Adult education in Ethiopia – the effect on economic growth

Adult education programs play a tremendous role in improving livelihood by enhancing human capital and improving productivity. Even though it contributes a lot to socio-economic development efforts, the sector, however, has gone through various structural, systemic and administrative challenges.  The current study examined the effect of adult education on economic growth in Ethiopia. The study employed a longitudinal study of data collected from 2011 to 2023 from different sources, mainly from WDI, 2024 and FDRE ministry of education annual statistical abstracts. It utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics. A multiple regression model, together with ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to estimate the effect on the independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings revealed that enrolments and years of schooling were not statistically significant in predicting the relationship between adult education programs and economic growth. On the other hand, graduation rates had a strong and statistically significant effect on economic growth. This relationship further means that adults who successfully complete their study program in the integrated functional adult literacy tend to be more productive than those who didn’t. It also shows that completion rate has more importance in converting the functional knowledge and practical skills acquired into their daily activities and eventually into meaningful socio-economic outcomes. Therefore, these findings may imply that policy initiatives should be in place to prioritize not only enrolments but also the program’s efficiency and effectiveness.