Education in Ethiopia has been dominated by the Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. The elites, mostly Christians and central ethnic Amhara population, had the most privilege until 1974, when the government tried to reach the rural areas. In fact, until right now, it is only the elite Christians who have better chance to higher education. Languages other than Amharic are supressed. Oromo, for example wasn't allowed in the educational institutions. The current system follows very similar school expansion schemes to the rural areas as the previous 1980s system with an addition of deeper regionalisation giving rural education in their own languages starting at the elementary level and with more budget allocated to the Education Sector. The sequence of general education in Ethiopia is six years of primary school, four years of lower secondary school and two years of higher secondary school.
