Ethiopia is strategically located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by the Sudan on the West, Somalia and Djibouti on the East, Eritrea on the North and Kenya on the South.
The total projected population of Ethiopia for the year (2005/06) is 75,067,000 of which 84 percent is rural and 16 per cent is urban.
The Country has little foreign trade by international standards. Its exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities; and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. The value of the Country’s imports is regularly greater than its export receipts. Ethiopia has wide range of trading partners, but the most important in 2004/05 included USA, China, Italy, Japan, India, UK, Germany and Netherlands.
In the late 1980s, Ethiopia relied on Soviet Union, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Israel, and various East European countries for military assistance and on Western nations for humanitarian aid and small amounts of economic assistance. After mid-1991, the transitional government reoriented Ethiopia's foreign relations from East to West, establishing closer relations with United States and Western Europe and seeking substantial economic aid from Western countries and World Bank.
Ethiopia has numerous International agreements and memberships, including African Union (AU), United Nations and a number of its specialized agencies, such as World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It is also the site for AU, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and other branches of international organisations. Ethiopia is considered to have the largest number of foreign embassies outside New York.
Ethiopia implemented major education reforms from 1994 introducing a new schools system and curriculum. Primary education is taught over eight years and takes places from the age of seven. It is divided into two cycles at the end of which students take the Primary School Certificate examination. Secondary education lasts four years and is also divided into two cycles: lower secondary for two years for which Ethiopian School leaving Certificate upon completion and upper secondary for two years which is designed to prepare students for Higher Education. The education sector strategy gives high priority to the development of technical vocational education and training in Ethiopia.
There are 37 private tertiary institutions, eight universities, nine technical colleges and five teacher training colleges. The total enrollment in the above higher education institutions is recorded to be 191,165 in all programmes- regular, evening, summer and distance for both government and non-government institutions. From this non-government institutions have 47,412 students, which account 24.8 per cent of the total. The majority of students (72.3 percent) are enrolled in undergraduate degree programmes, with 25.8 per cent enrolled on diploma courses and 1.9 per cent on postgraduate courses.
Universities operate in a semester system and students take 15 – 18 credits each semester. A total of 101 credits are required for completion of undergraduate studies. The usual length of a first degree courses is four years. For Higher Education the academic year commences in September to July. Annual recurrent expenditure per university student is approximately 7457 Birr (GBP 425). Non-residential evening students pay 30 – 50 birr (GBP 1.70- 2.85 )per credit hour, or 90 – 150 Birr (GBP 5.13- 8.55) per semester.
In addition to regular programmes, evening and summer programs are available for most undergraduate studies and account for 35 percent of the overall enrollment in the country). Most of these students are are either Civil Servants developing their qualifications or those denied admissions to the regular programmes. The evening programme generally takes six years to complete degree and three – four years for a diploma. Summer programs are basically for upgrading the qualifications of primary and secondary school teachers.
Post graduate studies are available on full time basis and take two years to complete with students undertaking a dissertation/research project in the last semester.
In Ethiopia, UK education is perceived as the best quality and is the first choice of study for students. Foreign education and training is expensive for the majority due to the low level of incomes earned by the majority and is normally considered only when donors’ fund and/or scholarship are obtained. Those who can afford to study abroad prefer campus based residential studies.
The demand for information on UK qualifications is very high especially information on distance learning and short-term courses. There is a high focus on developing skills through short term courses, not on training for qualifications.
More than 154 students from 26 UK distance learning providers are currently using British council exams service. Open University, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and University of London are among the many UK providers well known in the Ethiopian market.
Other main competitor countries operating in the market particularly for distance learning are South Africa, India, the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries and the rest Europe.
Our office is situated at the centre of the Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and is very accessible and convenient for customers. We operate a range of projects in collaboration with organisations in Ethiopia and the UK. These projects include professional development (interaction, communication skills program, management express and exam), knowledge and learning services and Education UK. We participate in international and national exhibitions and trade fairs to promote Education UK and overall British Council activities. The next exhibition will be held 22-28 February 2007 and all UK educational institutions invited to participate.
British council Ethiopia manages scholarships and sponsorship offered by various UK organizations and also facilitates partnerships between Ethiopia and UK Higher education institutions for collaboration projects.
We work closely with UK organizations and local stockholders, and various ministries in relation to capacity building and promoting education at all level.
We also have an integral role in creating a platform for students who wish to study and obtain educational information. We offer resources, information, networking learners and Internet access points. We also arrange learner support, International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, credit/installment payment mechanism for distance learning. We are proactive in promoting Education UK and help students by acting as a correspondent bank, assessing the impact of UK education and sharing sucess stories to encourage interest.
In the future, we will focus on the effective promotion of UK education particularly distance education due to the increasing demand in this area and expanding support services for UK education providers, through exam services and promotional activities.
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