Education and Development in Ethiopia: The History of Dubious Correlation

Abstract

The major focus of this paper is to contextualise the dilemmas of education in Ethiopia. Its main purpose is to demonstrate that the crisis of education, despite phenomenal growth in enrolment, has deepened and the education system is in fact on the verge of collapse. Crisis and system collapse are interpretations of the actual state of the education system and of the extent to which its various components are organically linked. A major methodological tool for such interpretation is a discursive analysis of relevant episodes and instruments. Major political and ideological changes and their impact on education policy belong to the realm of episodes, whereas curricula, medium of instruction, resource base and views on the role of education constitute the key instruments. Discursive analysis is most often political as well as ideological. Hence discursive analysis as us d by the founder of the concept (Michel Foucault) may be carried out within an established discourse. The dominant education discourse, for instance, emphasises the positive role of education on the overall development of society.Discursive analysis may also be carried out as a contribution to the evolution of a counter-discourse or simply as a further elaboration of the hegemonic discourse.