For as long as her daughter had been in school, the summer break belonged to the family. Every year, the mother, who lives in Addis Abeba's Lemi Kura District and asked for anonymity for her and her daughter's identities for fear of reprisal, packed the holiday with visits to extended relatives.

This year, for the first time, the ritual collapsed. Her daughter, now in Grade 12 at a private school, was told to report for summer tutorials, and the condition left no room to argue.

“The School gave us no choice," the mother said. "They made it mandatory that if my daughter didn’t attend the summer programme, she would not be allowed to register for the upcoming semester.”

The lessons carried extra fees for the weekend sessions, and her unease has grown with the bill. The mother’s frustration is a small window onto a large intervention.

The Addis Abeba City Administration Education Bureau has launched a summer tutorial programme across designated cluster centres, deploying 1,800 selected teachers to support more than 51,520 Grade 11 and 12 students preparing for the Ethiopian University Entrance Examination. According to Abebe Chernet, the Bureau’s communication director, the programme offers a condensed curriculum designed to sharpen readiness and improve educational quality before the Grade 12 national examinations.

The numbers behind the drive explain its urgency.

The Bureau’s officials traced poor outcomes to curriculum-alignment gaps, weak instruction, distraction due to social media and poor communications between parents and schools. They proposed structured study forums and closer parental engagement.

A document produced by the Bureau, dubbed “Excellence Strategy”, responds to years of weak results for high school graduates. Its authors aspire to double the share of students scoring 50pc and above to 60pc.

The strategy puts its faith in three pillars.

The first gathers the top 30 Grade 11 and 12 students from neighbouring public and private schools into specialised cluster centres, supported by monthly parent contributions of 500 Br.

The second offers school-based tutorials for average performers. The last builds an advisor-advisee system, pairing strong teachers with groups of Grade 12 students at a ratio of one teacher to four to seven students. Selected Grade 12 students are made to mentor Grade 11 peers in smaller groups.

Public education is justified on the premise that “every child” should gain the knowledge to participate in society, regardless of family means. It is anchored in the Constitution, which requires the state to expand access to and commit resources to public services, including education.

A law passed last year on “general education” defines public education as a state-financed and -run system serving the public’s interest.

The push lands against a national picture the Ministry of Education's figures lay bare. Secondary gross enrolment across Grades 9 to 12 was 30.4pc, and net enrolment 22.9pc.

Addis Abeba was the only region to top a 100pc gross rate, with a net rate near 80pc. Yet, nationally, barely half of pupils complete Grade 8 and the survival rate to Grade 7 sits near a quarter. Those sitting the Grade 12 examination are already the narrow survivors of a leaking pipeline.

That the capital, the clear front-runner, still cannot lift its pass rate past 31pc is what gives the strategy its edge.

With the capital's Grade 12 pass rate stuck near 31pc, the Bureau's effort is seen as an attempt to reverse a persistent slide, yet it also raised a harder question about how targeted help can lift results without eroding equal access to quality learning.

The cluster model carries a social dividend alongside the academic one, mixing public and private students who rarely meet. A private school director, who asked not to be named, sees promise in that.

“Private school students often remain within their own social bubbles throughout their primary and secondary education," the Director said. "Learning alongside peers from diverse public-school backgrounds gives them a vital head start in social integration, making the transition to university life far less daunting."

However, specialists such as Melkam Zewdu (PhD), assistant professor of educational psychology at Bahir Dar University, are more cautious about what selective programmes do over time.

Grouping high performers with experienced teachers can speed learning, sharpen problem-solving and lift results. But Melkam warned that pouring extra resources into the advanced students risks leaving struggling learners without support.

“Too much drilling for the examination can pull learning toward memorisation and away from thinking,” she told Fortune.