BY GETAHUN DANA
It is a well-known fact that Ethiopian teachers have multi-faceted problems that seem insurmountable at least for the time being. Among others, the fact that they are probably one of the least paid teachers in the world and the fact that they enjoy little or no academic freedoms even by the African standards stand as least contentious claims.
There was a predominant bias all over the world against philosophy as a field of enquiry, namely that “philosophy bakes no bread.” Now it seems to me that this bias against philosophy has already been reflected by the overwhelming majority of people in Ethiopia, be it educated or not, against education in general and teaching in particular. I can imagine a great number of people telling their loved ones, “Why do you spend your time and energy in futile exercise called teaching? Let no time pass by in vain!! There are many worthwhile things that you can do, but teaching should be the last thing you should be involved with. It is not a paying job.” Here, I am not claiming, as Dollar-worshipers do, that “money is the measure of all things.” Education is valuable in and of itself. But this does not mean that the educated person little concern for material fulfillments.
It is morally reprehensible, to say the least, that a person who has devoted his time and energy for the well-being of others has to constantly preoccupy himself/herself for fulfilling his/her bare minimum. In the old days in Ethiopia, teaching used to be a high paying job. The high economic and social statuses teachers enjoyed at the time were reflected, among others, through songs. One such song runs in Amharic as:
የኛ ሙሽራ ዳንቴል ሰሪ
ወሰዳት አስተማሪ፡፡ (Roughly translated as “Our Bride, The Maker of Crochet Blanket, was taken by A Teacher.”
However, it appears an unfortunate truth that the high social and economic statuses that teachers used to enjoy in Ethiopia in “those old good days” have remained as memorable days of the past. It also appears an undeniable truth that the Ethiopian governments at least for the last 30 years or so did not make any tangible moves as far as changing the lifestyle of teachers is concerned. All that one needs as proof for this claim is to go and see for himself/herself how the teachers are faring in schools ranging from pre-elementary levels all the way to higher institutions. The poor dressing styles and weak physique characteristic of the teachers are proof enough for this. One may argue that I am demanding too much from such poor country. But this claim is not well-founded when one sees the fact that the government is spending way too much in other sectors such as construction. I refuse to believe that the government cannot do better as far as changing the lives of the Ethiopian teachers are concerned. This, I think, has to change.
The other major problem characteristic of the Ethiopian teachers is the little or no academic freedoms that they enjoy even today. The Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) came into being in 1969 entrusted with, among others, the responsibilities of making of the demands of the teachers heard by the concerned government bodies and rendering the necessary respect for the profession. But it has failed to materialize its goals. One of the most important factors for its failure is its inability to be free from the government’s political interference. It was not a politically independent association at all by all counts. A textual evidence for this claim is found in the website of the ETA which says: “The year 1991 marked the downfall of the Dergue military government. The victory of people of Ethiopia came to reality.”
As strange as it may sound, when the Tigrai Peoples Liberation Front(TPLF) led government came to power by ousting the military junta also known as the Dergue in 1991, the exiting ETA embraced it as “the government of the people.” But, as the life styles of the Ethiopian teachers testify, the association made little or no efforts in fighting for the rights of the teachers it claims to represent. What is more, after nearly 30 years of its claim to have re-organized itself, today nobody knows about its whereabouts. All that the Ethiopian higher institution teachers know about the ETA is the fact that eight Birr is being deducted each month from each teacher’s salary, regardless of whether s/he was signatory to the association or not, in the pretext of supporting the association. Nobody also knows whether the money being deducted from their salary every month is being put to good use or not. If there is such a thing as the Ethiopian Teachers Association, how come that it is such invisible?
Editor’s Note: The author is a Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, Addis Ababa University.
He can be reached at: getahundana@yahoo.com.
