So Long Yet Less Successful in Social Transformation: Ethiopian Education Sector Reform

Abstract

Education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform. It guides the citizens towards new values and assists the development of intelligence and increase the society potential for its own transformation. Education is considered as the most powerful and effective instrument of social change and social development in present time. It is in this premises that dated back to hundred years ago, after the invasion of faciast Italy though defeated, emperor Menelik II has decided to expand modern education. This term paper tried to analyze the trends and pitfall of educational sector reform in attaining social transformation through reviewing different literatures.  In its long history, the sector has conceded different educational sector reforms to bring social change at different regimes particularly since the regime of emperor Haile Selassie (modern education commended with British type of curriculum) to date.  Hence, with its long history of modern education in Ethiopia, the anticipated impact to transform society to step up as of expected is yet by far less effective and under projected. This might be because of failure to create stable institutions and dis-establishment of independent and efficient institutions that can commence the sector towards its target, rather, in each period the sector reform has served as the political appliance of every regime to dispose its ideology. The quest for inclusiveness of stakeholders in formulating the reform have indispensable contribution for the success of the policy reform from planning to implementation though none of the regimes were thru to embrace bottom up planning approach. Always the elites are glib to the public endorsing top-down approach which misfires its goalmouth to bring social transformation.

Keywords: education, liberal art, reform, social transformation

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-17-03

Publication date:September 30^th 2022