Inequality in attainment from early-childhood to adolescence: Longitudinal evidence from Ethiopia

This paper provides some country-specific evidence on the predictors of preschool attendance and attainment

Abstract

As the Ethiopian government moves to increase enrolment in preschool education from 34% in 2013/14 to 80% by 2020, this working paper provides some country-specific evidence on the predictors of preschool attendance and its association to attainment in Ethiopia.

Using 4 rounds of Young Lives data, it examines: who typically attends preschool education; whether children who attend preschool education have higher attainment than children who do not; and how the association between preschool education and attainment evolves over time.

Findings indicate that the key predictors of preschool attendance are being a first-born child, male, better nourished, speaking Amharic as a first language, having a more educated caregiver, belonging to a household with higher wealth, living in an urban area, and having a mother who is not employed. The paper also examines the association between preschool education and children’s attainment, while controlling for a rich array of child-, household- and primary school-level characteristics and variations between communities.

Young Lives is an international study of childhood poverty, following the lives of 12,000 children in 4 countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) over 15 years. Young Lives is funded by the UK Department for International Development

Citation

Vandemoortele, Milo (2018), Inequality in attainment from early-childhood to adolescence: Longitudinal evidence from Ethiopia. Young Lives Working Paper 177. Oxford: Young Lives

Inequality in attainment from early-childhood to adolescence: Longitudinal evidence from Ethiopia

Updates to this page

Published 1 March 2018