NORTHGLENN, United States — The educational challenge in Ethiopia has taken on many different forms over the years but has an even wider variety of solutions.
Around 90% of children are unable to read at their appropriate grade when they are 10 years old, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A lack of childhood education has created barriers later in life toward earning a high enough income to support a family. This is especially true for rural families, where about 70% of Ethiopia’s workforce remains dependent on agriculture, making it far more difficult for children to consistently attend school.
There have always been far fewer rural schools in Ethiopia despite 84% of the population living in rural areas. As a result, some children must travel multiple miles every day just to go to school. More than half of children drop out by the time they are 12 years old.
Rural Education
The Borgen Project spoke with Amy Ephrem, the development coordinator for Project Ethiopia, for deeper insight on the issue. “Because rural families also rely heavily on their children’s help with the daily work of farming, tending animals, fetching water and collecting firewood, school is often viewed as a luxury, not a necessity. This is especially true for girls.”
Overall, 9,000 schools have been damaged and more than 7 million children were unable to attend leading into 2025. Ethiopia is home to one of the largest populations of refugees in Africa at more than 1 million people, which poses another unique educational challenge.
Conflicts, natural disasters and water shortages have also limited children’s access to education in Ethiopia. Conflicts primarily involve civil wars between different political groups that inevitably impact innocent civilians. Earthquakes damaged 50 schools in 2024 and 2025 alone. Extreme droughts combined with water shortages make it unsafe for children to travel miles to school, forcing them to drop out despite a strong desire to learn.
Project Ethiopia
The two founders of Project Ethiopia, Judy Sanderman and Dennis Wilkins, traveled to Ethiopia in 2002 and saw how much children wanted to go to school and learn but could not because of factors beyond their control. What started as simple acts of generosity for children and schools in Ethiopia eventually evolved into the nonprofit organization known as Project Ethiopia.
The nonprofit takes a hands-on approach by consistently communicating with villagers and assisting them with the modeling and construction of schools as well as providing the necessary building materials. “Every project is designed to empower community members to collaborate, strengthen their village, and tackle big challenges through the collective energy of many hands and hearts,” says Ephrem. Project Ethiopia also ensures that students have all the necessary school supplies for the best educational experience possible.
Since it is common for children who live in rural areas to walk several miles to school every day, Project Ethiopia has helped to build 25 schools and made repairs on 16 others over a 15-year period, improving access to education.
University Transition Awards
In the first 10 years of its existence, Project Ethiopia’s efforts propelled more than 700 students to receive university transition awards. These awards consist of financial aid that helps make it possible for these rural students to travel long distances to universities in the city and have basic items like clothing, bedding and toiletries for a more comfortable and dignified experience. This has led to many of these students establishing solid careers as medical doctors, teachers and engineers among other prestigious and high-paying professions.
Project Ethiopia is consistently looking to expand the outreach of this program. What started with 50 students per year increased to 80 and then 100 students per year. The percentage of impoverished and special needs students participating in the program increases over time, too.
Zelalem Beyene, one of the awards’ recipients, always wanted to be a doctor. When his parents became very ill, it made that dream seem unattainable from an outside perspective. However, Zelalem never wavered and ended up scoring the highest in his class on the university entrance exam. Project Ethiopia then provided him with all the essential travel items to leave his home and attend university.
Funding efforts are only one part of the battle toward obtaining an education in Ethiopia. Every student like Zelalem who received the award would not have the opportunities they do if it were not for all the hard work they put in and continue to put in.
Traveling Abroad
The Borgen Project also spoke to Dr. Akbarali Thobhani, Executive Director in the Office of International Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Originally from Uganda, Dr. Thobhani has worked at Metropolitan State University (MSU) Denver for more than 50 years. He sees the need for people to travel abroad as important to experience what life in Africa is like firsthand and to help these communities.
Dr. Thobhani gave insight into how Noel Cunningham, with a restaurant business called Strings, helped arrange for various students, donors and other community members to travel to parts of Ethiopia where they worked with the local community. While there, they helped with economic development, housing, water supply and other basic necessities.
One of the key projects that Cunningham’s foundation helped with was building an elementary school in rural Ethiopia. MSU Denver and The Western Union Foundation teamed up with Cunningham’s foundation to accomplish this goal in July 2011. Gesseso Elementary School now helps more than 200 students access an education in Ethiopia, some of whom may otherwise not have another option for a school to attend.
A long-lasting tie that Ethiopia has to Denver is that Aksum, a northern city in Ethiopia, is home to a sister university of MSU Denver. As such, there are many ways in which the two schools stay connected, including a group of 15 MSU Denver students who travel to Aksum to study abroad for two months. “There were a lot of opportunities for our professors to contribute to the professional development of those faculty,” says Dr. Thobhani. The relationship between the two schools has been mutually beneficial overall.
Conclusion
“Ethiopia is one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of its historical and cultural values, but economically, it is a fairly poor country in terms of income and a lack of development opportunities,” says Dr. Thobhani. Although there are many large-scale efforts to help schools in Ethiopia and impoverished Ethiopians overall, there is still far more work to be done to further these development opportunities.
Schools continue to be built in not only rural areas, but in refugee camps as well. Organizations like Project Ethiopia are always working to expand education opportunities for those in the worst economic situations.
– Logan Hessek
Logan is based in Northglenn, CO, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr