Gadaa System was registered to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO before three years for its best cultural values transferred down to generation. Currently, it has been planned to include Gadaa System into its curriculum, Bule Hora University announced recently.
According to Chala Awota (PhD), President of Bule Hora University, the university designed curriculum to the system and reached on the final stage to offer as a course. This has been taken into consideration that all universities identify sectors for center of excellence with regard to natural resources available in their surroundings. Bule Hora University has already identified and been working on the sectors of agriculture, minerals and indigenous knowledge since its establishment.
Part of the reason for these research fields to be chosen is recognition for the natural resources and cultural values in the area of the university. As the university is located in Western Guji Zone which is rich in mineral resource, the university has given prior emphasis for minerals research aiming at benefitting the surrounding community and also to make the country tough competent globally in the mineral sector.
The second research center of excellence, as to Dr. Chala, is the agricultural sector for the reason that Guji Zone is known for its coffee product and animals’ resource. Conducting high-tech research on these agricultural resources benefits the surrounding community in addition to making the country competent in world market.
The university’s third research center of excellence is the indigenous knowledge sector. Guji area is known especially for its Gadaa System. In the earlier time and also now, democratic system has become one of the issues given special attention globally.
Though it is assumed that Greece is the origin of democracy, Africa also has its own finger print and civilization in building democratic system. Among these civilizations, the Gadaa System which is the intangible heritage takes the higher place. For this administrative structure is the way in which cultural and political knowledge is transferred to the posterity, UNESCO inscribed it as a heritage.
Gadaa System encourages people to live in harmony with respecting each other, self-rule and governance including cultural values even during the inexistence of modern democratic system. Therefore, conducting deepen research on this system and handing over to the coming generation fits for the purpose. Guji Zone is among the areas where Gadaa System is still in practice; hence, selecting the university to become center of excellence for the indigenous knowledge and working accordingly is a proper decision, said Dr. Chala.
According to Dr. Chala’s explanation, processes have been begun to conduct research about Gadaa System. The university is preparing journal entitled ‘Indigenous Knowledge and Development’ and exerting effort to print out in this October. Printing such kind of journals enables the university to be competent nationwide and worldwide apart from promoting the system.
Had it been possible to teach the new generation about Gadaa System earlier, nontechnical problems blown up here and there since recently, could have not been happened. Therefore, firm stand has been taken on teaching earlier values. And the university has made decision to teach Gadaa System as a common course. This enables the youth to properly understand values of Gadaa System such as respect, tolerance and living in harmony.
Adding Dr. Chala explained, “Government made decision to provide freshman common courses since the coming new academic year at the national level which have been interrupted previously. Making this decision a benchmark, we have made repeated discussion with the university’s senate on the way we teach Gadaa System. We conducted survey study on the need for the system among students and the community and the study assured that there is the need. Following this we have designed curriculum.”
The curriculum is opened for criticism by experts those who made research and prepared writings on Gadaa System in addition to the instructors. Doing this, a course entitled “Introduction to Geda System” is prepared. The objective of this course is to infer basic knowledge of Gadaa System. It will be provided in full standard to the first year students for one semester in two or three credit hours along with other common courses that cascaded from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) since the already began 2019/20 academic year, he said.
Regarding formal permission from MoSHE, universities are authorized by proclamation No 1112/11 and the earlier one to design educational programs with only assuring their benefits for nation building, peace and development, said Dr. Chala. Adding, he explained that teaching Gadaa System builds Ethiopia, protects democratic system and enhance living in peace with respect among the people. It also gives opportunity to educate others that democratic system can generate not only from the Western but also Ethiopia has such indigenous knowledge.
Major issues incorporated in Gadaa System are like democratic governance, reconciliation, common understanding and respect and valuing mediation. Equipping students with these values enables to produce rational generation that solves problems through discussion and reconciliation. And the sum of these in turn plays vital role for the nation’s peace and growth.
Concerning the necessity of this, Professor Tesfaye Kukema, education policy instructor and researcher at University of Gison, Germany, said that the limitation in Ethiopia’s education system is lack in including indigenous knowledge that is related to the people’s culture, psychology and diversity. In this regard, when religious based ethical education used to be provided in the earlier times put aside without equivalent substitution, it revealed one of the weaknesses in curriculum designing.
Similar to Gadaa System, as to Tesfaye, incorporating other indigenous knowledge in the universities’ curriculum has great importance. For instance, including indigenous thoughts and knowledge like herbal medicines, philosophies, social and psychological issues and contribution of Konso terracing for environmental protection in curriculum promotes the country tangibly and the students can easily nurture their own indigenous knowledge.
Professor Tesfaye further said that the core duty of universities is generating knowledge, instructing and conducting researches. Compiling and setting up indigenous knowledge is necessary.
Encouraging is the initiation of universities to include indigenous knowledge into their curriculum and in this regard what Bule Hora University is doing is appreciable. However, apart from Gadaa System, there are various indigenous knowledge and governance of nations and nationalities in different parts of the country so that they should have also been given equal attention and included into the education system nationwide in an organized manner, suggested professor Tesfaye.
The Ethiopian Herald October 1, 2019
BY BACHA ZEWDIE
