I had audited classes at 3 schools ( St. Francis Primary School, Tikur Abessa Secondary School, the Cathedral Secondary School) and was unimpressed with all of them, though years before they had produced some of the fine young neurosurgical residents David encountered in the program. The students in the classrooms I had visited seemed disinterested and the teachers were not in control. Education in Ethiopia is based on the 8+2+2 system; that is, 8 years of primary school, 2 years of lower secondary school and 2 years of higher secondary school. Prior to 1974 the illiteracy rate was over 90% so there had been some serious catching up to do. Currently it is estimated to be at 42%.
10th grade seems to be the most crucial as that is when the grades on state exams dictate whether a student attends a secondary school geared toward a profession or, if he/she joins the blue collar/tech field. I was anxious to find out if the “professional-oriented” but disinterested students I had seen were the norm or if there were another specie of student among Ethiopia’s youth
I set up a meeting with the Dean of the Tegbareed Technical College in downtown Addis. It was built in 1942 and appears like a fortress with massive archaic dark metal entry gates. Behind these are concrete walls and buildings. It looked like a Beirut war zone with scattered broken cinder blocks, torn up tree trunks and dirt piles strewn around the large open courtyard. Many of the school's 1,000 students were in motion. Break time was almost over and they were heading in to class.
I was introduced to Immanuel, a young and lean overgrown kid who seemed the same age as most of his students; and he probably was. Immanuel was everything the other teachers I had met, were not. He was energetic, knew his subject well and truly loved it. He felt the sense of responsibility every good teacher knows (or parent, or nurse) and that is: “My task is to teach this child/young person what they need to know to make it in this world. If they don’t succeed, then I have not done a good job”.
I chose his class because he was teaching “Bio-Medical Equipment Repair”, which is a very serious problem we encountered at the Black Lion Hospital. During our visit, one full day of surgery was cancelled due to a non-functioning autoclave, their one and only electric drill from Stryker had been broken for months and their very snazzy donated ultrasonic aspirator had “lost” its foot pedal, thus rendering it useless. Such conditions are absolutely unheard of in 3rd world countries, where items would be immediately repaired and returned to service. Yet no one seemed to be able to fix things around here and this was having a tremendous impact on the modernization of health care, and certainly other industries as well.
The class was entirely foreign to me; not just because it was lead in Amharic but also because it dealt with transistors, transmitters and diodes...whatever... After a short presentation by Immanuel, the students came forward, one by one, to explain various principles and illustrate them on the blackboard. If there were any talking among the students, Immanuel immediately clapped his hands to show his disapproval and all was quiet again. There were 50 students in the class, each had Xerox handouts (texts were too pricey) and wore maroon lab coats. I stayed after class to chat with Immanuel.
He told me he had been a teacher for only 8 months, having just graduated the year before from this same college. Immanuel would very much like to continue his studies and obtain an electrical engineering degree at the University but since he is now needed as a teacher, he must work for 2 years before being eligible for applying. The average salary for a graduate who will work at a hospital is 1600 birr a month ($84) while those with an electrical engineering degree make 2500 birr ($135). As a teacher, it is unlikely he will get any raises. As a point of comparison, Ethiopian food is very inexpensive but housing is not. A one-bedroom apt. rents for $500, and a small room in a private home may cost about $300. One hour on internet runs $4. That monthly $84 doesn't go very far-
I asked about his qualifications for teaching and he replied he was given 5 days of “teacher-training”. I praised him heartily for his natural teaching skills. Clearly, he was well-liked by his students, despite the fact that at the end of every class day he instructed them to sweep the floors and wipe down the beleaguered desks and benches. Now, that’s my kind of teacher-
I asked about his qualifications for teaching and he replied he was given 5 days of “teacher-training”. I praised him heartily for his natural teaching skills. Clearly, he was well-liked by his students, despite the fact that at the end of every class day he instructed them to sweep the floors and wipe down the beleaguered desks and benches. Now, that’s my kind of teacher-
Most classes have at least 45-50 students and there are 1,000 students in the entire technical college. Upon completion of the first year all students take a national exam to determine if they will continue on to the 2nd year. The 3rd and 4th year are internships and the students spend 2 days a week in training at government hospitals, private hospitals or medical supply companies. This is the only chance they will get to work on more modern equipment; the first 2 years they had to make do with antiquated donated cast-offs.
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| Immanuel in his lab |
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| Old donated anesthesia and operating room equipment used for training |
