Energy Education in Ethiopia: The Status Quo and Future Prospects

Abstract

Energy has often been described as the ‘heart beat’ of the economic world. Without energy, economic development would not occur. The movement of goods, services, people and information, and the development of commercial agriculture and large-scale industry depend upon the availability of energy. Availability of energy resources is, however, not enough to bring about economic development. For energy resource to contribute to a social and economic development of a given nation, there must be high level of know-how as to how to use and manage the resource. Energy resources of countries of the developing world in general and of Ethiopia in particular remain unused/underutilized until such a time when people learn how to tap and use the resource.  Hence a desperate need for energy education. This study was aimed at assessing the state of energy education in Ethiopia. Policies related to energy education and students’ textbooks prepared for use in selected grades have been analysed to see the potential for, the extent to and ways in which energy issues have been addressed. The assessment indicated that there is adequate policy backing for undertaking energy education in the country. However, energy issues have been only partly integrated at present. For example, a proposal has been put forth to prepare a ‘Module’ for energy education in Ethiopian schools. A framework for preparation of such a module has been worked out based on the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing educational materials; the policies pertaining to energy and environmental education; and assessment of the practices and problems of energy education in other countries. It has also been strongly recommended that schools in Ethiopia be used as ‘mission centres’ not only for awareness creation about the causes, consequences and solutions of the prevailing energy crisis in the country but also as centres for dissemination of alternative energy technologies like improved cooking stoves, biogas plants and solar home systems.