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{{Infobox country|name=Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|native_name=Itiyoppiya Federaalak Demokraatik Rippeblikih<br>የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ<br>Rippabliikii Federaalawaa Dimokraatawaa Itiyoophiyaa<br>Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiga Federaalka Itoobiya<br>ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ ኢትዮጵያ|image_flag=Flag of Ethiopia.svg|image_coat=Emblem of Ethiopia.svg|capital=Addis Ababa|largest_city=Addis Ababa | {{Infobox country|name=Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|native_name=Itiyoppiya Federaalak Demokraatik Rippeblikih<br>የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ<br>Rippabliikii Federaalawaa Dimokraatawaa Itiyoophiyaa<br>Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiga Federaalka Itoobiya<br>ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ ኢትዮጵያ|image_flag=Flag of Ethiopia.svg|image_coat=Emblem of Ethiopia.svg|capital=Addis Ababa|largest_city=Addis Ababa|image_map=Ethiopia map.png|map_width=290|official_languages=Afar<br>Amharic<br>Oromo<br>Somali<br>Tigrinya|area_km2=1,104,300|population_estimate=123,379,924|population_estimate_year=2022}} | ||
'''Ethiopia''', officially the '''Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia''', is a landlocked country in East Africa. | '''Ethiopia''', officially the '''Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia''', is a landlocked country in East Africa. | ||
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# To 1855: The Gondarine Period<ref name=":14">{{Citation|author=Harold G. Marcus|year=2002|title=A History of Ethiopia: Updated Edition|chapter=Chapter 2: The Golden Age of the Solomonic Dynasty, to 1500|page=17-29|city=London|publisher=University of California Press|lg=https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=AE3B539B70372BDB4EDC64B9361D4033}}</ref> | # To 1855: The Gondarine Period<ref name=":14">{{Citation|author=Harold G. Marcus|year=2002|title=A History of Ethiopia: Updated Edition|chapter=Chapter 2: The Golden Age of the Solomonic Dynasty, to 1500|page=17-29|city=London|publisher=University of California Press|lg=https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=AE3B539B70372BDB4EDC64B9361D4033}}</ref> | ||
# To present day: [[History of Modern Ethiopia|The Modern Period]] (beginning with the End of the [[Zemene Mesafint]], "the Era of Princes") under [[Tewdros II]] in 1855.<ref name=":15">{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2002|title=A History of Modern Ethiopia (1855-1991)|page=21|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press|lg=https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=4332EDB966C4557003902134088C28F8}}</ref> | # To present day: [[History of Modern Ethiopia|The Modern Period]] (beginning with the End of the [[Zemene Mesafint]], "the Era of Princes") under [[Tewdros II]] in 1855.<ref name=":15">{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2002|title=A History of Modern Ethiopia (1855-1991)|page=21|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press|lg=https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=4332EDB966C4557003902134088C28F8}}</ref> | ||
=== Before 1270 === | === Before 1270 === | ||
=== | === 1270–1500 === | ||
=== 1500–1855 === | === 1500–1855 === | ||
=== 1855–1974 === | === 1855–1974 === | ||
[[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] attempted to colonize Ethiopia in the 19th century but was defeated by Emperor [[Menelik II|Menelik]]'s forces in 1896. [[Kingdom of Italy (1922-1943)|Fascist Italy]] overthrew Emperor [[Haile Selassie]] and occupied Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941. Haile Sellasie was reinstated as Emperor and continued to rule the country until 1974. Starting from the 50s, the [[United States]] started to exert [[Neocolonialism|neocolonial relations]] in Ethiopia.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Solyana Bekele|newspaper=[[The Burning Spear]]|title=Smash neocolonialism in Ethiopia, erase the fake borders!|date=2021-08-09|url=https://www.theburningspear.com/2021/08/Smash-neocolonialism-in-Ethiopia-erase-the-fake-borders|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729231408/https://www.theburningspear.com/2021/08/Smash-neocolonialism-in-Ethiopia-erase-the-fake-borders|archive-date=2022-07-29|retrieved=2022-08-27}}</ref> | |||
==== | |||
=== 1974–1991 === | === 1974–1991 === | ||
In 1974, the [[Ethiopian Revolution]] took place, which ultimately brought the [[Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (1974–1987)|Derg]] to power. The Derg was chaired initially by [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] (he was replaced by [[Aman Adom]] in September 1974), who later became head of state in 1977. The monarchy was formally abolished in 1975,<ref>{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2002|title=A History of Modern Ethiopia (1855-1991)|page=233-251|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press}}</ref> and replaced by a [[Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (1974–1987)|socialist government in Ethiopia.]] In 1987, the Derg was formally dissolved and the [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]] founded,<ref>{{Citation|author=Stefan Brüne|year=1990|title=IDEOLOGY, GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT - THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA|title-url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/43660324|page=193|doi=10.2307/43660324|series=Northeast African Studies, vol. 12, no. 2/3,}}</ref> which was overthrown by the [[Tigray People's Liberation Front|TPLF]] and other groups in 1991, establishing the [[Transitional Government of Ethiopia]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Paul B. Henze|year=2004|title=Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia|page=330|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Shama Books|lg=https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=C7F226D1B2DBA4D13A7074E41FF91689}}</ref> | |||
== | |||
=== 1991–present === | === 1991–present === | ||
In 1995, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was founded. | |||
== Politics and government == | == Politics and government == | ||
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Customary and religious law has a special status in Ethiopia, as well as in the federal states. This also finds application in the 1960 Civil Code.<ref>{{Citation|author=Tsegaye Beru|year=2013|title=A Brief History of the Ethiopian Legal Systems - Past and Present|page=339-340|pdf=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3088643|publisher=International Journal of Legal Information, Vol.41.3, Duquesne University School of Law Research Paper No. 2017-07}}</ref> | Customary and religious law has a special status in Ethiopia, as well as in the federal states. This also finds application in the 1960 Civil Code.<ref>{{Citation|author=Tsegaye Beru|year=2013|title=A Brief History of the Ethiopian Legal Systems - Past and Present|page=339-340|pdf=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3088643|publisher=International Journal of Legal Information, Vol.41.3, Duquesne University School of Law Research Paper No. 2017-07}}</ref> | ||
=== Ethnic federalism === | === Ethnic federalism === | ||
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# The free development of national minorities and ethnographic groups inhabiting the territory of Russia. | # The free development of national minorities and ethnographic groups inhabiting the territory of Russia. | ||
The concrete decrees that follow from these principles will be immedieatly elaborated after the setting up of a Commission of Nationality Affairs."<ref>{{Citation|author=Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin|year=1917|title=Declaration of the Rights of the People of Russia|mia=https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/1917/11/02.htm}}</ref> </blockquote>The National Question, albeit finding early expression before the Ethiopian Student Movement, such as in the First Weyane in Tigray 1941-1943, the | The concrete decrees that follow from these principles will be immedieatly elaborated after the setting up of a Commission of Nationality Affairs."<ref>{{Citation|author=Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin|year=1917|title=Declaration of the Rights of the People of Russia|mia=https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/1917/11/02.htm}}</ref> </blockquote>The National Question, albeit finding early expression before the Ethiopian Student Movement, such as in the First Weyane in Tigray 1941-1943, the acivities of the Mecha-Ulamo Oromo self-help association and the Bale uprising 1964-1970<ref>{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2014|title=The Quest for Socialist Utopia: The Ethiopian Student Movement c.1960-1974|page=187-188|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press}}</ref>, played a major political and ideological role within the [[Ethiopian Student Movement]].<ref name=":10">{{Citation|author=Constantin Katsakioris|year=2019|title=Socialist Federalism as an Alternative to Nationalism: The Leninist Solution to the National Question in Africa and Its Diaspora|title-url=https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/8/3/152|page=7|publisher=Humanities 2019, 8(3), 152;|doi=10.3390/h8030152}}</ref> As described by Kastakioris: <blockquote>"Along with call for the redistribution of land to the tillers and radical economic reform, the student movement engaged in a heated debate over the national question. This debate was triggered by an article entitled ‘On the question of nationalities in Ethiopia’ that Wallelign Mekonnen, a student in political sciences at Addis Ababa University and published in November 1969. An ethnic Amhara, Wallelign, defended the legitimate right of Eritreans to fight against oppression, but opposed the Eritrean liberation movement, because, as he pointed out, it was led by the bourgeoisie and the local feudal lords. At the same time, he invited all Ethiopians to build ‘a genuine national-state . . . in which all nationalities participate equally in state affairs’. Liberation, according to Wallelign, would not come by replacing Amhara with Eritrean masters, but through building a socialist federation of all ethnic groups, a genuinely egalitarian ‘national-state’, as he put it, that would ensure the interests of the working masses all over Ethiopia and reform the country along socialist lines. In this respect, Wallelign Mekonnen remained faithful to the Leninist solution. Other students, however, opposed his views. They also quoted Lenin’s and the Comintern’s theses on the national and colonial question to make, however, an opposing argument. In short, they contended that because Eritrea was a colony and because in the near future the conditions for building a socialist Ethiopian federation could not be fulfilled, secession was a legitimate right of Eritreans" <ref name=":10" />.</blockquote>After the [[Ethiopian Revolution|Ethiopian Revolution of 1974]], the Derg made moves towards a regocnition of the rights of nations, linguistic rights, and land reform, while concurrently spawning mutiple ethnonatioanlist and seperatist movements in the Ogaden and Tigray, while continuing the war in Eritrea. The [[TPLF]] openly embraced [[Walleligne Mekonnen]] by the 1980s, even serving as the namesake of the final operation against the Derg in 1991 ("[[Operation Walleligne]]").<ref name=":10" /> | ||
The [[TPLF]] openly embraced [[Walleligne Mekonnen]] by the 1980s, even serving as the namesake of the final operation against the Derg in 1991 ("[[Operation Walleligne]]").<ref name=":10" /> | |||
The Derg, aligned with the [[Eastern Bloc]], declared equality among the country’s ethnic groups, and promised self-administration. In 1983, it established the [[Institute for the Study of Ethiopian Nationalities (ISEN)]], which had two mandates—assessing the distribution, social, and economic conditions of ethnic groups in the country and recommending a new state structure that would provide regional autonomy for the various ethnic groups. The Derg introduced the constitution of the [[People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE]]) in 1987, which established some regional autonomy. Some of the provinces affected by the national/regional insurgency were organized into five autonomous regions—Eritrea, Tigray, Dire Dawa, Ogaden and Assab—while [[Eritrea]] was provided with more autonomy. In addition, the Derg translated the constitution into some peripheral languages and employed non-Amharic languages in its literacy programs, but Amharic remained the working language of the government at all levels. | The Derg, aligned with the [[Eastern Bloc]], declared equality among the country’s ethnic groups, and promised self-administration. In 1983, it established the [[Institute for the Study of Ethiopian Nationalities (ISEN)]], which had two mandates—assessing the distribution, social, and economic conditions of ethnic groups in the country and recommending a new state structure that would provide regional autonomy for the various ethnic groups. The Derg introduced the constitution of the [[People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE]]) in 1987, which established some regional autonomy. Some of the provinces affected by the national/regional insurgency were organized into five autonomous regions—Eritrea, Tigray, Dire Dawa, Ogaden and Assab—while [[Eritrea]] was provided with more autonomy. In addition, the Derg translated the constitution into some peripheral languages and employed non-Amharic languages in its literacy programs, but there was no linguistic autonomy and Amharic remained the working language of the government at all levels. | ||
Historians such as John Young draw parallels between the pre-revolutionary [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russian Empire]] and the [[Ethiopian Empire]]:<blockquote>"The Ethiopian emperor, who like his Russian counterpart was head of state and of the Orthodox Church, attempted to assimilate the different ethnic elites into the cultures and languages of the Amhara ruling class. It employed [[neftegnas]] (gun carrying settlers) from various ethnic groups to forcefully occupy territory for the empire. While Ethiopia did not have pogroms like Tsarist Russia, it did have indentured peasants, forced national evacuations, lowland African people who were viewed as slaves, and a distinct racial hierarchy."<ref name=":11">{{Citation|author=John Markakis, Günther Schlee, and John Young|year=2021|title=The Nation State : A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa|title-url=https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/studies/14/|chapter=Chapter 3 (John Young): Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia|page=62-66|pdf=https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/media/studies/14/5/studies14_chap03.pdf|city=Berlin|publisher=Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development | Historians such as John Young draw parallels between the pre-revolutionary [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Russian Empire]] and the [[Ethiopian Empire]]:<blockquote>"The Ethiopian emperor, who like his Russian counterpart was head of state and of the Orthodox Church, attempted to assimilate the different ethnic elites into the cultures and languages of the Amhara ruling class. It employed [[neftegnas]] (gun carrying settlers) from various ethnic groups to forcefully occupy territory for the empire. While Ethiopia did not have pogroms like Tsarist Russia, it did have indentured peasants, forced national evacuations, lowland African people who were viewed as slaves, and a distinct racial hierarchy."<ref name=":11">{{Citation|author=John Markakis, Günther Schlee, and John Young|year=2021|title=The Nation State : A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa|title-url=https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/studies/14/|chapter=Chapter 3 (John Young): Bolshevism and National Federalism in Ethiopia|page=62-66|pdf=https://www.mprl-series.mpg.de/media/studies/14/5/studies14_chap03.pdf|city=Berlin|publisher=Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development | ||
of Knowledge, Studies 14|doi=10.34663/9783945561577-05}}</ref></blockquote>He especially stresses the debates surrounding the national question of Eritrea as instrumental in the early Student Movement, and contends that much was drawn from the | of Knowledge, Studies 14|doi=10.34663/9783945561577-05}}</ref></blockquote>He especially stresses the debates surrounding the national question of Eritrea as instrumental in the early Student Movement, and contends that much was drawn from the Soviet experience.<ref name=":11" /> | ||
Meanwhile, the [[Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP)]] mobilized on a pan-Ethiopian basis and called for a proletarian revolution under a vanguard party<ref>{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2014|title=The Quest for Socialist Utopia: The Ethiopian Student Movement c.1960-1974|page=254|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press}}</ref>. Nonetheless, its leaders were sufficiently aware of nationalist sensitivities to establish the [[Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO)]] to mobilize the Oromo. | Meanwhile, the [[Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP)]] mobilized on a pan-Ethiopian basis and called for a proletarian revolution under a vanguard party<ref>{{Citation|author=Bahru Zewde|year=2014|title=The Quest for Socialist Utopia: The Ethiopian Student Movement c.1960-1974|page=254|city=Addis Abeba|publisher=Addis Abeba University Press}}</ref>. Nonetheless, its leaders were sufficiently aware of nationalist sensitivities to establish the [[Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO)]] to mobilize the Oromo. | ||
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The TPLF and [[EPDM (Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement)]] established the EPRDF in 1989.<ref name=":13" /> The Amhara dominated Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement (EPDM) was replaced by the [[Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM)]] to emphasize its national character and distinguish it from the [[All Amhara Organization]]. The ANDM came together with the TPLF to form the EPRDF, which were joined in 1990 by the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO) and later by the [[Southern Ethiopia Peoples’ Democratic Front (SEPDF)]]<ref name=":11" />. The EPRDF took power in 1991, as a coalition of four groups.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|author=Sarah Vaughan|title=Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia|page=168-186|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813043308/http://www.ihasa.org/documents/special-reports/ethnicity-in-ethiopia.pdf|publisher=PhD, University of Edinburgh|year=2003}}</ref> | The TPLF and [[EPDM (Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement)]] established the EPRDF in 1989.<ref name=":13" /> The Amhara dominated Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement (EPDM) was replaced by the [[Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM)]] to emphasize its national character and distinguish it from the [[All Amhara Organization]]. The ANDM came together with the TPLF to form the EPRDF, which were joined in 1990 by the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO) and later by the [[Southern Ethiopia Peoples’ Democratic Front (SEPDF)]]<ref name=":11" />. The EPRDF took power in 1991, as a coalition of four groups.<ref name=":13">{{Citation|author=Sarah Vaughan|title=Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia|page=168-186|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813043308/http://www.ihasa.org/documents/special-reports/ethnicity-in-ethiopia.pdf|publisher=PhD, University of Edinburgh|year=2003}}</ref> | ||
==== Proponents of Ethnic Federalism ==== | |||
==== Criticism of Ethnic Federalism ==== | ==== Criticism of Ethnic Federalism ==== | ||
=== Military === | === Military === | ||
=== International relations === | === International relations === | ||
== Economy == | == Economy == | ||
== Education == | == Education == | ||
=== History === | === History === | ||
==== Indigenous education ==== | ==== Indigenous education ==== | ||
Yared Music School, which was established in the fifth century, is one of the earliest education institutions in the world. The purpose of the school was to train priests to organise religious music and | Yared Music School, which was established in the fifth century, is one of the earliest education institutions in the world. The purpose of the school was to train the highly qualified priests to organise religious music and dancing. Saint Yared’s invention is still dominantly practised in the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The musical nota (musical style) developed by St. Yared is still being taught in Ethiopian schools and are being practised in higher level trainings of the Ethiopian Orthodox church.<ref>{{Citation|author=Alemayehu Bishaw and Solomon Melesse|year=2017|title=Historical Analysis of the Challenges and Opportunities of Higher Education in Ethiopia|page=32|publisher=Higher Education for the Future 4(1), 31–43|doi=10.1177/2347631116681212}}</ref> | ||
Even though the exact date when the Church started offering formal education to children is not known, historians generally assume it to be roughly at the beginning of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Ethiopia | Even though the exact date when the Church started offering formal education to children is not known, historians generally assume it to be roughly at the beginning of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Ethiopia at about 400 A.D.<ref name=":17">{{Citation|author=Girma Amare|year=1967|title=Aims and Purposes of Church Education in Ethiopia|title-url=http://ejol.aau.edu.et/index.php/EJE/article/view/1112|page=1-11|publisher=The Ethiopian Journal of Education: Vol. 1 No. 1}}</ref> | ||
Based on their spiritual and intellectual roles, one can observe two groups of scholars in the traditional education system. The first group are graduates of the School of Holy Mass, ''Kidassie Bet'', and the School of Hymn, ''Zema Bet'', whose function concentrated mainly within the confines of the Orthodox Church, giving religious services to believers. The second group are graduates of the School of Poetry, ''Qine Bet'' and the School of Books, ''Metsehaf Bet''. The fields of study and the average times of completion are given in the following table<ref name=":16" />: | Based on their spiritual and intellectual roles, one can observe two groups of scholars in the traditional education system. The first group are graduates of the School of Holy Mass, ''Kidassie Bet'', and the School of Hymn, ''Zema Bet'', whose function concentrated mainly within the confines of the Orthodox Church, giving religious services to believers. The second group are graduates of the School of Poetry, ''Qine Bet'' and the School of Books, ''Metsehaf Bet''. The fields of study and the average times of completion are given in the following table<ref name=":16" />: | ||
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|} | |} | ||
The system of Chuch Education is structured as follows, by | The system of Chuch Education is structured as follows, by anaology to other education systems: | ||
# "Elementary Education" (''Nibab''): The teacher is usually a priest or a | # "Elementary Education" (''Nibab''): Most children did not enter schools at all. The teacher is usually a priest or a debtera, with clasroom of thirty pupils, in groups of two or three. The more advanced students teach the less advanced, while the teacher attends to the former and checks on the progress of the latter. Elementary education consists of learning the alphabet, comitting to memory the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalms of David. Moral teaching constitutes learning by heart certain prayers, servicing their elders and teachers, by fetching wood and water, runnig errands, washing their feat etc. | ||
# "Secondary Education" (''Zema'' and ''Kidassie''): This is mostly provided by the Zema Bet or School of Music. Church music, dancing and the beating of time consititute the core curriculum of secondary education. Students master the songs sung at the termination of mass (''Zemare'') and at commemoration service and funerals (''Mewaset'') as well as the arts of Church dancing and time beating. Also included is the study of a collection of hymns (''Deggwa'') made very popular by the famous 6th century musician, [[Abuna Yared]]. A secondary school is usually conducted by a ''Mena Geta'', as the head of a parish is called, someone who has completed Zema or Kene level. | # "Secondary Education" (''Zema'' and ''Kidassie''): This is mostly provided by the Zema Bet or School of Music. Church music, dancing and the beating of time consititute the core curriculum of secondary education. Students master the songs sung at the termination of mass (''Zemare'') and at commemoration service and funerals (''Mewaset'') as well as the arts of Church dancing and time beating. Also included is the study of a collection of hymns (''Deggwa'') made very popular by the famous 6th century musician, [[Abuna Yared]]. A secondary school is usually conducted by a ''Mena Geta'', as the head of a parish is called, someone who has completed Zema or Kene level. | ||
# "College Education" (''Kene''): The education offered in the Kene school, is a prerequisite for further study at the "university level" | # "College Education" (''Kene''): The education offered in the Kene school, is a prerequisite for further study at the "university level". and it is at this stage that students are introduced to [[Ge'ez]] grammar, the translation of Ge'ez texts into [[Amharic]] and the composition of verses. One also learns the mastery of two types of poetry, ''Semena Work'' (Wax and Gold) and ''Wusta Waira'' (Inside the Olive Tree). | ||
# University Education: Here is where specialization occurs. Those who wish to specialize in Kene remain in the Kene school or move on to a similar school of greater renown. The philosophically-inclined enter a ''Metsehaf Bet'' (House of Book), while those endowed with a good voice and a talent for music return to a Zema school for a more extensive and specialised study of Church music and dance. In ''Metsehaf Bet'' there are four areas of specialization: a) the Old Testament, b) the New Testamant, c) Dogma and Interpretation or d) Astronomy. Specialisation can occur in multiple fields. Certain church schools in certain regions are renowned for certain specialisations as well.<ref name=":17" /> | # University Education: Here is where specialization occurs. Those who wish to specialize in Kene remain in the Kene school or move on to a similar school of greater renown. The philosophically-inclined enter a ''Metsehaf Bet'' (House of Book), while those endowed with a good voice and a talent for music return to a Zema school for a more extensive and specialised study of Church music and dance. In ''Metsehaf Bet'' there are four areas of specialization: a) the Old Testament, b) the New Testamant, c) Dogma and Interpretation or d) Astronomy. Specialisation can occur in multiple fields. Certain church schools in certain regions are renowned for certain specialisations as well.<ref name=":17" /> | ||
Girma Aware puts it as follows:<blockquote>"It is interesting to note that specialization in a particular field must be preceded by a study, both broad and deep, of all aspects of the Church's teaching: music, poetry and history. In other words, a wide understanding of Ethiopian culture is a prerequisite for entry into any of the specialized courses offered by these schools."<ref name=":17" /></blockquote>Chch teaching did not entail its | Girma Aware puts it as follows:<blockquote>"It is interesting to note that specialization in a particular field must be preceded by a study, both broad and deep, of all aspects of the Church's teaching: music, poetry and history. In other words, a wide understanding of Ethiopian culture is a prerequisite for entry into any of the specialized courses offered by these schools."<ref name=":17" /></blockquote>Chch teaching did not entail its confinment to the religious realm, but extended to the seular, since church education produced civil servants, judges, governors, scribes, treasures etc, religious belief was inextricably linked with a definite social system and a mode of life<ref name=":21">{{Citation|author=Messay Kebede|year=2006|title=The Roots and Fallouts of Haile Selassie's Educational Policy|page=7-10|pdf=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232829979.pdf|publisher=Philosophy Faculty Publications. Paper 113, UNESCO Forum Occasional Paper | ||
Series Paper no. 10}}</ref>, and served thus as a superstructural justification and material precondition for the mode of production and politico-ideological systems, while retaining formal independence from the state. Some contend that it served as a mechanism to ensure national cohesion.<ref>{{Citation|author=Atale Tilahun and Solomon Melesse|year=2022|title=An Exploration into the Practice of Traditional Church Education in Ethiopia: Zema-bet Education in Focus|page=8|pdf=https://www.mecs-press.org/ijeme/ijeme-v12-n2/IJEME-V12-N2-2.pdf|publisher=I. J. Education and Management Engineering, 2, 7-20|doi=10.5815/ijeme.2022.02.02}}</ref> | Series Paper no. 10}}</ref>, and served thus as a superstructural justification and material precondition for the mode of production and politico-ideological systems, while retaining formal independence from the state. Some contend that it served as a mechanism to ensure national cohesion.<ref>{{Citation|author=Atale Tilahun and Solomon Melesse|year=2022|title=An Exploration into the Practice of Traditional Church Education in Ethiopia: Zema-bet Education in Focus|page=8|pdf=https://www.mecs-press.org/ijeme/ijeme-v12-n2/IJEME-V12-N2-2.pdf|publisher=I. J. Education and Management Engineering, 2, 7-20|doi=10.5815/ijeme.2022.02.02}}</ref> | ||
Some 30,000-35,000 traditional schools exist in Ethiopia today.<ref name=":16">{{Citation|author=Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes|year=2017|title=Native Colonialism: Education and the Economy of Violence Against | Some 30,000-35,000 traditional schools exist in Ethiopia today.<ref name=":16">{{Citation|author=Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes|year=2017|title=Native Colonialism: Education and the Economy of Violence Against | ||
Tradition in Ethiopia|page=58|publisher=The Red Sea Press|lg=http://library.lol/main/894C4B0F36D84C3D893C3E8B63258505}}</ref> | Tradition in Ethiopia|page=58|publisher=The Red Sea Press|lg=http://library.lol/main/894C4B0F36D84C3D893C3E8B63258505}}</ref> | ||
==== Beginnings of Western Education ==== | ==== Beginnings of Western Education ==== | ||
[[Menelik II]] opened the first western school in Addis Abeba in 1908 on palace compounds, after recruiting ten [[Arab Republic of Egypt|Egyptians]] as teachers in 1906. He felt the need for a modern education system to allow for a centralized state (i.e. producing administrators, interpreters and technicians), as well as a populace fluent in foreign languages to facilitate international diplomacy in oder to maintain Ethiopia's sovereignty.<ref name=":18">{{Citation|author=Alemayehu Bishaw and Jon Lasser|year=2012|title=Education in Ethiopia: Past, Present and Future Prospects|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337050045_Education_in_Ethiopia_Past_Present_and_Future_Prospects|page=54 | [[Menelik II]] opened the first western school in Addis Abeba in 1908 on palace compounds, after recruiting ten [[Arab Republic of Egypt|Egyptians]] as teachers in 1906. He felt the need for a modern education system to allow for a a centralized state (i.e. producing administrators, interpreters and technicians), as well as a populace fluent in foreign languages to facilitate international diplomacy in oder to maintain Ethiopia's sovereignty.<ref name=":18">{{Citation|author=Alemayehu Bishaw and Jon Lasser|year=2012|title=Education in Ethiopia: Past, Present and Future Prospects|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337050045_Education_in_Ethiopia_Past_Present_and_Future_Prospects|page=54|pdf=http://nobleworld.biz/images/5-Lasser_s_paper.pdf|publisher=African Nebula, Issue 5}}</ref> To this effect, he states:<blockquote>"Ethiopia needed educated people to ensure our peace, to reconstruct our country and to enable it to exists as a great nation in the face of European powers" - Menelik II<ref name=":19">{{Citation|author=Moges Yigezu|year=2010|title=Language Ideologies and Challenges of Multilingual Education in Ethiopia: The Case of the Harari Region|page=28|publisher=Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa}}</ref></blockquote>Following the establishment of that first school in the capital, attempts were made by the government, foreign communities and missionaries to establish modern schools across the country. For instance, a French community school was opened in the capital in 1908 and another one by Alliance Francaise in 1912.<ref name=":18" /> Between 1906 and 1935, one hundred private schools were opened.<ref name=":19" /> The medium of instruction in government schools was mainly French- a result not premediated. Rather, due to the opposition from the church against the adoption of western-style education in Ethiopia, most vocally by bishop Abune Matteos (an Egyptian), teachers where imported from Egypt as a compromise solution, who then also imported the practice of using French as a language of instruction (irrespective of the need and interests of Ethiopians).<ref name=":19" /> Because at the time translators or interpreters were in high demand, the school focused on the teaching of [[French]], English, and [[Arabic]]. Moreover, some provincial governors had opened a few schools at their own expense. In 1925 of the Teferi Makonnen School was opened. Following the opening of this second school, other schools were opened at Dessie, Gore, Dire Dawa, Neqemte, Yirga Alem, Jigjiga, Assebe Teferi, Ambo, Jimma and Debre Markos. Additionally, in 1931, the Empress Menen School, the first all-girls school in the country's history, was founded. The overall picture of the country's expanding "modern" education was as follows: There were twenty-eight government schools with a total enrollment of over four-thousand students until the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. There were about two hundred students pursuing their education in the different European countries as well as in the [[United States of America]]. Of these latter, ten were young women.<ref>{{Citation|author=Seyoum Teffera|year=2005|title=EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA|pdf=https://eea-et.org/sites/default/files/publications/Economic%20Focus%20%20Vol%208%20No%202_0.pdf|publisher=Economic Focus (ልሳነ ኢኮኖሚክስ), Ethiopian Economic Association: Vol.8 No.2|trans-title=Translated by Yonas Admassu|trans-lang=Amharic|page=20}}</ref> Empress Zewditu Menelik (daughter of Emperor Menelik II) introduced the education proclamation of 1929, a first step towards universal education of all schol age children in Amharic, in addition to modest provisions for vocational education:<blockquote>"All those who do not send their sons and daughters to school so that they can learn writing and reading skills which are necessary to identify the good and evils and develop fear of God and the king, will be punished 50 Birr. The money solicited from punishment will be given to the church for the feeding and clothing of the poor"<ref name=":18" /></blockquote> | ||
Additionally, in 1931, the Empress Menen School, the first all-girls school in the country's history, was founded. The overall picture of the country's expanding "modern" education was as follows: There were twenty-eight government schools with a total enrollment of over four-thousand students until the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. There were about two hundred students pursuing their education in the different European countries as well as in the [[United States of America]]. Of these latter, ten were young women.<ref>{{Citation|author=Seyoum Teffera|year=2005|title=EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA|pdf=https://eea-et.org/sites/default/files/publications/Economic%20Focus%20%20Vol%208%20No%202_0.pdf|publisher=Economic Focus (ልሳነ ኢኮኖሚክስ), Ethiopian Economic Association: Vol.8 No.2|trans-title=Translated by Yonas Admassu|trans-lang=Amharic|page=20}}</ref> | |||
Empress Zewditu Menelik (daughter of Emperor Menelik II) introduced the education proclamation of 1929, a first step towards universal education of all schol age children in Amharic, in addition to modest provisions for vocational education:<blockquote>"All those who do not send their sons and daughters to school so that they can learn writing and reading skills which are necessary to identify the good and evils and develop fear of God and the king, will be punished 50 Birr. The money solicited from punishment will be given to the church for the feeding and clothing of the poor"<ref name=":18" /></blockquote> | |||
==== Italian Occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1941) ==== | ==== Italian Occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1941) ==== | ||
In November 1932 the Italian government established a central office for primary education in Eritrea, the purpose of which as defined by its director, [[Andrea Festa]]. Its purpose was to exercise technical and disciplinary supervision to ensure that education accorded with the principles of the [[Fascist Italy|fascist regime]]. "Native Schools" were devided into three groups: elementary schools (where they would learn "the first elements of the Italian language"), arts and crafts schools, and a complementary school (only one of which was established, with an attendance of under 40 even at peak times) to the elementary school. Education for Ethiopians was restricted to six years in either technical or elementary school, a deliberate policy to curtail the asperations of the "natives" which was | In November 1932 the Italian government established a central office for primary education in Eritrea, the purpose of which as defined by its director, [[Andrea Festa]]. Its purpose was to exercise technical and disciplinary supervision to ensure that education accorded with the principles of the [[Fascist Italy|fascist regime]]. "Native Schools" were devided into three groups: elementary schools (where they would learn "the first elements of the Italian language"), arts and crafts schools, and a complementary school (only one of which was established, with an attendance of under 40 even at peak times) to the elementary school. Education for Ethiopians was restricted to six years in either technical or elementary school, a deliberate policy to curtail the asperations of the "natives" which was "many times in excess of their status."<ref name=":20">{{Citation|author=Richard Pankhurst|year=1972|title=Education in Ethiopia during the Italian Fascist Occupation (1936-1941)|title-url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/217091?origin=JSTOR-pdf|page=364-377|publisher=The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3|doi=10.2307/217091 }}</ref> | ||
Festa further states in the Second Italian Congress of Colonial Studies in Florence in April 1934: <blockquote>" The Native child [has to be acquainted] with a little of our civilisation [in order to become] a concious propaganist for Italian culture. [He had therefore to know] Italy, its glories, and ancient history, in order to become a concious milita man in the shade of our flag. (...) [The] complete abolition [in the] native syllabus of the teaching of the history of the Italian struggle for independence and national unity | Festa further states in the Second Italian Congress of Colonial Studies in Florence in April 1934: <blockquote>" The Native child [has to be acquainted] with a little of our civilisation [in order to become] a concious propaganist for Italian culture. [He had therefore to know] Italy, its glories, and ancient history, in order to become a concious milita man in the shade of our flag. (...) [The] complete abolition [in the] native syllabus of the teaching of the history of the Italian struggle for independence and national unity, [and] all such ideas were unnecessary or in any way unsuited to the modest possibilities of the native (...). The school thus conceived and circumscribed cannot but assure an effective benefit to the children, future soldiers of Italy, without creating for the Government political preoccupations; which could perhaps result from an education designed with more ample aims and with programmes consonent with those in force for compatriots (Italians)"<ref name=":20" /></blockquote>The principles of fascist educational policy in Africa were officially defined in an educational ordinance for the colonies issued on July 24, 1936, Article I of which reiterated the principle that there were to be two different types of educational institutions, namely "Italian type schools" and schools for "colonial subjects." Article VI specified that Italian citizens in the empire were subject to the same rules for the compulsory education of their children as were in force; in, metropolitan Italy, while Article XIV stated that the programs and regulations of "Italian type" schools should "conform to those of the same grade in the Kingdom," except where "special local conditions" required "modifications which would be promulgated by the Minister for the Colonies." The ''Tafari Makonnen School'' was converted into two "Italian type" schools, the ''Liceo-Ginnasio Vittorio Emanuele III'' and the ''Istituto Tecnico Benito Mussolini'', both reserved for European children, while the prewar ''Empress Menen School'' was converted into the ''Regina Elena'' military hospital. <ref name=":20" /> | ||
In 1939, all distinctions between "half-caste" and "natives" were removed, in 1940 they were barred from all educational institutions reserved for Italians. <ref name=":20" /> All the missionary institutions, including their educational provisions, were closed in 1940. Children of mixed parentage who were at least 13 years old could still obtain Italian citizenship if they had received an Italian education up to the third grade of primary school and had demonstrated | In 1939, all distinctions between "half-caste" and "natives" were removed, in 1940 they were barred from all educational institutions reserved for Italians. <ref name=":20" /> All the missionary institutions, including their educational provisions, were closed in 1940. Children of mixed parentage who were at least 13 years old could still obtain Italian citizenship if they had received an Italian education up to the third grade of primary school and had demonstrated good civic, moral and political behaviour. | ||
In Ethiopia a new ''soprintendenza'' was created in 1936. Religious orders (the Mission of the ‘Consolata’ in Ethiopia) ran Catholic schools which were often rated highly, and which were granted state recognition. In many cases Italian priests abandoned their previously apolitical approach to participate in national mobilisation for the war; some missionaries shared the idea that an Italian Empire could bring civilisation and development to African populations.<ref>{{Citation|author=Matteo Pretelli|year=2011|title=Education in the Italian colonies during the interwar period|page=281-283|pdf=https://srisa.org/rw_common/plugins/stacks/armadillo/media/Education_in_the_Italian_colonies_during.pdf|publisher=Modern Italy, Vol. 16, No. 3, 275–293|doi=10.1080/13532944.2011.586502}}</ref> During the occupation, Ethiopian teachers who knew the local languages were employed under the supervision of priests and nuns, with an emphasis on Italian fascist ideology. However, in practice, all instructions in government-operated schools were primarily in Italian. Textbooks were written in Italian.<ref name=":18" /> | In Ethiopia a new ''soprintendenza'' was created in 1936. Religious orders (the Mission of the ‘Consolata’ in Ethiopia) ran Catholic schools which were often rated highly, and which were granted state recognition. In many cases Italian priests abandoned their previously apolitical approach to participate in national mobilisation for the war; some missionaries shared the idea that an Italian Empire could bring civilisation and development to African populations.<ref>{{Citation|author=Matteo Pretelli|year=2011|title=Education in the Italian colonies during the interwar period|page=281-283|pdf=https://srisa.org/rw_common/plugins/stacks/armadillo/media/Education_in_the_Italian_colonies_during.pdf|publisher=Modern Italy, Vol. 16, No. 3, 275–293|doi=10.1080/13532944.2011.586502}}</ref> During the occupation, Ethiopian teachers who knew the local languages were employed under the supervision of priests and nuns, with an emphasis on Italian fascist ideology. However, in practice, all instructions in government-operated schools were primarily in Italian. Textbooks were written in Italian.<ref name=":18" /> | ||
During this period, there was neither | During this period, there was neither uniform and standardized curriculum nor a standardized assessment method in the schools. The devastating war of aggression and its consequences resulted in a significant and lasting negative effect on the growth and development of education<ref name=":18" />, as educated Ethiopians were also murdered (by some estimates 75%)<ref name=":21" />, either pre-emptively or as a punishment for political and military opposition to the occupation.<ref>{{Citation|author=Sisay Awgichew Wondemetegegn|year=2016|title=The Historic Move, Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities in Ethiopian Education|page=58|pdf=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234690191.pdf|publisher=International Journal of African and Asian Studies, Vol.26}}</ref> | ||
==== Pre-revolutionary Period ==== | ==== Pre-revolutionary Period ==== | ||
For many years after [[Second World War|World War II]], [[Haile Selassie I]] himself retained the post of Minister of Education and had exclusive control over educational matters in the country. Order No. 3 of 1947 reads as follows: <blockquote>"The direction, administration, supervision and guidance of all functions and controls of Our Imperial Government, relating to education, fine arts, and religious and cultural instruction, within Our Empire shall come under Our exclusive"</blockquote>The administrative regulation is aptly put by Girma Amare:<blockquote>" Between 1941 and 1974, the Ministry of Education grew in size and complexity. New departments were created and existing ones expanded. Fifteen regional and 102 sub regional education offices were opened. The ministry was organized into three departments, each responsible for major functions: administration, instruction, culture and external aid. Each was headed by an expert with the rank of vice-minister; each had several divisions, sections, and units under director generals and heads. The regional and subregional offices linked the ministry and the schools. The minister was a political appointee and a member of the Council of Ministers, linking the ministry and the government. Although he was theoretically accountable to the Prime Minister, he was answerable to the emperor, who could replace or dismiss him. The Minister of State and the three vice-ministers as well as all other senior officials of the ministry were responsible to the minister and through him to the emperor. The Department of Supervision and of Private Schools played vital supervisory roles in ensuring that the rules and regulations of the ministry were followed in all schools in the empire. Through this highly centralized machinery, all educational activities in the empire were controlled and directed from the top. Curricula, national examinations, school calendars, and textbooks were centrally developed and uniformly applied throughout the country, irrespective of the diverse needs and conditions obtaining in various regions."<ref name=":22">{{Citation|author=Girma Amare|year=1984|title=EDUCATION AND SOCIETY IN PREREVOLUTIONARY ETHIOPIA|title-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43663304|page=66-69|publisher=Northeast African Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1/2|doi=10.2307/43663304 }}</ref></blockquote>The first post-elementary-level educational establishment opened after the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–1941 was the Haile Selassie Secondary School, which started offering regular academic training in Addis Ababa on July 23, 1943. From 1941 to 1951, seven secondary schools, only two of which were devoted exclusively to secondary education, were functioning in the Ethiopian empire. In the secondary level was general education, the first year curriculum covered history, geography, and Amharic, with a total of three courses a week; and mathematics and science, including health, with a combined total of five courses per week.<ref name=":23">{{Citation|author=Paulos Milkias|year=2011|title=Ethiopia|page=240|city=Santa Barbara|publisher=ABC-CLIO|lg=http://library.lol/main/C7BADE8C2EB459DDD3CF0839CC4E6A8E|series=Africa in Focus}}</ref> The General Wingate secondary school (financed by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]]) was opened in 1945. American involvement in the education system dates from the 1940s, when american advisors Ruckmirck and Rinckle served in the Ministry of Education. <ref name=":22" /> | |||
For many years after [[Second World War|World War II]], [[Haile Selassie I]] himself retained the post of Minister of Education and had exclusive control over educational matters in the country. Order No. 3 of 1947 reads as follows: <blockquote>"The direction, administration, supervision and guidance of all functions and controls of Our Imperial Government, relating to education, fine arts, and religious and cultural instruction, within Our Empire shall come under Our exclusive" | |||
In 1948, Ethiopia changed the educational system from a 6-4 (six years of primary followed by four years of secondary) to an 8-4 system on the insistence of U.S. advisers. In 1955, the eight primary years were split into six years of primary and two years of junior secondary, followed by four years of senior secondary. During the 1960s, the comprehensive education idea was introduced from the United States and led to the conversion of several academic schools in Ethiopia to comprehensive schools.<ref name=":22" /> | In 1948, Ethiopia changed the educational system from a 6-4 (six years of primary followed by four years of secondary) to an 8-4 system on the insistence of U.S. advisers. In 1955, the eight primary years were split into six years of primary and two years of junior secondary, followed by four years of senior secondary. During the 1960s, the comprehensive education idea was introduced from the United States and led to the conversion of several academic schools in Ethiopia to comprehensive schools.<ref name=":22" /> | ||
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The government recruited foreign teachers for primary and secondary schools to offset the teacher shortage. By 1952 a total of 60,000 students were enrolled in 400 primary schools, eleven secondary schools, and three institutions offering college-level courses. In the 1960s, 310 mission and privately operated schools with an enrollment of 52,000 supplemented the country's public school system.<ref name=":24">{{Citation|author=Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry|year=1991|title=Ethiopia, a country study|chapter=Education During Imperial Rule|page=113-116|publisher=Federal Research Division Library of Congress: Kessinger Publishing|lg=http://library.lol/main/D0413381060519E77FFC3C9A323F5B3B}}</ref> | The government recruited foreign teachers for primary and secondary schools to offset the teacher shortage. By 1952 a total of 60,000 students were enrolled in 400 primary schools, eleven secondary schools, and three institutions offering college-level courses. In the 1960s, 310 mission and privately operated schools with an enrollment of 52,000 supplemented the country's public school system.<ref name=":24">{{Citation|author=Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry|year=1991|title=Ethiopia, a country study|chapter=Education During Imperial Rule|page=113-116|publisher=Federal Research Division Library of Congress: Kessinger Publishing|lg=http://library.lol/main/D0413381060519E77FFC3C9A323F5B3B}}</ref> | ||
The first third-level educational institution opened in Ethiopia was the University College of Addis Ababa (from 1962 onwards the Haile Selassie I University, from 1975 the Addis Abeba University), which started operation on December 11, 1950.<ref>{{Citation|author=Teshome G. Wagaw|year=1990|title=The Development of Higher Education and Social Change : An Ethiopian | The first third-level educational institution opened in Ethiopia was the French Canadian–run University College of Addis Ababa (from 1962 onwards the Haile Selassie I University, from 1975 the Addis Abeba University), which started operation on December 11, 1950.<ref>{{Citation|author=Teshome G. Wagaw|year=1990|title=The Development of Higher Education and Social Change : An Ethiopian | ||
Experience|page=69-117|publisher=Michigan State University Press|lg=http://library.lol/main/A5FA3B0DB5E798902C6738CEE25FEC08|series=African Series|volume=No. 2}}</ref> During the 1960s, the second university in the country, the University of Asmara, opened.<ref name=":23" /> | Experience|page=69-117|publisher=Michigan State University Press|lg=http://library.lol/main/A5FA3B0DB5E798902C6738CEE25FEC08|series=African Series|volume=No. 2}}</ref> During the 1960s, the second university in the country, the University of Asmara, opened.<ref name=":23" /> | ||
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Several military schools were established, among the most important being the Air Force Cadet Training School in Addis Ababa, the Military School at Holeta, the Haile Sellassie I Military School in Harar, and the Navy Cadet School in Masawa. <ref name=":22" /> | Several military schools were established, among the most important being the Air Force Cadet Training School in Addis Ababa, the Military School at Holeta, the Haile Sellassie I Military School in Harar, and the Navy Cadet School in Masawa. <ref name=":22" /> | ||
==== Derg ==== | ==== Derg ==== | ||
==== The current education system ==== | |||
=== Statistics === | |||
== Demographics == | |||
There are over 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The largest [[Nation|nations]] in the country are the Tigray (6.1%) and Amhara (27%), who speak Semitic languages,and the Somalis (6.2%) and the Oromo (34%), who speak a Cushitic language.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
According to the most recent census conducted by the Population Census Commision of the FDRE in 2007 (which recorded a population of 74 million), 43,5% of the Ethiopian Population are Orthodox Christian ([[Tewahedo]]), 18.6% Protestant (mostly [[Pent'ay]]) and 0,7% [[Catholicism|Catholic]], which totals to a [[Christianity|Christian population]] of 62,8%.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Population Census Commission|year=2008|title=Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census: Population Size by Age and Sex|page=17|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604045256/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf|publisher=United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)}}</ref> In addition, 33.9% are [[Islam|Muslim]],<ref name=":1" /> 68% of which identify as [[Sunni]], and 2% as [[Shia]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Pew Research Centre|title=THE WORLD’S MUSLIMS: UNITY AND DIVERSITY|date=2012-08-09|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/#identity|archive-url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/08/the-worlds-muslims-full-report.pdf|retrieved=05.20.2023}}</ref> The census lists 2.6% of the population as being adherents to "traditional religions".<ref name=":1" /> | |||
According to the most recent census conducted by the Population Census Commision of the FDRE in 2007 (which recorded a population of 74 million), 43,5% of the Ethiopian Population are Orthodox Christian ([[Tewahedo]]), 18.6% Protestant (mostly [[Pent'ay]]) and 0,7% [[Catholicism|Catholic]], which totals to a [[Christianity|Christian population]] of 62,8%.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Population Census Commission|year=2008|title=Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census: Population Size by Age and Sex|page=17|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604045256/http://www.csa.gov.et/pdf/Cen2007_firstdraft.pdf|publisher=United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)}}</ref> In addition, 33.9% are [[Islam|Muslim]],<ref name=":1" /> 68% of which identify as [[Sunni]], and 2% as [[Shia]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Pew Research Centre|title=THE WORLD’S MUSLIMS: UNITY AND DIVERSITY|date=2012-08-09|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/#identity|archive-url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2012/08/the-worlds-muslims-full-report.pdf|retrieved=05.20.2023}}</ref> The census lists 2.6% of the population as being adherents to "traditional religions". | |||
== Languages == | == Languages == | ||
Since the 29th of February 2020 (as decided by Ethiopia's Council of Ministers), the FDRE has five working languages: [[Afaan Oromo]], [[Tigrinya]], [[Somali]], [[Afar]] and [[Amharic]]. Prior to this decision, Amharic was the only working language of Ethiopia, and it remains the de facto second language of many Ethiopians because of this status.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Abdul Rahman Alfa Shaban|newspaper=africanews|title=One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages|date=2020-04-03|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages//|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215231030/https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages//|archive-date=2020-15-10|retrieved=2023-20-05}}</ref> Amharic and Afaan Oromo are considered to be lingua francae of Ethiopia.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=Grover Hudson|year=2004|title=Languages of Ethiopia and Languages of the 1994 Ethiopian Census|title-url=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/286|page=160|pdf=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/286/284|city=Hamburg|publisher=Aethiopica (7): International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies , 160-172|doi=https://doi.org/10.15460/aethiopica.7.1.286}}</ref> Ethiopia has a literacy rate of 52%.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation|newspaper=Ethnologue|title=Ethiopia|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET/|retrieved=2023-05-20}}</ref> | Since the 29th of February 2020 (as decided by Ethiopia's Council of Ministers), the FDRE has five working languages: [[Afaan Oromo]], [[Tigrinya]], [[Somali]], [[Afar]] and [[Amharic]]. Prior to this decision, Amharic was the only working language of Ethiopia, and it remains the de facto second language of many Ethiopians because of this status.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Abdul Rahman Alfa Shaban|newspaper=africanews|title=One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages|date=2020-04-03|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages//|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215231030/https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages//|archive-date=2020-15-10|retrieved=2023-20-05}}</ref> Amharic and Afaan Oromo are considered to be lingua francae of Ethiopia.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=Grover Hudson|year=2004|title=Languages of Ethiopia and Languages of the 1994 Ethiopian Census|title-url=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/286|page=160|pdf=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/286/284|city=Hamburg|publisher=Aethiopica (7): International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies , 160-172|doi=https://doi.org/10.15460/aethiopica.7.1.286}}</ref> Ethiopia has a literacy rate of 52%.<ref name=":3">{{Web citation|newspaper=Ethnologue|title=Ethiopia|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET/|retrieved=2023-05-20}}</ref> | ||
The 2007 census reported 85 Ethiopian ethnic groups vs. 80 of the 1994 census, and the 2007 census reported 87 Ethiopian mother tongues vs. 77 of the 1994 census.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|author=Grover Hudson|year=2012|title=Ethnic Group and Mother Tongue in the Ethiopian Censuses of 1994 and 2007|title-url=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/666|page=204-205|pdf=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/666/674|city=Hamburg|publisher=Aethiopica (15):International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies, 204-215|doi=https://doi.org/10.15460/aethiopica.15.1.666|volume=}}</ref> However, this same paper also notes:<blockquote>"the persistent difficulty concerning differences between names of languages and their dialects, and between self-names and names, often thought derogatory, given by others. Of course even the notions 'ethnic group', 'mother tongue' or 'language' are not well defined, but are non-discrete entities, and the facts which, in particular cases, would give them clarity if not satisfactory definition are many and probably impossible to elicit in a census. The Ethiopian census seems not trying to identify and count all Ethiopian ethnic groups and mother tongues, or even a well-defined subgroup of these. The apparent absence of expert advice in these matters (or at least in the census reporting) is understandable, given the certain difficulties of choosing among experts, interpreting the advice (probably often contradictory), and implementing it."<ref name=":4" /></blockquote>The same author elswhere states about the 1994 Census:<blockquote>"linguistic findings of the Census seem reasonably consistent with the typically un-quantified and often intuitive knowledge of Ethiopianist linguists" [despite of the] "expected difficulties for the Census arising from the political sensitivities associatied with linguistic and ethnolinguistic questions, an unsystematic and ambiguous linguistic nomenclature, and the practical problem of reaching and sampling in all corners of Ethiopia."<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>indicating the census reliability. The Ethnologue page for Ethiopia lists 87 living and 2 extinct languages, broadly in the Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic languages) and Nilo-Saharan (Surmic, Gumuz, and Koman languages) language families (excluding sign language for Amharic).<ref name=":3" /> Currently, 25 languages are used as a language of instruction in primary education,<ref name=":5">{{Citation|author=Katrin Seidel and Janine Moritz|year=2009|title=Changes in Ethiopia’s Language and Education Policy – Pioneering Reforms?|page=1126-1127|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|city=Trondheim|publisher=Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies}}</ref> whereas English is used as a language of instruction (Amharic and the local language being included in the curriculum) in secondary and higher education.<ref | The 2007 census reported 85 Ethiopian ethnic groups vs. 80 of the 1994 census, and the 2007 census reported 87 Ethiopian mother tongues vs. 77 of the 1994 census.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|author=Grover Hudson|year=2012|title=Ethnic Group and Mother Tongue in the Ethiopian Censuses of 1994 and 2007|title-url=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/666|page=204-205|pdf=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/666/674|city=Hamburg|publisher=Aethiopica (15):International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies, 204-215|doi=https://doi.org/10.15460/aethiopica.15.1.666|volume=}}</ref> However, this same paper also notes:<blockquote>"the persistent difficulty concerning differences between names of languages and their dialects, and between self-names and names, often thought derogatory, given by others. Of course even the notions 'ethnic group', 'mother tongue' or 'language' are not well defined, but are non-discrete entities, and the facts which, in particular cases, would give them clarity if not satisfactory definition are many and probably impossible to elicit in a census. The Ethiopian census seems not trying to identify and count all Ethiopian ethnic groups and mother tongues, or even a well-defined subgroup of these. The apparent absence of expert advice in these matters (or at least in the census reporting) is understandable, given the certain difficulties of choosing among experts, interpreting the advice (probably often contradictory), and implementing it."<ref name=":4" /></blockquote>The same author elswhere states about the 1994 Census:<blockquote>"linguistic findings of the Census seem reasonably consistent with the typically un-quantified and often intuitive knowledge of Ethiopianist linguists" [despite of the] "expected difficulties for the Census arising from the political sensitivities associatied with linguistic and ethnolinguistic questions, an unsystematic and ambiguous linguistic nomenclature, and the practical problem of reaching and sampling in all corners of Ethiopia."<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>indicating the census reliability. The Ethnologue page for Ethiopia lists 87 living and 2 extinct languages, broadly in the Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic languages) and Nilo-Saharan (Surmic, Gumuz, and Koman languages) language families (excluding sign language for Amharic).<ref name=":3" /> Currently, 25 languages are used as a language of instruction in primary education,<ref name=":5">{{Citation|author=Katrin Seidel and Janine Moritz|year=2009|title=Changes in Ethiopia’s Language and Education Policy – Pioneering Reforms?|page=1126-1127|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|city=Trondheim|publisher=Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies}}</ref> whereas English is used as a language of instruction (Amharic and the local language being included in the curriculum) in secondary and higher education.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Stefan Trines|newspaper=World Education News+ Reviews|title=Education in Ethiopia|date=2018-11-15|url=https://wenr.wes.org/2018/11/education-in-ethiopia|retrieved=2023-05-21}}</ref> More precisely:<blockquote>"Ethiopia’s approach has first and foremost been the introduction of local languages as a medium of instruction at the primary level and followed multilingual education strategies. Ethiopian educational experts of the several regions and zones decided whether the mother tongue should be used as a medium of instruction at the first cycle (1st– 4th grade) or during the complete primary level. That means that the medium of instruction can not only be different within a regional state but sometimes even within zones of a region with a multiethnic situation. Local languages are used as a medium of instruction up to the 8th grade in the Oromiya, Amhara, and Tigray regions as well as in Addis Ababa. The SNNP (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People) are using the respective local languages only in the first cycle (...). Amharic as a medium of instruction is preferred in urban areas due to the multiethnic character of many towns where the inhabitants often only share it as the lingua franca."<ref name=":5" /></blockquote>The concrete usage of languages varies according to the existence or availability of written material in that language, a consistent and standardized dictionary and grammar, and the availability of trained and educated people in that respective language.<ref name=":5" /> | ||
Principally, according to the [[1994 constitution of Ethiopia|1994 constitution]] (Article 5 and Article 39), each nation has the right to choose its respective working language, as well as the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language, as well as promote and preserve its own culture and history.<ref name=":7">{{Citation|year=1995|title=Ethiopia's Constitution of 1994|pdf=https://ethiopianembassy.be/wp-content/uploads/Constitution-of-the-FDRE.pdf|publisher=Federal Negarit Gazeta - No.1 21st August}}</ref> | Principally, according to the [[1994 constitution of Ethiopia|1994 constitution]] (Article 5 and Article 39), each nation has the right to choose its respective working language, as well as the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language, as well as promote and preserve its own culture and history.<ref name=":7">{{Citation|year=1995|title=Ethiopia's Constitution of 1994|pdf=https://ethiopianembassy.be/wp-content/uploads/Constitution-of-the-FDRE.pdf|publisher=Federal Negarit Gazeta - No.1 21st August}}</ref> | ||
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== Politics of language and nationalities == | == Politics of language and nationalities == | ||
The politics of language in Ethiopia broadly encompasses two related but distinct topics: a) Whether a policy of linguistic homogenization existed, and if so, to which extent, its role in "nation-building" efforts and the shift in policy in the 1990s as well as the political consequences of both and b) the politics of personal langauge choice and its instrumentalisation for political aims. I.e., the national-political and the economic problem, as well as the personal problem. Relatated to this is the problem of nationalities in Ethiopia | The politics of language in Ethiopia broadly encompasses two related but distinct topics: a) Whether a policy of linguistic homogenization existed, and if so, to which extent, its role in "nation-building" efforts and the shift in policy in the 1990s as well as the political consequences of both and b) the politics of personal langauge choice and its instrumentalisation for political aims. I.e., the national-political and the economic problem, as well as the personal problem. Relatated to this is the problem of nationalities in Ethiopia, the emergence of ethnonationalism as a political force in Ethiopia etc. | ||
[[Walleligne Mekonnen]], marxist activist in the [[Ethiopian Student Movement]], states in his famous account of the problem of nationalities and languages in Ethiopia in the text ''"On the question of nationalities in Ethiopia"'':<blockquote>"To be a "genuine Ethiopian" one has to speak Amharic, to listen to Amharic music, to accept the Amhara-Tigre religion, Orthodox Christianity and to wear the Amhara-Tigre Shamma in international conferences. In some cases to be an "Ethiopian", you will even have to change your name. In short to be an Ethiopian, you will have to wear an Amhara mask (to use [[Frantz Fanon|Fanon's]] expression). Start asserting your national identity and you are automatically a tribalist, that is if you are not blessed to be born an Amhara. According to the constitution you will need Amharic to go to school, to get a job, to read books (however few) and even to listen to the news on Radio "Ethiopia" unless you are a Somali or an Eritrean in Asmara for obvious reasons. To anybody who has got a nodding acquaintenance with Marxism, culture is nothing more than the super-structure of an economic basis. So cultural domination always presupposes economic subjugation. A clear example of economic subjugation would be the Amhara and to a certain extent Tigrai Neftegna system in the South and the Amhara-Tigre Coalition in the urban areas." <ref>{{Citation|author=Walleligne Mekonnen|year=1969|title=On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia|page=2|pdf=https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/nationalities.pdf|city=Addis Abeba}}</ref></blockquote>Walleligne Mekonnen is here referring to the [[1955 Constitution of Ethiopia|1955 Constitution]], which adopted Amharic as the offical language of the Empire of Ethiopia.<ref>{{Citation|author=Jan ZÁHOŘÍK and Wondwosen TESHOME|year=2009|title=DEBATING LANGUAGE POLICY IN ETHIOPIA|page=87|pdf=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/093014505_Z%C3%A1ho%C5%99%C3%ADk_Teshome.pdf|publisher=ASIAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES, 18, 1, 80-102}}</ref> In this quote, the political importance of language in Ethiopia is described and its content can be used as a useful starting point. | [[Walleligne Mekonnen]], marxist activist in the [[Ethiopian Student Movement]], states in his (in)famous account of the problem of nationalities and languages in Ethiopia in the text ''"On the question of nationalities in Ethiopia"'':<blockquote>"To be a "genuine Ethiopian" one has to speak Amharic, to listen to Amharic music, to accept the Amhara-Tigre religion, Orthodox Christianity and to wear the Amhara-Tigre Shamma in international conferences. In some cases to be an "Ethiopian", you will even have to change your name. In short to be an Ethiopian, you will have to wear an Amhara mask (to use [[Frantz Fanon|Fanon's]] expression). Start asserting your national identity and you are automatically a tribalist, that is if you are not blessed to be born an Amhara. According to the constitution you will need Amharic to go to school, to get a job, to read books (however few) and even to listen to the news on Radio "Ethiopia" unless you are a Somali or an Eritrean in Asmara for obvious reasons. To anybody who has got a nodding acquaintenance with Marxism, culture is nothing more than the super-structure of an economic basis. So cultural domination always presupposes economic subjugation. A clear example of economic subjugation would be the Amhara and to a certain extent Tigrai Neftegna system in the South and the Amhara-Tigre Coalition in the urban areas." <ref>{{Citation|author=Walleligne Mekonnen|year=1969|title=On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia|page=2|pdf=https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ethiopia/nationalities.pdf|city=Addis Abeba}}</ref></blockquote>Walleligne Mekonnen is here referring to the [[1955 Constitution of Ethiopia|1955 Constitution]], which adopted Amharic as the offical language of the Empire of Ethiopia.<ref>{{Citation|author=Jan ZÁHOŘÍK and Wondwosen TESHOME|year=2009|title=DEBATING LANGUAGE POLICY IN ETHIOPIA|page=87|pdf=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/093014505_Z%C3%A1ho%C5%99%C3%ADk_Teshome.pdf|publisher=ASIAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES, 18, 1, 80-102}}</ref> In this quote, the political importance of language in Ethiopia is described and its content can be used as a useful starting point. | ||
The contentiousness of the history of state formation in Ethiopia is well described in this quote:<blockquote>"The history of state formation in Ethiopia is a source of profound contention. At one extreme, pan-Ethiopian nationalists contend that the state is some 3,000 years old. According to this perspective, well represented by Solomon Gashaw, the state has existed for millennia, successfully countering ethnic and regional challenges, and forging a distinct national identity. The assimilation of periphery cultures into the Amhara or Amhara/Tigray core culture made the creation of the Ethiopian nation possible. From this point of view, Ethiopia is a melting pot and a [[nation-state]]. At the other extreme, ethnonationalist groups such as the [[Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)]] claim that Abyssinia (central and northern Ethiopia, the geographic core of the Ethiopian polity) colonized more than half the territories and peoples to form a colonial empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From their vantage point, Ethiopia is a colonial empire that needs to undergo decolonization whereby ‘‘ethnonational’’ colonies become independent states. A more credible image of Ethiopia would be as a historically evolved (noncolonial) empire - state. The ancient Ethiopian state—short-term contractions in size notwithstanding—expanded, over a long historical period, through the conquest and incorporation of adjoining kingdoms, principalities, sultanates, and so on, which is indeed how most states in the world were formed."<ref>{{Citation|author=Alem Habtu|year=2005|title=Multiethnic Federalism in Ethiopia: A Study of the Secession Clause in the Constitution|page=320-321|publisher=Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 35, Issue 2, 313-335|doi=10.1093/publius/pji016}}</ref></blockquote>Here, three of the dominant views on Ethiopian state formation, both scholarly and political, are outlined. | The contentiousness of the history of state formation in Ethiopia is well described in this quote:<blockquote>"The history of state formation in Ethiopia is a source of profound contention. At one extreme, pan-Ethiopian nationalists contend that the state is some 3,000 years old. According to this perspective, well represented by Solomon Gashaw, the state has existed for millennia, successfully countering ethnic and regional challenges, and forging a distinct national identity. The assimilation of periphery cultures into the Amhara or Amhara/Tigray core culture made the creation of the Ethiopian nation possible. From this point of view, Ethiopia is a melting pot and a [[nation-state]]. At the other extreme, ethnonationalist groups such as the [[Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)]] claim that Abyssinia (central and northern Ethiopia, the geographic core of the Ethiopian polity) colonized more than half the territories and peoples to form a colonial empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From their vantage point, Ethiopia is a colonial empire that needs to undergo decolonization whereby ‘‘ethnonational’’ colonies become independent states. A more credible image of Ethiopia would be as a historically evolved (noncolonial) empire - state. The ancient Ethiopian state—short-term contractions in size notwithstanding—expanded, over a long historical period, through the conquest and incorporation of adjoining kingdoms, principalities, sultanates, and so on, which is indeed how most states in the world were formed."<ref>{{Citation|author=Alem Habtu|year=2005|title=Multiethnic Federalism in Ethiopia: A Study of the Secession Clause in the Constitution|page=320-321|publisher=Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 35, Issue 2, 313-335|doi=10.1093/publius/pji016}}</ref></blockquote>Here, three of the dominant views on Ethiopian state formation, both scholarly and political, are outlined. The History of the politics of languages and nationalities will be examined in more detail in the following sections, as it has undergone dramatic shifts in the modern history of Ethiopia. | ||
The History of the politics of languages and nationalities will be examined in more detail in the following sections, as it has undergone dramatic shifts in the modern history of Ethiopia. | |||
=== 1855-1974 === | === 1855-1974 === |