Navigating the Implementation Gap: A Survey of Ethiopian Educational Policy Reforms,

This study investigates the systemic barriers to implementing national educational reforms in Ethiopia, addressing a critical gap between policy design and practical enactment. While policy implementation literature highlights the universal challenges of fidelity and adaptation, there remains a paucity of contextualised, empirical analysis within Ethiopia’s decentralised education system. This research aims to identify the principal factors hindering reform execution and to analyse their interplay within the Ethiopian context. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the study was conducted across four regional states from 2010 to 2021, a period encompassing major reform cycles. Quantitative data were collected via a validated questionnaire administered to 450 stakeholders, including teachers, school leaders, and district officials. Qualitative insights were derived from 12 focused group discussions with purposively sampled participants. The integrated analysis reveals a significant dissonance between centralised policy mandates and localised implementation capacities. Key impediments include inconsistent resource allocation, inadequate educator professional development, and weak community engagement structures, each compounded by broader systemic constraints. The study concludes that without addressing these foundational implementation barriers, policy frameworks risk remaining aspirational. It offers evidence-based recommendations for Ethiopian policymakers and presents a transferable analytical framework for similar contexts, advocating for more adaptive and participatory approaches to educational reform.