SITUATION UPDATE
School Re-Opening in Tigray
As of June 2023, 64% of the schools in Tigay have re-opened, 80 % of which are functioning in alternative spaces. According to the Tigray Regional Education Bureau, 23.3 % of children have enrolled since schools reopened in early May 2023. Partners of the cluster including NGOs and UN agencies have distributed teaching and learning supplies, as well as supported the regional education authorities on equipping teachers.
Unrest and IDP influx in Amhara
The security in situation in Amhara remains volatile and resulting in estimates of 583.5K IDPs across the region, including 245K school-age (3-18) children. Approximately 4086 schools are damaged and unable to fully accommodate children. As of June 2023, 902K children remain out of school, from both IDPs and host community.
Drought, Flooding and unrest in Oromia
The drought situation in Oromia continues making access to Water,
Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services in schools challenging. This has posed health risks including Cholera. Unrest in 49 woredas has resulted in 208K children being out of school and over 1200 schools damaged.
Refugee Influx across regions
As of end of May 2023, Ethiopia hosts close to 1 million refugees and asylum seekers of whom more than 50% school going age between 3 to 18 years. Access to education services expressed as Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for pre-primary, primary, and secondary for 2021/2022 academic year was 42.6%, 50.8% and 14% respectively. The major challenges of education for refugees and asylum seekers in Ethiopia include large numbers of out-of-school children across different refugee hosting regional states, loss of the gains achieved so far in terms of access for refugees to education due to conflict and COVID 19 pandemic, limited secondary education opportunities, low participation of girls due to cultural practices and lack of target support, and limited funding opportunities to address the education needs of refugee children including the new arrivals from Somalia and Sudan. Visit UNHCR’s website for more information on the refugee situation in Ethiopia.