ETHIOPIA

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

Ethiopia is the oldest independent nation in Africa. The current Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is located on a massive rugged mountainous plateau in Eastern Africa. Ethiopia is a large country, twice the size of Texas or about the size of Spain and France combined. It covers 435,071 kilometers or 1,127,127 square miles in area and is the tenth largest of Africa's 53 countries. Ethiopia's mountainous terrain discouraged many foreign invaders; however, this natural fortress posed difficulties for communication and travel, thus contributing to the slow spread of education.

Ethiopia has Africa's fourth largest population at 58,733,000. This number is despite millions who die periodically from some of the world's most devastating famines caused by prolonged cycles of drought. Millions of Ethiopians have fled natural and man-made disasters and live as refugees in Sudan, Kenya, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. The population is increasing at an annual rate of about 3 percent, and is expected to double in the next 14 years. Almost 73 percent of the population is under 18 years of age. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, has 2,431,000 inhabitants and is growing rapidly. The need for new schools increases with the rising youthful population. Ethiopia has a high infant mortality rate of approximately 121 infant deaths per 1,000 births. There is only 1 doctor for every 36,000 Ethiopians. Access to modern medicine outside of the major cities is a problem. Consequently, many people depend upon traditional ethnic medicine. The life expectancy for males is only 45, and for females it is 48 years. High death rates have moderated a massive population explosion. Because they depend on their children to support them in their old age, and, because there is no social security system, Ethiopians typically have large families.

Ethiopia has an ethnically diverse population. Some 40 percent of its population is Oromo, the Christian Amhara and their Tigre allies are 35 percent of the population, 9 percent are of Sidamo descent, and the remaining 19 percent come from small indigenous groups, such as the Mursi, Hamar, Konso, Karo, Surma, and Bumi. A wide variety of physical types are evident, along with many very different languages, religious affiliations, and beliefs. Some observers believe that this diversity holds back modernization and threatens to plunge the nation into divisive conflict. Other observers believe that this diversity is Ethiopia's strength and has enabled it to resist onslaughts from Europe and Asia. For millennia, the monarchy united Ethiopians in loyalty to the emperor, just as it has held Great Britain together.

Amharic (Amarigna) is the language of the dominant Amhara ethnic group. It was the language of the imperial rulers for many centuries and is still widely spoken throughout Ethiopia. This is the principal language of instruction in most Ethiopian schools today. Millions of Ethiopians also speak Tigrinya, Oromo, Somali, Arabic, Italian, or English. The English language is growing in importance as the main language of instruction, especially in universities. Arabic is widely spoken in the north and east, and 40 to 45 percent of the Ethiopian population is Muslim. These people must learn Arabic to read their holy book, the Koran, which is written in ancient Arabic. The latter is very different from modern spoken Arabic, thus many Ethiopians cannot speak modern Arabic fluently. Approximately 35 to 40 percent of Ethiopia's population is Coptic Christian.

For many centuries Muslims refused to attack or invade Christian Ethiopia. Today Muslims are converting four new converts for every one converted to Christianity. They are zealous in their pursuit of converts all over Africa. By contrast, Christians seem to have lost their missionary zeal. Muslims traditionally attend Koran school, rather than state sponsored schools. This puts them at a disadvantage on national examinations for civil service jobs, as well as exams used to select government workers. These national examinations are often written in either English or Amharic. Christian schools use either Amharic or English as the language of instruction. This gives Christians a decisive advantage and helps explain their continued domination of Ethiopia's institutions, despite their minority status. Emperor Yohannes IV (1871-89) sought national unity through religious conformity, while Menelik II (1889-1913) sought centralization of government functions, creation of government health centers, financing of small industries, and spreading education as a means of creating that unity for Ethiopia. Both used church schools to educate Ethiopians.

For several thousand years religion controlled education in Ethiopia. The ancient Axumites created a system of writing that evolved from a Sabean script believed to have been introduced from Arabia. Similar to written Hebrew and related to Phoenician, the system is phonetic. The ancient Ge'ez language descended from such origins. Stone monoliths record the daring feats of ancient kings in Ge'ez, which has been the liturgical language of Ethiopia's Jews for 3,000 years and the Ethiopian Coptic Christian church since A.D. 400. This language was developed by a sophisticated ancient civilization and used not only by priests, but also by rulers who created impressive stone palaces, temples, and tombs, like the obelisks found at Aksum. Writings in Ge'ez, as well as Greek and Sabean, inscribed on these monuments describe military campaigns, the victories of Ethiopian kings, and trade with Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Greece, and India. Gold and silver coins were minted to facilitate commerce and trade.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous African religions have long peacefully co-existed in Ethiopia, but tensions have occasionally erupted in violence. Each major religion created schools for children of its adherents. Christianity is dominant in the north, northwest, and central states. Judaism is limited to the Lake Tana region. Islam is strong in the east, south, and west. Indigenous religions are strong in the southern, eastern, and western regions.

By far, the greatest traditional schools were constructed and managed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church. King Erzana started church schools to perpetuate Christianity, but church schools achieved their "golden age" of expansion between A.D. 1200 and 1500. Church education has changed little since that time. Its primary mission has been to train individuals for the priesthood, but the secondary mission has been to spread the faith through Christian culture. Church schools trained not only priests, but monks and debtera (cantors), who were often better educated than the priests they served. The debteras were church scholars, custodians of education, and a privileged elite who helped decide who held power. Many were children of the elite and sought to keep the elite in power. Teachers were also trained in church schools, along with civil servants, such as judges, governors, scribes, treasurers, and administrators of all sorts. Religious schools were the only source of trained personnel.

Prompted by Italy, which militarily occupied Eritrea between 1885 and 1892, Emperor Menelik II began the modernization and secularization of Ethiopian education. The church did not challenge his opening of competing secular schools from 1905 onward. The government was modernized by creating 10 ministries, and the administration of education was left in the hands of the church, which satisfied its leaders. Secular curriculums included the study of French, English, Arabic, Italian, Amharic, Ge'ez, mathematics, physical training, and sports. Tuition, as well as room and board, were paid for by the emperor. From 1905 on, Ethiopians began to associate secular education with national progress. The elite began to discuss the need for universal education and literacy.

Empress Zewditu Menelik declared in 1921:

Every parent is hereby required to teach his child reading and writing through which the child may learn the difference between good and evil. . . . Any parent refusing to do so will be fined 50 dollars. . . . Those of you who are leaders of parishes in rural as well as urban areas, in addition to your regular responsibilities in the churches, teach the children of your respective communities how to read and write. . . . If you fail to teach, you will be deprived of your positions entrusted to you. . . . Every parent, after you have taught your child how to read and write, make him attend your choice of any of the local trade schools, lest your child will be faced with difficulty earning a livelihood. If you fail to do so, you will be considered as one who has deprived another of limbs, and accordingly you will be fined 50 dollars, which money will be used for the education of the poor. This proclamation applies to those between the ages of 7 and 21 years. A parent will not be held responsible for any child of his who is over 21 years old.

In effect, Ethiopia declared war against ignorance and illiteracy with the aim of transforming the country into a literate industrial society.

The evolution of education in Ethiopia can be logically divided into five periods. The first is the Pre-European traditional educational system, which was followed by the initial period of Secular education from 1900-1936, during which Ethiopian monarchs attempted to modernize education. The Italian Colonial educational system began in 1936 and lasted until 1941. The Independence era, which lasted from 1941 to 1974, was characterized by the efforts of a restored Emperor, Haile Selassie, to revive and develop Ethiopia's educational system. Finally, there was the post-Selassie Afro-Marxist and post-Marxist modern educational reform period which continues into 2001.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM—OVERVIEW

Education between the ages of 7 to 13 is free and compulsory. Jobs in Ethiopia's growing industrial sector require command of English in many cases, especially in the computer-related high-tech sector. Illiteracy rates are very high in farming communities where farming techniques have changed little over the centuries. Agriculture employs most Ethiopians, but industrial employment is increasing rapidly as emerging industries create new jobs.

Calligraphy was at one time a valued skill. It took one year to copy a book by hand. Books were treasured. A good scribe could support himself reproducing books. Scribes learned to illustrate their books with beautiful art depicting selected topics. They made leather covers and bound their books. Each page was made from either goat or sheep skin. Because of the time involved, and materials needed, the cost of book production was high. Great artists were granted the title Aleqa. Carried in special leather cases on the back under one's shawl, these priceless treasures were read each morning after rising and each night before sleeping. The art of making reed pens, ink, and parchment were also learned skills, and a master scribe was a valued member of a community. Ethiopian calligraphy reached its peak of perfection between A.D. 1400 and 1500.

The adviser to the Ministry of Education, Ernest Work, argued for the creation of a uniquely Ethiopian system of education. Work recommended that Amharic be the language of instruction. He argued that, "Ethiopian boys and girls should be educated in their own languages, learn about their own country and men and interesting things, as well as the world in general." He drew up a plan that mandated six years of elementary education for all. Industrial and trade school, agricultural schools, and homemaking courses followed elementary school. Five or six years of additional education was recommended for students who wanted to go into business. The final piece of Work's plan called for an Ethiopian university. He felt it should be established with foreign, private aid. It should foster a college of education for teacher training as well. A resident of Addis Abba commented on general literacy in 1935, saying, "It was remarkable to the resident of many year's standing that whereas in 1920 the boy of his household staff who could read and write was notable, in 1935 among the same society there were few young men and boys who had not mastered the elementary processes of reading and writing the Amharic script." Some teachers still teach Amharic using the fidel (Ethiopian alphabet) with 231 characters, but rather than make students memorize these they use Laubach, which are representations that are easier for students to grasp. They call this their "global approach." After mastering this, many students go on to learn the derse (how to write) or 12 types of essays. Sawasiw (grammar), is also learned by these leed (scholars). This honor is no longer restricted to the privileged.

There were 21 government schools and many more religious schools in 1935. The enrollment in just the government schools was 4,200 students, which excluded students studying abroad and in religious schools.

The language of instruction officially changed from Amharic to English after 1944. All books and materials were printed in English. This placed a heavy burden on learners for whom this was a second or third language. The British Council helped to ease the burden of this change by setting up libraries with books, pamphlets, and periodicals in English for Ethiopians. After 1954, Amharic was used from kindergarten to second grade, with English studied as a foreign language. English was the medium of instruction for third grade through the university.

The first evidence of radical educational reform was the post-revolution (1975-76) literacy campaign or Zemecha. More than half a million students with some high school education or more, as well as their teachers and professors, were pressed into service in an effort at development through cooperation. Their goal was to teach peasants to read and write in a year and a half. Each literate teacher was assigned 40 illiterate students. This army of literacy teachers was trained for 5 to 10 days in psychology, teaching methods, techniques for creating order in class, and the use of educational materials and teaching aids. The books they used also taught practical skills such as how to count money in a market place when selling crops, hygiene, childcare, and terracing land to prevent soil erosion.

The Empress Menen Girls' School originally opened in 1931 to educate Ethiopian girls and played an important role in educating Ethiopian women in the first decade following restored independence. By the early 1950s it had become one of the top four general secondary schools. The school sought to give girls a technical education, but it also tried to preserve traditional female occupations. Gradually, the school expanded to include a one-year teacher training course and a three-year diploma course.

Girls participated in traditional education far less than boys. Ethiopians believe that a woman's place is in the home or working in the farm fields with her husband. The art of homemaking was paramount. Attention was given to learning to bow low when greeting elders and strangers, as well as the custom of women receiving articles with both hands. These were the hallmarks of well-trained, traditional Ethiopian women. However, post-war Ethiopia declared that both boys and girls should be afforded equal opportunities. The number of female students between 1944 and 1951 averaged 19.5 percent. This was a problem. Many girls either stayed home or dropped out.

In addition to traditional classes and schooling, there were other educational opportunities as well. Technical schools were rebuilt and expanded. The language of instruction changed from French to English. Mechanics, electrical engineering, carpentry, and other practical subjects were offered along with mathematics, chemistry, physics, and history. The aim was to produce technicians, technical supervisors, and foremen.

Agricultural schools, such as the Ambo Agricultural School, were created to teach scientific commercial farming. The idea was to develop such schools into colleges of agricultural science. They were located near fertile farmland with ample rainfall and possible irrigation and hydroelectric sources. The United States provided a complete agricultural laboratory. Schools were well equipped with farm tools and machines. Graduates earned certificates that allowed them to work as agricultural technicians or to teach agricultural science in elementary schools. Some worked as farm managers, agricultural advisers, or as assistants on experimental stations. Modern farming techniques and practices thus entered Ethiopian society.

Traditional Ethiopian education was private and stressed the centrality of religion, the needs of the soul over those of the human body, modesty, humility, and dedication to persistent pursuit of thoroughness. Nobles prided themselves on being patrons of education, the arts, and literature. Many sponsored the creation of books and works of art. Elite parents hired resident scholars to teach their children. They gave generously to church sponsored schools, and the Orthodox Coptic Church jealously guarded its dominant role in education. Isolated cases of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Orthodox, Swedish Evangelical, and Hebrew schools could be found, and some noble children studied abroad at great expense. Students returning from overseas study often met with cool or even hostile receptions. Suspicion of things foreign was understandable given Ethiopia's history of defending itself against foreign forces that attempted to destroy it.

Decades ago, in principle, schools were open to girls and boys, but in practice, only boys whose parents were members of Orthodox churches were admitted. Traditional church schools were not impartial, nor were they democratic. No pretense of serving all citizens of Ethiopia was claimed or practiced. Most students lived at school, and the teacher served also as a parental figure. There were no classes on holidays or Sundays. Senior students assisted the priest in church services as a form of in-service training.

Preprimary schools remain the monopoly of church schools that teach writing and reading skills before children enter public, government-run schools. For tradition-bound conservative Ethiopians, such education is still important. Ethiopia has more than a quarter of a million trained priests educated within this traditional system. More than 20,000 churches and monasteries have schools attached which offer traditional education. In areas where the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Monophysite faith is practiced, other religions can set up schools, but they cannot recruit converts to their religion. Despite revolutionary change, such schools provide one type of literacy and training to large numbers of Ethiopians.

Curriculum under the Italians changed from how it was conducted under Ethiopian control; invading Italian forces changed the Ethiopian educational system in 1936. In the process of this change, thousands of educated Ethiopians were killed, and the survivors became exiles in England, France, and the United States. Italy created a dual system of education. European children were given sound academic training and prepared to lead, whereas Ethiopian children were educated for servitude. Their education was inferior in quality, thus preventing them from ever competing against Italians or challenging their authority or right to rule. Missionary schools complied with Italian educational regulations. Coptic, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and state schools were encouraged as a form of divide and rule tactic.

Beyond basic literacy, Italian colonial education for Ethiopians was designed merely to buy their loyalty. African schools were limited to teaching in Ge'ez, Tigranya, and Amharic. Religion, not science, was stressed for Africans, while just the reverse was true for Italian children. Italian scholars felt that ancient Rome made a mistake when it educated the native chiefs of Britain. Therefore, the Italians were advised not to educate Ethiopians beyond elementary school and not to teach them the Italian language.

Before the Italian invasion Ethiopia had over 4,000 students in schools, but after the invasion that number dropped sharply to 1,400 students. Inferior instruction for Ethiopians magnified the tragedy. Textbook printers were ordered to exclude all reference to Italy in 1848 and to the Italian revolution.

PREPRIMARY & PRIMARY EDUCATION

In the pre-European traditional educational system, children in primary schools, learned to read and write Ge'ez's 265 characters. Emphasis was placed on rote memorization. Admitted between the ages of 7 and 12, the time required for graduation depended on intelligence, health, and motivation. Elementary pupils had to learn to read, write, and recite the Dawit Medgem (Psalms of David). There are 15 sections, called negus (kings), which normally took two years to master. Next they learned to sing kum zema (church hymns), which took four years, and msaewait zema (advanced singing), which took an additional year to learn. Liturgical dancing and systrum holding required three years. Qine (poetry) and law required five years to learn. The interpretation of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Apostles' Creed, took four years on average, while the interpretation of the works of learned monks and priests took three years. When a student knew the psalms by heart, he had mastered the "house of reading" and was now considered an elementary school graduate. His family gave a lavish feast to celebrate this achievement. If they could afford it, they gave his teacher property, money, clothes, or other gifts. Many subjects were learned simultaneously as in middle school.

Orthodox Coptic Church schools provided much needed training in reading and writing in preprimary schools. Thus, many children already had basic literacy skills by age six upon starting primary school. The first postwar formal curriculum was a 6-6 structure: six years of elementary school followed by six years of secondary school.

During the early 1930s, 18 percent of primary school age children were in school. By contrast, beginning in the early 1970s and continuing on into 2001, more than 50 percent of primary school age children attended school. The absolute number of primary school students increased from 859,000 to over 2 million. The number of primary school teachers rose from 18,642 to more than 35,000 during this period, but the teacher student ratio rose to 1 teacher for every 90 students. Overcrowding has also led the government to create a three-shift system, to extend the academic year by two months, and to stagger starting dates to accommodate rising demand. Nevertheless, the gains in education are impressive and substantial.

Revolutionaries increased primary schools from 2,754 to 5,800 between 1974 and 1984. They concentrated on building new primary schools in rural areas to end the placement of schools in privileged urban communities. Most new schools were built in under-privileged urban and rural areas. Formally neglected students had opportunities to learn, which were reinforced by quota systems that guaranteed them seats in secondary schools and universities as an additional incentive to learn. Revolutionary curriculums stress vocational studies over academic subjects. Gardening is introduced in the fourth grade. Polytechnic training begins in fifth grade, along with political education and history. The teacher pupil ratio increased from 1 teacher for every 44 students in 1974, to 1 teacher for every 64 students after the revolution because access to educational opportunities expanded.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Middle school involved learning the Merha Euoor (Book of the Blind), which took six months, and history, which took one year. Mathematics, astronomy, canon and civil law, Christian ethics, world history, and the Amharic language were also studied in middle school. Amharic is considered the language of national unification and literature. Many subjects could be learned simultaneously if the student had the aptitude. Completion of middle school qualified a student to serve as a deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church.

Many schools were boarding schools to accommodate the large number of war orphans who were homeless. This led to marked attrition at the secondary school level, except for bright students. Secondary school students who wanted to attend universities had to take the London Matriculation Examination, the General Certificate Examination, or the Ethiopian Secondary School Certificate Examination. Students headed for the United States took the College Entrance Examination set by the Board of Regents of New York State. These examinations measured Ethiopian secondary school graduates against international competitors for university seats globally.

In 1948 two years of junior high school were added, and secondary education was reduced to a four year curriculum. From 1954 on, primary school consisted of the first four grades, and junior high school started at the fifth grade and ended with the eighth grade. Efforts were made to create a uniform curriculum to facilitate transfers between schools. By 1943 the Haile Selassie Secondary School opened its doors and began training students. This school offered a full four-year secondary program. Most of the teachers were foreign. The school had two tracks. The first track prepared students for university entrance, while the second track prepared students for further technical training in vocations. The British assisted by opening the General Wingate Secondary School. This school had science laboratories, and offered classes in science, art, music, and handicrafts. Both secondary schools were boarding schools.

Competitive examination at the end of sixth grade determines which students can advance to junior high, high school, vocational training, and ultimately, the university. Elementary school students who fail the tests set by the Ministry of Education are not allowed to repeat a class. Failed students are not prepared for jobs, but neither can they go on to high school.

Junior high schools increased from 420 in 1973 to over 800 in 2001. Students attending junior high school rose from 101,800 to more than 215,000. The number of junior high school teachers rose from 3,226 to over 4,800. Polytechnic education is being expanded to include all children between the ages of 7 to 14 years of age. The goal is to stream junior high graduates into vocational training and productive work in line with Ethiopia's demands for industrial, health care, and service industry workers.

High school construction rose from 113 to an excess of 190 and is still rising rapidly. The secondary school population expanded from 82,300 to over 220,000 students. The high school teacher population rose from 2,955 to more than 5,500. The teacher pupil ratio rose from 1 teacher for every 10 students in 1962 to 1 teacher for every 30 students in 1970 and 1 teacher for every 44 students in 1984. In one sense this illustrates more open access to education; however, quality of education becomes a concern. Before 1974 approximately 91 percent of high school students entered the academic stream, 7 percent went into vocational subjects, and 2 percent studied education as part of teacher training.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Originally, the equivalent of higher education was reserved for students who intended to become debtera or leed themselves. This was a very small elite group of scholars. Advanced courses were only offered at special centers located in Gondar, Gojam, Tigre, and Wollo. Students had to memorize each lesson without flaw to advance. Three areas of specialization were studied. A student attended academies of music, poetry, and written texts. Life in the academy was severe, simple, and demanding. Students awoke at dawn each morning to prepare for the religious service. The master sat on an elevated platform, surrounded by admiring students. They recited the previous day's lesson and then began memorizing the new lesson for that day. Classes ended by late afternoon. They ate a modest dinner and then went out collecting firewood. The day's lessons were reinforced until midnight when they slept.

Advanced students began their training at the academy of music. These academies were attached to designated churches or monasteries. Works composed by Yared, a great composer and lyricist of the sixth century, were studied. He created a system of musical notation still widely used. Written in Ge'ez, it has dots, lines, and directional signs that tell the student how to sing a verse. Academy graduates can read these symbols and sing correctly. Ezel (low-voiced and dignified singing) was reserved for funerals, fasts, and vigils. Arary (light and happy singing) was reserved for great festivals and weddings. The Degwa (essential collection of ecclesiastical music) was mastered. Liturgical chants were accompanied by religious dancing, kabaro (drumming), and tsentsil (systrum) playing. It typically took eight years to complete the advanced courses in Ethiopian Church music. Ethiopian secular music, known as azmari (wandering minstrel), could also be studied. This music dealt with love, death, marriage, harvesting, and the like. An azmari, or minstrel, traveled widely, performing at weddings and joyous celebrations. He flattered, cajoled, and goaded people into dancing, laughing, and giving away money. He could use poetry and songs to insult anyone, even nobles.

The academy of poetry was the next challenge for advanced students. Students learned to translate Amharic into Ge'ez and enlarged their vocabularies in both languages. They studied Ethiopian culture, its traditions, folkways, values, and customs, as well as its rules and regulations. Comprehension of texts in Ge'ez was essential for students. They spent time in isolated solitude to compose original poems in Ge'ez. Though critiqued by the professors, originality was encouraged. Ge'ez grammar and philology and 12 styles of poetic composition form the curriculum of the poetry academy, which took 13 years to complete. Passages from famous philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Zara Yacob, and Wolde Hiywet, were also studied.

The literary academy was the third academy of higher education. This school of literary texts required scholars to properly interpret stories and passages from the Old and New Testaments, together with literature, fiction, and books on the monastic life. Texts such as the Laws of Kings, the foundation of Ethiopian law for centuries, were also studied. Global history was taught from an Ethiopian perspective. Ten years were required to graduate from the literary academy.

The development of local schools in each province that sent their better students for education in the capital or abroad was encouraged. These local schools stressed knowledge of Ethiopia. Ethiopia's most promising scholars were given scholarships to study in Europe, the Middle East, other African nations, and North America. The largest number went to France, where most studied law, politics, economics, and science. French was Ethiopia's leading foreign language, thus many students felt comfortable in French universities.

A university college in Ethiopia was created in 1931 to reduce the expense and training of administrators. In 1941, old blueprints for this college were reactivated, and the emperor approved a plan. A Canadian Jesuit priest, Dr. Lucien Matte, was selected to head the college. By 1954 a civil charter was granted, and Haile Selassie University became a reality in 1961. Thus, following World War II, Ethiopia had built an educational system that covered a wide range of learning needs from kindergarten to the university level.

In 1965 the Ethiopian University Service was created (EUS). This program required university students to serve as teachers in rural Ethiopia for one academic year, between their third and forth years of study.

Entrance examinations to universities have been extremely competitive. They were inequitable and favored children of the elite from the best schools, usually from major urban areas. The twelfth grade school leaving examination alone screened out 80 percent of university applicants. From 1940 to 1960 those who failed to enter college were given government jobs. By 1970, there were few government jobs to dole out. Even the Armed Forces were full to capacity with high school graduates who had failed the university entrance exam.

In the early 1970s, a program was instituted to make a quota system for university student selection. Students from each region were assigned seats based upon the percentage of their ethnic group in Ethiopia's total population. The idea was to be fair to all groups. To achieve this goal, admission standards were lowered. Many students admitted had never seen a science laboratory in their rural homeland schools. They often knew neither English nor Amharic and found it difficult to follow lectures. The urban terrain was unfamiliar and frightening, and many dropped out and retreated to their mountain homes. Quotas proved a failure and the old selection system was quietly put back in place. Another program also tried to shorten the time needed to complete a degree from four years to three. Given the low quality of education in the high schools, this experiment also failed and had to be phased out. Students simply needed more time to master English and gain scientific knowledge.

A small number of students who complete high school enter universities, despite the explosion of education at the primary and secondary levels. In 1981, approximately 75,000 students took the university entrance examination (ESLCE), but only 3,000 were admitted to four-year colleges, while another 2,000 were admitted into institutes of technology and training schools. The number of students seeking university education is increasing rapidly, but Ethiopia's institutions of higher education do not yet have the capacity to absorb them.

ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Originally, the Ethiopian government alone could not finance universal education, so missionaries of all denominations were allowed to build schools. This further broadened the base of education, but Ethiopians viewed non-Coptic religious education as unpatriotic. To them, learning from Catholics was a betrayal of the nation. Any education outside of Orthodox Coptic Church schools was tantamount to being anti-Ethiopian. They felt that learning in a Catholic school amounted to accepting Catholicism and represented a betrayal of national honor and the native religion. Such persons were willing instruments in the hands of alien powers. The Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church encouraged such attitudes toward both secular and non-Coptic schools, which hampered the spread of education nationally. Despite this, French Catholics opened the Ecole Francaise, which by 1921 had graduated 1,400 students. Education was free. The old Coptic Church monopoly on education was giving way to a diverse array of other schools, which complimented traditional religious education, which continues to flourish. To meet the rising cost of education a special education tax of 6 percent was levied on all imports and exports.

After his official coronation as emperor in 1930, Haile Selassie put all education under the control of the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts. The education tax generated revenue, and the new emperor added 2 percent of the treasury's national revenue to support education.

Finance for postwar secular education came from two sources. Approximately 3 percent of export taxes financed education. This was supplemented by dedicating 30 percent of the land tax to education. After 1948, elementary schools in rural areas were financed by a special rural land tax. Only church land was exempt. All other education was financed by the national treasury, which devoted 20 percent of its total income to education. This set a pattern followed later by Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta, who dedicated 30 percent of Kenya's budget to education.

Afro-Marxists have mobilized ordinary citizens in rural and urban areas to form associations. These committees furnish labor and building materials, and the government furnishes blueprints for school buildings. These citizen brigades are expected to build 16,000 learning centers throughout Ethiopia. Materials and tools are donated by the government if a community can not afford them. During the same period, the government committed itself to building 1,800 new primary schools. The new regime is promoting the idea of self-help and self-taxation to meet its educational targets.

NONFORMAL EDUCATION

Restoration of Ethiopia's education system was an impressive feat which included adult education. As early as 1948, the emperor opened the Berhanih Zare New (Your Light Is Today), a school and cultural institute whose ultimate purpose was to branch out into the field of mass education so that every person in the Empire would become literate in a prescribed period. Plans were made to adopt a simplification of the Amharic alphabet as a vehicle for achieving this end. Nevertheless, the goal of universal literacy remained elusive.

The adult literacy rate in 2001 remains at 35 percent. The main beneficiaries of adult literacy have been women who traditionally were less likely to be educated then men. Female enrollment in most schools is less than 34 percent, but in adult literacy classes it exceeds 50 percent in rural areas and 74 percent in cities.

Distance learning, via radio and television, beams 1,200 lessons per year in 10 languages to millions of Ethiopians in remote regions. Impressive gains by the Zemecha suggest that if they could agree to stop fighting one another, Ethiopia could eliminate illiteracy.

TEACHING PROFESSION

With few educated Ethiopians to teach the children and educated foreigners still fully committed to successfully defeating the Axis Powers and ending World War II, it was difficult for Ethiopia to rebuild its education system. Few Ethiopians remained who were either qualified to teach or had teaching experience. At all levels Ethiopians had to rely on foreign teachers to reopen their schools. For this reason, the courses taught and the methods of instruction were not uniform. These varied from one school to the next. The English, Swedes, Americans, and other nationalities conducted classes as they would at home. In 1962, after several decades of rebuilding and training teachers, the Bureau of Educational Research and Statistics reported that 62 percent of Ethiopia's teachers had only elementary education or lower, 13 percent had 3 to 4 years, 16 percent had 1 year of teacher training, and 9 percent had some teacher training at the community level. Under colonial rule, the best teachers taught at the university level and the worst at the primary school level. Primary school teacher salaries were so low that it was difficult to recruit and retain teachers with even a modest primary education. Ethiopia put the most money into the lower grades because it was believed that only a broadly educated mass could earn enough disposable income to support a small elite of doctors, lawyers, bureaucrats, artists, and administrators. Without such a semi-educated mass, the elite could not flourish. Ethiopia needed many teachers to reach this goal and to train them required constructing teachers' colleges.

A joint UNESCO- and USAID-funded and equipped teacher training program at Debre Berhan Community Teacher Training School failed because it required students to learn how to operate brick making equipment, build milking sheds for dairy cattle, make butter and cheese, and grow the vegetables that they ate at school. Parents objected that they wanted students to study academic subjects because the parents could teach them how to farm at home. Their attitude toward manual labor was negative. Many graduates were not accepted as agricultural experts when they returned home because elders culturally refused to accept orders or instruction from youth. Mothers pulled daughters out of the school complaining that they could learn hygiene, child-care, cooking, and handicrafts at home. They argued that their daughters did not have to go to school to learn such subjects. More than 42 percent of graduates dropped out of teaching after 5 years of service. More than money or materials, the limited number of teachers slowed the expansion of mass education. This teacher training college was abandoned after many parents transferred their children to other schools more academically oriented. Attitudes and culture held education back in postwar Ethiopia. Social Impact Assessments that predict the social response to development became mandatory by the 1970s to help avoid such costly cultural mistakes.

SUMMARY

Ethiopia is an old and proud African nation with a long tradition of education. With each era new forms of education were added to previous forms, which continue to function and provide literacy in Ge'ez, Amharic, and Arabic. The old religious schools still can be relied on to provide basic literacy in remote regions. Secular schools now build on this foundation and extend it. Emperors Menelik II and Haile Selassie added a secular layer of educational institutions on top of the existing religious schools. Literacy and education were offered to many who could not have dreamed of this privilege in the past. Prosecuting two costly wars led to the slow growth of secondary education and the virtual stagnation of university level opportunities, despite tremendous pent-up demand. This may lead to social volatility, tensions, and turmoil in the future unless it is resolved.

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—Dallas L. Browne