Dr. Tilaye Gete is an outgoing Education Minister. He resigned his post recently and has taken up a new role as Deputy Permanent Envoy for the UNESCO with a rank of Minister Plenipotentiary at Ethiopian Mission in Paris.He has served his motherland in different capacities at different places. As he accepts as truth the adage‘life without endeavor is like entering a jewel mine and coming out with empty hands,’he works by the sweat of his brow every so often. He strongly believes in taking the bull by the horn.
He is on familiar terms with the nuts and bolts of Pedagogical Sciences and International and Comparative Education. Alongside Ethiopian scholars, he has played a major role in designing the new education roadmap which is expected to bring a significant improvement in the country’s education system.
Sadly, in the past, though the education system of the country was getting off the track and jumping out of the frying pan into the fire,pertinent bodies were simply turning a blind eye and giving their cold shoulder. Nobody had made an effort to rescue the country’s education system that used to pour cold water on the generation’sfuture.
The Ethiopian Herald sat down with Dr. Tilaye Gete to familiarize his personal and professional life with its esteemed readers. He has touched upon several mesmerizing issues revolving around the new education roadmap, the general education system of Ethiopia and other related aspects. Excerpts are below:
Let us begin by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Amhara regional state of West Gojjam Zone, Gish Abay district. As luck would have it, my parents are blessed with elven children. I am the ninth child. From time to time, I was feeling on top of the world. Education-wise, I pursued primary education at Gish Abay Dejazmach Zeleke Desta, Junior secondary school at Finote Selem and Secondary Education at Tana Hique General Secondary School found in Bahir Dar. In due course, I went to Addis Ababa University and studied pedagogical sciences in a degree program.
As a kid, I was not unique. I was the same with my age mates. At that specific point, I was fully knuckling down to my education seeing that education varnishes our mind, buttresses our thoughts, and gives us the chance of having a good career in our life and what have you. I would say, in addition to making one’s dream become a reality, education breathes new life into the lives of the general public.
What was your childhood like?
When I was a kid, nothing made me happier than attending classes. I used to love attending classes with all my heart. As my parents were business persons, I did not play a part in farming activities. But I was partaking in axing firewood, fetching water, going shopping and what have you. At that moment, I was crazy about playing marbles more than anything under than sun.
By the same token, I was quiet and obedient. I was a good listener too until I joined high school. Slowly but surely, I embarked on having a finger in debate sessions that used to take place on certain occasions in classrooms ,and other important occasions. Furthermore, as I was the number one choice for most teachers, I kept on involving myself in mini-dramas time and again. More often than not, I was invited to read write-ups on various occasions. When I joined secondary high school, I kick-started playing basketball and running 100 meters.
What was your dream job when you were a child?
As I hate to death social sciences, I was dreaming of studying science subjects. To be honest, I used to dislike history and geography subjects and rote memorization .Without exaggeration, I cannot find words to express my feelings. However, with the passage of time,I completed high school with good results and ended up joining the department of pedagogy at Addis Ababa University,Bahir Dar campus. When the time was ripe, I obtained a degree in pedagogical sciences. If truth be told, though my dream could not become a reality and I am not living my dream job, I am infinitely happy in my career. I am the happiest person in the world.
While on the subject, at that moment, Gondar Medical Sciences, Bahir Dar Pedagogy, Hawassa College of Agriculture and other campuses were under the umbrella of Addis Ababa University.
What was your next career move?
The instant I completed my studies, I embarked on working as a lecturer at Robe Teachers Training Institute and served there for five yearsin my field of study.At that specific point, I was teaching would-be primary school teachers. After that, I served as a high school director in Gojjam, Ferese Beteand Bure. The instant I accomplished my mission,I thank my lucky stars that I was appointed as the Zone Education Program Team leader in West Gojjam Zone.
As luck would have it, I left for Norway and studied International and Comparative Education in MPhil and returned home safe and sound and became the head of the Amhara State Capacity Building Bureau. Soon after, I was appointed as the head of the AmharaNationalRegionalStateEducation Bureau.
As time progressed, Iheaded straight to Andhra Universitysituated inIndia for my Ph.D. studiesand came back home after successful completion and got appointed as the President of the Debre Markos University. Having served there successfully, I was appointed as a State Minister at the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. Inch by inch, I turned out to be the country’s Education Minister. During my time in the position, I had carried out a lot of fruitful activities including designing the new education roadmap of the country.
Would you please acquaint our readers
with chapter and verse of the new Ethiopia’s education roadmap? What was the previous one like?
To begin with, the roadmap was designed by Ethiopian scholars. As everyone is aware, in the past, most researches were made by foreigners and other pertinent bodies.In the current education roadmap, most of the country’s scholars have actively partaken.Earlier than we put the roadmap into effect, we have made pertinent bodies to comment.
The discussion forumwas held on the Ethiopian Education roadmap in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen and the General Public.In the discussion seventeen ministry offices and 3.5 million people have been involved. This is a big achievement. The roadmap was closely followed and led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers and State Ministers. Furthermore, in designing the roadmap, we have taken different countries’ experiences into account. It was designed carefully and scientifically. All in all, it took two to three years.
What makes the new one different from the previous one?
Well, in the past, students used to sit for an exam at the age of sixteen. I would say, this was a failure seeing that students cannot be matured in the aforementioned age. In earlier times, they used to stay in school until the age of sixteen excluding preparatory school.But the new education roadmap has made students stay in school until the age of eighteen.This helps students to be matured, identify their professional interests, and get themselves ready for higher learning education and trainings.
Back in the day, some degree programs inhigher learning institutions of the country were completed in three years. But nowadays, we have extended the program to four years. The graduates are foreign to theircountry’s history and geography. But aside from increasing the graduates’ competence, the new education roadmap helps students equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and bridge the knowledge gaps. When they complete their studies at the age of twenty-two, they will be matured enough and harvest the fruit of success with no trouble.
In the same way, the roadmap helpsstudents who joinvocational-technical schools to be competent in any training they get themselves involved in. Thisis a fundamental shift in the history of the country.
Self-contained classrooms work in Europe but it does not work here in Ethiopia. In Europe, the number of students may not exceed twenty or twenty-five per class. The teachers are highly educated in the first degree and beyond. But putting this strategy into effect will not help us be effective. In our country, it is impossible to teach students by teachers who did not take appropriate training with a class consisting of 50 to 60 students.
What is being done to get to the bottom of the problem?
We have completely changed the Teachers’ Deployment and Training systems.The biggest problem in our country is the teachers’ competence. To the best of my knowledge, a lot should be done on the teaching professions. As teaching is one of the biggest professionsin the world, we have made students from grades one to six to be taught by first degree holders. Besides, we have decidedkindergarten teachers to be grade twelve complete plus three years of training, middle-class teachersto be first degree holders and secondary high school students to be master’s degree holders.Teachers should know the subject matter they teach like the palm of their hand.
The 70/30 university enrollment quota will be based on the interest of the students. As there are problems withthe quality and disciplinary problems of the new generation and professionals, we have come up with a solution that can get to the bottom of the problem shortly. By the way, schools for students with special talents will be opened down the road. The students may not necessarily be that active in the class or stand first to third.
What is going to be done concerning disciplinary problems?
The generation should be able to listen and treat the elderly, religious leaders and others with respect. They should as well be great listeners. But some of them are getting off the track. Taking the aforementioned realities on the ground into account, students from grades one to six will be showered with moral education in their respective schools. Furthermore, teacher training systems, developing curriculum, school standards, and performance evaluation systems will be changed. I do hope the roadmap will help the nation harvest the fruit of success.
We do want to create a generation that can build the country together, respect and love one another, lead the country to prosperity, and produce a generation that believes in logical reasoning, listens to one another, governed by democracy, and others. We expect the roadmap will bring people governed for all these facts. But its role is very difficult.
How long will it take to achieve the desired goal?
If we all work hand-in-glove with the general public, development partners, parents, private sectors, I do hope the country’s education system and other related aspects will be improved from six to eight years. But putting everything incorporated in the education roadmap requires ten to fifteen years.
As the rumor mill suggests, conflicts have taken place concerning producing the history module. Is it true? If so, what was the reason behind it?
To begin with, history is the study of life in a society that took place in the past in connection with contemporary developments and the upcoming expectations. The history of education has significant lessons to students about happenings that came to pass in the past during the different regimes of the country and make better judgments.
History cannot be written by any author[like a fiction]. It has its procedures. The problem is all and sundry would like to talk about history time and again. This will not help us achieve the intended target. The stance of the Ministry of Education is that history should be written by history scholars. History and propaganda should be separated. Propaganda cannot help us change our generation by any means. When historians produce the history module, they should be fair given that all history is good and bad and history is as history was and cannot be changed.
By the same token, materials that we produce for educational institutes should not focus on things that can cause conflict amid people but on things that give us lessons to strengthen unity. We have many in common.
The Ethiopian Herald January 10, 2020
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
