Challenges of the Ethiopian education system from 1908 to 1990s. A historical analysis

Abstract

The primary objective of this research is to investigate the obstacles that Ethiopia's education system encountered from 1908, when modern education was started in Ethiopia, to the 1990s. The research was conducted using qualitative method. The researchers employed document analysis tools to collect relevant data. This study examined policy documents, Syllabi, teaching materials, workshop proceedings, reports, letters, agendas, books, and journals. The data have been organized and analyzed in accordance with the study's objectives. The results of data analysis revealed that Ethiopia's education system has faced many challenges since its inception, including the influence of Western philosophy, shortage of skilled manpower, lack of quality textbooks preparation, problems related with the language of instruction, spatial coverage of education, lack of consistency in the implementation of educational reforms, scarcity of budget, failure of integration of Ethiopian indigenous knowledge into modern education system. From 1908 through the 1990s, Ethiopia's education system was influenced by other countries education systems, and it did not reflect the true Ethiopian culture, social, and economic realities. The Ethiopian education curricula was based on the ideology and educational systems of foreign countries like that of France (1908–1935), Italy (1936–1941), the United Kingdom (1942–1952), America (1952–1974), and communist countries (1974–1991), rather than Ethiopian reality.