Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
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Lorenzo Tiezaz St (Aware), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The campus is in Addis Ababa. Postal address: P.O. Box 1372, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Kindergarten (ages 1-6); Primary School (grades 1-4) with around 105 students; Secondary School (grades 5-10) with around 100 students; International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) offered as a two-year pre-university curriculum.
German Embassy School Addis Ababa
Germany
Administrative / application fees
- There is no separate application fee listed. An annual administrative fee is charged per child and must be paid in full even in cases of registration or deregistration during the school year: Full-payer administrative fee: EUR 1,500. Self-payer administrative fee: EUR 750.
Tuition fees by school level (annual amounts)
Full-payer annual fees (first, second, third, fourth child):
- Toddlers' group: EUR 10,104 / 10,104 / 10,104 / 10,104.
- Kindergarten: EUR 7,787 / 7,398 / 7,009 / 6,619.
- Preschool: EUR 9,226 / 8,765 / 8,304 / 7,842.
- Primary School (Grades 1–4): EUR 16,972 / 16,123 / 15,275 / 14,426.
- Secondary School I (Grades 5–10): EUR 19,097 / 18,142 / 17,187 / 16,232.
- Secondary School II (Grades 11–12): EUR 20,209 / 19,198 / 18,188 / 17,177.
Self-payer annual fees (first, second, third, fourth child):
- Toddlers' group: EUR 8,920 / 8,920 / 8,920 / 8,920.
- Kindergarten: EUR 6,328 / 6,011 / 5,695 / 5,378.
- Preschool: EUR 7,200 / 6,840 / 6,480 / 6,120.
- Primary School (Grades 1–4): EUR 7,564 / 7,186 / 6,808 / 6,429.
- Secondary School I (Grades 5–10): EUR 8,198 / 7,788 / 7,378 / 6,968.
- Secondary School II (Grades 11–12): EUR 8,556 / 8,128 / 7,701 / 7,273.
- Notes on the above: Items marked include afternoon care (NAMI). Secondary School II amounts exclude International Baccalaureate (IBO) examination fees, which are billed additionally.
Per-term / per-semester detail and invoicing frequency
- Full-payers: Fees are invoiced annually. Unless an alternative is agreed, the full-year invoice is due by July 31. Semi-annual invoicing for full-payers is possible in exceptional cases on request; when used, each semester invoice corresponds to half of the annual amount.
- Self-payers: Fees are invoiced per semester and in advance. Unless stated otherwise on the invoice, payment deadlines are July 15 for the first half and January 15 for the second half. For self-payers, a semester invoice equals 50% of the annual fee amounts shown above.
Billing schedule and payment terms
- Invoicing: Full-payer invoices (annual) and self-payer invoices (per semester) are sent by e-mail to the address given at registration. Invoices and reminders are deemed received when sent to the registered e-mail.
- Deadlines: Full-payer annual invoices are due by July 31 unless otherwise stated on the invoice; self-payer semester invoices are due by July 15 and January 15 respectively. Late or missed payments will incur reminders and interest as described under late-payment terms.
- Currency and accounts: Fees for children with non-Ethiopian nationality must be paid by bank transfer in EUR to the school association's Commerzbank account (IBAN and bank details provided on invoices). Fees for children with Ethiopian nationality are invoiced in Ethiopian Birr (ETB) and must be paid by bank transfer to the school's Dashen Bank ETB account. Transaction costs must be covered by the payer and proof of payment must be submitted to the school administration.
Fee payment options
- Bank transfer is the required payment method specified for school fees:
- EUR payments (non-Ethiopian nationality) to Commerzbank Düsseldorf, account holder Deutscher Schulverein in Äthiopien, IBAN: DE28 3004 0000 0104 4015 00.
- ETB payments (Ethiopian nationality) to Dashen Bank, German Embassy School, Balderas Branch, Account No.: 0089 1493 410 11 (SWIFT: DASHET AA XXX).
- Payers must ensure invoice amounts are received in full; transaction charges are the responsibility of the payer. No credit-card payment option for school fees is listed; payment by bank transfer is the specified method. Proof of payment should be submitted to the school administration email specified on invoices.
Boarding fees
- The school fee schedule does not list any boarding fees or boarding services. Boarding facilities are not part of the fee schedule. No boarding charges are applied because no boarding program is listed.
Other costs and additional fees
- IBO examination fees for students in Secondary School II (Grades 11–12) are charged in addition to the tuition amounts listed.
- Other possible additional charges during the year may include school materials, school-bus fees, extracurricular activity fees, and specific examination fees. These are invoiced separately as required.
- Afternoon care / late pickup: For children not collected from afternoon care by 17:30, the administration charges EUR 18 per hour or part thereof (monthly billing).
- Cafeteria: A cashless payment system is in use for the cafeteria (Amole/Dashen Bank platform) for meal purchases; cafeteria charges are separate from tuition.
Refund information, deregistration and temporary leave
- Deregistration must be made in writing and is possible at the end of a semester or at the end of the school year. Full-payers who deregister during the school year are charged the full-year fee unless they provide proof that employer subsidies cover the months after departure.
- Administrative fee: The administrative fee is invoiced annually and must be paid in full even if a child is registered or deregistered during the school year.
- Temporary deregistration (re-entry) is possible if a child will be absent for at least 50% of a semester. In such cases, a 30% reduction of the invoice for that semester may be applied provided the application is submitted before the invoice due date for that semester. Applications for deferment or reductions must follow the deadlines stated in the fee schedule.
Late payment and enforcement
- If an invoice is unpaid ten calendar days after the first payment deadline stated on the invoice, a reminder will be sent with a second payment deadline ten calendar days later. If unpaid after the second deadline, late-payment interest is charged in accordance with the German Civil Code and further measures follow. If overdue beyond the second reminder and an additional ten calendar days, the child may be excluded from further kindergarten or school attendance until the invoice amount is paid in full. In general, attendance requires timely payment of fees.
Fee arrangements for DBSAA employees
- DBSAA employees with a fixed contract of at least 50% FTE and a contract term of at least one year pay 5% of their basic annual salary for one child's care/schooling and an additional 1% for each additional child. Other staff categories have defined reduced fee contributions or percentages as set out in the fee schedule; employee fees are normally deducted from salary payments.
Summary of key figures (annual examples)
- Administrative fee (full-payer): EUR 1,500. Administrative fee (self-payer): EUR 750.
- Example annual tuition (full-payer, Primary School): EUR 16,972 for the first child.
- Example annual tuition (self-payer, Primary School): EUR 7,564 for the first child.
- IBO exam fees and other ancillary costs are additional and billed separately.
German Embassy School Addis Ababa (DBSAA) serves over 300 students from Kindergarten to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme on a campus within the German Embassy grounds. The school teaches the German curriculum across Kindergarten, Primary, and Secondary, with English instruction to promote multilingualism. Kindergarten groups of 16–20 learners are led by German-speaking educators alongside Ethiopian teaching assistants. Primary School (grades 1–4) enrolls around 105 students in small classes of about 15, delivering the German curriculum supplemented by English. Secondary School (grades 5–10) has about 100 students in classes of 12–15 and follows the German state of Thuringia's framework. The international Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is offered as a two-year pre-university option and IB accreditation was achieved in 2014. Facilities include a library, on-site health services, and a cashless cafeteria. Extracurriculars span science, arts, sports, and service, with cultural exchanges and a German School Association supporting student leadership and community engagement today.