More than 7.2 million students are out of school in Ethiopia with the majority of them living in the conflict-torn Amhara region, APA learnt on Thursday.
Nearly five million students in the Amhara region have not registered as the country’s 2018 academic year kicked off on Monday, Mulunesh Dessie, head of the region’s Education bureau disclosed.
Dessie said only four million students have so far registered while nearly five million students have not come back to school.
The country’s Ministry of Education said more than 7.2 million students are out of school due to conflict and insecurity, causing a severe crisis in the education sector.
“Conflict and insecurity situations “poison the minds of children and youth, hindering their future development,” Dessie said.
The situation is related to the security crisis in the region. Over 90 percent of it has been a war zone over the last two years because of what turned out to be a large-scale war between the Fano forces and the federal government.
Despite the Defense Chief of Staff claiming that over 90 percent of armed militants also known as Fano forces have been eliminated, troops of the federal force have faced significant defeat while much of the region – particularly in the rural areas – have become under- control of the Fano forces.
Over the past two years, humanitarian organisations have been reporting that more than five million students have been out of school in the Amhara region due to the conflict.
MG/as/APA