The multilingual policy of Ethiopia (1991 to the present)

After the collapse of the Military Regime in May 1991 in Ethiopia, the new language policy instigated the use of mother tongues in the main domains. For example, the endorsement of the 1994 Ethiopian Education and Training Policy adopted the strategies that respected the rights of the Ethiopian people to use their languages in public sectors. For instance, the policy statements, stipulated in Article 5, read:

1. All Ethiopian languages shall enjoy equal state recognition.

2. Amharic shall be the working language of the Federal Government.

3. Members of the Federation may by law determine their respective working languages (Federal Democratic Republic Government of Ethiopia/FDRGE/, 1994; Federal Negarit Gazeta, 1995: 5).

On the other hand, the use of English as a medium of instruction from ninth grade and thereafter was adopted again across the school curricula and it is taught as a subject from first grade and

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beyond in schools (FDRGE, 1994:24). Thus, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia recognized the use of the nationalities’ languages. It has been working towards creating a democratic society in which its citizens are equally accessible to development in technology, economy, education and social-political conscience. Since then, the previously marginalized groups have been given the rights to use their languages in the development of their cultures, literature and historical heritage.

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), which was produced in the Article 39, guarantees all the people of Ethiopia to use their languages to develop language, cultures, self-awareness and literatures. It endorses the right of every nation, nationality and people of Ethiopia in order to develop their nation and their cultures, wisdom and history. For instance, the Constitution produced in Article 39 and subtitle 2 reads “Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has the right to speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote its culture; and to preserve its history” (Ethiopian Constitution, 1994). Because of this constitution, some of the previously stigmatized local languages have been used as a medium of instruction in primary schools.

Similarly, to realise situations of self-determination and self-administration policy, Ethiopia has divided into nine Regional States and two administrative cities that are administered by their own administrative bodies. For this reason, in the newly formed constitution of the country, every Regional State was empowered to develop its languages, cultures and socio-political economy of the nations. Each region is, thus, working to bring mutual and sustainable development of the nation for a common goal of the society.

In all the regions, each educational sector has been given opportunity to works so hard that every part of the society is expected to gain the goals of education for all by the year 2015. This expectation is to gain the Millennium Goals and to bring sustainable development of the nations. Accordingly, each region is working hard to give equitable and quality education that is accessible for all children in their respective region and city. This is one of the national programme in which the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia aims at as a national agenda to eradicate illiteracy and to reduce poverty. Thus, in order to arrive at its educational aims and

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objectives, the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia (MOE) has adopted a new vision of basic education, produced by the participants of World Conference in 1990, in Jomtien, Thailand. On top of that, to reach quality, relevant, and equitable education for all citizens, MOE is working towards achieving ‘Education For All (EFA) Goals’ adopted by the participants of World Conference in 2000, in Dakar, Senegal (UNESCO, 2000:1-2).

In this regard, the MOE of Ethiopia prepared many documents on a new Education and Training Policy, in which the use of mother tongues or local languages in primary education in Ethiopia is recognised for the first time. The policy gives the right to the children of the marginalized groups to take part in education using their mother tongue or first language. As a result, school enrolments of the minority children are increasing. For example, regarding education through mother tongue in primary schools, the document of Education and Training Policy of 1994 depicts, “Cognizant of the pedagogical advantage of the child in learning in the mother tongue and the rights of the nationalities to promote the use of their languages, primary education will be given in nationality languages” (FDRGE, 1994:23). The policy asserted that children have the right to learn through the language in which they can easily understand contents of subjects they learn in the classrooms. Their learning through their mother tongue enhances their cognitive development. From the perspective of pedagogy and psychology, the children are also benefited from their learning through their mother tongue or first language.

In the current Ethiopian education systems, the use of children’s home language in education has been emphasized despite its varied levels of implementation in primary schools in each Regional State. Every linguistic group got the rights to use their language in the main domain. The advantages of learning and teaching through mother tongues were officially recognized. In this view, educational sectors was given a powerful impetus to enhance sustainable development of the nations through providing sustainable quality education that has been accessible to all the citizens. Since then education has been a development priority on the national agenda. Having this national plan of education, the Government of Ethiopia has developed Education Training Policy (ETP) and Education Sector Strategy in 1994 (Transitional Government of Ethiopia, 1994; Ministry of Education, 1996). Similarly, the Education Sector Development Program

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(ESDP) was adopted in 1997 to develop the skills of professionals in educational sectors. This means the educational sectors have made tremendous effort to provide basic education to adults and school children through their immediate language.

In general, in the formulated wave of geopolitical situations created in Ethiopia, the Ministry of education of Ethiopia (MOE) adopted a new language policy in which children are allowed to learn through their home language to develop their language, cultures and awareness about the world, (Heugh, et al, 2010:40, MOE, 1994:23). Thus, the policy indoctrinated individual right and the right of nations as whole in order to build confident and democratic citizens. The policy has laid the foundation for the sustainable development of the nations by constructing diversified cultures, linguistic and socio-political aspects of the Ethiopian society. To realise the mother- tongue policy, the use of the local languages were introduced in first and second cycles (up to eighth grade) as a medium of instruction in each Regional State and city. Because of the educational reforms, the Education and Training Policy of 1994 recognised the use of nationalities’ languages as a medium of instruction in primary schools as revealed in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1 National policy on language of instruction by level of education (NPLI)

Level of education NPLI

Primary education / basic and general primary education

Mother tongues · 1st cycle (grade 1-4)

· 2nd cycle (grade 5-8)

Secondary education/ general secondary education · 1st cycle ( grade 9-10)

English · 2nd cycle, preparatory (grade11-12)

Primary teachers’ education · Preparing teacher for 1st cycle

Mother tongues · Preparing teacher for 2nd cycle

Secondary teachers’ education English

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Being Based on the rights given to each citizen of the country, the Oromo people have also benefited from the policy introduced in the early 1990s. The Oromo have the right to learn and work through their language, Afan Oromo. The language has also ample opportunities to be used as a language of media, education and office in the Oromia Regional State. Books, journals written in and outside the country were arriving to the reach of users and the people began using them officially. The Oromo intellectuals begin writing the indigenous Oromo literature. The Oromo Oral literatures are also collected and documented in the forms of books and journals that serve the users or researchers of the language. The intellectuals who were working greatly in the development of Afan Oromo and its cultures in and outside Ethiopia legitimately started teaching the language and cultures to the Oromo and other communities.

At the beginning of the introduction of Afan Oromo as a language of education and administration, there were heated debates among scholars and political parties which Orthographic alphabets to be used as writing systems of the language. After heated debates, the Latin Alphabets were selected for linguistic, pedagogical and practical reasons to write Afan Oromo (Tilahun Gemta, 1993: 36-40). The reason for the selection of the alphabets was that they are easy and suitable to learn, to read and write in Afan Oromo. Since then, the Latin Alphabets have been adopted and used in the writing systems of the language. In the Oromia Regional State, the Latin alphabets are still used in the writing systems of Afan Oromo in schools, administration, office, courts, media and Colleges and University where Afan Oromo is taught as a course/subject. In addition, many books, journals, novels, short stories, poetries, research papers that are written by using these alphabets are available. Other nation, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia have also adopted the Latin Alphabets to learn and write through their languages to preserve their cultures, literatures and historical heritages. In addition to Afan Oromo, Amharic and English are taught as a second and a foreign language respectively commencing from primary schools in Oromia Regional State. English is taught as a subject from the first grade, where as Amharic is taught as a second language from the fifth grade.

In general, since early 1990s, Afan Oromo is being implemented as a language of education, media, administration and research in the Oromia Regional State. In some Universities and

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Colleges, the department of Afan Oromo was launched and the language is offered as courses to students who enrolled in the department. Since the department has begun offering the courses as a field of study in Universities and Colleges, many graduates have graduated in Afan Oromo in various areas of specialisations.