General Winget Boarding School
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| at Chefe elementary school, Feb 2014 |
One of the stories I got
to hear doing photography is the story of former General Winget School. I
believe we all heard of General Winget Boarding School. At least we know
our late prime minister, Meles Zenawi went to Winget. However, there is so
much more interesting stories most people does not know about Winget, like it
is one of the very few schools visited by the queen of England.
Winget had paying and scholarship students, scholarship students pay around 30 Birr a year, while paying students pay 300 birr a year. The students used to be randomly assigned in their dormitories. They used to name the blocks with different colors, often Green House referring to the block for students that came from rural areas.
In Winget, a day used to start with a prayer followed by a national anthem sang by students while raising the flag. Class was very intensive, and students also had to attend after class study hours that last till 8:00 pm. Teachers used to be assigned to check if students were studding.The students actually used to enjoy every moment they spent in library. The alumni still remembers the brilliant teachers they had by name, some that came from Britain.
No scholarship student used to get a ‘C’ grade. Ten students with great distinction and other students from competing schools like St. Josef, Teferei Mekonen used to get an award called Haile Selassie First Price Trust Award, and a 100 birr monthly stipend which was a lot of money back then.
Winget students used to also be involved in various extracurricular activities. One of these was a drama club where they used to perform Shekesphere's Hamlet, Twelfth Night and much more. They used to even perform for the Emperor.
There were also
sport activities like basketball, football, badminton.
Students used to also be part of a cross country game with other schools.
In addition there was a Winget scheme which is like what we call Scout
now. Debate club was one of the many other clubs in Winget that helped the
students with their communication skills.
Students used to compete
on how many books they read, and at the age of 16-17 some of the students read
thousands of books. And the standard for ‘arif’ was literature, students used
to even carry books to toilets.
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| at Chefe elementary school, Feb 2014 |
Students used to be given 'fat pocket money' (a term used by alumnus) which was 1 birr, from this they used to pay 15-25 cents to get a hair cut, and pay 50 cents if they dare to get their hair cut at Piassa.
Former students of Winget speaks with pride that they used to wear Clarks shoe, that came from Britain. Their blanket that was once ‘bernos,’ (which people now a days use to clean floors), was soon replaced by expensive ‘kashimere’ blankets that were sent from Britain.
The alumni of Winget still remembers how delicious the different kinds of meal they used to be served with; ‘siga wot’ ‘miser wot,’vegetables, egg, margarine & honey with bread so on. The students used to also be served with orange that used to be imported from Jaffa, Israel. During that time if the boys saw a beautiful girl they used to complement her saying, ‘you look like Jaffa orange.’
Referring to what it feels like attending boys school an alumnus says that, "life stops if a girl comes to the school like a certain incident when we had football game with a certain international school, the students brought their girlfriends to the game and at break time they went to kiss their girls, that was like a different world for us."
During the coup, most of the people involved were, former students of Winget, as a result the king was afraid what kind of generation he was making. During the short time I spent with few alumni of Winget I learnt most of thee students who went to Winget are now prominent people in the country, having important positions in leadership?
Former students of Winget speaks with pride that they used to wear Clarks shoe, that came from Britain. Their blanket that was once ‘bernos,’ (which people now a days use to clean floors), was soon replaced by expensive ‘kashimere’ blankets that were sent from Britain.
The alumni of Winget still remembers how delicious the different kinds of meal they used to be served with; ‘siga wot’ ‘miser wot,’vegetables, egg, margarine & honey with bread so on. The students used to also be served with orange that used to be imported from Jaffa, Israel. During that time if the boys saw a beautiful girl they used to complement her saying, ‘you look like Jaffa orange.’
Referring to what it feels like attending boys school an alumnus says that, "life stops if a girl comes to the school like a certain incident when we had football game with a certain international school, the students brought their girlfriends to the game and at break time they went to kiss their girls, that was like a different world for us."
During the coup, most of the people involved were, former students of Winget, as a result the king was afraid what kind of generation he was making. During the short time I spent with few alumni of Winget I learnt most of thee students who went to Winget are now prominent people in the country, having important positions in leadership?
To name few;
Gebrekiristos
Desta, poet and artist
LoretteTsegaye
Gebre Medhin, writer
AtoTesfaye
Dinka, prime ministers during Derg,
Legesse
Zenawi, as they used to call him back then, the late prime minister
Dr.
Kasu Yilala
Shimelis
Adugna,
Shaleka
Birhanu Amesh (not sure if I got his spelling right)
Dr.Haile
Fidda,
Firew
Yibessa
Birhane
Gebrekiristos
many
more ministers
Amare
Aregawi, Reporter newspaper
Tegen
Workgetu, UN
Dr.
Niggusu Mekonen
Milkiyas
Tekelgiorgis
Berhanu
Tadesse
&
so
many physicians
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| at Chefe elementary school, Feb 2014 |
Well, I am not writing
this only to share what life was like for students back in those days. Hearing
the names of the students that went to Winget, I realized a generation was
framed in a certain way in that school. A certain elite group was made. And
that was the generation that is making a great impact to the country to this
day.
I heard one of the former
students of Winget say, “We are a dying species, and we need to be focused on
the next generation.” That is just what worries me; yes they are the dying
species! And imagine the generation we are making in this time. What scares me
most is the quality of education in schools these days and most of all no one
is giving much attention on behavior.
I always groan inside when
I hear stories about elementary schools, eighth grade students making out in
class while the teacher is teaching, teachers sleeping with students in
elementary schools, students bringing alcohol to school and getting drunk in class,
smoking, chewing chat and all sorts of drugs at such a young age…all these now
a days happens in elementary school.
The quality of education
in universities is way down these days that can just make another long blog
post.
Speaking of teachers, I remember
back in the days how we used to respect our teachers, how we were disciplined,
and how passionate teachers were about their work.Now a days, most teachers are
teaching only because they don’t have other options. I heard of teachers, who
speak all obscene language in front of or actually with their students. Let me
quote a certain teacher who said to his students aged 13-14, ‘I started having
sex when I was 13, how come you all didn't start yet?’
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| at Cathedral girls school |
I don’t totally blame the
teachers as well. I went to Dilla Teachers College, for fresh man, and I have
seen many students who are placed into teaching department without their
choice. They are forced into the life they don’t want while they were young and
passionate. One graduate of that university and who is a teacher now, once said
to me, ‘the only thing I got out of campus life is ‘addiction, addiction to
drugs and alcohol.’
I can’t imagine what kind
of generation is in the making through all this process?
It always makes me sick to
see young boys and girls, at the bars in Bole, Piassa…area, girls dressed like
‘sluts’, high with drugs…imagine this is the generation; imagine who will be
leading the country in 40-50 years?
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| at Chefe elemetary school, Feb 2014 |
Bicha,
esti mela enbel!!!!
(Sorry, I couldn't share
the pictures related to Winget or reveal from whom I got this information)
Back then even in the remote rural areas where students were provided with limited resource they managed to excel, they managed to make a name for themselves nationwide or even worldwide in some cases. I think in some ways this rules out the economical aspect of the country as the main cause for the ever deteriorating education system of Ethiopia, which is of course a major factor.
ReplyDeleteIt can boldly be stated that the Ethiopians outlook of education hasn't changed much over a century. Every Ethiopian family still tries to instill the significance of education in every child. That reverent view of education as the only means to one’s transformation, as a means to secure a better future, as a means to elevate social status is more or less intact, which can never be overrated. I think this single social view is responsible for the outstanding achievements of those mentioned individuals surpassing their provisional limitations.
If we still maintain a good social standing regarding education I think, as you have contemplatively mentioned it, the situation of the teachers is the next big issue. The status once teachers enjoyed in Ethiopian society has really drastically changed for the worst but the reflection is very much similar even in the more civilized nations. Being a high school or elementary teacher is not something one mentions in social conversations with great zeal.
The degraded moral standing of students while interacting with their teachers or with other social groups like seniors is as bad in the developed nations if not worse. The teachers also can’t be immune from the same moral decline of the society at large which will unfortunately surface in classrooms.
But the developed nations are managing to produce well educated groups under similar scenario with the exception of quality and availability of resources. As much as they strive to close the gap between what is provided for the average and the bright, they never compromised the provisions for the brightest students. They still have schools where only the bright students attend; they have miscellaneous funding to send these students to the highly priced but world top universities. They have the highest regard for the private schools, they invest a lot in them through various endowment.
I think the best solution for the renaissance of Ethiopian education system is helping the teachers become owners of schools through professional partnership etc. If public check points are made available to evaluate the performance of schools with national or local examinations, I think we will see a better future.
Thank you so much for taking your time to read and comment. I totally agreed with what you said and what you point out as a solution. Families has a good stand regarding education like you said but children spend more time in school than home and at certain ages they learn more from school than from their parents. And ya, recently there is so much moral decline in every aspect.
DeleteAnyways speaking of having schools where only bright students attend like Winget, I heard there is one now in Mekele, and that it is a good start. I hope we will have such schools in other parts of the country as well.
I love your blog! Just stumbled upon it! It's a very painful subject that mist enlightened Ethiopians have noticed! The education system is similar in both public and private schools. The same spirit of rebellion has plagued all our young children, it has instilled into them an age old idea, 'hedonism'
ReplyDeleteYou can call blame it on the West and all their propaganda and cultural invasion! But it starts here by all the adults that are unfortunately causing most of what we are seeing today! People like the one you were telling us about are being the worst examples if what an adult should look like, these kids look up to anyone who is older than them, they look up to their fathers and mothers their older sister abd brother, and they look up to their teachers! Teachers who shouldn't be teaching and becoming responsible for a generation! This is a controversial topic but it needs flame and a great push for it to be in the spotlight!
For a better Ethiopia!
P.S. I don't see many Ethiopians with blogs these days! It's entertaining and important, the only comment I have is, with all due respect, your writing needs editing, it looks raw and not respectful to the person who is taking time to read your blog! Other than that, keep it up!!!
Thank you so much for taking your time to read and comment and also for being honest. I took your advice and made few changes:) And I would also like to invite you to check out my other blog, http://uzima-genaye.blogspot.com/ where I share my writings.
DeleteReading your comment reminds me of the quote I read this morning. 'Don't be concerned that you children are not listening to you, be concerned that they are always watching you.' hum
For a better Ethiopia!
I first of like to tell you I am very proud of you and your excellent work. Well, in my days when I went to school my parents paid like 5.00 to 15 birr a month? something like that, and it was one of the best schools called Nativity Boys school. We had Catholic La Salle Brothers and our own Ethiopian teachers. Remember I said Boy's school because we saw the girls after school, even though they were next to our school. We were never allowed to mix in class. More over , I don't remember the girl's school having male teachers, they had very bright hard working women and I am proud to say one of them was your Mom. Well was this school practice wrong? It would start a big one ! Do you think it would have avoided all those things you mentioned about teachers and students in Ethiopia at present? The thing is these days
ReplyDeletethe whole world is a victim of the international market not only of commodities and high tech but social values too. How can we protect the future generation from that is a big challenge, but Parents, teachers,government and all those that are older and wiser can play a big role in teaching the younger generation on pride about their past, their culture, their country etc. We can still maintain our culture, values and history and at the same time make wise decisions that could develop our nation to break away from poverty.
Hi, Glad too hear from someone who went to Cathe:) you even know Mom:) I agree the Cathe system cant avoid the problems mentioned, it is actually one of the schools with the problems. You made a really good point, "... but Parents, teachers,government and all those that are older and wiser can play a big role in teaching the younger generation on pride about their past, their culture, their country etc..." thanks a lot for your encouraging comment:)
Delete