ADDIS ABABA – Leaders of higher educational institutions need to do their level best to make the institutions places of tolerance as they have a great role in teaching the value of peace, University leadership indicated.
At a recent national peace forum jointly organized by Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) and Initiative Africa organized the leaders of various Universities in the country indicated that the higher educational institutions are places where students from across the national come together to learn while maintaining their diversity.
Hawasa University President Dr Tesfaye Solomon, while presenting Role of University Leadership to sustain peace said that, the leaders and public figures have great role in teaching the value of peace.
The leadership has to ask themselves who is to blame? How am I responsible? What did I do or did not do to prevent conflict? To do this they have to be self-aware leaders who constantly engage in self-reflection. The next generation will come up with better ideas if we offer them properly and appropriately about the value of peace. We have to know ourselves deeply.
Tesfaye indicated that, self-awareness is base for transformations. Peace starts at home from internal and self-reflection leads to internal peace. Transformational leaders are courageous enough to ask powerful question and challenge themselves. If they succeed personal transformation it is likely to lead to organizational or university level transformation.
Wollo University President Dr. Abate Getahun, while presenting the paper on Peace, Multiculturalism and Tolerance in Universities said that, diversity makes everyone unique from one another. He said that cultivating the diversity is so important. It is conceived that diversity is the spice of life which refers to variety along many dimensions.
Building peace is like building home which needs skill. Such diversity has to be managed mindfully with the potent of communication vehicles and through understanding, acceptance and respect for each other’s beliefs and behavior to secure peace and stability in the country in general and in the university landscapes in particular.
He noted that, diversity is source of knowledge and innovations. Diversity is so important in sharing and experience among each other learning for new idea since every ethnic identity have its own culture and identity which makes them unique from the rest of ethnic nations.
Abate said that, universities are source and center of knowledge. Students across whole country gather to learn and live together while maintaining diversity of Ethiopia. If that diversity is not guided in a respective manner it may be source of conflict by itself. The leaders and public figures have to play their parts in sharing experience.
As a way forward he suggested the need to develop a mechanism or guidelines that would nurture the culture of respect and accommodate diversity not only in the universities, but also at the grassroots level.
We have to change our self especially the leaders and public figures, since lots of problems emanate from the leaders. In addition developing the idea of multiculturalism among ethnic peoples across the country and establishing peace clubs which preaches about peace.
He stressed that, words are so risky in creating conflicts and we need to take care of our words and need to vaccine them. We have to listen to the heartbeat of students and the youths. The students and young colleagues are the drivers of the reform and development agenda of society at large and conferences and communication will create networks among all the different actors.
The Ethiopian Herald Nov 02/2019
BY HAILE DEMEKE
