Education is a tool to enable citizens to make all rounded participalion in developmenlrnprocess. The parlicipalion of females in socio-economic programs especially depends on Iheirrneducolional background. Educaling girls and women is critical to achieve the benefits as well asrnIhe improvement in the areas of health, fertility and nutrilion. Thus, females must be Ireatedrnequally with males to attain educational access, which is necessary to increase theirrnparticipation in different development programs. international treaties, conventions, laws &rnpolicies set a legal commitment on Ihe right of education and gender equality. However, grossrnand net enrollment differences in schooling of females prevail. Females remain underrnrepresented at all levels of education. The females' participation gap in education is wide inrndeveloping countries, one of which is Ethiopia.rnEthiopia is one of the developing countries with low females ' participation in educalion.rnStatistics reveals that the number of female students in primary, secondary and higher educationrnis not equal to that of male students. This low participation is one of the causesfor females ' to bernunderprivileged and underrepresented in development programs. If low females participalion inrneducation continues, the Country would probably have a problem in achieving MDGs Goal 3rnTargel 4. These raise the issue that the role of education and female participation should bernanalyzed and studied.rnThe aim of this research was to identify factors affecting females ' participation in educationrnin Dawuro Zone, Tocha woreda. To alta in this objective, information on school enrollment andrnschool age population was gathered ji-om documents of the Ministl), of Educalion andrnSNNPREB. Further more, formal questionnaires were distributed to 260 female students, schoolrnprincipals and teachers. On the other hand, focused-gr()up discussion was held with 56 femalernstudenls ' parents and with six woreda educational officials to gather information on factors thatrnhave contributed to low female participation in educalion. Percentages were predominanlly usedrnto indicate the magnitude of respondents ' opinion and assumptions against each statement.rnThe results of the study showed that factors that affected females participation in educationrnare: qualification o/teachers, parents demand of female child labor, school cost such as housernrent, food supply cost, long distance to school, parents ' poverty, fear of male harassment, lack ofrnrole models, dropout, abduction or "telefa ", parents' religion Iype, early marriage, parents 'rnillileracy and won)' of Ullwanted pregnancy. These are the major reasons for low femalernparticipalion in education in the study area.rnAccording to the study, the following have been recommended to improve females'rnparticipalion in Tocha Woreda. Recruiting qualified teachers, conducting workshops andrnseminars with parents and religious leaders to make sociely and parents aware on Ihe benefils ofrnfemale education. Building 2nd cycle primary and secondary schools at reasonable distances,rnbuilding boarding houses for distanl female sludenls, improving home technologies 10 lI1inimizernIhe incidence of female child labor are also recommended. Furthermore recruiling more femalernleachers 10 be role models, school principals and concerned governmenl bodies offering especialrnsupport to female students, take serious measures on abduction and early marriage would help tornincrease females' participation in education.