Partner since:
Total grant support: US$744,923,176
GPE 2025 grant eligibility:
Coordinating agency: Commonwealth and Development Office
Engagement lead: Esohe Joan Eigbike
Ethiopia has achieved remarkable progress in expanding access to education over the past twenty years, but challenges related to equity remain significant, and learning outcomes have declined in recent years.
Numerous crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict situations, drought and floods have forced millions of children out of school since 2021. As of 2022, around 90% of 10-year-old children lacked basic reading skills.
Ethiopia is working with GPE and other partners to improve learning outcomes with a focus on equity. As prioritized in the country’s Education Sector Development Plan 2020-2025, the government aims to enhance the quality of teaching and learning by better supporting school leaders and teachers with training, aligning teaching and learning materials to the new curriculum, and establishing more effective quality assurance mechanisms.
To improve access to education, Ethiopia and partners will reconstruct damaged schools, establish school feeding programs where needed, and implement accelerated learning programs for children who have dropped out of school.
Additional interventions to make the education in Ethiopia more equitable and inclusive include community awareness programs on the barriers to education for girls and children with disabilities, among others.
out-of-school rate for children of lower-secondary school age
of children start learning one year before entering primary school
(data as of November 11, 2026)
Type: Multiplier
Years: 2025 - 2029
Allocation: US$47,300,000
Utilization: US$14,965,570
Grant agent: World Bank
Type: System capacity
Years: 2025 - 2028
Allocation: US$4,100,000
Utilization: US$914,310
Grant agent: World Bank
Type: System transformation and Girls' Education Accelerator
Years: 2024 - 2028
Allocation: US$132,590,000
Utilization: US$49,589,790
Grant agent: UNICEF
Type: Multiplier
Years: 2024 - 2027
Allocation: US$2,572,779
Utilization: US$1,375,131
Grant agent: UNICEF
As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting the Basic Education Network Ethiopia (BEN-E) for the 2024-2026 period. This builds on previous support from the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF).
