More than 7.2 million students are out of school in Ethiopia due to conflict and insecurity, a senior government official announced on Tuesday.
Speaking at a relevant meeting, Ethiopian Minister of Education Berhanu Nega said the education sector in Ethiopia has faced a serious crisis with 7.2 million students are out of schools due to ongoing fighting between rebels and government forces in different parts of the country.
“Generally as a nation of students who were supposed to go to school over 7.2 million children are out of school ; in the Amhara region alone over 4 million students are out of school due to the ongoing conflict in the region,” said Nega.
There have been reports from other sources in the past one year and the number of students out of school in the Amhara region of Ethiopia seems to be significantly higher than what the education minister admitted.
More than 80 percent of the Amhara region is still under the control of Fano forces and schools are not operational.
The minister stated that more than 3,700 schools are not operational in the region due to security problems.
Conflict and insecurity situations “poison the minds of children and youth, hindering their future development,” the minister added.
Recently the Amhara region education bureau revealed that despite the regional government’s initial plan to enroll 7 million students during the current academic year, the actual number of students enrolled was only 2.8 million.
MG/as/APA