According to the United Nations (UN) Education for All Development Index 2012 report, Ethiopia regressed in survival to grade five. For every 1,000 children who begin school, around half will pass uninterrupted to Grade 5 and only one-fifth to the completion of Grade 8. Moreover, those who manage to get to Grade 5 struggle, consistently underperforming what the curriculum expects them to achieve.

National Learning Assessments, conducted every four years, reveal a stubborn lack of progress. For instance, the average score for a Grade 4 student dipped from 41% to 40% between 2010 and 2014 and remains stuck below 50% in all regions except Addis Ababa.

In addition, The Net Enrolment Rate in secondary schools is 30% for boys and 28% for girls in Addis Ababa but is even lower in rural areas. The disparity is also noticeable in terms of achievement. For example, 69% of female and 78% of male grade 10 students score a 2.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) or above (pass mark) in the Ethiopian secondary education certificate, with rural areas showing even more profound disparity.