Abstract
The history of modern education in Ethiopian is short. What is not so short, however, is the history of traditional education, temehert. It goes back as far as the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia – fourth century EC. Since its inception, education had a close, if ambivalent, relationship with different ideological tenets, and each tenet trying to formulate its educational philosophy around its own unique narrative. While some narratives arose from indigenous legend, others are imported (and domesticated in some cases) from abroad. In this essay, I do not intend to discuss educational policies per se. I, however, intend to show how a deliberate, or unwitting, de-link with indigenous legend would affect the trajectory, and also the success, in educational system in Ethiopia. After a brief paradigmatic characterization of two ideologies and their underlying narratives, I will critically unravel the ethno-federalism educational philosophy of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its undergirding ethnic legends. I focus on ethno-federalist system because it is an incumbent philosophy. After discussing a nascent remedy proposed by MaimireMennasemay, vis,.the notion of tezeta, I intend to argue for the primacy of the notion of qal-kidan as a better alternative. I will base my argument on the cultural prevalence, but also conceptual credibility.
Highlights
The history of modern education in Ethiopian is short
The schooling system and conditions were tuned in such a way as to equipstudents to insulate themselves from the pursuit of material wealth (Bushell 2002: 553). Albeit this kind of educational philosophy can be rooted in a certain theological interpretation of creation, dualistic understanding of reality was rooted in Greek Platonic philosophy
I made an effort in this essay to show the roots of the alleged ‘crisis’ in Ethiopian education
Summary
Education was (is still) taken in Ethiopia as a hermeneutical journey. Both the State and the church, especially the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), were aware of the fact that education involves providing students with interpretive tools to understand reality surrounding them. I will here discuss traditional educational system ( known as Ye KoloTemhert Bet) and the educational system under the Dergue (Ethiopian Marxist regime) The former takes indigenous legend as the point of departure. The schooling system and conditions were tuned in such a way as to equipstudents to insulate themselves from the pursuit of material wealth (Bushell 2002: 553) Albeit this kind of educational philosophy can be rooted in a certain theological interpretation of creation, dualistic understanding of reality was rooted in Greek (especially) Platonic philosophy. Despite some notable success, the educational philosophy did not have a narrative that resonates to the culture and Ethiopian way of life This is because, as TekesteNegash argues, the curriculum did not have a coherent strategy, and it was based on ad hoc teaching system ‘left to teachers who came from different countries with different backgrounds’(Tekeste 2006: 12).
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