The study investigates the implementation of government and nongovernmentrnnonforamal basic education programs in Addis Ababa in the comparative manner. Differentrnvariables were treated to meet the objective of the study. These include the curri culum ofNFBErnprogram, the facilitators status, the teaching-learning process of NFBE programs, the facili tiesrnand budget of NFBE program, the efficiency of the NFBE program, and the communityrnparticipation towards NFBE program.rnThe research design incorporates com'parative methods of different cases, as it isrnappropriate to compare the two nonformal b~sic education providers based on the statedrnvariabl es. The sample of the study included four nongovernment organizations and four sub cityrneducation departments in Addis Ababa. The data were collected through questionnaire,rninterview, focus group discussion, observation and document analysis. Statistical technique suchrnas percentages, and in some cases chi-square and T -test were used to analysis the data.rnFindings suggest that the objective of both NGOs and government NFBE programs is tornprovide basic education for school age children ,:vho can or do not get the access to attend thernformal sector due to many reasons. This can be realized through the provision of organizedrnNFBE curriculum materials. However, Government of Addis Ababa City Administration did notrnhave organized nonformal basic education curriculum specifically developed for school agernchildren. In this respect, children in government NFBE program learn the teaching materialsrndeveloped for adults. On the other hand, each NGO implements the curriculum materialsrndeveloped by themselves.rnConcerning the status of facilitators, the majority of them are grade 12 completes andrntook less than 15 days pre service training before ,they were assigned to' the actual work, As suchrntraining does not guarantee them to run the program effectively, there is a demand to offerrnco ntinuous inservice training However, government NFBE facilitators did not have the chancernto on the job training, while NGO ~ NFBE facilitators have quarterly in service training for fiverndays to improve their skills, knowledge and attitudes.rnFinding also indicates that NGOs NFBE program is taken place in Kebele compound andrnlearning centers established for the program. In this respect, the Kebele hall was not suitable forrnthe teaching- learning proces, and government NFBE centers are in a better position. Moreover,rnboth NGOs and government NFBE program have allocated budget but not adequate forrnimproving the program. In this case, NGOs' budget is better as they pay salary and provide inrnservice training for facilitators, while government offers small amount of money for transportrnallowance and does not conduct inservice training for facilitatorsrnAs far as the efficiency of NFBE program, the drop out and repetition rate ofrngovernment NFBE program is higher than that of NGOs NFBE program. The observed resultrnalso indicates, although the involvement of local communities in both NFBE programs is low,rntheir participation in NGOs is relatively higher than that of gpvermpent as the community'srnrepresentatives involve in the management commiltee of non formal education program.rnFinally, developing standardized and organized 'NFBE Â· curriculum for' school agernchildren or state minimum essential learning needs for each level of NFBE program that isrnequivalent to the fir st cycle of primary education, facilitate inservice training for facilitators,rnstrengthen partnership and work in collaboration among NGOs, government and community,rnallocate reasonable budget and pay due attention for the program were the majorrnrecommendations forwarded in order to improve nonformal basic education program , and givernbetter services for children attending the program.