More than half of children in Ethiopia remain excluded from pre-primary education in Ethiopia, despite impressive gains made in increasing enrollment.In its report released on Thursday UNICEF said Ethiopia’s commitment to promoting pre-primary education has led to an increase in gross enrollment from less than two per cent in 2000 to more than 45 per cent in 2017. However, despite these impressive gains, more than half of children of pre-primary age across the country remain excluded, contributing to the 175 million children missing out on pre-primary education globally. The report notes that the growth in pre-primary enrollment in Ethiopia was encouraged by the National Policy Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education, which focused on making one year of pre-primary education widely available for children. In low-income countries, on average only 1 in 5 young children are enrolled in pre-primary education. “Pre-primary education is foundation for our children’s success in primary and secondary education and beyond,” said Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF’s Representative in Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News April 11, 2019 08:03 UTC