BY TEWODROS KASSA
Education and health are the most impacted service sectors during emergencies, triggered by manmade, natural or social catastrophes including the COVID -19 pandemic. The disruption of education, health, and other related services not only damages homes or physical infrastructures but also destroys hopes and aspirations of people whose consequences are felt for generations.
For instance, the school closure during emergency cases such as the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and conflicts pushes millions of students out of safety zones and exposes them to various social, cultural and economic hardships. On such incidents, reports of early marriage, teenage pregnancies and sexual harassment, particularly against girls and young women, are rampant.
In addition, numerous citizens have been severely affected due to the lack of sufficient health services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in different parts of the country. The war caused citizens to left the places they lived for long and stay in temporary displacement centers. This, in turn, exposes them to face difficulties accessing effective health services over the past two years.
Over the last two and half years, the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict in the northern part of the country seriously complicates life for these vulnerable population groups. It also puts immense pressure on Ethiopian students and impacts their regular academic life negatively. To this end, The Ethiopian government has been providing various supports to the education and health sectors recovery through given due priority.
Working in the two service sectors requires the active participation of the government and pertinent stakeholders. Most importantly, swift recovery of the sector is not an assignment left for tomorrow. For this reason, the government has called the Ethiopian Diasporas community to contribute their part in the efforts to return services to normal. The development partners are also showing willingness to support such efforts.
During the House of People’s Representatives 11th Regular meeting held last Tuesday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) responded to questions raised by members of the parliament. The Prime Minister lauded the remarkable achievements registered so far to improve the access and quality of education and health sector.
During the regular sessions, the representatives have raised a number of issues, among others, shortages of infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity in some parts of the country; economic development and rising cost of living and inflation, challenges of climate change and drought-induced impacts as well as the efforts underway to mitigate drought in pastoral community.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the occasion disclosed that the government of Ethiopia has been working hard to improve the education and health sectors and anti-corruption campaign in the country. He stressed the need to do more in the education and health sectors.
According to him, the government has carried out various activities to improve the services delivery of the education and health sectors, but more is needed to be done. Stating that the Ministry of Education has been implementing the education road map prepared four years ago, the Premier said it is undertaking broad reforms accordingly.
Based on the road map, the government is expanding educational facilities and improving educational service quality in lower levels, including kindergarten, primary and secondary schools.
In the health sector, he pointed out; effort is continuing to expand basic health institutions and supply of medicines. Although foreign currency shortage is obstructing laboratories and pharmaceutical supply, the government and private sector are doing various works to address the challenges though more work is needed in the sector, he added.
Moreover, the government is also embarking on the fight against corruption despite some challenges in fighting the complex corruption issue in Ethiopia; however, the fight against corruption will further strengthen and continue at any cost.
Recently, Minister of Education Prof. Birhanu Nega told local media that the quality of education has been challenged by multi negative factors; and lack of quality education has been causing the country directly or indirectly to encounter social, political, moral and economic problems.
Accordingly, problems related to school infrastructure, political interference in the education system, state of teacher training and cheating on national exams are the key challenges of quality education in the country, as to him.
Thus, according to him, the deterioration of quality of education is the main cause of the challenges the country has been recurrently encountering. “The politics have been leading some local education administrators to support cheating on exams in an organized way. That is why the ministry has centered activities related with national exam so as to reduce cheating on exam”, he underscored.
He also urged every agent/citizenry to be part of the school community to improve the quality of education adding that the active participation of stakeholders is also fundamental to realize the vision of ensuring quality education in the country.
In sum, the ministry has put campaign for education and massive teacher retraining measure as a future direction that will be implemented in the nearest future to improve quality of education.
The Ethiopian Herald March 31/2023
