Basic education is a foundation of all the development endeavors and arnfundamental right of every member of a society. Providing basicrneducation for all children-the principal assets and future bases of arncountry-is the wisest investment. Cognizant of this fact, Ethiopia isrncommitted to expand basic education through formal as well as nonformalrnprovisions. The formal system has for long been thought of as arnpanacea for all ills. Tinkering and repairing here and there with it,rnnonetheless, could not solve the persistent problems related to access,rnquality, equity, and efficiency.rnThe NFBPE program has, thus, become part of the educational planningrnand implementation in different regions of the country. This study wasrntargeted to investigate its implementation practices at nine centers ofrnAddis Ababa, Oromia and SNNPR. To this end, a questionnaire, focusrngroup discussion and interview guide questions, and observationrnchecklists were used to gather data from different level stakeholders.rnThe data were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed and discussed.rnThe results disclosed that the implementation practices of the NFBPErnprograms had satisfactorily fulfilled the learning needs of those whornenrolled and the demands of their parents in terms of enabling thernlearners get basic learning contents. Particularly, NGO-implementedrnprograms were cost-effective and flexible to respond to the economic,rnsocial and cultural demands of the learners and parents. Recruitingrnfacilitators by and from the community and assigning them to teachrnthere also developed confidence of parents to send to and keep theirrnchildren in the centers. These were among the facilitating factors andrnconsequently, the best implementation practices of the NFBPE programrnthat have been recommended for the comparable formal educationrnimplementation practices.rnThe coverage of the NFBPE program being implemented, however, wasrnvery low. It did not reach all those who, for various reasons, could notrnattend formal schools. Similarly, the available linkages between thernformal and the non-formal basic primary education programrnimplementations were inconsistent to facilitate smooth promotion/rnxiirntransference of learners from one to the other. This was due tornstringent requirements of the formal schools and lack of clear-cutrnimplementation guidelines that ensure mutual understandings of allrnconcerned stakeholders. Less flexible schedules and no-or low-salaryrnand trainings for facilitators, and shortage of curricula materials, severelyrnat government-implemented NFBPE programs substantially inhibited thernimplementation practices of the Program.rnTherefore, it is recommended that government should issue andrnsensitize clear and specific NFBPE implementation guidelines that can berninstrumental for expanding coverage, enhancing smooth transference ofrnlearners, developing local and program-specific curricula materials, andrnutilizing NGO initiatives to implement NFBPE programs