Mesafbet (House of books) has
four areas of specialization: a) Old Testament, (b) New
Testament, c) Dogma & Philosophy , & (d) Astonomy
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Teachers of the Church Schools

– But Primary Level (Fedeal of the Geez alphabet and

others) is taught by priests who underwent sound
education in villages and rural localities (until today).

– Zema bet are higher levels- and teaching is

conducted by qualified church scholars called „Meri
Geta“ meaning a „learned man“

– Kene bet and Mesafbet are equivalent to college

and university education respectively …thus, teaching
is done by highly qualified church scholars.
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Begining of Modern Education
• Western type
education offically
began in 1896
– However, earlier (before
1890s) there were attempts
by protestant missionaries
to introduce Western-style
education
• Ethiopian Kings of the
time were very suspicious
of the activities of
Western missionaries
– since they see threats of
mass conversion of its
population to Catholicism
or Protestantism.
8
Influencial Personalities

• 1896 Opening of the first Modern

School. Named after Emperor Minilik II

•Minilik II was the pioneer of

modern, Western-style education

•Minilik was a famous King of Kings

who led Ethiopia to the victory of
Adwa over the Italian Occupation
forces. Some scholars even equate
him with Prussia/German Politician
Otto von Bismarck (Zewde 2002)

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Father of the Empire- Emperor Haileselassie I

• He believed that it is only

through education that
Ethiopia can catch up
with the rest of the
developed World.

• The Emperor himself was

the Minister of Education.

Emperor’s classroom visit in Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis 10

Ababa.
The Beginning …cont’d

School children Early Modern School

The 2nd modern school in Addis

Students of early 20th Century Ababa, Teferi Mekonen School 11
 The Beginning*

• Teacher Education in Ethiopia is roughly as

old as the beginning of modern Western-style
education. (Late 19th Century)

• The programs are divided into three major

groups namely
– Kindergarten, primary, and secondary levels.
Training of teachers for children with special needs
is also undertaken

*As soon as modern education started, foreign teachers were hired from Egypt (Coptic 12
Orthodox Christians)
Teacher Education Today

Teacher Education Programs

Current status: Training

Challenges of the education system

Research areas

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Structure & System of Education

Higher Education (3-6yrs)

Secondary – II (2 yrs)

GSLCE TVET, 10 +1, + 2, & +3

Secondary- I (2 yrs)

Primary ( 8 yrs)

Nursery + Kindergarten

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Structure and System of Education…….cont‘d

University Study PhD 3-4 yrs Technical Vocational Education

(TVET)
M.A./MSc 2yrs 10 +1 1 yr- 10+3 yrs
(Primary Teacher Traning
B.A./BSc. 3-5yrs

General Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination (GSLCE)

General Secondary (9 & 10th Grades)

2nd Cycle… 4 years

Primary (8 years)
1st Cycle…. 4 years

Pre-School – Kindergarten (3 years)

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Training of teachers

• It is undertaken only in
Government Institutions

Primary Teachers ….17

Teachers’ Colleges

Secondary Teachers.…23
Universities

Ethiopian primary school Children, MoE 2009

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 Teacher Education Qualification Framework

Certficate • Minimum Qualification Required

Teach in KG and – 10 + 2 years
Grades 1 – 4 Grades

Diploma • Diploma
– 10 + 3 years

Teach Grades: 5-8

Degree + Postgraduate
Diploma • PGDE (postgradute Dip in Ed.)
– B.A. /B. Sc + 1 year Diploma

Teach in Secondary
School

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Overview (Source: Ministry of Education Annual Abstract, 2009)
Kinderg. Primary Secondary TTI/TTC** University
Enrollment 263,464 15,340,786 1, 502, 133 263, 001

Female (%) (P1: 46.5%, P2: S1: 13.8% 24.1%

39.4%) S2: 2.9%

Teacher 9,794 253, 629 33, 736 8,355

(%Female) (37.1%) (11.4%) (10.3%)

Institutions 2,740 23, 354 1, 087 /17 23

Budget 61.1 9.1 25.6
Share*
CSR*** DNA 62 74 DNA DNA

*Total share of education from national Budget 19.6% (MoE 2008)

** TTI = Teacher Training Institute, TTC = Teacher Training College (Gov.)
*** SCR = Student Classroom Ratio; DNA = Data Not Vailable
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Data on population of teachers

• Number of Secondary School Teachers

– Total = 33, 736
– Female = 3, 852
– Male = 29, 883
• Number of primary school teachers
– Total = 253, 629
– Female = 94, 004
– Male = 159, 625
• Pupil-Teacher Ratio
– Secondary (43:1), 2008 (MoE 2009) regional disparity is highly apparent
(Somali 92, Oromia 53, while AA =26)
– Primary: P1 = 62; P2 = 50 (Somali 137, South = 74)

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Proportional Representation: Gender Issues

Proportion of Teachers by Gender (%) in Ethiopia

Total (%)

Female

Male

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Male Female Total (%)
Secondary 88.4 11.6 100
Primary 62.9 37.1 100

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Source: Ministry of Education Annual Abstract, 2009
Current Qualification of teachers (as of 2009)

The proportion of teachers qualified to teach at different levels [as per

the Ethiopian Education Training Policy (ETP)]

• Primary Level 1st Cycle …..93.3% hold Primary Teaching Certificate

• Primary Level 2nd Cycle…..66.3% hold College Diploma

• Secondary Level…………….63.9% hold B.A./BSc or BEd degree

Source: Ministry of Education Annual Abstract, 2009

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Teacher Educators

Subject specialists*, e.g. in Math, English, Physics

etc… over 50% have graduate degree, less than 10 %
PhDs, the remaining B.A./BSc i.e. Graduate Assistants.

Professional courses: are offered by majority of M.A.

holders in Pedagogy & Psychology, Curriculum &
Instruction.

Subject Methodology (e.g. Math didactics, Physics

Didactics) is almost non-Existent

* In most cases have no training in teaching

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Key problems of Teacher Training

Primary and Kindergarten

• The number of children demanding early childhood education and

primary schools are rapidly growing outstripping supply.

• Quality of school infrastructure and teachers remain poor or even

deteriorating.

• The training for primary school teachers is very short and leaves a
lot to be desired in terms of the quality of candidates.

• Kindergarten teacher training is left for the private sector and quality
is believed to be even poorer except in few prestigious elite
Kindergartens. 23
Key problems

Secondary teacher education (Mekonnen 2008; Semela 2008)

• Professional competence of teachers is deficient

• Content knowledage is inadequate

• Teachers do not much the standards & expectations of the

profession (Moral & Ethics)

• Teaching is theoretical & teacher-centered (MoE 2003),

• Shortage of qualified teachers that led to TV Instruction at

Secondary Schools.

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Challanges of teacher education and teachers

• Failure to attract qualified candidates to the profession

• Serious lack of qualified teacher educators particularly …in

subject methodology (Fachdidaktik)

• Problems of resource and expertise to train teachers with

special needs

• The low status of the teaching career

• Bad workplace conditions (Semela 2003; 2008)

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Future Research (knowledge gap)

• History and development of teacher education (including

traditional education)

• Teacher recruitment policy & practice and impact on

quality.

• The impact of teacher qualification on child development.

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Future Research ….cont’d

• Early childhood teacher training

• Teacher education for children with special needs.

• Gender Issues in teacher education

• Distributive justice of qualified teachers in rural and

peripheral communities.

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References

• Amare, G. (1967). The Aims and Purposes of Church Education in Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Journal of Education, Vol.1, No. 1, 1-11.
• Mekonnen. D. (2008). Reflections on the Teacher Education System Overhaul
(TESO) program in Ethiopia: Promises, pitfalls, and propositions. Journal of
Educational Change, Vol. 9, No. 3, 281-304.
• MoE. (2009). Annual Education Statistical Abstract. Ministry of Education, Addis
Ababa.
• Negash, T. (1990). The Crisis of Ethiopian Education : Some Implications for Nation-
Building, Uppsala Afrikainstitute, Uppsala University, Sweden.
• Semela, T. (2008). Teacher Education at Crossroads: How Should Ethiopian
Secondary School Teachers be Trained? Journal of Education for Development,
Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-37.
• Semela, T. (2003). Impacts of Teachers’ Working Conditions on their Plan to Stay in
their Career in sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Southern Ethiopia. PhD Dissertation,
University of Tübingen, Germany.
• Wagaw, T. (1979). Education in Ethiopia: Prospect and Retrospect. Ann Arbor,
Michigan: University of Michigan Press
• Zewde, B. (2002). A History of Modern Ethiopia (1855-1991) (2nd Ed.), Addis Ababa
University Press.
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Vielen Dank!

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