The ongoing conflict and war in the northern part of Ethiopia has led to 9.8 percent decline in primary and middle school enrollment last budget year of Ethiopia 2020/21 – concluded July 7, 2021.
The total number students (grade 1 to 8) enrolled in 2020/21 has dropped 18.4 million from 20.4 million in 2019/20, according to the annual report of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) released March 2022.
The report meanwhile didn’t include the enrollment status in Tigray region, the northern part of Ethiopia where the war was started in November 2020. Tigray region is estimated to host 6 to 7 million people representing 7 to 8 percent of the 110 million plus total population of Ethiopia.
Likewise, technical & vocational education and training (TVET) enrolment has shown 26.6 percent decline to 283,968 in 2020/21 compared to the year 2019/20. The report stated that the 1,568 TVET institutions in the country under both government and non-government ownership in 2019/20 has increased to 1,602 in 2020/21.
Meanwhile, NBE’s annual report stated that the number of primary schools in 2020/21 reached 35,980. Out of this 30,038 (83.5 percent) were located in rural areas and 3,612 (10 percent) in urban centers.
When it comes to the developments in secondary school enrollment in Ethiopia excluding Tigray region, it has increased by 2.1 percent from the previous year and reached 3.5 million in 2020/21. However, due to the war the number of secondary schools in Ethiopia has dropped by 5.6 percent to 3,481 in 2020/21.