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One recently published research discussed the outcome and short coming of education in Ethiopia. The research focused only on the higher institutions. The outcome of the research while revealing the weakness of the educational system it fall short of assessing the very cause of the weaknesses that goes beyond the current existing higher education system. The lower educational system that feeds the higher education institutes, the culture of education, public expectation and values of education and lastly the economic, social and political integration of education with the larger public needs.
Education in its broadest sense is any act or understanding that has a shaping effect on the mind, character, or skills of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another through institutions and other traditional means. In the case of Ethiopian the purpose of modern education was designed with a view toward preparing students with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities in a hope to provide for the economic prosperity of the country and in turn earning a respectable living for graduates. Initially the modernization in education was focused on the gradual replacement of high level foreign professionals who served in the government sector. So government became the sole consumer of the educated manpower narrowing the streams and programs of education to serve the established feudal apparatus by large. Government employment became the motivational deriving force of the educational process shaping the culture and expectation of education in the larger public. Parents sent their children to school in a hope of securing respectable employment in government offices away from home. Thus the culture of success in education was measured by the level and influence of the government post one holds upon graduation. Working in the field and being localized was considered as a failure that remains aggressively discouraged by participants and their supporters. Often partially educated returnees are shamed and degraded as underdogs in society. So most unsuccessful graduates from a high school remain in the urbanized corners or migrate to more populated cities struggling for survival victimized by the elimination process. I will leave the modes and types of survival means for another discussion since its huge impact influences our cruel and inhuman urban life. The successful scholars are rewarded and transition to the next level of competition and at the end enjoying the privilege and power city life could provide. The adverse consequence is the acceptance of subtle hate of the rural life as a norm shared amongst many not only because of the low quality and limited life standard it provides but by the virtue of the culture of education developed to improve its parts. Further the same progression of elimination enforced in the culture of competition and coupled by other significant manmade daunting factors gave rise to mass immigration of higher grade professionals outside of the country that currently extended out of control. Some may disagree with my assessment of the problems by citing some superficial changes implemented in some parts of the country, however the basics and significance prove of the challenges presented by overpopulated urbanization, lack of resources to support it, number of unemployment and the overcrowded infrastructure are clear indication of the disconnection against the rural settlement, which runs in the opposite direction. Did the current limited decentralization of some services effectively close the gap between the two? No it further widened the gap and created a new problem in trust between the rural and urban residents. For example the decentralized higher education at the level of colleges and universities accept high school graduates based on assigned specialization. However the complication created by the premature and irrational ethnic centered education policy, made the success of the learning process and education programs beyond reach for both faculties and students alike. Most candidates assigned to campuses have to comply not by choice but because of the absence of alternative. In my e-mail correspondence last year majority candidates complained about their campus assignment and the dissatisfaction of their parents in the deal, Noted: unmatched candidate campus assignment, lack of planning and preparation of candidate and their parents, lack of clear understanding of objectives, lack of information about each campus, life, environment, surrounding culture , leisure time recreation, etc. These in fact would serve as the precipitating basic factors promising failure in the kind of educational endeavor the country is engaged. The increasing number of college graduates by thousands has already become difficult to accommodate in the current job market by ethnicity as legislated subject to federalism and the overall prognosis of future national job market is profoundly poor for years to come. As it is universally true in many developing economies as rightly cited by the researcher "ignoring the quality and maintaining the quantity of education does not add any value to the Ethiopian economy, instead it ends up with producing educated but unemployed citizens." What we need in Ethiopia is a transparent and useful educational culture with research backed purpose, focused on the needs of its society and the quality and quantity of its products measured by the set of comprehensive socio-political and economic development of the country. Its measured value should be an integral part of every milestone of grassroots communal activities, schools, private enterprises, governmental, non-governmental organizations, religious, civic and social organizations. Its simplified effect is easy to follow and its localized nature makes identification of needs for improvement and opportunities for expansion attainable in a reasonable amount of time. The development of a transparent and useful educational culture is only possible through full and active participation of its consumers and producers under equal and non threatening circumstances. Hence such culture is dependable and sustainable and assures the balance between supply and demand through ownership by the people for the people. However educational culture in general as an inseparable entity of the democratic process and outcome, its progress should be assessed in the context of the challenges faced by specific democratic movement, hence the findings of the recently conducted research explains the symptom of the imbued chain reaction of a malfunctioning characteristic to the current Ethiopian democratic affairs.
Significant citation from the research:
The major purpose of the research which was conducted by Forum for Social Studies (FSS) with the support of the European Union (EU) was to assess inputs, process and outputs related factors that are presumed to have effects on the quality of science education, according to the researchers.
The study, presented on Monday put the newly introduced 70:30 (Science technology and Social Science) professional mix policy in higher institutions indubitable the labor supply of higher education has to concord with market demands.
On the other hand, the research finding indicated, the quality of science education in the higher institutions become reducing. Subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English were cases in point. The declining performance of students in tests is noticeable in higher learning institutions in Ethiopia, the research revealed.
Accordingly, low qualification of science instructors; low teaching experience in higher learning institutions, limited availability of educational resources, inadequate pre-university academic preparation of students and other factors combined will have paramount repercussion on the quality of education and there by preparation of students to the world of work.
Three National Learning Assessments conducted in Ethiopia by the National Organization for Examination at grade 4 and 8 revealed that a continuous decline of students' performance observed in English, Mathematics, Science, Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects. The performance of students in grade 8, specifically were far below standard set by Ministry of Education (50%).
The study also mentioned, the pre-university performance of students was one of the criteria to choose field in public universities.
"The students have no chance to choose fields they are interested. In addition to that, the students who scored relatively low in the entrance exam have neither the chance to join the fields they want to study nor have the opportunity to be successful in many of the fields." The research recommended that, quality of education in general and science in particular should be a major concern for policy makers, teachers, industry leaders, parents and other stakeholders. They should highly be concerned about the adequacy and preparation of work force for the market demand of the country.
End of Citation
This research by itself does not indicate the direction that the country has to follow but it clearly indicates the failure of the current educational policy and strategy. Developing a useful and transparent educational culture is an initial point of alternative that the society needs to discuss in order to alter the presenting educational problem in Ethiopia. The huge concentration of the educated and skilled unemployment in urban Ethiopia and their persistent lack in the rural Ethiopia with an outcome of chronic poverty is nothing but mismanagement, if not ill-management, of the human and natural resources of a nation. As indicated in the research finding, there is no grade level or regions or ethnicity that remains neutral and the devastating effect is fast paced swallowing the system into complete collapse. No multiplication of new universities, huge number of graduates, importing and exporting of graduates, out sourcing and in sourcing skilled labor and building huge roads, houses could solve a crisis in educational culture. Only when the people and the government start sharing equal responsibility in upholding the issue as a priority, would they find a common ground for a successful and sustainable solution.
