Again, you've come here with biased hearsay. I know there are two sides to a story, His Majesty always told His, as long as He could put pen to paper. If you are unwilling to research both sides, you will always be blind to your ignorance.
"Education wasn't affordable for 75% of the population"
Education was and is free through primary school, and through the 10th grade. Private schools abound in ET today, because the public schools are crowded. How affordable is the education system now, and how many qualified teachers exist now as compared to then? You talk about His Majesty like He inherited an education system that was even functional. Outside of the Church and Mosque, where did education exist before His Majesty?
"People didn't let their children complete school/college/university.
They were too busy earning money and paying off debts. His Economy relied on Farmers (who made 80% of the population) who were heavily taxed by their Landlords, which lead to debts and loss of land, which would lead to poverty."
It was an agricultural society, with landlords controlling the land. His Majesty inherited this system. Dismantling the landlord control, could not happen overnight. The landlords already had their hands deep in the political system by the time His Majesty held power. The landlords weren't just farmers either, they had their own armies which contributed greatly to the resistance efforts that were imperative during the Italian occupation. When Mengistu took over, rather than create some sort of peaceful exchange of power, he just murdered everybody that looked at him sideways. His Majesty actually taxed the landlords to help subsidize the educational system that He instituted. When His Majesty became emperor, there were no universities at all, He donated His own palace to create the first one.
"He only taught them amhamric in school too. Primary/Secondary school could be affordable for a short run but that was it! College/university was just a dream which they could never achieve, only the rich could. Also, for Girls/Women, it was even worse!"
You act like there was an abundance of English teachers, there was not. You act like there was an abundance of universities, there was one, and if you didn't live in Addis, then how would you attend (my bad, there was a Catholic run university in Awassa too, I think). He inherited a country with no educational system and created one from scratch...thus, Father of Education. He campaigned constantly on the benefits of education, do you think it wasn't His goal for all Ethiopian children to have an education? Can you imagine the logistics and resources it required to create a functional school in rural Ethiopia, even in the 70's, let alone any decade prior? And you clearly have no sense of the societal pressures place on Ethiopian women over the ages. One must know, that in a supreme act of cosmic balance, His Majesty insisted that He and his Empress be crowned at the same time, an act never seen before in Ethiopia. He showed his countrymen and the world His stance on gender equality, so don't act like He prioritized the education of men over women. He was heir to a society that had deep rooted constraints on a woman's roll in society. You talk like you prefer a dictator forcing women out of the home and into militarized schools. His Majesty speaks for Himself:
"With regards to the boys, We are satisfied with the progress made. Our hope in this circumstance is partially fulfilled; but the prospect of Our female children is frightening. It is as if they die early and leave their parents childless; for as soon as they show some promise in their education, they are, either by their parents or of their own accord, married.
The money We spend on the girls' schools seems to be wasted because they leave before receiving enough knowledge. If this state of affairs continues, how can We reach the goal of public education for which We have planned and are planning?
Today, the women of the world are not content only to live as housewives. In most countries they are striving harder and harder for higher education so that they may participate in the civic duties of their community and nation. In time of war, women like men, have served their country and some of them have fought side by side with the men against the enemy."
Haile Selassie I
"After the Socialist revolution, the literacy rate increased to 63%, even though there was a civil war going on!"
For 63% of the people that were still alive, why don't you tell me about the literacy rate of the hundreds of thousands that were brutally murdered.
"Girls at schools tripled compared to the Imperial times before 1974.
Haile Selassie was for 40 years at reign, yet couldn't achieve something as close to this success. Haile Selassie's education campaign failed miserably."
You can applaud the Derg for their educational efforts, but what was the cost of forced militarized schooling to the families that relied on their child's labor so they could pay their monthly bills. While the Derg's education campaign was such a "success", where were their efforts to provide aide during the worst famine in Ethiopia's history? His Majesty created an education system from scratch, and laid the framework for future generations to build from.
" Haile Selassie tortured students and intellectuals who were actively against him. The Famine of Tigray in the 1950s killed 100,000 civilians, mostly farmers.
Haile Selassie refused to send food aid."
There was a justice system, people found guilty of active dissent, trying destabilize the government were held accountable. Why would an emperor lay down His sword and let another man pick it up when He knew they would come for Him. You cannot make all the people happy all the time. His Majesty had a singular unified vision for His country, others did not, and still do not to this day. Do you want to see Ethiopia fractured or Ethiopia as One. As for the famine of Tigray, you act as if His Majesty did not send aid out of malice towards the common man. The Tigray region had strong ties to the Eritrean forces seeking to work against Ethiopia, sending aid was far more political than you think. His Majesty is blamed for every ill during His reign, but there was no magic wand, surrounded by corruption, He fought to preserve Ethiopia's sovereignty, and so it stands today. Abiy now faces all the same problems; these are age old cycles.
"Also, Haile Selassie failed miserably at his modernization campaign since his horrible policies resulted in a slow economy, Education was very expensive resulting in only 25% who could read and write at the end of his reign, Health was also too expensive and only affordable for the richer class, Infrastructure was very weak, daily needs were very expensive resulting in people still practising their old ways to get them, an economy which relied on feudalism and resulting in extreme poverty across the country."
You're being redundant now. His Majesty did not inherit an educational system or a country with any modern infrastructure, He created these things in a country plagued by war and corruption, with the resources that were available at the time, and Ethiopia has never experienced a time of more rapid modernization. And now, a country which no longer relies on feudalism is still plagued by extreme poverty...what do you suggest is the answer?
Haile Selassie I can always speak for Himself:
"A strong nation and a free nation can only base itself upon education.
In order to make life worthwhile it is also necessary to acquire other things that can only come about after the acquisition of learning. Learning and technical training must be nurtured by faith in God, reverence for the human soul, and respect for the reasoning mind.
There is no safer anchorage for our learning, our lives and our actions than that provided by divine teachings coupled with the best in human understanding. The leaders developed here should be guided by the fundamental values and the moral power which have for centuries constituted the essence of our religious teachings.
These are crucial times when nations rise against nations, tensions increase and disaster is possible at any moment. Distances are shrinking. Peace and life itself are threatened by misunderstanding and conflict. Now is the time when man's relationship to God must be the foundation for all his efforts toward enlightenment, and learning the basis for understanding cooperation and peace.
The existence of a skilled and trained manpower is an absolute necessity for the progress and development of any country. Therefore, it is the sacred duty and responsibility of students and parents to see to it that the mistakes of the past are not repeated and that time which should be devoted to the pursuit of learning is not wasted by students heedlessly, following the instigation of a few misguided troublemakers who have yet to understand the value and the true meaning of education.
The salvation of our country Ethiopia, we have repeatedly stated to you, lies primarily in education. As Ethiopia is one, all Ethiopians are also one and education is the only way to maintain the condition.
In all countries of the modern world, special competence is required to deal with the advancement of agriculture, industry, commerce and the civil service. That competence, can be secured only through the facilities provided in modern universities.
We believe that the universities today stand as the most promising hope for constructive solutions to the problems that beset the modern world, problems which prevent the peaceful cooperation of nations and which threaten the world and humanity with death and disaster.
From universities must come men, ideas, knowledge, experience, technical skills and the deep human understanding vital to fruitful relations among nations. Without these, world order for which we have so long strived, cannot be established.
A well informed public opinion is essential to the growth of political and social awareness.
Only he who is informed can comment intelligently on his nation's development and only by such comments can errors be corrected and progress stimulated.
We must draw on what is valuable and meaningful in our history and tradition, merging this with the best in modern learning.
We expect from you, to whom we have given the opportunity of education in your chosen field great and productive service to our country.
If women develop in education, they can overcome the natural weakness and serve their country as men do.
It is our wish to assure the spread of education among all African People as much as among our own subjects.
A father should bequeath not only wealth but also provide proper education. Education has value when it is established in individuals of good character with respect to God. We wish that your destiny shall be embraced in an education firmly based in good character before men and respect before God.
Any who may wish to profit himself alone from the knowledge given him, rather than serve others through the knowledge he has gained from learning, is betraying knowledge and rendering it worthless.
A man's happiness is to make his brother happy, and to serve his country. Thus it is possible to justify for knowledge its high and deserved place. For knowledge is power. If it is not applied to its proper purpose, to create, let there be no doubt, it will destroy.
If we have made so many sacrifices for the education of our youth, it is because we are convinced that only through intellectual progress and education can Ethiopia come into its own and make it's just contribution to the history of the Middle East.
We believe that from truth alone is born liberty and only an educated people can consider itself as really free and master of its fate. It is only with an educated people that representative and democratic organs of government can exercise their influence for national progress."
-Words of Ras TafarI
"A well organized education should not be one which prepares students for a good remuneration alone. It should be one that can help and guide them towards acquiring clear thinking, a fruitful mind, and an elevated spirit.
The educated person that Ethiopia and countries of our level needs is not one who had stuffed bits of knowledge into his mind. The needed educated individual is one who uses the ideas he obtained from his lectures, books, and discussions to the best advantage of his own country and his own people. It is he who disseminates new ideas in harmony with the economic and social aspects of his own community so that fruitful results would be realized. This is the educated person who can show segments of knowledge he accumulated in his learning, inventiveness in a new situation.
Ethiopia is a country with her own culture and mores. These, our cultures and customs, more than being the legacy of our historical past, are characteristics of our Ethiopianness. We do not want our legacies and traditions to be lost. our wish and desire is that education develop, enrich, and modify them.
You all know the continuous effort that Ethiopia is exerting for the development of a profound and high standard education. We need educated and trained persons for research, for the study and development of our country's resources, for technology, for medicine, for the law, and the administration for our people according to their custom. These are the needs that constrain us to provide, at all levels, education free of charge. And students, ever mindful of this privilege, should endeavour to recompense their country and nation.
The opportunity for education, afforded to the fortunate in our country, is not given to them for a fashion or a mode. It is given for a purpose, for a task, for a high reponsibility for full and exhaustive use, for the benefit of our country, and the coming generation. We have just explained to you the type of result, and responsibility that we expect from you students. It is on you, the members of the faculty that we must rely for this result. We realize the heavy responsibility we have entrusted to you. We hope that you too, while believing and accepting your responsibilities as your sacred duties, will, produce for Ethiopia persons who take pride in you and their education and are ready for the call of service.
It is you who must mold the minds of your students that they may be wise, farsighted, intelligent, profound in their thinking, devoted to their country and government and fruitful in their work. It is you who must sense as the example.
On their part also, they will have to learn not only formal education but also self discipline that should be worthy to be inherited. May the Almighty God be with you in the fulfillment of your duties."
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