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Women and Education in Eritrea:  
Society and Development 
 
By 
 
Charles M. Smith 
 
RESEARCH PAPER 2001-22 
 
 
 
 
2000-2001 Undergraduate Research Fellow 
Regional Research Institute 
West Virginia University 
Morgantown, WV 26506-6825 
 
Mentor: Tesfa Gebremedhin, Ph.D. 
Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics 
West Virginia University 
 
 
September 2001 
 
 
 
 
Abstract: Many countries in the world, particularly in 
Africa, Asia, and Latin America, work towards developing 
modern industrialized economies.  Much of the discussion in 
this area revolves around investment in natural resources 
and physical, human, and financial capitals.  This paper 
examines human capital development, specifically education, 
in the context of post-independence Eritrea.  It focuses 
upon female enrollment in formal educational systems and 
the societal roles that shape their participation. 

 2
Table of Contents 
 
 
 
Introduction         3 
A Brief History of Eritrea      4 
Women and Recent History       5 
Women’s Roles in Eritrea       6 
Women’s Enrollment in School      8 
Conclusion         18 
Bibliography         22 

 3
Introduction 
African countries today face many challenges in the 
struggle for sustainable development.  In an environment 
wrought with poverty, hunger, AIDS, epidemics, territorial 
disputes, political instability, and crippling debt 
burdens, policy decisions are often confusing.  Many 
agencies and scholars prescribe conflicting solutions; 
limited resources force hard decisions. 
 Human capital is one important factor affecting 
development and social progress.  Only people can utilize 
physical capital and natural resource endowments to create 
development; non-human resources alone do not generate 
development (Gebremedhin, 1996).  This interaction requires 
a skilled, knowledgeable, healthy labor force and thus 
investments in human capital – education and health care.  
Harbison and Myers (1964) established that human capital 
development had a statistically significant correlation 
with GNP.  Highly developed human capital creates greater 
productivity and efficiency. 
Education enhances the ability of people to use their 
natural skills and ingenuity.  Investment in education 
creates positive externalities.  Past studies show that 
increased education raises the average quality of labor, 
and thus plays a significant role in the growth of national 

 4
income (Wykstra, 1971).  Health care is a necessary service 
to maintain people’s well-being and their capability to 
contribute to society and to development.   
 The important roles that women play in today’s 
societies cannot be ignored.  Yet, the value of investing 
in their human capital often goes without notice.  Literacy 
rates provide one measurable education standard.  According 
to the World Bank (1999), the overall illiteracy rate for 
women in developing countries in 1999 was 32.1 percent, 
compared to 18.0 percent for men.  The 1999 rates for North 
Africa and the Middle East were higher, at 46.7 percent for 
women and 25.2 percent for men.  A clear gap between 
education for men and women persists in the developing 
world. 
 Eritrea also faces this gender disparity.  The World 
Bank (1999) places literacy rates for women at 60.9 percent 
and for men at 33.5 percent, a 27.1 percent difference.  
Slightly more than half of Eritrea’s population is female 
(the CIA World Factbook 2000 places the rate at 0.99 
males/female).   
 
A Brief History of Eritrea 
 Various successive colonial regimes ruled Eritrea for 
many years.  In the early 1500’s, the Ottoman Turks 

 5
extended their control into Eritrea.  The Egyptians 
dislodged the Turks in the mid- to late-1800’s, and were 
then ousted themselves by the Italians, who annexed Eritrea 
as a colony in 1890.  The Italians would stay until the end 
of World War II.  Following World War II, the British 
government oversaw Eritrea for ten years, and the fate of 
Eritrea passed to the hands of the United Nations in 1950.  
The U.N. declined to grant Eritrean independence in 1952, 
instead forcing Eritrea to join an Ethiopian federation.  
This federation lasted from when the British left (in 1952) 
until 1962, when Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia 
abolished the federation and took over Eritrea.  A thirty-
year war for independence started in 1961, with the 
Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF)’s victory in 
1991.  A U.N. monitored referendum established overwhelming 
support for independence, which came on May 24, 1993. 
 
Women and Recent History 
 During the colonial period, the Italians and the 
British focused upon securing their political domination 
and implementing new economic systems, neither of which 
required education for women (Stefanos, 1997).  The 
attitude towards women and education changed during the 
national liberation struggle against Ethiopia.  The EPLF 

 6
fostered the greatest change in women’s roles.  The EPLF 
recognized the need to include women in its struggle, and 
the role of education in mobilizing them.  By including 
women in its cadres and as active fighters, it immediately 
raised women’s status (Stefanos, 1997). 
 The EPLF also created the National Union of Eritrean 
Women (NUEW) in 1979.  This grassroots organization 
continues to work to change those factors (familial, 
societal) that restrain women from full-fledged educational 
and economic participation.  However, with the end of the 
war and the beginning of demobilization, old values 
continue to resurface, complicating the NUEW’s work and its 
goals. 
 
Women’s Roles in Eritrea 
Eritrean society is patriarchal in nature.  The 
division of male and female roles, and the accompanying 
prejudices, begins in childhood (Gebremedhin, 1996).  
Husbands and fathers head their families, wielding 
incredible amounts of power.  They oversee family resources 
and determine the futures of their spouses and children.  
Males are raised from birth to fulfill these positions.  As 
in much of the world, despite the introduction of modern 
ways of life, societal traditions often accord women a 

 7
subservient status (Gebremedhin, 1996).  They are looked 
upon as daughters, as wives, and as mothers.  Their duties 
are domestic; they assume the roles of cooks, caregivers, 
and cleaners. 
 From a very young age, girls learn domestic skills and 
begin to take on domestic duties.  They learn to cook and 
sew, to care for children, to wash and clean, and to 
supplement the household income with cottage crafts.  They 
take up these duties at the age of six years (Melcamu, 
1994) and are expected to perform them for the rests of 
their lives. 
 As girls age, they take on more and more 
responsibility in the household.  Estimates place the time 
spent on daily work for ten- to fifteen-year-olds at six to 
seven hours (Melcamu 1994).  These chores begin to impinge 
on the time used for schooling.  
 Families also prepared Eritrean girls for marriage.  
They were taught to be obedient and quiet, to respect the 
leading roles played by males.  Marriages were often 
arranged and included dowries.  Fathers generally 
negotiated this economic exchange and ignored the bride and 
groom (Gebremedhin 1996).  Daughters were thusly sold off, 
perpetuating their treatment as property and objects to be 
traded. 

 8
 Girls often married at ages as young as twelve.  
Virginity played an important part in the bride’s status; 
brides who were found not to be virgins may be publicly 
shamed and sent back to their families.  Families often 
viewed school as a corrupting influence, one that girls 
should be kept away from to maintain their purity.  Once a 
woman was married, she becomes the property of her husband.  
She was expected to take on the domestic duties in his 
household.  She might often continue her informal tutelage 
under the care of her mother-in-law.  She also took on 
responsibility for bearing and rearing children.  She 
worked twelve to sixteen hours per day between things such 
as cooking, cleaning, carrying water and firewood, working 
in the fields, and caring for children.  This left no time 
for school and precluded her working in an external job. 
The treatment of women as wives and mothers has a 
serious negative impact on their schooling prospects.  Many 
families view formal education as wasted on females, and 
consequently limit or entirely prevent their schooling. 
 
Women’s Enrollment in School 
Historically, traditional forms of learning grew out 
of rural agricultural life and buttressed the divisions of 
males and females.  Boys learned agricultural skills and 

 9
crafts and the complex system of societal rights and 
duties.  As mentioned previously, mothers instructed their 
daughters in household duties and management and in cottage 
crafts.   
Religious schools built during the colonial era 
provided the first formal education, albeit only to men.  
Women were not permitted to attend school until 1934.  Even 
then, the schools taught women only domestic skills and 
reinforced their household and spousal roles (Stefanos, 
1997). 
Eritrea’s independence brought much change.  
Rebuilding from the war damage has taken time, and will 
continue to.  Education has become an important priority in 
the rebuilding efforts and the drive for development.  In 
order to achieve goals set forth in the Government of 
Eritrea’s macro-policy (1994), the Ministry of Education 
has set forth as one of its general objectives “to make 
basic education available to all,” and as part of its 
education policy and goals “to promote equal opportunity in 
terms of access, equity, relevance, and continuity of 
education to all school-aged children” (MOE, 1998). 
Formal education in Eritrea extends to eleven grades, 
generally for ages five through seventeen.  However, large 
numbers of overage students participate in Eritrean schools 

 10
(Tables 1 and 2).  This reflects the effects of the 30-year 
war for independence, which disrupted the lives of most 
Eritreans.  An important part to note is the attitude that 
older age does not prevent schooling. 
 
Table 1:  
School Levels, Grades, Ages, and Overage Percentages 
Level  Grades  Ages  Overage %  
Pre-school    I, II          5-6 
Elementary    1-5            7-11    35 
Middle         6-7            12-13    74.4 
Secondary     8-11           14-17   32.6_____   
Source: MOE, 1999 

 11

 12
Pre-school 
Eritrea contains eighty-eight pre-primary schools, of 
which only four (4.5 percent) are government owned.  
Overall enrollment in pre-primary schools remains small 
(5.1 percent and under), and thus lacks any form of 
prominence.  As Table 3 demonstrates, male children 
participate more than female. 
 
Table 3: 
Pre-School: Enrollment Percentages by Year and Gender 
Year   Total % Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1991/92   3.4       3.3       3.5       -0.2 
1992/93   3.6       3.5       3.7       -0.2 
1993/94   3.9       3.9       3.8        0.1 
1994/95   3.9       4.0       3.8        0.2 
1995/96   3.9       4.0       3.8        0.2 
1996/97   3.4       3.5       3.4        0.1 
1997/98   4.1       4.2       4.1        0.1 
1998/99   5.1       5.4       4.7        0.7__________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
Elementary 
In the past 8 years, net female enrollment has 
increased by nearly 10 percent, from 21.8 percent to 31.3 
percent (Table 4).  While differences between the number of 
males and the number of females enrolled have remained 
relatively small, the gap grew from 1.1 percent in 1991/92 
to 3.9 percent in 1998/99. 
 
 
 
 

 13
Table 4: 
Elementary: Net Enrollment Ratios by Year and Gender, 
1991/92 to 1998/99 
Year      Total % Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1991/92   22.4      22.9      21.8      1.1 
1992/93   25.8      27.0      24.7      2.3 
1993/94   25.9      26.8      25.0      1.8 
1994/95   27.1      28.0      26.1      1.9 
1995/96   28.8      29.8      27.9      1.9 
1996/97   28.8      29.9      27.7      2.2 
1997/98   30.9      32.4      29.3      3.1 
1998/99   33.3      35.2      31.3      3.9____________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
One notable improvement in gender equality lies in 
repetition rates (Table 5).  The number of female students 
repeating a grade in elementary school dropped by over 
eight points, and the gap between males and females has 
closed.  This indicates that female education has risen in 
priority, albeit still behind that for males. 
 
Table 5: 
Elementary: Rate of Repetition by Year and Gender,  
1992/93 to 1998/99 
Year      Total % Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1992/93   25.5      22.8      28.9      6.1 
1993/94   20.0      17.8      22.8      5.0 
1994/95   18.9      17.0      21.3      4.3 
1995/96   20.3      18.3      22.8      4.5 
1996/97   20.5      18.9      22.3      3.4 
1997/98   22.7      21.1      24.6      3.5 
1998/99   19.4      18.2      20.8      2.6___________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
Middle 
Enrollment for both males and females drops off 
sharply between elementary and middle schools – from 35.2 

 14
percent to 9.6 percent for males and from 31.3 percent to 
9.3 percent for females (Table 6).  Middle school 
enrollment shows the greatest amount of gender parity, with 
only a 0.3 percent difference between males and females in 
1998/99.   
 
Table 6: 
Middle: Net Enrollment Ratios by Year and Gender, 
1991/92 to 1998/99 
Year      Total %   Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1991/92   7.0       7.1       6.9       0.2 
1992/93   5.6       5.8       5.4       0.4 
1993/94   5.9       6.0       5.7       0.3 
1994/95   6.0       6.1       6.0       0.1 
1995/96   6.5       6.6       6.3       0.3 
1996/97   7.9       8.4       7.5       0.9 
1997/98   9.1       9.5       8.6       0.9 
1998/99   9.5       9.6       9.3       0.3____________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
The number of females repeating a middle school grade 
disputes any true gender equity, however.  Following gains 
made in the mid-1990s, female repetition rates rose sharply 
through 1998/99 (Table 7).  This reflects the resurgence in 
traditional values – increasing domestic chores and the 
fear of education affecting a girl’s marriage suitability.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 15
Table 7: 
Middle: Rate of Repetition by Gender and Year, 
1992/93 to 1998/99 
Year      Total % Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1992/93   43.1      27.3      60.8      33.5 
1993/94   16.9      11.7      23.4      11.7 
1994/95   13.5      9.2       18.8      9.6 
1995/96   13.4      8.9       18.8      9.9 
1996/97   13.1      8.9       18.4      9.5 
1997/98   15.2      10.3      22.0      11.7 
1998/99   13.4      13.4      24.2      10.8__________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
Secondary 
The differences between male and female enrollment in 
secondary schools increased from 1993/94 through 1998/99 
(Table 8).  Again, this reflects the slippage of female 
status due to traditional values. 
 
Table 8: 
Secondary: Net Enrollment Ratios by Year and Gender,  
1991/92 to 1998/99 
Year  Total % Male % Female % M/F Difference  
1991/92   8.4       8.6       8.3       0.3 
1992/93   8.5       8.3       8.8      -0.5 
1993/94   8.0       8.1       7.9       0.2 
1994/95   9.0       9.2       8.8       0.4 
1995/96   9.4       9.9       9.0       0.9 
1996/97   10.0      10.4      9.6       0.8 
1997/98   10.3      10.8      9.7       1.1 
1998/99   11.4      12.6      10        2.6____________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
One encouraging area, however, is that of repetition 
rates in secondary schools (Table 9).  Both the numbers of 
female repeaters and the gap between males and females have 

 16
declined.  This reveals that those females attending 
secondary schools do receive the support necessary to 
complete the later grades. 
 
Table 9: 
Secondary: Repeaters by Year and Gender, 1991/92 to 1998/99 
Year   Total %  Male %  Female % M/F Difference  
1991/92   40.1      29.7      51.2      21.5 
1992/93   36.2      25.3      49.2      23.9 
1993/94   22.9      16.5      32.2      15.7 
1994/95   16.8      12.2      23.8      11.6 
1995/96   18.6      13.1      27.0      13.9 
1996/97   17.6      13.5      23.7      10.2 
1997/98   18.4      13.1      26.4      13.3 
1998/99   12.4      9.4       17.6      8.2___________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
Overall 
 Female students in elementary, middle, and secondary 
schools still lag behind their male counterparts in terms 
of enrollment and repetition.  Even more alarming is the 
recent increase in disparities.  Now that Eritrea is free, 
many of the old prejudices and traditions sublimated during 
the war have resurfaced. 
 
Vocational Education and Technical Training 
 A women’s ability to enter the non-manual formal labor 
force depends upon her ability to acquire marketable 
skills.  Her prior education and her opportunities to 
attend technical and vocational schools in turn determine 

 17
if and what sort of skills she can learn.  While women have 
greater access to specialized schooling, there is still a 
tremendous gulf between men and women.  Table 10 shows the 
tremendous disparities between the number of men and women 
in vocational and technical schools, and Table 11 breaks 
down the fields in which women partake. 
 
Table 10: 
Vocational Education and Technical Training: Percentage of 
Total Enrollment by Year and Gender, 1991/92 to 1998/99 
Year       Male % Female %  M/F Difference  
1991/92    87.3     12.7          74.6 
1992/93    89.2     10.8          78.4 
1993/94    89.8     10.2          79.6 
1994/95    90.3     9.7            80.6 
1995/96    89.0     11.0          78.0 
1996/97    87.0     13.0          74.0 
1997/98    83.0     17.0          66.0 
1998/99    84.6     15.4          69.2__________  
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
Table 11: 
Technical Education and Vocational Training Enrollment, 
1998/99 
Field of Training Total   Male  Female  Female % of total  
General Shop      345     279   66   19.1 
Wood work         57      50    7   12.3 
Electricity         75      61    14   18.7 
Metal Work          64      56    8   12.5 
Auto-mechanics   65      61    4   6.1 
Surveying          60      51    9   15 
Machine-shop      121     108   3   10.7 
Drafting           51      44    7   13.7 
Radio-electronics  35      28    7   20 
Building constr.   35      30    5   14.3 _____________ 
Total               908     768   140   15.4 _____________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 

 18
 Nearly a third of the students at the Asmera Business 
and Commerce Institute are female, but the majority (44 of 
62, 70.1 percent) study secretarial science (Table 12).  
This vocation generally trails accounting, banking, and 
management in wages, responsibility, and advancement.  If 
one considers only accounting, banking and finance, and 
management, females represent a mere 13.2 percent of the 
students.  Again, males dominate the upper echelons. 
 
Table 12: 
Asmera Business and Commerce Institute Enrollment by Gender 
Field of Training  Total  Male   Female  Female % of total  
Accounting          53     42     11      20.8 
Secretarial Science 51     7      44      86.3 
Banking and Finance 56     52     4       7.1 
Management          27     24     3       11.1_____________ 
Total               187    125    62      33.2_____________ 
Source: MOE, 1999 
 
 Female participation in vocational, technical, and 
business schools reiterates again the split between males 
and females.  Again, women’s wifely and childbearing duties 
reduce their freedom to attend schools that would prepare 
them for participation in the formal skilled economy. 
 
Conclusion 
 An effective national plan for creating development 
recognizes the contributions made by both the male and 

 19
female labor forces.  Women in Eritrea perform 
unquestionably valuable social and economic work, as 
demonstrated by their commitment and contributions to the 
thirty-year struggle for independence.  Investments in 
human capital through education reap many positive benefits 
in economic development and social progress.  Engaging 
women as full partners in development and investing in 
their education to enhance this participation should be an 
integral part in any plan for development. 
 The greatest barriers to the improvement of education 
for women in Eritrea continue to be ingrained social and 
cultural beliefs.  These beliefs attribute a subservient 
status to women, lowering their worth, and accordingly 
reducing the priority of their education.  Returning to the 
old ways prevents women from achieving their full 
capabilities in society and the economy, retarding social 
progress and economic development. 
Eritrea has made great strides in improving the status 
of women in society, beginning with the revolution and 
carrying forward into today.  It has implemented 
initiatives aimed at reducing the familial obligations of 
women and including them in the formal economy. 
 However, societies evolve slowly.  It takes constant, 
long-term pressure to change entrenched beliefs.  Highly 

 20
developed nations with strong, active women’s groups still 
have yet to achieve true gender parity.  Organizations such 
as the NUEW, with the support of the Eritrean government, 
can make a difference.  
 The primary driving force behind many women’s rights 
movements in other countries have been women.  For example, 
leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton 
propelled the suffrage movement in the United States of 
America.  Women organizing and leading other women have 
shown themselves to be the greatest proponents for active 
change.  The Eritrean government needs to unshackle the 
NUEW.  Currently, men hold all of the NUEW’s top leadership 
spots.  The government should allow women leaders to rise 
to the top in the NUEW, and grant it greater autonomy.  
Then women would have a more powerful organization able to 
advocate changes on their behalf. 
 Change also comes with successive generations.  Young 
people can be raised with different belief systems from the 
entrenched older generations.  The government, however, 
cannot and does not raise Eritrea’s children.  Thus, it 
must instead work to raise public consciousness of women’s 
importance in roles other than wives and mothers.  A 
campaign promoting female role models would publicize 
concrete examples of what women are capable of.  This could 

 21
take the form of teaching about historical and contemporary 
figures in the classroom.  This would specifically target 
children at a point when their belief systems are still 
malleable.  Outside of the classroom, the campaign could 
raise women’s profiles through advertisements and national 
holidays that commemorate the birthdays of significant 
female figures, celebrate female achievements, and tout 
females as professionals.  These initiatives would raise 
the female profile in the national consciousness, and show 
girls and women role models and heroes that they could 
strive to emulate. 
 Changing ingrained beliefs and attitudes will take 
time.  The government must work to reach both younger 
generations and the society as a whole.  Eventually, change 
will come, and it will gain momentum as it progresses.  It 
will result in engaging all of Eritrea’s most important 
resource in the drive for development. 

 22
 
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Table 2: Age-Specific Enrollment, 1998/99       
  School Age Population Elementary Middle Secondary 
Age Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female 
4 118436 58916 59520                   
5 115823 57624 58199 14 8 6             
6 112655 56179 56476 3512 1817 1695             
7 109005 54587 54418 23081 12248 10833             
8 104948 52854 52094 32334 17256 15078             
9 100557 50985 49572 39802 21422 18380             
10 95933 49042 46891 38650 20564 18086 49 25 24       
11 91175 47079 44096 33012 18066 14946 1225 615 610       
12 86225 44850 41375 28912 15948 12964 5078 2644 2434 12 6 6 
13 81103 42265 38838 25546 14301 11245 10800 5756 5044 1016 565 451 
14 75964 39484 36480 16464 9036 7428 14611 7663 6948 3046 1674 1372 
15 70900 36752 34148 10627 6134 4493 13834 7075 6759 6061 3315 2746 
16 65842 33965 31877 5811 3688 2123 10485 5943 4542 10811 6028 4783 
17 61536 31490 30046 2543 1749 794 6196 4183 2013 11077 6738 4339 
18 58442 29503 28939 2811 2129 682 8294 5718 2576 
19 56161 27825 28336 1179 1011 168 3959 2993 966 
20 53983 26194 27789 1898 1580 318 
21 52004 24642 27362 713 604 109 
22 50330 23360 26970 392 349 43 
23 48922 22408 26514 121 105 16 
24 47739 21710 26029 
25 46760 21113 25647 
26 45973 20634 25339 
27 45216 20220 24996 
1655 1341 314 
753 687 66 
133 102 31 
Total 1795632 893681 901951 261963 143578 118385 67021 37731 29290 47533 29777 17756 
Source: MOE, 1999