Teacher Education in Ethiopia:

History, Development, and Current Status

Tesfaye SEMELA, PhDResearch Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at

University of Tübingen, IfE, School Pedagogy

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Outline

• Introduction to Ethiopia: Geography, People, and Culture

• History of Education• Education System• Teacher Education in Ethiopia• Teacher Education in Ethiopia

– Beginning of Teacher Education– Pre-Primary– Primary– Secondary

• Key problems, challenges , and Future Research.

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Ethiopia: Introduction

• Location– Northeast Africa or Horn of

Africa

• Size: 1.21 mil. Sq.Km• Population 80 mil.

• 85 ethnic groups/• 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.DA.D

– The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was (in some instances, still is) responsible for the education of the population (Wagaw 1979; Negash 1990).

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

• Ethiopian Kings of the time were very suspicious of the activities of Western missionaries

1890s) there were attempts by protestant missionaries to introduce Western-style education

– since they see threats of mass conversion of its population to Catholicism or Protestantism.

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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

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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 Ababa.

The Beginning …cont’d

School children Early Modern School

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The 2nd modern school in Addis Ababa, Teferi Mekonen SchoolStudents of early 20th Century

The Beginning*

• Teacher Education in Ethiopia is roughly asold as the beginning of modern Western-styleeducation. (Late 19th Century)education. (Late 19th Century)

• The programs are divided into three majorgroups namely

– Kindergarten, primary, and secondary levels.Training of teachers for children with special needsis also undertaken

12*As soon as modern education started, foreign teachers were hired from Egypt (Coptic

Orthodox Christians)

Teacher Education Today

�Teacher Education Programs�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)

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

Secondary- I (2 yrs)

Primary ( 8 yrs)

Nursery + Kindergarten

GSLCE

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Structure and System of Education…….cont‘d

University Study PhD 3-4 yrs

M.A./MSc 2yrs

B.A./BSc. 3-5yrs

Technical Vocational Education (TVET)

10 +1 1 yr- 10+3 yrs(Primary Teacher Traning

General Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination (GSLCE)

General Secondary (9 & 10th Grades)

Primary (8 years)2nd Cycle… 4 years

1st Cycle…. 4 years

Pre-School – Kindergarten (3 years)15

Training of teachers

• It is undertaken only in Government Institutions

� Primary Teachers ….17 Teachers’ Colleges

� Secondary Teachers.…23 Universities

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Ethiopian primary school Children, MoE 2009

Teacher Education Qualification Framework

• Minimum Qualification Required

– 10 + 2 years

• Diploma

– 10 + 3 years

�Certficate�Teach in KG and Grades 1 – 4 Grades

�Diploma

– 10 + 3 years

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

�Teach Grades: 5-8

� Degree + Postgraduate 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%, P2:39.4%)

S1: 13.8%S2: 2.9%

24.1%

Teacher(%Female)

9,794 253, 629 (37.1%)

33, 736(11.4%)

8,355(10.3%)(%Female) (37.1%) (11.4%) (10.3%)

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

Budget Share*

61.1 9.1 25.6

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– 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

Female

Total (%)

Proportion of Teachers by Gender (%) in Ethiopia

20Source : Ministry of Education Annual Abstract, 2009

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Male

Male Female Total (%)Secondary 88.4 11.6 100Primary 62.9 37.1 100

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

21Source : Ministry of Education Annual Abstract, 2009

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. � 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

22* In most cases have no training in teaching

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.

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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 • 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-• 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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