EDUCATION POLICY: SO MANY DEGREES, SO LITTLE SKILLED (LESSON VIII)

Jan 5 , 2020.

The crucial role education plays in supporting a competitive economy was not lost on policymakers. With a strong emphasis on the natural sciences, efforts were made to improve primary and secondary-level enrollment in schools and boost the proportion of university graduates across the country.

A remarkable job of this was done through aggressive spending on social capital, especially in the expansion and establishment of higher-learning institutions. Over 100,000 university graduates are expected to enter the labour market this year alone, graduating from no less than 42 public universities.

Unfortunately, productivity did not increase by any measurable means. Lack of skilled labour force remained one of the most consistently cited reasons for Ethiopia’s lack of economic competitiveness. The World Bank noted, in its 1988 report in Ethiopia economy, lack of productivity is what had ailed growth. It echoed the same conclusion in its report in 2018. Worse, as large swaths of university-graduates remained unemployed or under-employed, and expectations turned into frustrations, the economic ailment has transformed into a political crisis.

PUBLISHED ON Jan 05,2020 [ VOL 20 , NO 1028]