Today I had the pleasure of visiting one of Ethiopia’s large public primary schools and it’s first teacher training college. Well, to be honest I started this piece some weeks ago now. During that time I have not visited any other school or college, but can claim to have gained many insights into the educational system in Ethiopia.
The school, on the periphery of Addis, is touted as the largest primary school in Africa. The facility is certainly not large. The enrolment though is well in excess of 5,000 during the day with another 3,000 attending in the evening. Yes, this is a primary school – grades 1 thru 8. Average class size is in excess of sixty students. Classrooms range from a relatively new four-story facility to dilapidated cinder block buildings, the exterior walls of which are decorated with geometric formula, such as the volume of a cone and the periodic table!
This particular school serves as a resource center for a school cluster. The limited teaching aids, library, arts and science facilities are located at a central school to maximize their availability to other schools in the cluster. We are not talking about masses of sophisticated laboratory equipment or art room setup here. Many families in the US with a couple of teenagers have probably acquired and stored in the attic or garage the kind of material in this resource center. Even so the existence and amount of material was obviously a point of pride for the individual responsible for maintaining the center. Unfortunately too much of the material remained in the center, with little evidence of it being actively used in the classrooms.
The classrooms fit the standard image associated with developing country educational systems; small rooms crammed with benches and small tables, children sitting shoulder to shoulder, a worn-out blackboard, broken windows and dark blank walls – the colorful maps in the resource center are too valuable to hang here! But then, when a source of income for the school is to be had from harvesting, by hand, foot-high grass to be sold in the local market, it puts a different perspective on the value of wall maps etc. That said the children remain extremely well behaved and apparently eager to learn – imagine a class of sixty 7-8 year olds remaining in their seats, OK making some noise but not outrageously loud, whilst the teacher is off who knew where. Enter Vern.
Vern is a retired University Dean from Australia, currently working in Mizan western Ethiopia (unless you have a really good map don’t bother looking for it). Mizan is home to one of the new universities. It has been open for two years, none of the buildings are complete, the library roof leaks (although this is not the disaster one might imagine as it only has 105 books) (I trust Vern’s counting). Back to the school. Vern couldn’t resist walking into the classroom, raising a finger to his lips in the international sign to be quiet. At this point the whole class sat obediently quiet followed by five minutes of teacher-pupil exchanges in third grade English. Magic. Then it was onto the teacher training college.
The techniques displayed at the teacher training college were interesting, in a positive way, and held particular significance for the other twenty or so education volunteers in the party - this trip being organized as part of the in-country training for the new batch of volunteers. VSO has been operating in the Teacher Education Institutes assisting in establishing a Higher Diploma Program aimed at improving the approaches to teaching both used by, and taught by the teacher educators. Here everyone that stands (or sits) at the front of a classroom/lecture hall is termed a “teacher”. Many of the techniques we take for granted however require resources that are not readily available, posing additional problems to their adoption. For example, when a classroom is filled to overflowing on tightly packed benches there is little space to organize group activities. Nonetheless the young instructors and teachers demonstrated a level of dedication, imagination and flexibility that can only be admired.
There is much more, but that is for another day.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
New Years' Day
You all know it as 9/11. Here it is the first of September or 1/1/2002. Everywhere preparations for the holiday have been growing: Goats, sheep and cattle are being herded to strategic points along the major roads along with the inevitable basket-loads of chickens, street vendors are selling new year cards along with plastic flowers. This year the said livestock and birds “enjoy” a one-day reprieve. Today is Friday. Those of you who have been paying attention will already know this to be one of the fasting days. The only day to trump the fasting day is Epiphany; hence the preparations are still in full swing for the feast tomorrow.
As if to signal the start of the new year it was a pleasant sunny day with one very light sprinkle, just the day for a walk into one of the hills that almost surround Addis. From a viewpoint overlooking my current abode the city looked every bit as sprawling and ill defined as it feels travelling around.
Saturday
Given the piles of goat/sheep skins around in the market this morning few escaped the early morning carnage. But then I would be hypocritical to condemn this slaughter having just enjoyed both sheep and chicken dishes, along with homemade tej, with my landlord’s family.
Edited and posted by Elspeth, who is still a vegetarian.
As if to signal the start of the new year it was a pleasant sunny day with one very light sprinkle, just the day for a walk into one of the hills that almost surround Addis. From a viewpoint overlooking my current abode the city looked every bit as sprawling and ill defined as it feels travelling around.
Saturday
Given the piles of goat/sheep skins around in the market this morning few escaped the early morning carnage. But then I would be hypocritical to condemn this slaughter having just enjoyed both sheep and chicken dishes, along with homemade tej, with my landlord’s family.
Edited and posted by Elspeth, who is still a vegetarian.
There's a Bathroom on the Right
No prizes for guessing the origin of the above regularly corrupted line. It does, however, aptly describe the behavior of the male population around here. Having become somewhat inured of the minimal privacy offered by the average French urinal I didn’t expect to be taken aback by other community facilities. Most of the streets here have gullies running alongside them, some are no more than ditches others are small stone waterways— indispensible anytime it rains. They also double as urinals. No matter the place or who is around one can often see grown men – “Pissing in the Stream”(1)
(1) Elton John – Honky Cat
Posted by Elspeth
(1) Elton John – Honky Cat
Posted by Elspeth
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ethiopia GEQIP
Excerpt from a World Bank (Ethiopia: General Education Quality Improvement
Program (GEQIP) report of November 7, 2008:
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa (estimated around 80 million, of which approximately 12 million are pastoralists and 80 percent of the population live in rural areas), and has a decentralized government structure. Having invested heavily in physical infrastructure and human resources over the past decade, the economy has achieved impressive growth (averaging 11.8 percent annually in the period of 2004-07). Despite recent growth and an abundance of natural resources, it is one of the poorest countries in the world with per capita income of less than US$180 in 2007 and 39 percent of the population estimated to live below the poverty line in 2004/05.1 Ethiopia is ranked 169 out of 177 countries on the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index. Under the highly centralized Derg regime (1975 to 1991), Ethiopia’s regional and woreda governments were marginalized. After the fall of the Derg, GOE adopted decentralization as the cornerstone for building a multi-ethnic democratic country. Combined with a commitment to fiscal decentralization, this signifies the Government’s intention to give local governments more direct and transparent control over public spending.
Posted, unedited, by Elspeth who is in graduate school and has read way too many articles like this lately.
Program (GEQIP) report of November 7, 2008:
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa (estimated around 80 million, of which approximately 12 million are pastoralists and 80 percent of the population live in rural areas), and has a decentralized government structure. Having invested heavily in physical infrastructure and human resources over the past decade, the economy has achieved impressive growth (averaging 11.8 percent annually in the period of 2004-07). Despite recent growth and an abundance of natural resources, it is one of the poorest countries in the world with per capita income of less than US$180 in 2007 and 39 percent of the population estimated to live below the poverty line in 2004/05.1 Ethiopia is ranked 169 out of 177 countries on the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index. Under the highly centralized Derg regime (1975 to 1991), Ethiopia’s regional and woreda governments were marginalized. After the fall of the Derg, GOE adopted decentralization as the cornerstone for building a multi-ethnic democratic country. Combined with a commitment to fiscal decentralization, this signifies the Government’s intention to give local governments more direct and transparent control over public spending.
Posted, unedited, by Elspeth who is in graduate school and has read way too many articles like this lately.
Navigating Addis
The Lonely Planet describes Addis as “massive and incoherent” going on to liken it to a sprawling 250-sq-km injera. Injera— the ethnic bread on which most dishes are served— with its pockmarked surface, certainly does provide an excellent metaphor for the state of many roads. At the same time, there are significant road improvement projects, courtesy of the Chinese. This causes its own problems, as most drivers feel liberated to travel at totally inappropriate speeds given their driving skills and the state of the vehicles.
Gender equality, or lack thereof, is a significant issue in many walks of life here. That said there do seem to be a surprising number of women drivers. Relax, this is no segue to the usual comments about women drivers; to the contrary they do generally exhibit more tolerance toward other road users. Neither group demonstrates much patience, and as many roads don’t have serviceable pedestrian pathways the major “road users” are pedestrians; the mix puts Ethiopia at the top of the road casualty table, at least in Africa.
The city transportation system is equally as complex as the city itself: The few remaining decrepit government buses, which run along a limited number of traditional routes display numbers, but no destination indicators, and have no defined bus stops. The private buses display no information of any kind relying instead on the ticket collectors calls. Then there are the “line taxis” aka matatus. Again the only way to determine the destination is to interpret the auctioneer-like calls of the fare collector. There are “contract taxis” or “Lada-taxis” (for the obvious reason) aka regular taxis are everywhere! All “taxis” for some unknown reason are painted dark blue with white roofs. Most taxis are communist era Ladas with a very occasional pre-communist Peugeot; line taxis are almost exclusively Toyotas as are the vast majority of other cars and trucks.
Edited and posted by Elspeth, who LOVES Ladas.
What's in a name?
The work week begins with the standard staff meeting. In the main it is filled with the usual office minutia: confirming the emergency duty officer for the week, discussing trips scheduled, upcoming meetings etc. Nonetheless, it is brief and to the point. One agenda item followed closely by all, however, is the weekly “security/political briefing”. These run the gamut from tribal cattle rustling and resultant unrest, to fighting following border incursions. The weeks since my arrival have seen “increased incidents of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD)” with steadily increasing confirmed deaths. The difference between AWD and cholera? Politics.
For similar reasons it is “resettlement” and not ethnic cleansing. Hence the report was that some 10,000 Amharans are being “evacuated” from the Southern Nation and Nationalist’s Peoples Region (SNNPR) and are being resettled in Amhara. Ethiopia is divided into eleven autonomous regions, each with a president and a parliament. The Amharans had been resettled in the region now designated as the SNNPR during the previous regimes. With over 50 different languages spoken in the SNNPR (over 80 in the countrywide) the region could hardly be considered ethnically united. Haille Selassie, an Amharan, imposed Amharic as the national language. The leaders of the communist regime that deposed him, also Amharans, engaged in a wholesale resettlement program. The only surprise is probably that it didn’t happen earlier.
“Declaring a famine is a political decision. While it can galvanize public opinion and bring millions into aid programs, it is widely seen as a political failure. President George Bush challenged his officials to avoid the word, a policy known as "No famine on my watch". Ethiopia's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission is charged with preventing famines of the 1984-85 type, the sort that bring down governments, argued Tufts University academics Sue Lautze and Angela Raven-Roberts in a 2004 paper. Dismissing the warning signals, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said earlier this month that there was no danger of famine this year. And Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopia's ambassador to Britain, said at the weekend: ‘We are addressing the problem. Food is in the pipeline.’”
The above piece is excerpted from an article in the UK newspaper The Independent, which can be found here.
Edited and posted by Elspeth, whose father needs to learn to use quotation marks (inverted commas, whatever) better, and to leaven his stories of death and disease with chicken sightings.
For similar reasons it is “resettlement” and not ethnic cleansing. Hence the report was that some 10,000 Amharans are being “evacuated” from the Southern Nation and Nationalist’s Peoples Region (SNNPR) and are being resettled in Amhara. Ethiopia is divided into eleven autonomous regions, each with a president and a parliament. The Amharans had been resettled in the region now designated as the SNNPR during the previous regimes. With over 50 different languages spoken in the SNNPR (over 80 in the countrywide) the region could hardly be considered ethnically united. Haille Selassie, an Amharan, imposed Amharic as the national language. The leaders of the communist regime that deposed him, also Amharans, engaged in a wholesale resettlement program. The only surprise is probably that it didn’t happen earlier.
“Declaring a famine is a political decision. While it can galvanize public opinion and bring millions into aid programs, it is widely seen as a political failure. President George Bush challenged his officials to avoid the word, a policy known as "No famine on my watch". Ethiopia's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission is charged with preventing famines of the 1984-85 type, the sort that bring down governments, argued Tufts University academics Sue Lautze and Angela Raven-Roberts in a 2004 paper. Dismissing the warning signals, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said earlier this month that there was no danger of famine this year. And Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopia's ambassador to Britain, said at the weekend: ‘We are addressing the problem. Food is in the pipeline.’”
The above piece is excerpted from an article in the UK newspaper The Independent, which can be found here.
Edited and posted by Elspeth, whose father needs to learn to use quotation marks (inverted commas, whatever) better, and to leaven his stories of death and disease with chicken sightings.
Feast or Fasting?
Fasting appears to be an Ethiopian Orthodox congregant’s lot in life. There are a total of six periods of fasting, in addition to every Wednesday and Friday. Fasting takes the form of abstaining from eating meat, fish or dairy. One result is that restaurants serve excellent vegetarian dishes. Conversely, on the feast days the menus are a veritable carnivore’s delight. This weekend celebrated the end of one of the two-week fasts. The reason for the fast/festival is obscure enough that no one I asked could explain its origin. This weekend also saw college graduation ceremonies; evidence the number of parties in the restaurant wearing graduation gowns.
I know it will surprise some to learn that since arriving, my diet has been wholly vegetarian. Not that I am complaining. That, however, was fully rectified on Sunday with a helping of kitfo, a form of Ethiopian-style steak tartare – delicious! Washed down with a generous, albeit the smallest they serve, glass of tej honey wine. A brewed concoction bright yellow in color and slightly syrupy in consistency with a slightly earthy taste and higher-than-average alcohol content, honey wine completes the traditional feast.
Elspeth, who is a vegetarian, edited and approved of this post.
I know it will surprise some to learn that since arriving, my diet has been wholly vegetarian. Not that I am complaining. That, however, was fully rectified on Sunday with a helping of kitfo, a form of Ethiopian-style steak tartare – delicious! Washed down with a generous, albeit the smallest they serve, glass of tej honey wine. A brewed concoction bright yellow in color and slightly syrupy in consistency with a slightly earthy taste and higher-than-average alcohol content, honey wine completes the traditional feast.
Elspeth, who is a vegetarian, edited and approved of this post.
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