An Overview of Ethiopian Education System, Curriculum, Curriculum Development Processes and Its Historical Trends and Patterns: A Review

Abstract

Ethiopia is one of the country located in horn of Africa which has more than 100 million people today. Ethiopia has long history in all aspects like education, cultures, norms, values, religious, farming style and so forth. To understand modern Ethiopia’s needs and the context of educational reform, one must understand the history of education in the country. Thus, the objective of this review is to explore an overview of Ethiopian education system with emphasis on the curriculum development in different periods on its historical trends and patterns. The main sources for this review were literatures and personal experiences of the author. Qualitative method, more specifically historical research was employed. The understanding and practices of curriculum development i.e. curriculum planning, tryout, implementation and evaluation has varied throughout the history of Ethiopian education. The review work come up with conclusions that the education system of Ethiopia in general and the curriculum in particular has undergone several phases of development with subsequent foreign influence. In the face of such influence, the curriculum was planned with little emphasis to meet the needs, concerns, and demands of Ethiopian people. The review concludes with recommendations and insight for future to improve education system in the country. Keywords: Curriculum, Curriculum development, Education, Patterns and Trends DOI : 10.7176/HRL/50-01 Publication date: November 30 th 2019