The major purpose of this study was to identify and describe the factors affecting the success as well as thernimplementation of the education Scector Development Programme and the current status of Primary education atrnnational and regional levels.rnBoth internal and external issues were treated to meet the objectives of the study such as the shift made tornsector-wide approach from the project mode; performance of ESDP-I in access and coverage, equity, qualityrnefficiency and budget utilization; as well as the views of respondents on the achievements made; and of majorrnconstraints (at federal and sample regions and stakeholders).rnThe data were collected through questionnaire and interviews with 135 respondents (at the federal level,rnfrom six regions and Addis Ababa City Administration). The respondents also included deputy Bureau heads, a VicernMinister, officials and experts in planning and projects, human resource and programming and other relevantrndepartments, in addition to regional and federal stakeholders (MOFED, RFEDB and UNICEF, WB, AD US AID andrnBESO). Different documents have also been reviewed. Statistical techniques such as percentage, graphs, chi-squarernand ANOV A were used to analyze the data.rnThe results suggest the shift to the sector-wide approach to education development has been intended tornredress the problems of the fragmented intervention of the project approach in Africa and other developing countries.rnESDP-I was started since 1997/98 in Ethiopia and the majority of the respondents believe that although there are yetrngreater challenges, it has proved most helpful to see the sector holistically and to think strategically. ESDP-I had setrntargets in different indicators to be achieved in 2001/02 (end of ESDP-I).rnIn the access indicator, significant changes above the target have been registered at the national level and inrnmost regions; excepting the Afar and Somalia regions, which failed to meet the targets, and scored below thernnational average.rnWith regard to expansion, primary schools have been focused on in the rural areas, and althoughrnimprovements were made they were still below the target set. Wide gender, regional, and zonal gaps remain asrnchallenges to the sector. Concerning the target set to decrease dropout rates at first grade and grades 1-8 at least byrn50%, no significant changes were observed and most of the regions did not set targets. With regard to repetition raternthe target was to decrease it by 50% in grades 4-8. Slight decrease was observed at grades 1-4 and 5-8 at nationalrnlevel and some regions registered good performance although, most the regions did not set targets.. The issue ofrnquality is still a very serious problem high PSR, and PTR and also more than 70% of unqualified teachers arerncurrently engaged in teaching in grades 5-8. In some regions one book is shared among 4 and more students. Thern11rnshare of the budget to education has reached 17.6% and share of primary within this budget increased to 62.2%. Thernutilization of capital budget in almost all the sample regions was poor relative to the recurrent expenditure. Thernperformance of ESDP-I in capacity building for implementers is seen at medium level with high degree of regionalrndifferences, some regions such as Afar showed poor performance.rnMajor identified constraints are: delay of disbursement of funds and lengthy donor procedures, lack ofrninteraction with other sectors, turnover of professionals, low level of capital budget utilization and lack ofrnaccountability therefore, weakness in timely submission of reports, low level of monitoring and evaluation, poorrninformation about ESDP-I for the implementer, lack of institutional memory and low capacity at all levels.rnSome of the measures taken include: designing capacity building programmes for weredas personnel,rnawareness programmes for teachers and education personnel, efforts to mobilize the community, distance and inrvicerneducation and annual review meetings at a higher level to evaluate the progress ofESDP-I.rnWith regard to achievement ofUPE, different views have been noted: some said that it can be attained inrnGER at national level, if the commitment of the government and stakeholders continues while others indicated thatrnsome regions might achieve it. However, with respect to NER the response appeared to be discouraging.rnThe major recommendations to improve the primary education stress the need for continuous effort byrnidentifying the root causes of problems ,and actions to be taken in line with local conditions and situation; capacityrnbuilding programme at all levels; mobilization of the community and the different stakeholders, accountability forrnnon-delivery of services; building the institutional capacity; assigning the right people for high post, based on merits;rnincreasing negotiation capacity with donors, reinforcement of nducive working environments; offering moral andrnmaterial incentives for professionals commensurate with the high level of contribution, and setting clear educationalrnindicators at all levels.rnFinally in-depth studies need to be conducted and effective solutions found to overcome the extensive andrnintensive challenges