‘Sexual violence is not good for our country's development’. Students’ interpretations of sexual violence in a secondary school in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

It has been increasingly recognised that sexual violence in schools is one of the major concerns with regard to promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights. This paper examines how boys and girls define, experience, and interpret sexual violence in a secondary school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and considers from their perspectives, how sexual violence can be addressed effectively in formal educational settings. Fifteen in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions revealed how these views can be strikingly different for boys and girls: boys sharing a theoretical and instrumental view on sexual violence, as opposed to girls’ emotional views based on their experiences. This major difference in understanding complicates teaching about sexuality, and leaves room for sexual violence to remain tolerated in schools. Nevertheless, all students express the need to learn openly about sexuality, and particularly to reflect on the contradicting messages they receive from their environment.     

Negotiated silence: the management of the self as a moral subject in young Ethiopian women's discourse about sexuality

In Ethiopia, as in many other countries, moral discourses about female sexuality in general, and pre- and extramarital sexual experience in particular, create an environment that discourages women from engaging in open dialogue about their sexuality and their past or future sexual experience. In the study of induced abortion among unmarried women in Addis Ababa on which this paper rests, women describe a situation in which they are both surrounded by silence about sexual issues and forced to remain silent themselves. This paper investigates the nature of, and conditions for, this silence and the ways in which it is socially brought about and negotiated. In particular, it explores the ways through which young, unmarried women who have undergone abortion seek to reconcile seemingly contradictory, condemning discourses about premarital sex and more general codes addressing social, as well as moral, propriety and integrity. The discussion highlights that, while issues of sexuality are silenced, neither the silence nor the silencing power of dominant, gendered moral discourses is absolute. Moreover, silence may also be jointly produced and negotiated in social discourse fraught with moral objectives and ends.     

Including students with disabilities in Education for All: lessons from Ethiopia

This article addresses the inclusion of students with disabilities into the Education for All and Sustainable Development Goals agenda through a case study of Ethiopia, a country aiming to promote inclusive education amidst rapidly rising school enrolments. The article begins with a review of debates concerning inclusive education in the Global South and the strategy taken by Ethiopia. It then examines how inclusive education is currently being implemented drawing on recent fieldwork at rural and urban schools in Tigray province. Through interviews, participant observation, and focus groups, we found that teachers and school administrators are generally in favour of mainstreaming children with disabilities into ‘normal’ schools. However, insufficient training of teachers and itinerant teachers along with shortages of teaching materials and resources present major challenges to addressing special education needs.     

论世界现代史教材民族解放运动的体系

〕２０世纪上半叶的民族解放运动是一个不断高涨的整体化过程,并最终溶入二战这一伟大的反法西斯正义战争。两次大战之间的民族解放运动既包括摆脱老殖民主义统治的斗争,也包括反法西斯侵略的斗争。我国高校教材未能将后者纳入民族解放运动的有关章节。这一问题的解决有助于完善教材的体系,提高反法西斯侵略性质的民族解放运动在世界历史上的地位     

A comparison of the menstruation and education experiences of girls in Tanzania,Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia

The barriers to menstrual hygiene management faced by adolescent schoolgirls in low-income countries are gaining interest at practice and policy levels. The challenges include inadequate water, sanitation and disposal facilities for the management of menses with privacy and dignity, and insufficient guidance to help girls feel confident in attending school during menses. The studies described here aimed to examine how menarche impacts the lives of schoolgirls in three low-income countries (Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia). The focus included girls’ school participation; their relationship with parents, teachers and peers; their evolving sanitation and hygiene needs; their understanding of cultural issues and taboos around menses; and what education, if any, they received prior to and during puberty. This comparative analysis was aimed at identifying similarities between the three countries that would enable the adaptation to each context of a training book on menstruation issues for girls, which was developed from a previous study conducted in Tanzania. In all three countries, participatory activities were utilised with girls and results were analysed using grounded theory. Findings included: similarities regarding the importance of culture in perpetuating negative attitudes towards menstruation, limited provision of health information and insufficient facilities within schools. Differences were revealed regarding menstrual myths, parent–child dynamics, sources of guidance and student–teacher relations. There is a critical knowledge gap around menstruation and girls’ education in these contexts that must be addressed to ensure that girls experience a positive menarche and can manage menstrual hygiene.     

Diagnosing the learning crisis: What can value-added analysis contribute?

Advocates of teacher value-added modelling (VAM) argue that this technique can provide evidence on teacher effectiveness to inform teacher policies and broader education system reforms. Critics contend that value-added is a poor proxy for teacher quality and as such is of questionable utility, especially where teacher accountability is concerned. In low- and middle-income countries, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, where the challenge of the ‘learning crisis’ is most severe, a lack of longitudinal data has precluded extensive debate on the matter. In this paper we explore the potential of value-added analysis for diagnostic purposes in the context of Ethiopia. We make use of data from the Young Lives longitudinal study – specifically two rounds of school surveys conducted in Ethiopia between 2012 and 2017 when pupils were in grades 4–8. Learning levels in the Young Lives sites in Ethiopia are very considerably below curricular expectations. Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia faces a significant challenge in terms of a ‘learning crisis’ and in terms of the attendant need to develop policies to improve educational effectiveness within the confines of very limited resources. We discuss the background to VAM models and their use, including in relation to the context of Ethiopia. The paper shows that learning progress in primary schools varies widely between classrooms, and between pupils within the same classroom. Some schools and teachers are more successful in raising overall attainment by ‘raising the floor’ of learning and narrowing the dispersion. Others are more successful by ‘raising the roof’. Less effective teachers appear to be particularly ineffective for pupils with higher scores at the start of the year. In contrast, the most effective teachers showed high levels of ‘value-added’ for pupils at all levels of prior performance. Diagnostic analysis of teacher value-added has potential, we argue, to aid understanding of contributors to low levels of learning such as: (i) over-ambitious curricula; (ii) absence of ‘teaching at the right level’; (iii) within class heterogeneity and pupil grouping strategies; and (iv) teaching and learning strategies – such as ‘differentiation’ or ‘mastery’.     

Extension Agents' Awareness of Climate Change in Ethiopia

Purpose: The fact that highly vulnerable countries like Ethiopia face far greater challenges from climate change makes agricultural adaptation a top priority. Even though the public agriculture extension system in Ethiopia plays a central role in facilitating and supporting adaptation, very limited information is available on how aware the actual extension agents (EAs) are regarding the issue. Therefore, this research attempts to provide a specific insight on the current level of awareness and understanding of EAs regarding climate change.

Methodology: Survey questionnaires and semi-structured key-informant interviews were used to collect primary data from extension agents and decision-makers.

Findings: Results indicated that generally EAs had a good perception of climate change as well as its impact on agriculture & natural resource use and availability. Also, there was a consensus among EAs regarding certain changes in weather patterns and the frequency of extreme events. Weaknesses and challenges concerning the level of priority given to climate change and adaptation, capacity-building efforts and access to resources were identified as well.

Practical implications: Identified challenges imply the need for a synchronized approach towards climate change adaptation and capacity-building to enhance EAs awareness on the issue. Also, the findings highlight the urgent necessity to prioritize climate change as an extension programming issue and to develop clear mitigation and adaptation approaches.

Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify weaknesses and strengths regarding EAs' awareness of climate change adaptation.     

Solid-phase microextraction for flavor analysis in Harari Khat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Catha edulis</Emphasis>) stimulant

This research examined the typical flavor compounds in the commonest type of Khat called Harari Khat grown in the region of Ethiopia. Twenty-eight compounds, which includes 1,2-Propanedione, 1-Phenyl, Hexanol, Hexanal compounds, Limonene, Benzaldehyde with other flavors, were extracted by polydimethylsiloxane at room temperature for 30 min from Khat samples, and identified by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS). This method needs no organic solvents and required minimal sample. Project supported by scholarship from China     

Teacher preparation in Ethiopia: a critical analysis of reforms

The purpose of this article is to provide a more comprehensive picture of teacher preparation in Ethiopia on top of a closer scrutiny of current teacher education reforms. In particular, it presents teacher education within the context of policy implementation over the last six decades by highlighting key reforms and how these reforms impacted the education system in general and the teaching profession in particular. In analysing why and how the policy reforms took place, the paper draws on Chin and Benne’s strategies of change management and the world system theories. Further, based on government statistics, official policy documents, and observations, the paper argues that the series of policy interventions were short of addressing the challenges of teacher preparation, including maintaining minimum quality standards, though the sector’s expansion has had favourable impact on educational access and bridging regional and gender disparities.     

Challenges and opportunities in mainstreaming environmental education into the curricula of teachers' colleges in Ethiopia

Lack of environmental awareness is one of the underlying causes of severe environmental degradation in Ethiopia. As teachers' colleges are a seedbed of such awareness, assessment of college curricula should shed light on the possibilities they offer to develop capacities to address environmental degradation. This small‐scale study is based on the assessment of the curricula of the Kotebe and St Mary's teachers' colleges, Ethiopia, and the knowledge and opinions of a sample of teaching students on pertinent environmental issues facing the country. Comparative analysis of data generated through questionnaires and interviews was undertaken across college, curricula and gender categories. The results suggest: a ‘paradigm shift’ from a core‐focused to a pedagogical‐focused curriculum in the last three decades; a declining trend in the provision of outdoor environmental education; inadequate levels of factual knowledge amongst current college students; and variations in knowledge levels and attitudes among the respondents taking different curricula. If the work of teachers' colleges is to support wider efforts throughout Ethiopia to address the causes and effects of environmental degradation, the findings of the study underscore the necessity of revisiting the composition of course categories and maintaining the existence of outdoor environmental education in the current college curricula.