BY TEWODROS KASSA
Evidences vividly show that the Terrorist Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (T-TPLF) has been widely engaged in promoting violence among each nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia. Different people also witnessed that there is no terrorist group that parallel with the T- TPLF group through conducting massive genocide, destruction and sponsoring and aspiring to see its own country’s disintegration.
The T-TPLF former and current leaders believe that inciting violence between and among the different ethnic groups of Ethiopia could return them into power; which is entirely unmanageable and impracticable. Currently, all Ethiopians irrespective of any differences, are fighting against the T-TPLF enterprise and are working together to build stronger Ethiopia more than ever.
However, the terrorist group, refusing to accept its defeat, remains the leading peace and security challenge and is still attempting to obstruct the country’s journey towards sustainable development.
Last year, insurgents of the T-TPLF group in areas they occupied for a short time, killed dozens of innocent citizens that had no any role in the conflict, perpetrated heinous attacks on elders, gang-raped lots of women and children against the Amhara nationals residing in Wollo, Shewa, Gondar and the surrounding areas in a manner it seems retaliation.
Not only this, they also massively looted and damaged public properties, and private service rendering institutions including health, education and financial institutions, manufacturing industries in the State. Following the damage and the pillage on schools, education in the conflict zones had been disrupted forcing hundreds of thousands of school children out of school.
Beyond killing and slaughtering the Amhara people, the rebel group used the resources it plundered from the State to carry on its malicious intentions against the motherland.
In fact, the Amhara State joining hands with development partners, stakeholders and individuals has been executing various activities to renovate and rehabilitate damaged schools to return students to schools though the outcome is not at the desired level due to various reasons.
As part of this effort, recently, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has launched education in emergency project- Play Matters Emergency Response Mechanism (PM ERM) – in the six conflict-affected zones of the Amhara State aiming at providing coordinated financial and in-kind assistance to rehabilitate the schools.
The project is said implemented in the North Shewa, North Wollo, South Wollo, Waghimra, North Gondar and South Gondar. Launching the project, IRC Play Matters ERM Coordinator Yohannes Gebreselassie said that, the project lasts for twelve months with the financial support of the LEGO Foundation and implemented by the IRC in collaboration with other nine international humanitarian agencies.
The project will provide about eight million USD in cash and in-kind support to rehabilitate 152 conflict-affected schools and school children in six zones of the State. 8,000 teachers, educational personnel, and caregivers. “The project solely targets to deliver a coordinated, rapid, and effective humanitarian response to the needs of children by focusing on their educational well-being, health, and safety.”
Accordingly, the response includes school feeding, school rehabilitation, provision of education materials; increase access to safe potable water in schools, enhance community-based child protection, among others.
On his part, Amhara State Education Bureau Planning and Resource Mobilization Director Misganaw Amare told The Ethiopian Herald that more than 500 schools in the State remain closed by the current education calendar due to the damage caused by the T-TPLF group.
“The government has been mobilizing the public to undertake swift reconstruction of the damaged schools. However, the community-based schools’ rehabilitation process was not effective due to the financial and material constraint. Thus, there are still numerous schools which are out of service in the conflict-affected areas of the State,” he said.
Moreover, schools are serving as a temporary shelter for more than millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and still challenging to resume schools in Debre Berhan, Woldia, and Dessie towns.
Therefore, it requires swift interventions of the government, private sectors, humanitarian agencies, and individuals to return the dozens of children that are away from school for the past more than two years, he said.
It is a great success to the T-TPLF to see the Amhara children being out of education and illiterate. The Amhara State calls upon all counterparts to help the mission of reconstructing the damaged schools and aborting the ill dreams of the terrorist group.
According to him, such projects highly strengthen educational performance through solving educational inputs challenges and; arousing children’s learning interest that was severely affected by the invasion of the T-TPLF group against the motherland.
“Education-related projects have a generation based benefit and change the lives of the community through directly or in-directly contributing in the social, economic, and political affairs of the country. Various international humanitarian agencies like the IRC are playing an important role towards rehabilitating damaged schools and returning children to school in the State”, he added.
It is more disappointing and saddening to see children stay at home for the reason their schools were obliterated. The issue becomes worsening while observing how much the children are eager and enthusiastic to resume their education even under the shades of trees. The students feel the brutality of the terrorist group and; clearly witnessed how the TPLF members were stealing and/or destroying the school equipment, supplies and other materials.
Thus, it is important to understand how much the group and its members are against the new generation. It is time to give more attention to the issue and strive towards returning children to school in the State. The active engagements of every citizen home and abroad are important to brighten the future of these children.
According to the Ministry of Education, Ethiopia needs more than 100 billion Birr to fully restore schools ravaged by the terrorist TPLF group and other conflicts in various parts of the country.
Education Minister Professor Berhanu Nega stated that the conflict inflicted by the T-TPLF seriously affected the learning teaching process at all more than three million students of school.
According to the Minister, over 1,200 schools have been fully destroyed due to the war and conflicts in several parts of the country while three universities in the Amhara State have been fully and partially damaged by the TPLF aggression.
The Ethiopian Herald October 13/2022
