Education Attainment
In Ethiopia, education is free and compulsory for all children. However, by 2016, only 60% of all teenagers had enrolled for a full-time education (Boyle, 2016.) The education system is faced by many challenges, such as inadequate teaching facilities, and most students come from poor families, hence making it difficult for them to complete the schooling. Despite having 95% of its primary teachers trained, the ratio of teacher to student is 1:64 in Ethiopia (Boyle, 2016). Therefore, each student does not get adequate attention from the instructors to help them reach their full potential. Moreover, there is poor governance and misuse of resources in schools.
Gender Equality
Ethiopia is known for many queens and empresses it had through history. However, the current Ethiopian society has not addressed gender inequality. Even after passing the constitutional laws that protect the rights of women, the government has failed to uphold them because of institutional and structural limitations (Bekana, 2020). Females are given low-paid jobs in administration offices, and they also do free household works. Moreover, failure of the regime to consult with organizations promoting gender equality undermines the promotion of fairness between both sexes. Chaney (2016) argues that this exclusion is unfavorable to women’s empowerment and weakens the values of the policies and laws passed to promote fairness. There is a gap in parity between men and women in Ethiopia, and it is up to the administration to bridge it.
Healthcare Systems and Public Health Services
There is a considerable variation in the healthcare system between the countryside and urban areas. According to Hibbett (2018), the Ethiopian government built several hospitals to reduce this disparity as over 85% of the rural population lacked access to health services. Compared to rural areas, urban centers have better facilities and workforce. Moreover, medical graduates prefer to be employed in towns because of higher pays and better chances of going to work abroad. There are fewer specialists in the country, and the high academic requirements of joining medical school have also contributed to the shortage of medical officers.
Several strategies have been established to improve Ethiopia’s healthcare system with an aim of attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The pressing health issues include malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, malnutrition, tuberculosis, and lack of access to clean water and food (World Health Organization, n.d.) The government offers free healthcare in all hospitals it runs. However, there are several constraints, including inadequate staffing, low budgeting, and lack of advanced equipment.
Employment levels
The country is experiencing challenges in creating sufficient jobs for the youth. According to Macrotrends (n.d.), the unemployment rate in 2017 was 2.12% and 2.08 in 2018 and 2019. World Bank (2017) estimated the working age population of Ethiopia to be 54.7 million, with an average growth of 2 million per year. The high populace, low literacy rates, and increased internal migration account for high levels of unemployment in Ethiopia. The leading occupation industry is the sub-sector; in 2013, 42% of the working residents earned a living from this segment (Copley, 2018). The formal distribution business was second in employment rates. However, the rural population lacks a formal source of income, and they mainly work in the agriculture sector.
Distribution of Population
Ethiopia is currently a rural country with many people living in the countryside. 83.8% of its citizens occupy agricultural lands and the trend is projected to last because of high fertility rates, especially in the upcountry (Ayele and Zewdie, 2017). Most residents live a 10-hour drive distance from the cities. Moreover, when the socialist military was in power, the nationalization of town and farming lands played a role in reducing the rural population, turning them into urban migrations. The distribution of lands in the rural areas and restrictions of life in urban centers motivated farmers to remain in their lands.
References
Ayele, A. W., & Zewdie, M. A. (2017). Modeling and forecasting Ethiopian human population size and its pattern. International Journal of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, 4(3), 71-82.
Bekana, D. M. (2020). Policies of gender equality in Ethiopia: The transformative perspective. International Journal of Public Administration, 43(4), 312-325.
Boyle, G. (2016). Education system in Ethiopia. The Borgen Project. Web.
Chaney, P. (2016). Gendered political space: Civil society, contingency theory, and the substantive representation of women. Journal of Civil Society, 12(2), 198-223.
Copley, A. (2018). Figures of the week: The nexus of manufacturing and service sectors in Ethiopia.Brookings. Web.
Hibbett, K. (2018). Addressing the barriers to proper health care in Ethiopia. The Borgen Project. Web.
Macrotrends. (n.d.). Ethiopia unemployment rate 1991-2021.Web.
World Bank. (2017). Ethiopia employment and jobs study. Open Knowledge Repository. Web.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Resource mobilization for health action in crises. Web.