The experience of adolescence in rural Amhara region Ethiopia.

This study aims to broaden the understanding of young lives in rural Ethiopia specifically Amhara Region. The study included initial in-depth interviews among selected adolescents followed by a large-scale survey of over 1800 young people aged 10 to 19 in rural Amhara Region Ethiopia. Just over half of the adolescents in the sample had never been to school. The most common reason for boys and girls not attending school was poverty followed by early marriage for girls and too many work responsibilities for boys. Even among those who had been to school entry was quite late and educational attainment was low. Nearly one third of students first started school after age 10 and school-going adolescents only attended for an average of 3 years. As a result over half of the adolescents interviewed were illiterate. Few rural young people had ever worked for pay. Rather the majority were involved in unpaid work for their families most on the family farm. The time devoted to unpaid work was considerable especially for out of school adolescents. Both boys and girls devoted an average of over 30 hours per week to unpaid work most of which was agricultural work. (excerpt)