Back to school? Not for millions of children across Ethiopia

Every August and September, our home becomes busy with preparations for a new school year.

As a parent of two young children, I find myself shopping for exercise books, replacing worn school bags, sharpening pencils, and making sure uniforms still fit after the long break. Like many parents, I want my children to begin the school year ready to learn.

But as an education professional who has spent more than two decades working alongside children, families, teachers, and communities across Ethiopia, my thoughts often go beyond my own children's preparations.

I think about the millions of Ethiopian children who may not walk through a school gate this year. For many families, the challenge is not deciding which school supplies to buy. It is deciding whether a child can return to school at all. In some communities, schools are still recovering from conflict and displacement. In others, families continue to struggle with poverty, climate shocks, or insecurity. Some parents worry whether the journey to school is safe. Others simply cannot afford the costs associated with sending a child back to class.

This year's back-to-school season coincides with International Literacy Day on 8 September. The 2026 theme, "Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity", reminds us that literacy is far more than an educational outcome. It is a foundation for inclusion, resilience, opportunity, and sustainable development.

In Ethiopia, this message is especially relevant. While access to education has improved, learning outcomes remain a serious concern. National assessments indicate that fewer than one in ten children achieve expected reading proficiency in the early grades. At the same time, 41% of pre-primary-age children miss out on early childhood education, limiting school readiness from the very start.

These numbers sit alongside another reality: many children remain out of school altogether, while others are at risk of dropping out. For children affected by conflict, displacement, climate shocks, and poverty, the beginning of the school year often brings uncertainty rather than momentum.

Recently, I led a World Vision Ethiopia assessment across 28 districts to understand what these challenges mean for children and communities. The findings were both sobering and urgent.

Across the districts assessed, more than 224,000 school-age children were out of school. Communities reported closed or damaged schools, economic hardship, displacement, and protection concerns that continue to prevent children from accessing education.

Behind every number is a child with aspirations and potential. Some conversations in particular have stayed with me. A Grade 7 student named Hareg told us she had dropped out of school and was working as a daily labourer. Her family could no longer afford basic learning materials. Yet despite the hardship she faces, her dream remains unchanged. She wants to become a doctor and serve her community.

Another adolescent, Mulaw, shared a different concern. He had been out of school for several years while his former classmates progressed to Grade 11. His greatest fear was not that he was older than his peers. It was that he had forgotten much of what he had previously learned.

Their stories are not unusual. Across Ethiopia, countless children have had their education interrupted, not because they lack ambition, ability, or determination, but because circumstances beyond their control have pushed learning out of reach.

This is why bringing children back to school matters, and why bringing them back to learning matters even more. Enrolment is only the beginning; without foundational literacy, children may be present in classrooms but still excluded from the learning they came for.

A child can sit in a classroom every day and still struggle if they cannot read with understanding. Foundational literacy is the gateway to all future learning. When children learn to read, they gain the ability to learn independently, participate confidently, access information, and engage fully in education.

The International Literacy Day theme highlights three important dimensions of literacy: people, the planet, and prosperity. In Ethiopia, we can see the importance of each of these every day.

For people, literacy is about dignity, confidence, and protection. Children who can read are better equipped to express themselves, solve problems, access information, and participate in society. Communities involved in our assessment consistently linked education with child protection and well-being. Teachers, parents, faith leaders, and local officials spoke about the growing risks of child labour, early marriage, unsafe migration, and exploitation when children remain out of school.

For the planet, literacy gives children the tools to understand and respond to increasingly complex environmental challenges. Whether communities are addressing drought, adapting to climate change, improving agricultural practices, conserving water, or preparing for disasters, young people need the ability to access information, analyse evidence, and make informed decisions. Literacy provides the foundation for these skills.

For prosperity, literacy creates opportunities that last a lifetime. Children who develop strong foundational literacy skills are more likely to stay in school, continue learning, acquire employable skills, and contribute to their communities and the country's development. Investing in literacy is not simply an investment in education. It is an investment in Ethiopia's future.

Encouragingly, we know what works. Evidence from Ethiopia and around the world continues to show that children make stronger progress when foundational learning is prioritised, teachers receive effective support, families are engaged, and barriers to attendance are addressed.

At World Vision Ethiopia, we have seen this firsthand through early childhood development and education, the Learning Roots Model, community-based satellite ECDE models, the Unlock Literacy Model at school, community, and home levels, school feeding, education in emergencies, and teacher support. These interventions show how targeted investment in foundational literacy can change children’s learning trajectories.

Our latest strategy evaluation found that ECDE coverage in World Vision Ethiopia operational areas increased from 15% to 71%. In addition, 33% of children participating in Learning Roots and community-based satellite ECDE programmes achieved their expected developmental milestones, while 45% of children participating in Unlock Literacy interventions through schools, community reading centers, and homes were able to read with comprehension, substantially higher than current national literacy performance levels.

These results matter because they demonstrate that children can learn when they are given the right support at the right time. We have also seen encouraging evidence in conflict-affected areas through World Vision's Catch-Up Programme, supporting the most vulnerable children whose learning has been interrupted. 92% of the research participants showed improved literacy, while 56% were able to read with comprehension. The research showed that children were able to recover lost learning much more quickly when structured literacy interventions were integrated into accelerated learning approaches. This is especially important for children like Mulaw, who fear they have fallen too far behind to catch up.

The lesson is clear. Getting children back into classrooms is essential, but it is not enough. We must also invest in helping them regain and strengthen the foundational literacy skills that allow them to learn, progress, and succeed.

Perhaps the strongest reason for hope comes from communities themselves. Throughout our assessment, parents, teachers, community leaders, faith leaders, and local government representatives consistently expressed a deep commitment to helping children return to learning. They identified community mobilisation, school reopening efforts, support for vulnerable learners, and awareness campaigns as important steps towards restoring education.

This International Literacy Day, as Ethiopia prepares for another school year, we should remember that literacy is not only about reading books or passing examinations. It is about dignity, protection, resilience, opportunity, and hope, and about ensuring that children like Hareg, Mulaw, and millions of others can cross the bridge from today’s challenges to tomorrow’s possibilities.

As a parent, I want my own children to start the school year with excitement, curiosity, and confidence. As an education professional, I want the same for every child in Ethiopia.

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By Shewaye Mengistu, Technical Lead - Education, World Vision Ethiopia