Ethiopia and Technology: Education System: Telecommunication System, Power Gird system, Water Gird System, Transportion Gird systems

If we have to raise the issue of Technology in Ethiopia, before

jumping to telecommunication system, power system, water

system, and transportation system,... and we need to assess our

capacity to implement those projects.

It is patent that our capacity to implement the above projects is

almost non-existent. This is due to the fact fact that we have a

dysfuctional education system. This is the most obvious and

evident to every Ethiopian that our education system is dysfuctional

and our skilled human power is disabled by the system. Having a

decapitated education system on the ground, having 95% our

populace without access to Telecommunication, it does not make

much sense that we talk about global telecommunication

networks. Ethiopia a nation of about 80 million people, if I am not

mistaken, has less than 1 million landlines. Having this reality on

the ground, it is funny we talk about global telecommunication

business.

It appears to me that we are hoping if one of the chinese company

takes the telecommunication expansion projects, the company may

raise our telecommunication system to a global standard.

Please do not call me a pessimist, but I have failed to envisage that

dream. In my view if we continue in this plan of action, we will not

get anywhere. When I say this I am not being negative, but the

reality on the ground is stark and it is striking my head.

Implementing grand projects on the bases of usury still did not

help any developing country. To prove what I am saying we do not

have to go far, we can see ourselves, we are always tied up with the

usury of IMF and World Bank. If we do not find an exit from this

international usury and dependency habit, we will never be free

economically.

My opinion this, okay, give the project to one of the chinese

company for now, but the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi must reform

the education system in the short and in the long term. The short

term reform I recommend: having the good relation with United

states and Europe now, send engineering students in electrical,

mechanical, civil, chemical, architecture, metallurgy,...to do

experiencial training overseas with industries in their respective

fields at least for one or two years and the embassies can do these

liaising works. Moreover, Those who cannot be send outside the

country, let them do practical training after their second year or after

their third year. Let them share and try to apply what they have

learned in their communities. This will improve the applicability of

the theory than hatching every year toothless academicians.

In further to this, Ethiopia is the most endowed nation with

indigeneous Technologies like,architecture, Biological medicine,

metallurgy,art, textile, shoes,food items,pottery,.... there are

many products which could bring hard currency royalities to the

country. However, those products does even get to Kenya leave

alone to go further. Probably the country needs a national

marketing team to help the producers to find a market niche outside

the country.

As to the long term reform of the education system, studying

things which one does not know using a language one does not

understand is not fair and hard to do. We need to develop our

language, and then we must able to translate Technologies to our

language then the Technologies can be accessible to almost

every Ethiopians who writes and reads his own languages. It is

unfair to say that Ethiopians who speaks English are brilliant and

the rest who do not speak English are dummy Ethiopian humans.

This is completely very backward mindset.

If we do the short term educational reform , at least when the

Chinese build communication grid system,we may have ready our

people to repair, upgrade, and expand the existing systems and

even to manufacture generic Technology products.

If we do the long term reform of the education system, we may have

many Ethiopians engineers who speaks their languages but still

can do their engineering work. Technology is scary for some, there

are Ethiopians who believe if we do not use English as we cannot

civilize or develop. I call this technology terror. As I said

Technology is scary. Once the American Jewish Physicist, Dr

Richard Feyman, said," When the American space shuttle

exploded, I was asked to examine the fault. I teach physics,

nuclear physics but I did not have a clue about the space shuttle.

Then they assigned me with the six engineers. Then

they were happy because they thought I know better than

themselves. We started looking into the space shuttle, they know

everything about the space shuttle, but I knew nothing. However,

without exposing myself, I did learn from them and we fixed the

space shuttle, and I was credited for fixing it while actually it was

the engineers who did the work."

The English language has no technology blood; Technologies can

be adapted to any language. We can create Technologies using

Amharic, the language does not have to be English. Our language

is not less than Arabic, Japenese, English,....

As to how can we get out of usury, if one has own expertise, we

can raise money from the Ethiopian populace for such projects like

communication system, power system, transportation system,

water systems,... then we can be free economically and politically

than living under usury or Areta. Now we think we are free, but we

are not, we are economic slaves.

Without having the foundation above, we cannot talk about global

telecommunication business. Telecommunication is not like

growing flowers. It is a hard Technology; First we need to network

our country after that we can talk about external business. The

key for all the above Technology based infrastructures system is

local human development and investment. The country also needs a

national railway network systems and the Prime Minister needs to

work on the education system and put up time and skill miles-stones

then it will be easier to develop Ethiopia using local resources than

development based on money from outside and man power from

outside. It is okay if we borrow money for short period to achieve

something with high turnover, but not good to borrow to do things

which we cannot sustain ourselves.

Gezaee Hailemichael

Jan 11,2007