Institute of Ethiopian Studies

Adult Literacy in Ethiopia - A Profile

Author(s): SOLOMON INQUAI
Source: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1 (JANUARY 1969), pp. 55-63
Published by: Institute of Ethiopian Studies
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 Adult Literacy in Ethiopia - A Profile
by SOLOMON INQUA1
Introduction

The field of social science in Ethiopia is both rich and barren at the same
time. It is rich because of the diversity and vastness of knowledge one needs to
have in order to begin to understand the people and the country. In the sense
that this knowledge, on the other hand, does not exist in any systematic form,
it is barren. The absence of any systematic knowledge of study in any one field
can be exasperating to the ardent seeker of knowledge on Ethiopia, to say the
least. Yet the wide subject, unresearched and unwritten up, is in itself exhilerating
and a stimulating challenge to the scholar who is looking for new frontiers to
conquer.

Contemporary society the world over is divided into two camps - the rich and
the poor. The poor peoples of the world are invariably also the most illiterate,
thus leading us to the conclusion that education is the basis of all social well-
being and progress. Without a widespread educational system, nations are bound
to be poor and stagnant. Social and economic development becomes more and
more difficult to attain. Values that have crystallized through the ages become hard
to change, at least without a massive system of education reaching all segments of
the population.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of adult literacy in today's
Ethiopia. In so doing it is hoped that those factors which facilitate or hinder
the spread of adult literacy could be isolated, and thus be of some use to educa-
tional planners. The paper will also attempt to test the validity of some hypotheses or
assumptions which the writer has often considered as the basis for the spread of
adult literacy and which many educators in this country have in fact advanced as
the ways and means through which adult literacy is spread. It is also hoped that
the paper will stimulate further field research in the field of adult literacy. This will
hopefully act as a spring-board for educators and the government to assess further
where we stand in the world of education. Yet such a study could be termed
next to impossible in the light of the absence of adequate data and relevant statis-
tical information. Nevertheless, recent studies, scant and inaccurate as they are,
have thrown enough light on the subject to make it possible for us to discuss the
problem and to reach at some basic and tentative conclusions and to suggest
some lines for further research.

In order to accomplish this the writer feels that some mention of the socio-
linguistic structure, especially the settlement pattern and the languages spoken in
the country, is imperative. These factors are considered important because of the
light they throw on the possibility of the spread of education in Ethiopia.

Basic Assumptions

The following are some of the assumptions which the author has taken into
consideration in preparing this paper: (a) The language of the peoples and their
settlement pattern is an important factor in the spread of education, (b) The people
who speak Amharic have a definite advantage over the others in attaining any level

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of education, (c) People living in scattered areas are less literate than those living
in congregated settlements, (d) People living in areas where the Church1 and church
education have long been established are more literate than those living in those
parts of the country where this is not the case. This will include the northern provinces,
(Tegré, Bâgémder, Gojjam, Shoa, and parts of Eritrea and Wällo) where the church
and its schools are stronger and more numerous and have been long established.
Adult educators everywhere are now fairly well agreed upon the fact that initial
literacy work should be conducted in the vernacular, or in a lingua fraca of a
given area in which the learner has speaking ability. Secondly, books and other
teaching materials used in adult education classes must have relevance to the learner's
day-to-day work, and the text must deal with an area of interest to the adult
students. New literates should be provided, over an extended period of time, with
reading materials of interest to them, otherwise they tend to revert to illiteracy in
a short period of time, An examination of books currently in use in adult literacy
classes in Ethiopia shows that the writers of such text-books do not take into
consideration the problems of the non-Amharic -speaking peoples of Ethiopia. The
Literacy Campaign Organization is now fairly well agreed upon the facts that it
takes an individual for whom Amharic is not a mother tongue, but one who can
speak Amharic, two to three months more than it takes a native speaker of Amha-
ric, to be able to read at the rudimentary level. How much more difficult it would
be for one who does not speak Amharic at all, is quite evident. Perhaps, if and
when an all-out literacy campaign is conducted in this country, the one important
factor to overcome will still be how to teach the language, that is comprehension
and conversation in Amharic, while at the same time teaching an individual to
read and write. Organizations engaged in literacy work have recently shown their
awareness of the problem and their readiness to do something about it, but it will
be some time before they take some practical steps to ameliorate the situation.
Language and the Settlement Pattern
For centuries the Ethiopians lived in isolated communities many of which had
their own values, modes of life, and often their own languages. In some parts of
the country a traveller found himself in a different world altogether whenever he
crossed over a river or went over a mountain range. The different groups of people
acted almost like foreigners among each other, and similar conditions still persist in
some parts of the country. However, different ethnic groups who traded among
each other at times adopted the language of a dominant tribe and became bilingual.
In recent years the spread of land and air communication is opening up more
and more parts of the country, and facilitating the spread of Amharic, the national
language, but still there is a great deal to be done in the field of linguistic
integration of the nation.
A look at the linguistic structure of the nation reveals a great deal of varia-
tion. The number of languages and dialects in use in the country are variously
estimated between 40 and 60. A great many of these languages fall into one of
the three major language groups, namely Semitic, Cushitic or Hamitic, and Nilotic.
Furthermore, the vast majority of the people speak one of the four or five major
languages of the country - Amharic, Tegreñña, Gallina and Somali, with speakers of
these languages occupying the largest segment of the country. The small enclave of
peoples with other languages that are enmeshed among these languages have by
necessity turned to be bi-lingual: for example, the Agaw who speak Amharic or
Tegreñña, or the Kafa, the Konso, the Gardula and the Gamu People who use

1 . The "Church" here refers to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

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Galligna as their business language. Furthermore, the vast majority of languages
spoken in the country are concentrated in a small segment of the country, the south
western part, in to-day's Kaífa, Gamu Gofa, and parts of Sidamo provinces.

Amharic, the national language, is fast becoming the language of the educated
and the urbanized. However, it is totally unknown to a great many of the rural
people who speak either their ethnic language or who use a language of trade
which is predominant in the area they live. Take for example the case of the
Wälamo people. The Wälamo are a rather homogeneous group of people speaking
Wällamina, one of the Cushitic group of languages in the country. Recently a study
conducted by the Central Statistical Office in the Wälamo Soddo area with a view to
determining the extent of the Amharic spoken in that area revealed that of the entire
population of 597,371 2 in the area only 1.5% could speak Amharic and only
0.6% were literate in Amharic3.

Another factor to contend with when considering the spread of literacy, or

for that matter any aspect of the social services among the people, is their settle-
ment pattern. Broadly speaking, one can find three major patterns of settlement
common among the Ethiopian people. First, we have the congregated or village
type of settlement which is common in the northern provinces of Eritrea and
Tigre, but which is also found in other parts of the country such as among the
Konso and Gardula peoples of Gamu Gofa. The uniting factor of such a settle-
ment is usually a church, a mosque, or a market place. Secondly we have the
scattered huts or homesteads, mostly inhabited by single families or a small group
of closely related people or members of an extended family. This is a pattern of
settlement fairly common in Shoa, Arusi and Sidamo. Most of the huts are with-
in earshot of one another, and the people usually have a market place or church
where they often meet.

Thirdly we have nomadism, which is prevalent in the eastern, western and

southern parts of the country among the Somali, Borana, Danakils or Afar. This
third group seems to be the one most deprived of the amenities of the Social
Services. In the absence of any educational provision among the nomadic people
one is forced to conclude that literacy is at its lowest among those who practise
this third pattern of life. However, in the absence of any data, no final conclusion
can as yet be reached.4 Literacy would be higher among the people living in
a congregated settlement than among those in scattered settlements. Social Services
such as schools and clinics are easier to operate among villagers than among the
homesteaders.

Urbanism as a way of life in Ethiopia is limited to a very small segment of

the population. The existing urban centres are better equipped with some of the
amenities of the social services, such as schools, hospitals, and communication.
Most of the urban life is also centred along the main highways leading out of
the national capital and connecting it with the provincial capitals. This pattern of
life seems to be on the rise especially with the expansion of the highway system
of the country. But it does not as yet account for more than 10% of the total
population. So much for a look into the two basic factors that will enhance or
hinder social progress in the country.

2. This figure does not include population for the capital, Wällamo Sodo.
3. Ethiopia Central Statistical Office, A Population Count in ¡Voliamo Awraja. Addis Ababa, 1965*
4. The author has informally been told that the CSO had found it difficult to conduct its survey
among the nomads because of this constant movement.

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Adult Literacy:
Recently the CSO conducted a survey, which included literacy rate, in nine
provinces and twenty-one towns and cities, and some of the findings have already
been published during the course of the past year or two.
However, the available sources have a few limitations. First the data is based
on the answer to a simple question: Can you read and write? There is no way
of ascertaining if the so-called literate is in fact functionally literate. Also the samp-
ling method and the margin of error must always be kept in mind in analysing
the figures in the following pages. Had there been other sources with which to
compare it, this data might have been more complete.
The following is the tabular representation of the literacy level in the nine
provinces for the population of ten years and above. However, the writer feels
that the age range should have been 15 years and above to cover strictly the
adult population.

Table I

Literacy in Rural Areas 5

(Population 10 yrs. old and aboye)

Population Literate % semi-nterate°/0 Average

M F M F M F A B~
Arusi 221,000 223,220 11.0 0.4 L3 0.7 5.7 6.7
Bâgémder 370,800 345,100 9.3 0.5 1.5 - 5.0 5.8
Gamu Gofa 185,500 174,400 4.3 0.5 0.4 - 2.5 2.7
Gojjam 684,000 660,500 5.7 0.2 1.7 0.04 2.9 3.8
Shoa 1,228,500 1,192,400 8.3 0.4 1.6 0.3 4.4 5.4
Sidamo 681,650 675,170 5.3 0.3 0.8 0.1 2.8 3.2
Tegré 463,400 451,200 12.1 0.6 5.4 0.4 6.4 9.4
Wälläga 341,800 362,700 10.3 0.3 1.1 0.1 5.3 5.9
Wällo

A= literate only (percentage of total population).

B= literate & semi-literate.

Semi literate = can read only.

A look at table I indicates that literacy among men is consistently higher

than that among women, with less than 1% of the women being literate in an
one province, while literacy among men ranges from 4.3% in Gamu Gofa to
12.1% in Tigre. The low literacy rate among women is in keeping with the place
in society accorded to women and is also reflected in enrolment figures of females
in public schools throughout the Empire.

5 . Source : Ethiopia. Central Statistical Office reports on each province listed above (some unpublished) .

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Table II portrays literacy rate in some urban centres.
Table II

Literacy in Some Cities and Towns in Ethiopia 6

of (Population 10 yrs. old and above)

City or Town Population Literate % scmi-iucratc , Average

Adwa 3,660 5,350 50.3 13.5 1.9 1.5 28.4 30.1

Asbé Täfäri 2,300 2,650 51.7 15.1 2.2 2.3 32.1 34.3
Assäla 3,910 5,680 58.8 15.9 3.1 0.5 33.4 34.9
Assab (a) (10,113) 45.8 7.2 (b) (b) 29.2 (b)
Axum 4,030 5,190 39.2 4.4 3.5 0.2 19.6 21.2
Bahr Dar 3,310 5,570 50.8 7.2 2.1 0.7 23.4 24.6
Däbrä Marqos 5,890 9,210 56.9 10.7 3.7 0.9 28.7 30.7
Däbrä Zäyt 5,620 9,340 56.7 15.6 1.8 1.2 33.7 35.1
Dessie 11,550 16,790 45.9 11.9 2.4 1.1 25.7 27.3
Dilla 4,070 3,670 30.2 5.2 2.5 0.5 18.3 19.9
Dire Dawa 16,020 18,260 46.1 12.3 7.5 2.9 28.1 33.2
Geyon 2,720 3,180 42.3 8.8 0.4 0.9 24.2 24.9
Gondar (a) (20,590) 61.1 13.8 3.6 0.8 32.7 34.6
Harar 12,760 16,360 59.6 16.9 4.2 1.2 35.6 38.1
Jimma 10,120 11,250 40.1 9.1 1.2 0.3 23.8 24.5
Läqämpt 3,830 4,710 50.4 17.2 2.3 0.8 32.1 33.6
Mäqälä 6,180 9,850 46.0 8.8 2.3 0.7 23.1 24.4
Šašámané 2,370 2,960 38.0 6.8 1.7 0.3 20.6 21.6
Sodo 3,530 3,820 26.6 3.9 0.9 0.5 14.8 15.5
Yergalem

From the second table one does not get as gloomy a picture as one gets
from the first table. Most of the towns seem to have half or more of their male
population literate. The picture for the urban women, although better than that
for their counterpart in the rural areas, is still low when compared with that for
men, nevertheless a good 27.7% of the entire urban population is literate.
With very few exceptions, the rest of semi-urban or congregated settlements could
be considered as an integral part of the rural areas, thus centres of a high rate
of illiteracy.

Again the rural-urban difference in the rate of literacy is quite in harmony

with the distribution of schools in the country, the vast number being primarily
concentrated in the urban or semi-urban centres along the main highways. It is
only recently, in the short history of Ethiopian education, that one notices schools
opening in the rural areas of Ethiopia. Even then the pace is so slow that the
large majority of rural people are still without any form of provision for education.

6. Source: Central Statistical Office (published and unpublished data used).

a) No population breakdown by sex available. A- Literate only.
b) Figures for semi-literate not available. B= Literate & semi-literate.

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Furthermore the few that have had a little education leave their homes and flock
into the towns, leaving the rural areas virtually where they were.
One aspect of the CSO survey not conveyed in the preceding tables is the
breakdown by age-groups and sex of the literate population. For the urban centres
the picture conveyed is quite revealing. In Adwa, for instance, of the entire literate
population 72% are men, and 67.2% of the literate are under the age of 25 years.
When viewed by sex we find that 29.8% of the literate men and 86% of the
women are under the age of 25 years. In Bahr Dar, as in Adwa, 70% of all
literate females are below the age of 20 years, while for men the corresponding
figure is approximately 25%.
In Däbrä Zäyt 93% of the literate female and 58% of the literate men are
under the age of 30 years. In Dâssé 94.9% of the literate women and 64.9% of
the literate men are under the age of 35 years. In Soddo 86.2% of the literate
females are under the age of 30 years. Similarly in Jimma 84% of the literate
females were below the age of 25 years, while for men the corresponding figure
is 62%. In Harar the CSO study showed that close to three quarters (73.3%) of
the literate population are males. It also revealed that 41.4% of the male literates
and 83.4% of the female literates are under 25 years of age. In all the urban
centres female literacy is concentrated among the young age groups, 30 years and
below, and it falls sharply after that; thus with older age groups literacy is almost
nil. On the other hand, literacy among men is fairly even in its distribution among
the age groups. This is best shown in the following tables.

Table III A

Distribution of Male Literate

by Age Group in some Urban Centres

10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 &
City or Town over

Adwa 27.7 22.8 9.2 2.7 3.2 4.9 6.5 7.6 1.6 7.0 6.5
Bahr Dar 11.9 11.9 10.7 21.4 13.1 15.5 7.1 1.8 2.9 1.8 1.2
Dessie 22.8 16.6 8.5 7.5 8.7 7.7 10.2 6.2 3.4 3.0* 4.3
Däbrä-Zäyt 22.4 15.2 5.9 14.7 13.1 10.9 5.1 6.7 3.2 1.3 1.6
Harar 15.6 13.9 9.6 10.9 11.2 7.7 9.1 5.1 3.6 2.1 4.8
Jimma 18.9 14.3 11.8 13.3 9.8 9.1 5.2 5.7 4.7 2.7 3.1
Sodo 15.9 22.3 5.3 7.4 9.6 13.8 8.5 6.4 2.1 4.2 4.3
Geyon 22.6 18.2 6.9 6.9 6.1 8.7 6.9 8.7 6.1 1.7 -
Dire Dawa 19.4 13.5 10.7 10.7 11.9 9.9 7.4 6.4 4.5 2.4 2.7
Däbrä Marqos 23.6 14.6 9.2 8.0 9.8 9.2 10.1 6.0 3.0 3.6 2.4
Aksum 16.6 18.3 8.0 7.6 10.8 7.6 5.7 4.4 7.0 3.8 6.3
Dilla 19.5 15.7 18.7 5.7 12.2 12.2 8.1 2.4 2.4 0.8 2.4
Asbä Täfäri 28.6 18.5 5.0 5.0 8.4 7.6 10.1 4.2 1.7 3.4 5.0
Läqämt 19.7 14.5 9.8 8.3 13.9 7.2 4.7 5.7 4.7 1.0 10.8
Asälla 22.2 18.3 8.7 12.2 11.3 6.5 10.9 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.6
Šašamané 23.3 12.2 5.5 7.8 16.7 10.0 12.2 7.8 3.3 - 1.1
Mäqälä 20.5 14.6 11.6 9.9 9.9 9.5 5.6 5.6 5.3 0.7 3.2
Yergalem

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 Table m B

Distribution of Female Literates

by Age Group in some Urban Centers

10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44' 45-49 50-54 55-59 60&
over

F F F ~F~ F F ~T~ F F F F
Adwa 54ÏÏ 26.3 5.5 1.4 2.8 2.8 2.8 - 1.4 - 2.8
Bahr Dar 42.5 27.5 10.0 10.0 - - - 2.5 2.5 5.0 -
Dessie 53.8 26.4 3.5 7.6 3.5 - 1.5 1.0 - 1.5 0.5
Däbrä Zäyt 50.7 21.2 12.3 9.6 0.7 0.7 1.4 1.4 - 0.7 0.7
Harar 46.1 27.8 10.5 5.8 3.2 3.6 1.4 1.7 0.7 0.7 0.4
Jimma 41.2 24.5 18.6 8.2 - 2.9 1.0 1.9 - - 1.0
Sodo 60.0 13.3 6.7 6.7 - 6.7 6.7 - - - -
Geyon 57.1 21.8 3.5 7.1 3.5 3.5 3.5 - - - -
Dire Dawa 35.5 27.1 12.0 8.4 4.9 5.3 3.1 0.4 1.3 0.4 -
Däbrä Marqos 53.5 21.2 7.1 9.1 1.0 5.1 1.0 - - - 2.0
Aksum 56.5 13.0 4.3 - 4.3 - 8.7 - 4.3 4.3 4.3
Dilla 26.3 42.1 5.3 10.5 15.6 ______
Asbé Täfäri 50.0 25.0 5.0 7.5 5.0 5.0 - - - 2.5 -
Läqämt 40.7 33.3 7.4 4.9 8.6 1.2 - 1.2 1.2 1.2 -
Assäla 44.4 34.4 8.9 7.8 - 1.1 - 2.2 - - -
Šāšamane 35.0 40.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 10.0 - - - - -
Yergalem 41.0 30.8 7.7 5.1 2.6 5.1 2.6 2.6 2.6 - -
Mäqälä

The preceding two tables (III A

especially among women, is con
the majority of the literate p
acquired its education in the post

Despite the fact that the ave

27. 7%, 7 the rate for the ent
is mainly because the 1.7 millio
population; even with recent in
yet exceed 10%, thus making 9
factor that accounts for the u
seen earlier, the bulk of the li
the post-war years. This makes
new phenomenon. It was also s
in the urban centres of the coun
Public schools seem to be the
the country. The low literacy

7. Ethiopia Central Statistical Office, S

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and perhaps to some extent the difficulty in language that the people there encoun-
ter. In fact one can safely say that schools are the main, if not the only factor
to-date in the spread of adult literacy in the country. Nowhere is the effect of
schools more clearly demonstrated than in the small town of Saguré, in Arusi,
where 88% of the men and 42% of the women between the ages of 10 and 20
years are literate, all because Saguré has a school. However, it must also be re-
membered that Amharic, the language of instruction in literacy classes, is on the
whole understood in the urban areas in those parts of the country where it is not
the first language of the people.
Agencies who conduct a planned and conscious campaign against illiteracy
are the National Literacy Campaign Organization, and the Yämeserac Dems Li-
teracy Campaign. The bulk of the effort of these bodies is in urbanized areas,
except for the YDLC which has its effort fairly evenly distributed between the
rural and the urban population. This effort is to some extent augmented by the
work of some public organizations, the church and some mission bodies. Never-
theless their combined effort to date may not have helped more than 300,000 8
people, most of them school-age children, to attain the literate status. This will
account for approximately 1.3% of the entire population, not a negligible figure,
but if the school-age children who form the bulk of those getting rudimentary
education through the campaign organizations are discounted to conform with the
contents of this paper, the contribution of these organizations will be below the
one-per-cent level. Literacy campaign organizations cannot begin to make apprecia-
able headway in reducing adult illiteracy, simply because every year there are more
people who attain the age of 15 years without any form of education than people
who complete literacy classes. Only when we can ensure 100% enrolment of our
school-age children can we speak of totally eliminating illiteracy or reducing it
appreciably through the work of the literacy campaign organizations.
The study did not fully support the assumption that literacy will be higher in
areas where the church and church education are stronger. Bâgémeder and Gojam,
two well-known seats of traditional education, together with Shoa where the church
is strong, fall below the national literacy rate. Literacy is lower in these provinces
than in Arusi and Wälläga, which are areas in which the church is not as strong.
In the case of Wälläga the presence of Mission bodies over an extended period of
time, approximately a century, might account for the higher rate of literacy. Further-
more, although the peoples of both Wälläga and Arusi are not Amharic-speaking,
language does not seem to affect the attainment of literacy, at least not so far,
unless the bulk of the literate in these provinces are Amharas or Amharic-speaking
people. Tigre has the highest literacy rate. In the urban areas there is no appre-
ciable difference in the rate of literacy between urban centres located in and among
the various language groups. However, at Aksum, again a traditional seat of the
church education, the rate of literacy is rather low (19.6%), again attesting to the
fact that the impact of the church in the spread of literacy is rather limited.
Nevertheless, the philosophy of religious education which is primarily limited
to men is carried through to modern or secular education, as revealed in the
school enrolment, where women compose only 28 . 4%9 of those in elementary schools.
The fact that there exist some literate men and hardly any women above the age
of 40 years might also be the effect of traditional education, which excluded women
almost totally.

8. YDL (1950-1960) 107,807; NLCO (1954-1959) 149,354 others. 25,000.

9. Ethiopia. Ministry of Education, School Census for Ethiopia 1966-67.

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 Despite the fact that the study could not clearly show the spread of literacy
by pattern of settlement, it can safely be concluded that literacy is at its highest
in the congregated settlement. Moreover the fact that schools are the primary tools
for spread of literacy and their absence among the scattered communities and the
nomads would mean that literacy is at its lowest among these groups of people.

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