Challenges of 20th century Ethiopian Science education

Abstract

State-led secular education was introduced to Ethiopia by the second half of 1900s. Some studies have looked into the development the secular education system. But the historical development of science education system was not explored. This review looked into the initiatives, achievements, and challenges in introducing and advancing science education in the 20th century. For this purpose, research reports, books, official government documents, and other relevant literature, and instructional materials released before mid 2000 were explored. Accounts of several researchers and official documents demonstrated that the various initiatives by the four subsequent regimes of Ethiopia to build relevant and quality science education system did not come up with expected results. By the dawn of the 21st century, the country was struggling to build relevant and quality science education system. Hence, this article is prepared and presented to demonstrate the critical historical challenges in putting relevant and quality science education system in place and assist policy-makers and practitioners in formulating better policy directions and developing workable science education programs and projects.

Keywords

• Ethiopia
• Science education
• Secular education
• Relevant and quality education