Education

A more educated society translates in to higher rates of innovation and entrepreneurship, better production methods and faster introduction of new technology. It can also have many social benefits, such as stopping the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDs, improving awareness of importance of equality and allowing for family planning.

Problems within the Ethiopian education system are varied and complex. Whilst attitudes toward schooling is improving, a study by UNESCO suggested that most people consider work to be more important than education. Parents often see sending their children to school as a lost opportunity for the children to contribute to the household finances and chores, particularly for poorer families. Boys are often expected to rear cattle and other animals whilst girls are expected to help with other children, household chores or fetching water. These tasks can take several hours each day. For this reason, even when education is available, many children miss out on going to school. The Welfare Monitoring Survey found that over half of unenrolment in school is down to family unwillingness. It is therefore clear that much work needs to be done convincing many as to the importance of schooling and the positive effects it can have on families and the country as a whole. This is one of the main challenges faced by the Daughters of Charity, and much of their work in education is focused on providing schooling for the poorest in society whose families might otherwise encourage their children to stay home from school.

Another problem are the education divides in both urban and rural areas and between boys and girls. Urban areas generally see much higher provision and quality of education than rural areas. For example, 85% of boys can read in urban areas, compared to 58% in rural areas. Gender disparities are also large. Ethiopia is ranked 126th out of 127 countries in the Education for All development index, suggesting an unusually high disparity in education. Adult (15 and over) literacy for males, for example, is 42%, whilst for females it is 18%. Again, some of these problems tend to arise from social ideas of what a woman should be doing, including the social importance of early marriage and the idea that a successful woman is one who knows how to look after the home. The disparities described above are all of high concern for the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia, and their numerous educational enterprises seek to address these problems specifically and effectively. The focus in education is often centred around the education of females and those in rural areas.

Overall our projects provide 8,226 students from various age groups with quality education, improving not just their lives but the lives of their families and future generations.