2022 ጁን 6, ሰኞ

በትምህርት ጉዳይ - ተማሪ ለምን ‹ሰነፍ› ይሆናል?

 

በመዘምር ግርማ

 


ሰነፍ ተማሪ ማነው ብለን ብንጠይቅ የተለያዩ መልሶችን ልናገኝ እንችላለን፡፡ ብዙ ሰው ሰነፍ የመባል ዕድል ገጥሞት ያውቃል ለማለት እደፍራለሁ፡፡ በአንድ ወይም ከዚያ በላይ ትምህርት ሰነፍ ትባላላችሁ፡፡ ለዚህ ማስረጃም ከመቶው ያላችሁ ነጥብ ዝቅተኛ መሆኑ ይሆናል፡፡ በፈተና መውደቃችሁ ለስንፍናችሁ ማስረጃ ይሆናል፡፡ የቤት ስራና የክፍል ስራ አለመስራታችሁም እንዲሁ፡፡ ሌላው ሰነፍ ትምህርቱ እየገባው ለመስራት የማይሻና ጊዜውን በሌላ አልባሌ ነገር ላይ የሚያሳልፍ ሊሆን ይችላል፡፡ የመጀመሪያው ዓይነት ሰነፍ ላይ ያተኮረ ሃሳብ ለማጋራት ይህን ጽሑፍ ጫር ጫር (ወይም በኪቦርድ ስለሆነ ጠቅ ጠቅ) አድርጌያለሁ፡፡

ተማሪዎች አንድን ትምህርት ለመቀበል ያላቸው ሁኔታ የተለያየ ይሆናል፡፡ ፈጣን፣ መካከለኛና ዝቅተኛም ይሆናል፡፡ ለዚህም ልዩ ልዩ ምክንያቶች ሊኖሩ ይችላሉ፡፡ የልጆቹ የትምህርት አቀባበል፣ የመማሪያ ስልታቸውና መምህሩ የሚያስተምሩበር መንገድ አለመጣጣም፣ ከቀደሙ ክፍሎች ለዚያ ትምህርት አስፈላጊውን የቀደመ ዕውቀትና ክህሎት አለማግኘት ወዘተ ተጠቃሽ ናቸው፡፡ ሰነፍ የተባለው ተማሪ የሚገጥመውንና በአንድ የክፍል ደረጃ ለሚሰጥ ትምህርት የቀደመ አስፈላጊ ዕውቀት ይዞ አለመገኘቱ የሚያስከትለውን ችግር በተለይ ቀጥሎ እንመልከት፡፡

በተለያዩ ትምህርት ዓይነቶች መሰረታዊ የሚባለውን ዕውቀትና ክህሎት መጨበጥ አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡ ለምሳሌ በእንግሊዝኛ ትምህርት ኤ፣ ቢ፣ ሲ፣ ዲ፣ መቁጠር አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡ ከኤ አስከ ዜድ ቆጥሮ መጨረስ መሰረታዊ መሆኑን እንገነዘባለን፡፡ ቆጥሮ መጨረስ ስንል ድምጻቸውን ማወቅ፣ ድምጻቸውንና ቅርጻቸውን ማዛመድ መቻል እንዲሁም ካፒታልና ስሞል የተባሉትን መለየት አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡ ከዚያም በተለያዩ ቃላት ውስጥ ገብተው ሲነበቡ የሚኖራቸውን ድምጽና አንዳንዴም የሚያመጡትን ልዩነት መማር ያስፈልጋል፡፡ ይህንና ተያያዥ የእንግሊዝኛ ፊደላትን መሰረታዊ ሁኔታ አለማወቅ በቀጣይ ክፍሎችም ሆነ የትምህርት ሂደት የሚያመጣውን ችግር አስቡት፡፡ በላይ ክፍሎች እንግሊዝኛ የማስተማሪያ ቋንቋ ሲሆን የሚኖረውን ድርብርብ ጣጣም ልብ በሉ፡፡ በአንዱ ቀን ትምህርት ላይ የሌላው እየተደራረበ ሲሄድ ብዙ ነገር ይበላሻል፡፡ ያ ሁሉ ችግር የሚቃናበት ጊዜ ይመጣ ይሆን? ያንን የሚያቃናው የተማሪው በዕድሜ ሂደት መብሰል ነው? ወይንስ የጥሩ መምህር መገኘት? የወላጅ ክትትል? የሚቃናበት መንገድ ካልተገኘስ? ልጁ ከልጅነት እስከ ዕውቀት በእንግሊዝኛ እንደተቸገረና ትምህርቱን እንደጠላው ሊዘልቅ ይችላል፡፡ ይህን የእንግሊዝኛን ሁኔታ አነሳሁ እንጂ ነገሩ በሌላም ትምህርት ማጋጠሙ አይቀርም፡፡ በሂሳብም መሰረታዊ የሂሳብ ምልክቶችንና ቁጥሮችን ያላወቀ ተማሪ ለተደራራቢ ችግር መጋለጡ ሳይታለም የተፈታ ነው፡፡ ያለፈው ቀን ትምህርት የዛሬን የቤት ስራ ወይም የክፍል ስራ ለመስራት አስፈላጊነቱ አሌ አይባልም፡፡ በአማርኛስ ቢሆን! ተመሳሳይ ነው፡፡ በእንግሊዝኛ እንደተገለጸው ያለ ችግር ይገጥማል፡፡ ይህ ሁኔታ ለሁሉም ትምህርት ይሰራል፡፡ ተማሪዎች በዚያ ችግር ውስጥ ሳሉ የሚከታተላቸው ወይም የስንፍናቸውን ምክንያት የሚረዳላቸው ይኖር ይሆን? ወይንስ እኔ ሰነፍ ነኝ ብለው ችግራቸውን ተቀብለው እንዲኖሩ ይገደዳሉ? በቀጣዩ አንቀጽ እንየው፡፡

ይህን ጽሑፍ ልጻፍ ወይንስ ምን ላድርግ የሚለውን ሳልወስን በማስታወሻ ደብተሬ ይዤ የቆየሁት ጉዳይ ‹‹ A plight of plights is studying a lesson or learning something that you really do not understand because you don’t have the necessary background. Worrying Unnecessarily!›› ማለትም ‹‹የስቃዮች ሁሉ ስቃይ የቀደመ ዕውቀቱ የሌላችሁን አንድን በእውነት የማትረዱትን ትምህርት ወይም ነገር መማር ነው፡፡ መጨነቅ ሳያስፈልግ መጨነቅ!›› የሚል ነበር፡፡  አዎን፣ መሰረታዊ ዕውቀቱና ክህሎቱ የሌለንን ትምህርት እንጠላ ይሆናል፡፡ በምንጠላበት ሁኔታ ድጋፍና እንድንወደው የሚያደርግ ነገር ካላገኘን ከዚያ ትምህርት ጋር እየተቆራረጥን መሄዳችን አይቀሬ ነው፡፡  ይህም ትምህርቱን የመጥላት ሁኔታ በተማሪው ላይ አላስፈላጊ ጫና ይፈጥራል፡፡ በትምህርት ወቅት አለመከታተል፣ በመምህራን እንደ ልግመኛ መወሰድ፣ በፈተና ወቅት በግምት መሙላት፣ አሳይመንት በሰው ማሰራት፣ መኮረጅ፣ በዚያ ትምህርት ከሚገኙት ክህሎትና ዕውቀት ምክንያት ተዛማጅ ትምህርቶች ላይም የውጤትና ፍላጎት መጥፋት፣ ከክፍል መውደቅ ወዘተ ሊከተሉ ይችላል፡፡ የቀደመ ዕውቀቱ የሌለንን ትምህርት መማር እንዴት ተደራራቢ ችግርችን እንደሚያስከትል ካየን ዘንዳ ምን ዓይነት መፍትሔ ሊኖር ይችላል የሚለውን እንመልከት፡፡ መፍትሔው ከትምህርት ተቆጣጣሪ አካላት፣ ከመምህራን፣ ከወላጆች፣ ከተማሪዎች፣ ከተመራማሪዎች ወዘተ ሊመጣ ይችላል፡፡ አንድን ትምህርት ለማስቻል ከመዋዕለሕጻናት ጀምሮ አንድ ልጅ ላይ የሚፈሰው ሀብት ከፍተኛ ነው፡፡ ታዲያ ይህ ሀብት በትክክለኛው መንገድ እየፈሰሰና ጥቅም ላይ እየዋለ መሆኑን ማረጋገጥ ያሻል፡፡ በትንሽ እገዛ ሊስተካከል የሚችልን ችግር ችላ ማለት ለዘላቂ ችግርና ድርብርብ ጫናዎች ይዳርጋል፡፡ ልጆችም በትምህርት ጎልብተው ሊደርሱ የሚገባቸው ደረጃ ላይ ይደርሱ ዘንድ ይህን ችግር መፍታት ያሻል፡፡ ለመማር ዝግጁ የሆነ አእምሮ ይዞ የተወለደን ልጅ ባልተገባ ሁኔታ ሰነፍ እያሉ ስም ከማውጣት የስንፍናውን መንስኤ አጥንቶ ማገዝ ከምስቅልቅል የትምህርት ህይወት ያድናል፡፡ ስንፍናው ከትምህርት አሰጣጡ ሊሆን ይችላል፡፡ አለያም ለተማሪው የተጋነነ ውጤት በመስጠት በዚያ ትምህርት ጥሩ እንደሆነ በማሳየት ሊሆን ይችላል፡፡ አንዳንድ ጊዜ ተማሪውም፣ መምህሩም ሆነ ወላጅ ችግሩን ልብ ሳይሉት ቆይተው ተደብቆ ቆይቶ ሊወጣ ይችላል፡፡ አንዳንድ አስደናቂ ነገሮችም ይኖራሉ፡፡ ለምሳሌ አንደኛው በግል ትምህርት ቤቶች የሒሳብ ትምህርት አሰጣጥን ብናይ ለአንድ ተማሪ ሒሳብን በአማርኛም በእንግሊዝኛም የሚሰጡ አሉ፡፡ በሁለቱም ተምሮ ሒሳብ የማይችለው የግል ትምህርት ቤት ተማሪ ብዙ ነው፡፡ ወላጅን ለማማለል የሚደረገው በሁለቱም ቋንቋዎች ሒሳብንም ሆነ ሌሎቹን የማስተማር ዘዴ የሽወዳ ስራ መሆኑን ያሳብቃል፡፡ የመንግስት ተቆጣጣሪ ሲመጣ በአማርኛ እንደሚማር ይናገራሉ፡፡ የተማሪውን ትኩረት በበርካታ ትምህርቶች ከመበተን ሥርዓተ-ትምህርቱ እንደሚያዘው በአማርኛ አስተምረው ትክክለኛውን ክህሎት ቢስጨብጡት የተሻለ ይመስላል፡፡ የሒሳብ ነገር ከተነሳ አይቀር ከተወሰኑ ዓመታት በፊት ያነበብኩት በትምህርት ሚኒስቴር የወጣ ጥናት እንደሚያሳየው በመንግስት ትምህርት ቤቶች ያለው የተማሪ ቁጥር መብዛት፣ ክትትል ያለመኖር፣ የመጻሕፍት እጥረት ወዘተ በሒሳብ ትምህርት አገሪቱ ብዙ እንድትቸገር እንዳደረጋት ነው፡፡ ስለዚህ ብዙ መሻሻል ያለበት ነገር አለ፡፡ ይህም ለሌሎችም ትምህርቶች ይሰራል፡፡ በተቻለ አቅም ጥረትና ትብብር ማድረግ ያሻል፡፡   

አንድ ተማሪ ከአንድ የክፍል ደረጃ ወደ ሌላኛው ሲሸጋገር አስፈላጊውን የትምህርት ይዘት ማወቁን ማረጋገጫ ሁነኛ መንገዶችን መቀየስ አስፈላጊ ነው፡፡ ይዞ ላልተገኘውም በሰዓቱ እገዛ ማድረግ ያስፈልጋል፡፡ እገዛውንም በቤተሰብ፣ በመምህር፣ በአስጠኚ እንዲሁም የኦንላይን የትምህርት ቴክኖሎጂን በመጠቀም ማድረግ ይቻላል፡፡ ሁሉ ነገር አልጋ ባልጋ ሆኖለት በትምህርት ጫፍ የሚደርሰውን ጎበዝ ተማሪ እንደምናደንቀውና እንደምናበረታታው ሁሉ ከታች ያለውንና በብዙ ችግሮች የተተበተበውን ተማሪ ማየት ያሻናል፡፡ ‹‹ስራ ስራ ስራ›› ብለን ብንመክረው ለውጥ ላይመጣ ይችላል፡፡ እንዴት እንደሚሰራ ላያውቅ ስለሚችለማሳየት አለብን፡፡ ለማጠቃለል ያህል ሰፊ ጥናት የሚፈልገውንና ከትምህርት ስርዓታችን ችግሮች አንዱ የሆነውን ይህን ችግር መምህራንና ተመራማሪዎች፣ ፖሊሲ አውጭዎች፣ ወላጆችም ሆኑ ተማሪዎች ልብ እንዲሉት አሳስባለሁ፡፡

2022 ጁን 2, ሐሙስ

Project X

 

By Mezemir Girma

 



 

“Once in power, the Nazis implemented racial laws and policies that deprived Jews, Black people, and Roma (Gypsies) of their rights,” reads part of an article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The same model seems to have been copied and implemented on the members of various victim ethnicities in Ethiopia over the last three decades. A phone call or a request to visit their bosses’ offices that is reaching individual government employees these days must be part of a bigger covert program which is cascading from the constitution. People who are increasingly caught by other complicated life and national issues these days almost forgot it as something which is part of their everyday lives. This activity which we are dealing with is the implementation stage of the sinister ethnic-centered policy. How could one ingest this act which is more of like adding gas to burning fire at this time of juncture Ethiopia is in? Such seemingly trivial issues like ethnic profiling of government employees should awaken Ethiopians or humanity at large. 

Citizens of this country suffered immensely for three decades and their plight doesn’t seem to abate to date. Since the obsession with divide and rule is in the mindset of the politicians who were brought up by the TPLF is it could take us a long way to come out of it. Depriving communities of their rights, silently working on minimizing their population, economic deprivation, all type of influence have been experimented in this country. Human rights violations range from individual ones to big scale. Vanity from the world over has been copied and inflicted upon the people.  

“Hello Mr X. A new form that every employee should fill in has come. Please tell us a few pieces of information and let us fill it on your behalf. First, could you tell us your ethnicity?” This is a call that employees of Federal institutions have been receiving these days. None seems to care, they simply comply. That is at least what I noticed. Only a few raise the issue among friends’ circles.  The registration process has not been questioned by serious personalities, journalists or people concerned. No one seems to deter it. So far, they call and ask those who they think don’t resist the scheme. A social media post from Hawassa disclosed that the registration was underway there and a considerable number of university staff responded as Ethiopians. A few other teachers and staff said that they were asked for place of birth. Just like those Kebele officials in Addis Ababa who went to each household and found out the ethnicities of the residents a few years ago, this one is going smoothly. I just treated the issue here only because they are doing it without a little shame. Who knows about other secret works they are doing?

A few months ago, there was a wind of it. Certain people whom I don’t exactly remember for the time being posted on their social media platforms about the issue. Some of them wrote a few lines opposing the scheme, but the rest just posted photos of notices from the noticeboards of their work places. Those notices required employees of agencies in Addis Ababa and Federal institutions to report to the human resource departments and inform the ethnic groups they belong. Now, the silent work has come to every town in the regions. This may not sound like a surprise. Yes, the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is centered on ethnicities than citizens – “We the Nations, Nationalities and People of Ethiopia … our common destiny can best be served by rectifying historically unjust relationships … Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession.” – a time bomb!  The question in my mind is who is the mastermind of the ethnic-profiling underway at this time and for what purpose?

Politicians who ruled the country for 27 years with an iron-grip used ethnic difference as a means of divide and rule. At that time it was common to hear them speak the issue in public. I remember one mentioning the percentage of employees in Addis Ababa and the need for balance. This answer he brought in response to the question on the unfair distribution of power and resources exposes what sort of calculations they were making. At this time that miscalculation seems to be the guiding principle too. That time could be one in which the politicians and local cadres were almost free and calm to table such issues. They were just issues and the actions they made were more of done backstage than now. At this time of war, increasing cost of living, unrest and almost all type of problem in the country, what use could be ethnic profiling of employees? Won’t it be better to seek a means to rally the population to support in the rebuilding of the nation! It is clearly dousing the dying nation with gas. An escalation of the problems we have could be from those who want the nation crumble than a responsible administration that is ruling a country.

Ethnic profiling and any actions related to dividing the people should halt and the mother of all these vice, the constitution, should be revised accordingly. The current action seems to be in line with what the TPLF led system did when they came to power by the name of putting the ethnic group of people on Kebele identification cards which they used to discriminate against those who they labeled unfriendly. For the current system which promised such fancy ideas as it will give a national identification card and focus on nationality than ethnicity, this seems to be a paradox and puts their undelivered promise in question. The racial laws and policies could be meant to deprive employees of their rights and ethnic groups’ representation at government agencies if not introducing a pre-1994 Rwanda like ethnic quota. If an employee reshuffle or any sort of decision follows this, it will result in a mess. That is in the minds of employees since at this time the administrations terminated employment. They could be planning to use ethnic background than merit. Until that nobody knows what the future holds for Ethiopians.  

2022 ሜይ 23, ሰኞ

“Oh! Mezemir? He is always in a pensive mood”


A note from seven years ago

Two of us at Minelik's Window on our way to the Moja Trade Fair and Bazaar
 

For a year or so she illuminated my life. You know, by way of teaching what civilization is, what resources the English language has, how the America way of life goes, what life is on the whole and what have you! Did I go out of town for a hike before I met her? Not really! Did I swim? Not really! Did I frequent nightclubs or Azmari bets? Not at all! Did I dance? No! No! No! Did I? I know my limited self! I know what limits me too. 

Don’t take it to be like being a girlfriend or a lover. That is not the case. The first time I saw her was at the university. The day I met her I really appreciated the reason why she came here. I was moved! She was a volunteer. Almost everything I tried ever since, failed on or succeeded in seems because I met her. The morning I met her at the staff lounge, I promised to be a good brother to her. And I hope she proved a sister. A sister three years older than me. Not only to her, was the same true with the other American volunteer who was as old as her. They enjoyed what a brother could offer. Erica was an Asian American, and her other friend an African American.   

I know how beauty after beauty came along. It could be a dozen of them. But I was not ready for love. How one of my older colleague got mad at me! He explored life more than I did. At least he has a daughter who is my age. He said I had wronged girls and love. "You will regret how mean you are to these girls!" he warned me.You know he is of the generation before us and takes every encounter with girls to be of love. I didn’t mean it though. 

This piece of writing is meant to serve me as a reminder of what I should contribute in remembrance of our friendship. As I owe much to it, I know I should dedicate a few pages to that purpose. Just a few moments before I went to class this morning, I started to write something and wait for the right time to complete it. Now in this chilly evening at Debre Birhan I am scribbling to add a few lines to that start. 

Something struck my mind this morning. It was when I was exercising. It was the American exercises she gave me that I was doing. They are from the insanity videos. A number of exercises! I wish I did them over the years. I would really be in shape. “How every out of shape guy tells me to rest during this hike!” she once said. I was not the one though.

One evening I was with her in a hut at a hotel. She sat with her Ethiopian boyfriend who used to come from Addis. He had a weird habit of kissing her whenever they were with me. I call it weird and she shared my feeling too.  That night also she got mad at him. “Don’t kiss me in Mezemir’s presence. He will be nervous!” Surprisingly, there was another American girl next to me who kept saying, “Mezemir, don’t keep quiet!” When the Banker boy gave my friend a relief from the kiss, she said something that still lingers in my mind to the other American girl, “Mezemir is always in a pensive mood!” I was really mesmerized to hear her genuine view of my permanent state. Since I was nervous and always in the phobic state, her statement was really descriptive. If I kissed the American girl next to me, it would be a kissing spree! We are reserved in our nature. I would not go down as such. How that young Addis Abeban’s affair with the girl ended is really miserable. She dumped him. As I sat by a roadside cafeteria, I saw him going back and forth from her house to another volunteer’s house at the teachers’ college. That volunteer came with him during the third trip and helped him beg her, but to no avail. She told me that he loved America more than her that she dumped him.    

There are a number of observations she made about love in Ethiopia or myself in particular. “I want to see Mezemir fall in love,” would she say looking at my eyes for a response. I didn’t give a shit though. “I really don’t know how Ethiopians don’t care about love,” she would say every day she thinks about the issue. “You start an affair with Mezemir and extend your contract for two years!” she advised the African American girl. “I know you that love her!” she striked! That was true. How do they know what we feel? Could it be how the CIA trains them to know what we think at any given moment. The love I felt towards that African American girl was not there for the other girl who begged for a couch at my place for a night. Confession!

“I know you can be a good husband for an American girl,” she once said to me. I am not sure about that. That could be either because Ethiopian girls are getting increasingly beautiful or I don’t have a good taste for American girls as I might have for my compatriots. My feeling is divided though!

Why do I tell you all this!

And finally, recently, after seven solid years, what Erica, my sister, promised to offer me is coming along. It made me think about all the days we spent.

To be continued and edited.

በመንግሥት ወደ ወለጋ ከተወሰዱ በኋላ ዛሬ በግላቸው ደብረብርሃን የገቡት አዛውንት የዓይን ምስክርነት

  በመንግሥት ወደ ወለጋ ከተወሰዱ በኋላ ዛሬ በግላቸው ደብረብርሃን የገቡት አዛውንት የዓይን ምስክርነት ረቡዕ፣ የካቲት 20፣ 2016 ዓ.ም. መዘምር ግርማ ደብረብርሃን   ዛሬ ረፋድ አዲስ አበባ ላምበረ...