Addis Ababa is on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ensuring all students have access to education.
According to the annual education statistic report of the city administration in the year 2019/20 the Gross Enrolment Ratio /GER/ and Net Enrolment Ratio /NER/ for preprimary education in the city is relatively high at 103.96 and 96.62 respectively. As the report states the number has shown a great increase from the last academic year 2018/19 which was 98 and 87 percent respectively, the highest in the country at the time.
In growing Educational Accessibility in 2019/20 the city administration has increased the number of pre- primary schools to 1,206 from 1,143.
The GER and NER for primary schools in Addis Ababa stood at 137.4 and 97.9 percent in the year 2019/20 which was an improvement from the 2018/19 year.
The national GER target for primary school is 103 percent by 2020, which seems possible to achieve.
The Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Addis Ababa primary education system is 1.15, compared to the national average of 0.9, which means that there are more girls enrolled in primary education than boys in the capital.
The GER in the secondary education in Addis Ababa stood at 99.6 percent for grade 9 to 12 and the NER reached 58.4 for the same grades.
The gender parity in Addis Ababa’s secondary education system stood at 1.16 in 2019/20 which was 1.10 in the prior period.
At the city education bureau, school expansion has been higher in urban areas, mainly because of better infrastructure and the role of the private sector in education.
While many preschools and secondary schools are located in Addis Ababa, access is limited to the urban poor children whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees. Furthermore, quality of public schools continues to be an issue, transition from grade to grade is a bottleneck for many and many who attended school fail to acquire basic skills as a result of unskilled teachers, irrelevant teaching and inadequate learning materials.
Despite these challenges, the education bureau has been doing a lot to tackle issues in regards to quality education.
In Addis Ababa, the percentage of appropriately qualified teachers in primary education is at 17.6 percent .The rate of qualified teachers in secondary schools from grades 9 to 12 is at 13.75 percent.
On the positive side, the pupil to teacher ratio is 26 students per teacher in grades 1 to 8 in public schools and 19 students per teacher in private schools in grades 1 to 8 and 18 students per teacher in grades 9 to 12.
In the capital, the survival rate to grade 8, that is, the percentage of students who completed primary education – was 80 percent, which is far above the national average of 53 percent. The repetition rate for primary (Grades 1-8) in Addis Ababa is only 2 percent, the lowest in Ethiopia.
In regards to delay in schooling, 11 percent of children aged 5 to 17 years in Addis Ababa attend school with two or more years of delay.
According to the report, there was significant success in progress of tackling matters related to school dropouts and grade repetition.
Addis Ababa on track to meet SDG in access to education
Wudassie’s free scanning services
Wudassie Diagnostic Center (WDC) has launched the 11th payment free CT scan and diagnosis service for five days for 1000 people who cannot affor it. According to the center the service is said to start on September 6 and will go on until September 10 for five consecutive days.
According to Dawit Hailu General Manager of the center, such program is launched to make its contribution to the needy and to be a model for other private health facilities. “When we play our role, we can also motivate others to contribute on their field,” Dawit said while announcing the initiative.
Wudassie Diagnostic was founded in 2008 and is one of the first diagnostic centers with MRI, CT scan, Digital X-ray, Ultrasound, EKG and Ambulance service in the country.
According to Dawit, WDC is dedicated in providing the community in and outside Addis Ababa with the finest imaging services by a local team of specialized physicians and associates. Beside in helping the needy, Wudassie has been engaged in different community based services including offering free service for 18 local based NGOs.
Arts TV launches virtual bazar
Arts TV announced the launching of a virtual Bazar in Ethiopia. The virtual Bazaar is organized in partnership with Dashen Bank for the holiday season which is the Ethiopian 2013 New Year festivities.
The Bazar is being held starting from August 26 and will run until the New Year’s eve which will be held on September 10, 2020.
“Bazars were usually held a few weeks before so everyone can purchase foodstuff, presents and other goods for the holyday. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic is making it impossible for such bazars to happen. Arts TV has found a solution for people and companies enabling them to respectively purchase/offer products and services without having to expose themselves and their families to the virus,” reads a statement sent to Capital from Arts TV.
“Arts TV will be producing a two-hour live show every morning for 15 days, with a host who will be presenting partner companies. Consumers will be able to purchase products using their phones and it will be delivered for free to their homes,” the statement further reads.
Payment options are available online and through phones, or at the nearest Dashen Bank branches.
Ethio-Telecom unveils plans to be more competitive
The 126 years old state telecom giant Ethio-Telecom is aggressively working to protect its market share when the country starts opening up the telecom sector in the near future.
Since the government has an intention to open up the telecom industry to private telecom operators and has been receiving bid, Ethio telecom is engaging in new business streams with significant discount, shift in revenue sources, improve the quality of service and accessibility, network expansion and alternative solutions. The telecom provider has also planned to install 5.47 million mobile capacities in Addis Ababa and regions.
The new telecom service providers are expected to get in the country until the end of this fiscal year. This, Ethio Telecom said in its statement, is in line with the Ethiopian government’s direction to reform the Ethiopian telecom market and create a competitive space.
“We are trying to reshape and lead the company with business orientation and competitive mindset with the ultimate aim of making it a preferred operator,” Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of the sole telecom provider said during a media briefing on August 26. 
Ethio telecom has also developed a three year growth strategy and one year business plan for 2020/21 fiscal year.
To ensure competitiveness and sustainable growth of the company, the strategy has been developed by considering and reviewing relevant government policies, international best practices, and industry trends, Frehiwot said.
“Based on data traffic growth and demand, 4G/LTE Advanced network capacity expansion will be carried out in Addis Ababa and 4G/LTE rollout will be conducted in regional towns. To improve network coverage and capacity, more than 5.47 Million additional Mobile network capacity will be installed in Addis Ababa and Regions. Furthermore, to accommodate growing data usage, International gateway capacity will be upgraded,” Frehiwot added.
Ethio telecom has also planned to increase total subscribers by 13 percent to 51.12 million, Mobile Voice subscribers by 11.8 percent to 49.77 million, Data and Internet users by 16.5 percent to 27.47 million, Fixed Broadband subscribers by 215.3 percent to 669.4 thousand. This is expected to bring telecom penetration to 51.3 percent.
By engaging in new business streams and shifting revenue sources from traditional to value-added services and by offering 14 new and 21 revamped local and international products and services, Ethio Telecom also aims to generate 55.55 billion birr revenue.
Ethio Telecom has also offered several new and revamped services, both local and
international, with significant discounts; such as the Stay Safe package to lessen COVID-19 impacts with up to 59 percent discount. These includes three days thank you gift package, Adey Abeba Package, and Ethiopian new year offer of 100 percent local airtime gift on International Airtime Top-up (IAT).
Ethio-Avaya, My Ethiotel Mobile App, Ethio e-Care, and a new website have been mentioned as ways in which Ethio Telecom strived to create more convenience for its customers.
