Over 2,000 teachers working in government schools who were registered to take a written licensing exam prepared by the Addis Ababa Education Bureau declined to sit for the exam.
Out of the 4,300 teachers registered to take the exam but only half came to the examination, which was held a week ago. The exam was given to the teachers and school directors who are working from first through tenth grade.
Sources close to the issue told Capital that the teachers don’t see the point of taking the exam because scoring well on it will not give them more salary or a promotion.
However, out of the 6,000 teachers who took the exam in Addis Ababa last year only 900 passed.
The half day exam was a way of developing a professional licensing system which is also a common examination for teachers. Those who passed the professional competence examination received a professional certificate.
“If you look at the teachers who took the exam before and got the certificate, it didn’t do anything in terms of getting them better pay or a promotion so others are looking at that and feel it is pointless to take the test,” a source said.
The Bureau will announce who passed the exam in one week.
The entry level qualification for a teacher will be a minimum of a Bachelor Degree and Diploma.  The Bureau said the professional licensing system for teachers was introduced to enhance the quality of education and professional competence of teachers.
Since 2013, six rounds of licensing written exams have been given by the Ministry of Education and so far 8,600 teachers have received teaching licenses. There are 38,000 teachers in the final stages of receiving the license.
So far the teaching license in Ethiopia is not used to determine salary or raise however in the future it will be used to hire teachers. Researchers assert that the availability of well-trained teachers, through pre-service teacher training, in-service professional development and informal training obtained through on the-job experience, is central to improving the quality of education at both primary and secondary levels. The licensing written exam is expected to help teachers see how they improve.
In 2003/4 Ethiopia introduced the Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO) with a new curriculum promoting active learning and student-centered approaches. It was implemented in most of the teacher training institutions in the country.