This paper examines the relationship between children’s educational outcomes and
ethnic group status Ethiopia. It builds on the main theories of education in
developing countries – human capital theory and educational opportunity theory –
and further draws on the theory of horizontal inequality as a lens for examining
educational inequality. Using longitudinal data from the Young Lives study,
information collected from 1,000 older cohort children who were followed up at ages
8, 12 and 15 were analysed to investigate the effects of ethnicity controlling for
individual, home, community and school characteristics.
The findings showed that while school enrolment appears to have improved in the
study sites, with most of the children enrolled in school at age 15, slow grade
progression and low achievement remain challenges, particularly for certain minority
ethnic groups. We further demonstrate significant regional in intra-regional
differences, as well as differences between the centre (Addis Ababa) and the
periphery. As regards the factors that predict schooling outcomes, we find that
disparities in income level and poverty status cannot fully explain the variation in
educational outcomes between groups. Contextual factors at the individual level,
particularly schooling history, and school level variables also play a significant role.
The paper concludes by arguing that research and policy that emphasizes
educational access, or enrolment, may understate how children differently
experience schooling and may downplay the role of education in compensating for
or reproducing inequalities. The paper further suggests that employing a groupbased
approach to inequality analysis, as opposed to an individual measure, can
help to better understand the mechanisms through which inequalities take shape
and may illuminate on role of schooling in aggravating or mitigating against
individual and family level disadvantage.