Ethiopia
Christianity was recognized in Ethiopia in the 4th century. For nearly 1,500 years all education was church-related and hence church-controlled, except in the eastern part of the country where the Islamic population maintained Qurʾānic schools. In 1908 Emperor Menilek II created the embryonic government school system, modeling it on European systems. The real development of education, however, came after World War II under the direction of Emperor Haile Selassie. Despite his efforts, by 1969 less than 10 percent of the children between the ages of seven and 12 were in school. Education at the secondary level benefited from the infusion of more than 400 Peace Corps teachers in the 1960s and early 1970s. The first Ethiopian colleges were founded in the 1950s. By 1970, 2,800 Ethiopian students were enrolled in higher education either in their own country or overseas.
In 1974 a military revolution overthrew the emperor. Ethiopia declared itself a socialist state and proclaimed that socialism would permeate all aspects of the society. The government’s stated aims of education were (1) education for production, (2) education for scientific consciousness, and (3) education for social consciousness. Political alliance with the Soviet Union influenced educational reform. Polytechnical education, which emphasizes familiarizing children with the important branches of production and acquainting them with first-hand practical experience, was widely introduced by Soviet educational advisers. A number of Ethiopian students were sent to the Soviet Union or Eastern-bloc countries for higher education or to Cuba for schooling at the secondary level.
The structure of the Ethiopian school system remained unchanged from that established in the late 1950s. Children began the 12-year program at age seven. Grades one through six make up the primary cycle, seven through eight the junior secondary cycle, and nine through 12 the senior secondary cycle. Students who passed the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination at the end of grade 12 were eligible for higher education, but space in the country’s colleges and universities was limited.