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CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the studyEven though the history of education in Ethiopia dates as farback as the introduction of Christianity in Ethiopia duringEzana in 3300A.D, the first attempt to open school of Europeanstyle was for the first time made by the Jesuit in the 16thcentury. This attempt was not continued due to theoutstanding of Jesuits following the removal of emperorSusinyos. Toward the end of the 19th century, several factorsaccentuated the need for modern education. Theestablishment of strong central government and permanenturban seats of modern development of modern sector economy

like manufacturing activities, establishment of foreignembassies of Adwa, are, among others, the main factors thathaveContributed for the development of modern education inEthiopia. Modern education has started at the beginning of the20th century and officially commenced in 1908 with opening ofMenelik 1stSchool in Addis Ababa. (Ministry of education,2004),Ethiopian education in general has two systems of main sub-sectors that are institutionally separate:-1. formal educational sub-sector, which consist of academic

and technical and training at primary, secondary and tertiarylevel ; and2. Non-formal education which includes:-Technical vocational skills trained and extensive contact foryouth and adults. Between 1962 and 1994 the generaleducation in Ethiopia divided into three these are:-

-primary school (grade1-6)-junior secondary school (grade7-8)-senior secondary school (grade9-12)

Education reforms in 1994 revised the structure so that it nowcons in 1994 revised the structure and modify the previous

system of education so after 1994 consists of primaryeducation (grade1-8) which also consists of first cycle (grade1-4) which aims at achieving the functional literacy and thesecond cycles (grade5-8) prepares students for furthereducation, general secondary education and training, andsecond cycles of the secondary education (grade11-12), thatprepares student for higher education.

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1.1.1. Educational policies and strategies in Ethiopia.Attempts to formulate the education sector policies duringimperial regime were limited to a proclamation (1943 and1948) which deals with the organization and duties andresponsibilities of the ministry of education and its duties. Itwas made to adapt the Ethiopian education to the needs of the

country and expands the coverage of the activitiesin the provision of special training for the sector and educationsystem. (Ministry of Education of Ethiopia, 2004),

1.1.2. Performance of education sector in the Ethiopia.Education directly improves the productivity and rates

of return and earnings of people.In addition to this,education has or wide range of indirect effects, whichinstigate positive changes in peoples attitudes towardwork and society. It make easier to learn new skills

throughout their lives and hence facilitate theirparticipation in modern economies and societies. It alsoimportant factor which affects the health and lifeexpectancy of individuals, because if equips them withthe knowledge and the means to present control anddirect disease. (Ministry of Education of Ethiopia,2004)

Primary school enrollment increased from about 957,300 in 1974/75 to

nearly 2,450,000 in 1985/86. There were still variations among regions in the

number of students enrolled and a disparity in the enrollment of boys and

girls. Nevertheless, while the enrollment of boys more than doubled, that of

girls more than tripled. Urban areas had a higher ratio of children enrolled in

schools, as well as a higher proportion of female students, compared with

rural areas.

The number of junior secondary schools almost doubled, with fourfold

increases in Gojam, Kefa, and Welega. Most junior secondary schools were

attached to primary schools.

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The number of senior secondary schools almost doubled as well, with fourfold

increases in Arsi, Bale, Gojam, Gonder, and Welo. The prerevolutionary

distribution of schools had shown a concentration in the urban areas of a few

administrative regions. In 1974/75 about 55 percent of senior secondary

schools were in Eritrea and Shewa, including Addis Ababa. In 1985/86 the

figure was down to 40 percent. Although there were significantly fewer girlsenrolled at the secondary level, the proportion of females in the school system

at all levels and in all regions increased from about 32 percent in 1974/75 to

39 percent in 1985/86.

1.1.3. Education in Oromia Regional states

Regarding to Oromia regional states of Ethiopia, it is one of

the regions in the country where both formal and non-formaleducation do not reach the majority of the population. Theschool in the regions are unevenly distributed and mostlyphysically and materially and deteriorated. This deteriorationis due to cultural and other constraints there is ahigher dropout rate at the lower lower level which mostlyaffects girls participation in the education of the region.(Finance and Development Bureau of Oromia, 2005), Educationsystem of Oromia regional state normally consists of formaland non-formal education.Formal education comprises of primary, secondary educations,

technical and vocational educations. The data that recorded in2005 in Oromia regional bureau of educations shows that, twoteachers training institute (TTI), four teachers training college(TTC), 38 technical and vocational education training (TTET), ofwhich 36 and 2 are government and non-government centersrespectively. Moreover, there are 164 secondary schools, and4893 primary schools in the Oromia regions.(RegionalEducation Bureau of Oromia,2005), Education in Aweday town

1.1.3.1 Performance of education in oromia regional

stateAs can be seen from the trend of growth of number ofeducational facilities stated in the previous section,tremendous efforts were made to improve access to educationfacilities over the past seven years (1987-1995 E.C). Accordingto the available data in this regard the number of primaryschools has increased from 4069 to 4893. Likewise, thenumber of secondary schools has also increased from 108 to

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164, which is a commendable achievement over a shorterperiod of time. This generally indicates that on an average theregional government has been constructing and putting inoperation about 103 primary and 7 secondary schools eachyear. It is apparent from this, that the rate of increase in senior

secondary schools facilities is by far significantly lower thanthat of primary schools affecting the quality of and access tosecondary level of education.

1.1.3.2. Enrollment of education in oromia regionalstate

The analysis of the performance of primary educationenrolment shows that there was an increment over the pastseven years from 21% (1987) to 66.7% in 1995. Generally, theprimary education enrolment rate wasgrowing at an average rate of about 5.8% per annum. By andlarge, the current level of enrolment as well as the annual

growth rate compared to the level of 1987 is encouraging.Nonetheless, the level of primary education participation hasremained low compared to the achievements of some of theregional states (Tigray 77.6% and SNNP 67.5%). On the otherhand, the gender gap is getting wider growing from 12% in1987 to 31.% in1995. Therefore, it is obvious that what has been achievedover the past seven years has favored male than femalesignifying the required level of attention to be paid in order toimprove female's participation in primary education. Lack ofproximity, lack of opportunity to go to the next higher level of

education, low income of parents, lack of awareness of thebenefits of education by some parents and poor facilities areamong factors contributing to lower enrolment rate at primaryeducation level. Similar to gender gap there is significantdisparity of enrolment rate among godina's. In line with this,Arsi has attained the highest enrollment rate of 86.3% in 1995,whereas Borena is standing at only 46.6%, which is the lowestenrollment rate compared to all other godina's of Oromia.

1.1.3.4. Education in Aweday townAweday town is one of the towns of the Eastern Hararge

Zone of Oromia which is located between Harar town andHaramaya town. In this town there are for primary schools andamong this only one primary school is owned by public and theother three are private owned schools. These four primaryschool are Dandi-Boru,

1.2. Statement of the problems

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The number of school going children is increasing from yearto year. Here is a need to provide the educational facilities forthem through opening of various types of educationalinstitutions. Because of different constraints like poverty,cultural factors majority of the population do not send their

children to school at distant place. The characteristics ofeducation sector can be expressed mainly in terms ofaccessibility, affordability, adequacy and quality. This factorcan affect school attainment through their effect onenrollment learning outcomes both directly and indirectlythrough of their effects on school attendance. Private Tuititionand more generally the learning enhancing behavior ofchildren and their related home hold. Accessibility to schoolsusually determine by distance from home to school forchildren. Female students enrollment is negatively affected bycultural and gender related problems.

1.3. Objectives of the study.

The general objectives of this study are to be identifying theproblems and prospects of education in Ethiopia particularly inAweday town. In addition to these general objectivesthere areother specific objectives these are:-1. To study the existing availability and capacity of varioustypes of educational institutions and number of admissionseekers in Aweday town.2. To identify the problems of available institutions and their

causes and effects.3. to explore the opportunities for expansion of variouseducation in the near future.

1.4. Significance of the studyThis research is significant in that it can add as pot ofinformation to the existing body of knowledge on theeducational sectors in general and on factors affecting thedevelopment of education sectors in particular. Besides, theresult of the findings of this research paperwill serves as building block for any interested individuals orgroups who are willing to carry out further and detailedstudies on related topics. And it could be help some how toimitate policy concerns, which are necessary to tackle theproblems of education.

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1.5. Scope of the study.As to the geographical coverage, this research is confined tothe problems and prospects of education in Aweday town inthe year 2008. in terms of dimensional aspects of problems

and prospects of education it considers factors affectingprospects of educational sectors, on the other hand focuses onthe performance of educational sectors. The factors that affectprospects of educational sectors are have various constraintssuch as poverty, economic problems, family related barriers,cultural constraints; school related problems are the mainscope of this study.

1.6. Limitation of the studyThe one that most limiting factors for the study is that thedata requirements are not fully satisfied due to lack of timeseries data on the problems and prospects of educationsectors in the zone of eastern Hararge which may make thestudy clear. Some limitation also in case of time since there isno enough time to collect data from all of the kebeles ofAweday town

1.7 Methodology of the study

1.7.1 Types and source of data.On the problems and prospects of education, education bureauof Oromia, Federal ministry of education, economic anddevelopment bureau of Aweday town, directors ofkindergarten, primary, secondary, high school and somewritten materials on educational problems and prospects wereused as a source of this study.

Regarding world problems and prospects the data thatcollected different documents like internet world bank on theproblem of education UNESCO documents are also used as asource of educational problems in case of gender gap in

education.

1.7.2. Method of Data collectionThe data collected by using both primary and secondary

method of data collection in primary data collection theresearcher collect data by preparing questionnaires

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1.7.3. Method of data analysisThe data analyzed by using descriptive statistics, ratios,percentages and

1.8 Organization of the paper

This research contains four chapters. The first chaptercomprised from background of the study, statement of theproblems, objective of the study, significance of the study,scope of the study, limitation, methodology, and organizationof the paper. The second part describes related literature ofthe study. The third chapter explains the discussion andanalysis of the data that are collected from the Aweday town.The fourth chapter based on the third chapters givesrecommendation and conclusion.

CHAPTER TWO

2. LITERATURE REVIEWSThis chapter contains two parts. The first part discussedrelatedliteratures which is theoretical while the second part explainsempirical literature.

2.1. Theoretical literature2.1.1 Constraints on the Impact of Formal educationSome of the major factors influencing the provision of formaleducation and limiting its effectiveness for poor anddisadvantaged people are:1. Global economic relations: - these play a key role indetermining theeffectiveness of formal education in achieving development forsocietyas a whole. Even where the state invests heavily in educationand is committed to social equality and development2. Differentiated access and opportunities: - educationpromotes socialadvancement, raises the states of women and leads toimprovementsin health and childcare. However, educational opportunities islimitedby the proximity to urban centers, poverty, and bydiscriminationbased on gender, class race or cultures. For example, in CostaRica, the

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national figures for adult illiteracy in 1984 were 7 percent, butin thepoorest rural areas was almost 20 percent. The discriminationsufferedby the people because of their cultures or limits their access to

education and their opportunities to use it effectively.They have to choose between potential alienation from theirownculture, and the need to master language and cultural forms ofthedominant society in order to survive successfully within it.These choices are experienced differently by women and men.(Eade and William, 1995).3. Gender: - this is crucial factor in determining educationalopportunities; girls often fore worse than boys interims ofprimary

school enrollment. There are considerable differences in thelevel ofthe males and females education in most arts of the world. IntheAfghanistan, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Nepal,femalesilliteracy in 1990 was twice as high as the figures for males. InSalvadoran rural womens organization founded by Oxfam onlyonepercent of the members could read one percent of themembers could

read and write. Bangladesh is an extreme example, where ofthe 60percent of all children who enroll fewer than 10 percent aregirls theratios are generally worse at secondary level and above. Fewerthanhave as many girls as boys are enrolled in secondary school inSub-Saharan Africa 15 percent and 44 percent respectively. Thereare manyfactors for unequal educational opportunities of girls and boys.

Mothers are likely to have received inadequate schoolingthemselves,and their daughters generally bear the burden of domesticwork andchildcare from an early age. The expectation of early marriageor (factof teenage pregnancy) is also used to justify cutting shortgirls

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education. In self-fulfilling cycle, since greater employmentopportunities exists for men than women, boys educationtakespriority over girls education because they are more likely tobe able to use it. Cultural factors can reinforce gender based

discrimination women are often regarded as bearers oftraditional culture, particularly, culture identifies arethreatened. In such circumstances, they may be formaleducation (Eade and William, 1995)4. Poverty:-the poorest people are hardest hit inflation,unemployment, and cuts in services. They cannot alwaysafford to keep children at school,particularly at thesecondary level. Costs of education includingclothes, books, equipment and maintenance, and fees. Theeconomic difficulties of poor families increase the pressure onchildren to earn money either instead of or in addition to going

to school. A further formal education is irrelevant to theireconomic and cultural need which in often born out by achronic lack of employment opportunities which make use ofskills gained at school. In addition, poor children live inenvironment where study isdifficult and where poor health, over work, and malnutritionmay leavethem without energy and concentration to learn (Eade andWilliam, 1995).

2.1.2. The gender gap in education.Low adult literacy rates prevail throughout the developing

world. Infourteen developing countries where literacy date areavailable, onlyone in five adult women can read, where as the literacy ratesfor menate as low in only five of these countries. Recent estimatessuggestthat only one out of two women in Asia is literate and only out

of threein sub- Saharan Africa (UNESCO, 1992).School enrollment rates have been raising for both girls andboys at alllevels in the past two decades. Primary school enrolment, inparticular,has out paced the growth of youth population, although a fewlow

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income countries especially, in sub-Saharan Africa experienceddeclinein primary enrollments in the 1980s. (UNESCO, 1992).

Many countries have no universal primary education formales and

females. But girls enrollments continuous to lag behind inmany others, most dramatically in south Asian, west Asia,north Africa, and sub-SaharanAfrica. With exception of Sri Lanka, all south Asian nationshave muchlower gross enrollment ratios (GER) for girls than for boys. InBhutan,girls enrollment in 1983 was 19 percent compared to 34percent forboys; in Nepal, 49 percent for girls and compared with 110percent for

boys, in Pakistan, 38 percent versus 73 percent; inBangladesh, 50percent versus 110 percent. Where as in Latin America andnearly alleast Asia countries such large male-female differences haddisappeared by 1985 (UNESCO,1992).

At post primary levels, the gender gap widens in somecountries,but narrows in others, why does the gender gap exist? Thesupply ofschools has expanded greatly in the past twenty five years,

leading toaccommodating the increase in primary school enrollment overthatperiod. Moreover, there are few restrictions to the admissionof girls atthe primary school level. To understand why, despite thisexpansion, alarge proportion of school or dropout early in many developingcountries, one need to consider the many factors affect theeducationof girls and boys differently. For many families the differed

possiblebenefits do not seem large enough to offset immediate costslikeschool fees or the loss of child labor parents do not oftenconsider theless obvious benefits that education generates (like improved

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productivity ) when deciding whether to send children toschool or tofavor sons, partly because they are the ones expected to goout andearn more family income, so this may be the cost of efficient

responseby parents to constraints of family resources. One less or fromexperience is that expanding access simply by building moreschools,relating admission policies or instituting quotas for girls maylead tohigher levels of female enrollment at margin.Distortion with labor market due to discriminating employmentpractice against women reduce, their attempt earning andbenefitsthat women can expect to gain from education even when jobs

areavailable. Example, restriction against the living of married inwagepaying-jobs in manufacturing or service sectors. Explicit orimplicitentry barriers against women in certain occupations serve asobstaclesto education. Some of these barriers begin at the primaryschool level,with teachers and text book projecting attitudes thatdiscourage

school attendance and performance of girls. Stereotype maypersist ofgirls not being as good as boy in technical subjects ormathematics.Even obstacles which begin at the post primary level canneverthelessinhibit girls school attendance and motivation at the primarystage.In Dominica Republic, three of the most important schools formiddle level technology training bar women even though theyhave

stipends from the national governments. In Pakistan, womenare alsoallowed to enroll in seventy-two of the secondary school,vocationalinstitution because of strict sex segregation. (UNESCO, 1992).In some societies, customs dictates that son take possibilityfor

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their parents, whilst girls marry out of their families at theearly ageand into their husbands families. The earlier marriage age,the fewerparents enjoy the benefits of their daughters education. In

Bangladesh, 75 percent married women living in rural areasweremarried by the age of seventeen. In India, 75 percent of thisgroupwere married by the age twenty-two some evidences suggeststhatwhen girls do not marry so early, but spend some of their timeworkingin the labor force, parents are more willing to educate theirdaughters.In Hong Kong women who tend to marry at a later ages and

help theirparents in the interims appear to reach higher educationallevels thanothers. In parts of southern India, because the more educatedwomenare recognized as having a higher potential for earning, somegroomsparents are willing to accept pre-payment of dormitories in theform ofhigher level schooling of the perspective daughters in law.(UNESCO,1993).

Parents also may have poor knowledge of the benefits ofeducationto the familys current health and welfare and prosperity oftheirgrand children. They may not be aware that the benefit ofeducationare inter generational and accumulates over time. Or offamilies maynot be appreciating the benefits of girls education in countrieswhere

the Suitable of educated women to be good wives inheld in doubt. A balance must be starve between providingcourses that help women.Fulfill traditional roles, but at the same time not allowingcurricula tolock women out of wider educational opportunities. Educationitself,

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along with economic change, can and should be powerful forceinmodifying traditional view points on girls schooling. (UNESCO,1992).Even if they are aware of potential long-range benefits of

education, parents may be unable to afford the tuition,materials,transportation, boarding fees and others. Costs of sendinggirls toschool. Location, distance and even clothing requirements canmakethe effective cost of school attendance higher for girls. Genderdifferences enter in when, for instance, parents are morereluctant tosend girls to school without proper clothing of youngdaughters in

some cultures deters them from allowing girls to attenddistantschools requiring long travel daily or residence away fromhome.(UNESCO, 1992)

In countries where religion requires seclusion of womenparentsallow girls to attend only single sex schools with femaleteachers, orthey withdraw girls at the onset of puberty. Thus, theavailability of

schools with female teachers may be of decisive importance, inlowincomecountries. Only one third of primary, less than one fourth ofsecondary, and just over one tenth of tertiary educationteachers arewomen. The shortage largely reflects the limited pool ofpotentialwomen teachers, as a result of low schooling levels of girls,and thereluctance of young women teachers to work in rural areas.This

reason is because cultural attitudes discourage young, singlewomenfrom moving far from home and living alone. The shortagesupply ofsafe dormitories for women even in technical training instituteexacerbates the situation. Also women from rural areas usuallydo not

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qualify to enroll in teacher training schools in the cities, andthere arefew programmes in rural areas to identify, recruit and traingirls tobecome teachers. Finally, parents may not feel able to afford

to sendgirls to school if it means their labor cannot be used intraditionalways. Although in some countries boys perform a large shareof family labor such as livestock herding, with few exceptiongirls do more work than boys in the home and in the marketplace. In Nepal and Java(Indonesia) most young girls spend at least a third more hoursper dayworking at home and in the market than boys of the same agegroups

as much as 85 percent more hours. 129-150 percent morehours thanboys. Clearly, girls who work more than their brothers will lesslikely toattend school, perform less well. In addition to lost labor,parents inmany countries feel that girls will lose important training athome inchildcare, household and crafts if they go to school. (UNESCO,1992).Gender gap that show in the following table shows that

2.1.3 Gender literacy and cultural differenceGender literacy and cultural difference one area of apparentcontrollers concerns the extent to which the obstacles to girlsand womens education are similar across cultures. One view isthat in all cultures, although in varying degree, male/femalerelationship place obstacles in the way of girls and womensfull participation in education. Patriarchy is manifested in twoways: the sexual division of labor, and control over womenssexuality. Both these factors so condition a womens worldviewthat marriage, husband, and family become the be-all and-allfor

the existence. They also limit womens mental horizons andpusheducation from her attention. As girls grow up, socialized intotheirfuture roles as sexual division of labor the second components,controlover womens sexuality, ensures that women maintain theirroles as

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wives and mothers and is the cause of womens inability tocontroltheir fertility and its associated consequences, includingunwantedpregnancies, the practice of early marriage, restricted physical

mobility for women, and domestic violence. (UNESCO, 1992),Who benefits from all this? Whose interests are served as bytheseexisting conditions? In feminist theory, it is undoubtedly menwhobenefit. Does this mean that feminists are setting womenagainst menand women and men against women? The answer is no mostfeministsseem to be seeking a more egalitarian society in which womenare

treated as equals with men According to feminist theory, theproblemof womens illiteracy will not be solved merely underlyingproblem isnot technical. For change to occur, individual men in a male-dominatedstate will have to re-examine and modify their own values andattitudes.An alternative view is that cultural difference betweencountries ismore important than some feminist would accept. For example,

successful literacy ventures in Pakistan are often communitybased;the important thing is to change total attitudes. In Feriur-banKarachithis has been done. Successfully using flexible working hoursboth formal and non-formal teaching methods, and educationboth parents and children, adults are motivated to learn viaprimary economic interests (functional literacy) who hasbecome the subject of the basic education curriculum.Residential facilities for teachers based in community have ledto greater school community interaction and help facilitates

moreopportunities for girls and for more women. The wholeprogramme hashelped produce a positive, confident self concept of women.However,cultural constraints are undeniably powerful. For, example, theword

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child, which is gender is neutral in English language, hasmasculineconnection in south Asia. Here the stark reality is that, by andlarge,girls are denied that joyful care free period of growing and

learningthat is called child hood. Very little value is attached to girlsshe is caught in a men of cultural practices and socialprejudices from the moment of her birth. Although she workstwice as hard as her brother, and her labor contributes to thesurvival of the family, neglect and malnutrition, treated aslesser human being and brought up to believe that she doesnot count. Therefore, in any society that aims to social justicein any policy that seeks to move towards quality of educationalopportunity, attention has to befocused is contrary to entrenched cultural values. Changes in

education that do not enhance the states of women are notlikelyeither to be generally accepted or to reduce womens presentstate of under development.

2.1.4. Problems that female student face in AddisAbabahigh schoolsAnother researcher (Emebet, 2003) classified problems of girlseducation under subheadings of economic constraints, familyrelated barriers and cultural barriers economic constraints.The impact of poverty on womens education can be studied attwolevels: Country level and family level. Although the degree ofpoverty incountry affects the education and in general the life of itscitizens, the effect can be moderated by the socioeconomicstatus a family has within the society (Emebet, 2003 p.33)

In discussing the effects of poverty on the education ofwomen, Njeuman (1993) explained that much improvement hasbeen observed in the education of women since the 1960s(Emebet, 2003). However, poverty is still slowing the progress.Discussing African, the pointed out that among thirty poorestcountries in the world, twenty are found in Africa. Under thesecircumstances, the major concern is the provision of educationfor children in general; it is difficult to give special attention togirls, she further pointed out that although many developingcountries putsign out amounts of money and energy into education, severalof them

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were not able to provide it for all school age children. (Emebet,2003 p.34),Enrollment of girls in school does not guarantee success andcompletion in these poor countries. Strongest (1990) notedthat in all developing countries were the United Nations under

took studies, during recession years; girls often experienced achange in parental plans for enrollment. In such years parentschoose retain daughters at home assist with work and incomegenerating activities, which would result in lower femaleattainment. (Emebet, 2000).

Because of this fiscal strait, the inequality of males andfemales in thearea of education is quite staggering. Hyde (1993:101) pointedoutthat in Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most enduring kinds ofeducational inequality are one observed between males and

females.This inequality is reflected in lower levels of attainment andhigherdropout and repetition rates for girls. It is also apparent indifferentcurriculum choices offered to or made by men and women atthesecondary and tertiary levels; most notably in the lowenrollmentfigures for womens in scientific and technical fields (Emebet,2003 p.34).

The above situation is clearly observed in the Ethiopia case. Inurbanareas we find female enrolled in high schools in great number;50.6percent of the students in Addis Ababa in the academic year1998/99were women as sited in (Emebet, 2003 p.34). However, thishigh rate of enrollment is accompanied by a staggeringrate ofrepetition. In the same academic year 61.4 percent of therepeaters were females (MOE, 2000 p.62).Among the students who are enrolled in the various higher

educationinstitutions for undergraduate degree programme, only11.6percentwere females. The percentage of female students in sciencefields ismore discouraging (Science 9.7 percent, Medicine 11.7percent,

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Technology 12.9 percent, and Agriculture 4.7 percent))Emebet, 2003,p.34/5). One of reflection of poverty in developing countries istheuneven distribution of schools across the regions. This related

toschool distance. In most of the larger cities, we find a goodconcentration of schools of all levels, including colleges,through somestudents in rural areas have to travel for hours to find a singlehighschool distance is identified to be an important factor affectinggirlseducation in many developing countries. Sronguest (1989)indicatedthat this holds true for rural as well as urban areas where

transportation costs may be high. In many rural areas ofEthiopia, asthe girls pass to high school they are require to go towns tolearn. Thissituation pushes many parents to take their daughters out ofschool.(Emebet, 2003 p.34).

Several studies indicated that the socio-economic states ofthe familyare highly correlated with the enrollment and persistence ofdaughters. Hyde (1993) explained that girls who come from

economically advantaged families are much more likelyentered andremained in secondary schools than are girls fromdisadvantagedfamilies. A similar situation is observed in Ethiopia. In a studyoffemale student in higher educational institution, it was foundthatamong the 118 schools attended by the respondents, only 13wereprivate or catholic schools and almost all these schools were

located inthe capital or cities. Thirty-five percent of the female studentswhoentered colleges came from these 13 schools. In some cases,familysocio-economic status (SES) plays more important role thanparental

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education in getting children in to private schools is oftenconsidered astatus symbol. (Emebet, 2003 p.35).

2.1.4.1. PovertyAt the both country and family level, is a detriment to the

education of women although it interferes with the educationof all children, its correlation is much stronger for female.Stronguest (1998:150) explained that the higher the income ofthe family, the greater the desireof parents for their daughters education (Emebet, 2003 p.36).

2.1.4.2 Family related barriersFamily plays a very important role indenturing the degree ofaccess girls have to education and their level of achievement.There are several family related factors, which includinglocation of upgrading, parental schooling, and family income(Emebet, 2003 p.36).

Geographical location, urban or rural, can significantlyaffect the education of children. According to several studiescarried out in developing countries, growing up in ruralcommunities worsen school opportunities for females morethan for males. In the study carriedout in Ethiopia, Abrah, etal (1991) found that urban girlsenrolled in school are more likely to persist than rural ones.The study findings remained consistent, both when girls werestudied alone, and when they were compared to boys. Theurban-rural distinction also influences togreater extent the academic performance of female students.

Abraham, etal (1991) stated that in Ethiopia, girls enrolled inschools found in urban areas had better performance on thenational exam than the girls who attend schools located inrural areas (Emebet, 2003 p.35).

Though, in general, girls in the cities have a betterprospect of accessing and succeeding in their education, andalso studying the field/subjects they want, they have their-share of barriers to over come. In Genets (1994) study, wasindicated some of the problems of girls in Addis Ababa highschools encounter were lack of study time to heavy load ofhouse hold chores, dropping out because of failure to passexams and pregnancy, and teachers biased attitudes.(Emebet, 2003 p.36)

2.1.4.3 Cultural barriersCulture influences the education of women in various ways.One is the cultural division of labor, Zewdie and Jungles (1990)study of four peasants associations in Ethiopia indicated that

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women spend about 15 or more hours on various choresimportant for the household. Under this circumstance, it is thegirls who share the burden of their mothers by spending timeon the chores instead of their studies. Though on time usestudy has been carried out in the cities, Genet (1994) pointed

out that parent, and females students themselves and theirteachers indicated that the female students spend much timeon the household chores (Emebet,2003 p.36).Early marriage parents are other cultural impediments to girlseducation. Studies in many developing countries indicated thatthe number of girls attending school abruptly drops when thereach the age of 15 to 19. One major reason for thephenomena is early marriage. In most developing countries,early marriage and education are anti theatrical. Bach, etal(1985)reported that more education women attained, the older their

age at marriage. The issue of womens education in developingcountries is very complex. It is affected by several factorsamong which are economic, political, and social. Other factors,related to culture or religion. The effect of these factorsusually differs from place to place, and one factor can beinfluenced by any of the others. Studies indicate, however,that they operate in most developing countries and negativelyaffect womens education, (Emebet, 2003 p.36).

2.1.5. Major Quality Indicator2.1.5.1 Class size student/section ratioClass size is a subject of considerable debate among

educators, psychologists and philosophers. The issue at stakeis whether or not class size is not quality determination.Theoretically, an optimal class size is a size that allow forsufficient interaction betweenteachers and student through question/answer session, groupactivities and student assignment. Nardos (1998) states thatclass size should allow the teacher to observe pedagogicalprinciples such as knowing ones students by name andattending to the particular needs of each student (Befekadu,Berhanu and Getahun, 2000/2001).Broadly speaking, there are two schools of thought regardingthe effect of class size on quality of education. Thetraditionalists argue that if the size is too large, the teachercould not perform any of these activities effective or could notperform them at all. Therefore, the quality of education will below. However, the latest thinking is that is not absolutelynecessarily for teacher to lead all teaching and learningactivities. Innovative techniques could be introduced to help

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students take a charge of the learning process. Examples ofinnovative techniques are peer evaluation, group work andcomputer assisted instruction. These techniques reduceteacher burden and result in considerable financial saving forthe institution and quality of education will not fall. Notice that

according to this view, the negative effects of large class sizecan be partially compensated using these new techniques. Inthe absence of this technique, however, quality will suffer fromlarge class size. (Befekadu, Berhanu and Getahun 2000/2001)In developed countries like UK 25-30 students per class isconsidered a reasonable size for an effective teaching learningprocess. But such small sizes have considerable implications,more teachers and more class rooms. In developing countriessuch as Ethiopia cannot afford such class sizes. Thus, a highersize is to be expected, the issue, however, is how high can theygo without seriously affecting the quality of education?

According to some educations in Ethiopia high schools.Particularly, in grade nine, the number of student in each classroom has passed the 100 mark in some urban schools. In theupper grades 65 students per section is regarded as a goodnumber because it is the lowest number we can find in someschools. Even with this number for instance, it is not possibletotake students to the laboratory to do experiments, practicallearning in which students actively participate cannot beconducted as sited in (Befekadu, Berhanu and Getahun,2000/2001).

Class size in Addis Ababa University has also increasedsignificantly in recent years. In the economic department ofAAU, which we are the most familiar with, for example, thenumber of 2ndand 3rdyear students (where there is one sectionper year) has increased from 43 students per sections in theearly 90s to over hundred since the mid 90s without anyincrease in the teachers or instructional materials such aslarge class size inhibits teachers from giving writtenassignments because it could take along time to grade.Because of that, students at many faculties of AAU are

evaluated by one in a semester, usually objective typequestions for theirfinal exam which surely is inadequate to evaluate form AAUwithout writing a paper save for the revered senior thesis.That is partly many educators and businessmen complainabout the low level of language proficiency (both oral andwritten) among University graduates. This observationindicates that there is a clear relationship between class size

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and quality of education in Ethiopia knowledge learn inclassroom. It should be noted that class size is only onevariable that contributes to quality of education. (Befekadu,Berhanu and Getahun 2000/2001)

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