habesha traditional schools

HABESHA TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS
As young Hebesha or Abyssinian child what fascinates you most is the presence of huge
mass of rocks sometimes alone and sometimes over other rock or rocks etc. around your
village. I guess the world saw these first and not the pyramids of Egypt or sky-scrapers
of NY.
Their presence provokes a storm of questions. One of these is the desire to know the
name of the architect who put them in the way they are. The answer you get is ’’ the
work of Almighty God’’. But this doesn’t mean that there is no another geographic
answer for those who are very few and fortunate.
And when you grow up you want to know your society’s cultural setter. In other words
you want to know the weaver or composer (አላሚ/አላማይ) of your society’s education,
culture, moral, tradition, etc.
For this there is no simple answer because of its complexity. The weavers are our
ancestors not of one but of many generations. Also this testifies that our tradition,
education, culture, etc. don’t hide some of their geographic characters not only of their
chronological orders, but also of their resistances.
One of the greatest advantages of our rocks, education, culture, tradition, etc. is that
they are both testimonies of the past. For this they are always good subject for a
research. Our research results are our best identity teachers. They illuminate us and we
bow low to them. This means in order to learn more about ourselves we must do a nonstop research on our past and present traces.
Based on this one can say I have Abyssinian educational, or culture, or moral, etc.
backgrounds. But if we want to go to the bottom we have the possibility to say I have
Ethiopian Christian or Moslem … educational, culture … backgrounds.
In addition to this there are many Habesha Diaspora who tell their story by adding
another background. For example, Abyssinian child born and learned in USA can say ‘I
have Abyssinian-American backgrounds. All these are true, but only when we see things
out side of politics.
Coptic and Quran/Koran are two Abyssinian traditional schools. I believe that if we can
say Nile is formed from White and Blue Niles, also the Abyssinian basic traditional
education is formed from Coptic and Quran.
What does the word education mean in ትግርይና/Tigryna? It means: ስነ-ስርዓት, አደብ,
አትተዐባብያ, (but more correct is when we say አዱካዝዮነ/educazione) (bad) ስድዲ, ስድድንነት.
The educators are monks and debteras, form the part of Coptic and Sheikh, etc.
from the Quran part. Let us start with Coptic school in a narrative form.
I
Coptic school
<<Education
was traditionally in the hands of the Church, or, more correctly, of
individual churches, monasteries and convents, and the individual men and
women who served them. The Church thus constituted the custodian of the
nation’s culture>> (1)
DESIRE TO LEARN
In general habesha is born with a strong appetite for learning. On this Munzinger
who was in Eritrea for many years sheds light.
<<Ggli
abissini d’altronde sono molto
avidi di sapere; essi leggono volentieri
tutto ciö che loro capita di poter legere;
imparano con straodinaria facilità ed è
meravgliosa la ferrea costanza con cui
lavorano tutta la vita ad uno scopo . . .
l’instancabilità degli studenti . . . mendicando un pezzo di pane necessario per
vivere . . . la pazienza è decismante una
virtü abissina >> (2)
→እቶም ሐበሻ ናብ ኩልሉ ሰርዓት ኢዮም ብዙሕ
ሀርጋፋት ናይ ተማሀረ: ንስሶም አንብቡ ቮለንቴሪ
ኩልሉ እዙ ዝ ንስሶም ይበጽሑ ናይ ከአለ አንበበ;
ይምሀሩ ምስ መስደመም ክእለት እውን ኢያ ግሩም
እታ ድልድልቲ ጽንዓት ምስ አየን ይሰርሑ ኩልላ እታ
ሕይወት ናብ ሐደ አተንና . . . እታ ሓይሊ ናይ እቶም
ተመሀሮ . . . ይልምምኑ ሐደ ቍርራስ ናይ እንጌራ
ግድዲ ምእንቲ ሐየወ (ነበረ) . . . እታ ትዕግስቲ ኢያ
ብርግግጽ ሐንቲ ቪርቱ ናይ ሐበሻ>>
HABESHA’S SCHOOL-AGE
Habesha starts and leaves early the school. According to Habesha’s mental maturation I
don’t see any defect with starting early, but leaving early is a disaster. There are many
questions to be answered why Habesha leaves early the school, but the main problem is
there is no basic school advice in the first day of the school. As result of this young
Habesha feels that he/she is full of knowledge when he/she is at grade seven or eight.
Really this is self-destruction. For me this is one of the reasons why Habesha where he is
now.
In general, education for most Habesha children starts after they turn 5-6-7 years old
but with the exception of the following.
<<Il
re Naakuto-Lä-Ab
(sec. XIII) viene tolto
dalle cure materne al
terzo anno, e al quatro
anno cominciö gli studi
sotto le dipendenze di
un dotto sacerdote
chiamato Yeshaq, cf.
Gli atti di re Na’akuto
La’ab, a cura di C.
Conti Rossini, in
Annali, II (1943) p.
199>> (3).
→The King NaakutoLä-Ab (sec. XIII) was
taken from the
maternal care at third
year, and at the fourth
year started studies
under the
dependences of the
learned sacerdotal
called Yeshaq …
→እቲ ንጉስ ነኩቶ-ልኣብ (ዘመን
XIII)
መጸ ውሱድ ካብ እተን
ፋዕራታት ናይ አድደታት ናብ
እቲ ሳልሳይ ዓመት, እውን ናብ
እቲ አርባዕተ ዓመት ጀምመረ
እቶም ምህሮታት ታሕቲ እተን
ግዝእንነት/ዲፐንደንዛ ናይ ሐደ
ምሁር ካህን ጽዉዕ ይስሓቅ . .
.
The course of the events lo svolgimento dei fatti እቲ ዝርዝረት ናይ እቶም ግቡራት
<<L’insegnamento
→The school
→እቲ ስኮላስቲካዊ
scolastico in
Etiopia come pure
in Eritrea, sin
dagli inizi di
questo secolo, era
svolto quasi
esclusivamente
dal clero e dai
monaci in scuole
edificate o nel
paese stesso, a
fianco della chiesa
locale, o nei
pressi di qualche
teaching in
Ethiopia as also in
Eritrea, from the
beginning of this
century, was
carried out (done)
almost exclusively
by a clergy and
by the monks in
schools built or in
the village itself,
or the side of the
local church, o
near any
monastery.
ትምህርቲ አብ
ኢትዮጵያ ከም ድምማ
አብ አርትራ, ካብ እቲ
ፈለማ ናይ እዙ ዘመን,
ነበረ ዝርዙር ዳርጋ
በይኑ ብ እቲ ካህን
እውን ብ እቶም
መነኰሳት አብ ንዱቓት
ስኩኦለ ወይ አብ እቲ
ዓድዲ ባዕሉ, ናብ ጐድኒ
ናይ እታ ሎካለ
ክርስትያንቤት, ወይ አብ
እቶም ጥቓታት ናይ
ማንም ገዳም (ወይ
ደብሪ)>>.
monastero>> (4)
Who was supporting the Church education to be realized?
<<Education
in Ethiopia was entirely in the hands of the ecclesiastics,
specially the debteras. Individual churches and monasteries each maintain
their own schools supported by the Church lands and gifts made by the
community and parents of the students>> (5) .
The Church traditional course
Il <<curriculum studiorum>> era
eminentmente basato sulle scienze
religose e letteratura e quindi svolto
sui testi biblici, patristici, o do pietà,
scritti prevalentement nella lingua
sacra antica chiamata Geez.
→The course of study was eminently
based on the religious science and
literature and then carried out (done)
on the biblical texts, patristics, or of
devotions written prevalently in the
sacred language called Geez.
L’istruzione scolastica nella sua
forma tradizione veniva impartita e
suddivisa in quattro sezione che
corrispondevano ad altrettanti livelli
culuturali. Ciascuno di essi
compartava un arco di anni piü o
meno lungo con particolari indirizzi
che caraterizzano ogni corso o
sezeione scolastico>> (6)
The scholastic teaching in its
traditional form was given and
subdivided in four sections that
were corresponding to just as many
cultural levels. Each of them was
appearing an arch of years more or
less long with particular courses that
characterize any course or scholastic
sections.
The four scholastic levels are:
A
Institutional course of reading
=
ኢስቲትዝዮናለ (= መሰረታዊ) ኮርሶ ናይ ንባብ ወይ ንባብ-
ቤት: it is consisted of:
1) In the teaching of alphabet = አብ እቲ ትምህርቲ ናይ እቲ ፊደል
2) In the practice of the reading of few religious texts like: chosen pieces
from the letters of S. Paolo, of S. Giacomo, and of S. Petro from the Gospel
from the letters of S. Giovanni, from the work called Arganon (praises to Mary
lodi a Maria), from the Teamere Maryam ተአምረ ማርያም (ተአምራት ናይ ማርያም Miracoli
di Maria), from the Acts of Apostles, etc.
3) In the practice of the reading of the Psalms = አብ እታ ልማድ ናይ እታ ንባብ ናይ
እቶም መዝሙራት ወይ መዛምርት
B Institutional course for the ecclesiastical minister Corso istituzionale per il
minister ecclestastico ኢስቲቱዝዮናለ (ድምሙርቲ ምስ እታ ኢስቲቱዝዮነ) ኮርሶ ምእንቲ እቲ ሃይማኖታዊ
ቀስሲ/ሽሺ: ቅድዳሴ-ቤት: the learning is:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Gbre-dqhunna ግብረ-ድቍንና
Gbre-qssnna ግብረ-ቅስስንና (ቀስሰሰ/ቀሽሸሸ)
The song of the mass እቲ ማህሌት/ዜማ ናይ እታ ቅድዳሴ and
The pastoral practice
la practica pastorale
እታ ፓስቶራለ ልማድ
C Course of specialization in the liturgical songs Corso di specializzazione nel
canto liturgico ኮርሶ ናይ ስፐሽያሊዛዝዮነ አብ እቲ ሊቱርጊኮ: ዜማ-ቤት
D
Course of specialization in esegesi Corso di sepecializzazione in esegesi
ኮርሶ ና ስፐሽያሊዝዛዝዮነ አብ መርሐ ደግገ: መጽሐፍ-ቤት: the learning is:
1)
2)
3)
4)
The old Testament እቲ ሐድዲስ ለበዋ ወይ እቲ ሐድዲስ ተስታመንቶ
The new Testament እቲ ኦሪት ወይ እቲ አረጊት ተስታመንቶ
i SS. Padri the Holy Spirit fathers እቶም ቅድዱሳት መናፍስቲ አብቦታት
Il testo di diritto civile-canonico (the text of civil-canon right): Fethe
Negst ፍትሐ ነግስት and
5) Le regole e i testi monastici(the rule and the texts of monastic): እተን
ስርዓታት እውን እቶም ጥቕሲታት ናይ መነኵሳት
Places Center of Specialization
L’accesso ai primi due corsi era facilitato dal fatto che il primo era svolto in
genere in tutti i villaggi ed il second in tutti monasteri. Mentre erano
particolarmente rari i centri di studio per altri corsi di specializizzazione …
Centri di specializzazione particolaremnte famosi in tale tipo di scuola erano
quelli di: Gondar (nel Beghemeder); Debre Libanon (nello Scioa); di Debre
Marqos e Bietelihem (nel Goggiam), ove si potevano trovare antiche e buone
biblioteche, e maestri di fama>>(7)
→The access to the first two courses was facilitated from the fact that the first
was given in general in all villages and the second in all monasteries. While they
were particularly rare centers of study for other courses of specialization …
Centers of specialization particularly famous in such type of schools were those
of: Gondar (in Beghemeder); Debre Libano (nello Scioa); of Debre Marqos and
Bietelihem (in Goggiam), where you could find ancient and good libraries, and
teachers of fame.
Time limit of each course
<<La
durata di ciascuno corso non
era fissa ma dipendeva
ordinariamente dal giudizio del
maestro e dalla diligenza
dell’aluno>>(8).
→The term (period) of each course
was not fixed but was depending
ordinarily from the judgment of the
teacher and from the diligence of the
pupil.
Does a female go to the church school?
<<Per
il sesso femminile l’opportunità
della formazione scolastica, stando in
tale contesto tradizionale, si limitava
soltanto al primo corso istituzionale
di lettura>> (9)
→For the female sex the opportunity
of a scholastic education, stays in
such traditional contest, it is limited
only at the first institutional course of
reading.
What does the critic say?
<<Alcune
voci critiche, rimproverarono al popolo etiopico di non aver saputo
sviluppare la propria scienza letteraria anche in direzione profana, ma di essersi
limitato e chiuso a quella religiosa, fatta anche questa in prevalenza di traduzioni
di testi importati dal di fuori, e di non aver dato inoltre grande interesse ed
impulso alle altre scienze artistche e scientifiche>> (10)
→Other critical voices, rebuke to the Ethiopian people of not having learned to
develop his own literature even in profane direction, but of being limited and
closed to that religion, done even this in prevalence of translations of texts
imported from the outside, and of not having given beside great interest and
impulse to the other artistic and scientific science.
→ገለ ክሪቲከ ድሀያት, ይወቕሱ ናብ እቲ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሕዝቢ ናይ አይኮነን አልሎዎ ምሁር ናብ ሰላዕበለ እታ
ናይርእሱ ለትተራርያ ስሼንዛ ከዓ አብ ርኹስ ወገን, ግን ነበረ ውስሱን እውን ዕጹው ናብ እዛ ሃይማኖት, ግብርቲ ከዓ
እዚኣ አብ ምልኪ ናይ ትርጓሜታት ናይ ጥቕሲታት ኢምፖርታቲ ካብ እቲ ወጻኢ, እውን ናይ አይኮነን አልሎዎ
ውሁብ ከዓ ዓቢይ ሐረጻ እውን ድፍአት ናብ እተን ካልኦት ኣርቲስቲካዊ እውን ስሼንቲፊካዊ ስሼንዛ.
II
Quran/Koran school
<<La
popolazione mussulmana provvede da secoli all’istruzione elementare
attraverso quella religiosa, mediante le scuole coraniche, diffuse in tutto il
mondo islamico. In Eritrea ve ne sono di stabili nei villagi dell’altopiano e
del bassoplano, e di mobili che seguono le populazioni di pastori nelle loro
transumanze. Vi si insegna a leggere e a ascrivre l’arabo su testi del
Corano (tabelle di legno, ichiostri di nerofumo e cannucce sono il materiale
didattico di ogni scolaro).Tale insegnamento è ovviament piü utile di quello
impaertito nelle scuole copte, perchè impartito in una lingua viva e per
iscritto. Spesso la scuola è presso la moschea. Nella solitudine dei pascoli,
dovunque si radunano pastori, o la sera al lume dei fuochi, un anziano fa
da maestro a bambini e bambine. La notte, come si pratica nei conventi
copti, è reservata a imparare a memoria intere <<sure>> del Corano.
Queste scuole sono diffuse fra i Baria, gli Algheden, i Sabderat, i Maria e i
Beni Amer nel Bassopiano Occidentale ; ma parecchie ve ne sono
nell’Assaorta, Nel Samhar, nel Sahl, come nelle zone temperate delle
Hamasien, Seraé, Acchele Guzai. La durata du questi corsi é di cinuque
anni. Vi si insegna a leggere e copiare il Corano, e l’alunno, alla fine, à in
grado di leggere qualsiasi testo, compresi i giornali.
Secondo un articolo del muti dell’Eritrea, Ibrahim el Muctar, apparso
sull’<<Arabic Weekly News>> del 25 ottobre 1946, esistevano in qull’anno
in Eritrea 88 scuole cora-niche fisse, con 3.240 alunni, e circa il doppio di
scuole mobile >>(11).
→The Moslem population provides from centuries to the elementary education through that religion, by means of the Quran schools, diffused in the
entire Islamic world. In Eritrea there are of buildings in the villages of the
highland and of the lowland, and of mobile that follow the pastor
populations in their transhumances. There you teach to read and to write
Arabic on the text of Quran (wood board, ink of lamp-black and stems are
the didactic material of any pupil). Such teaching is obviously more useful
of that given in the Coptic schools, because given in a living language and
for writing. Frequent the school is near the Mosque. In the lonely spot of
the pastures, wherever the shepherds together, or the evening to the light
of the fires, an elder works as a teacher to the children. The night, like is
practiced in the Coptic convents, is reserved to learn by heart whole
<<surahs>> (chapters or sections) of the Koran.
These schools are diffused among Baria, Algheden, e Sabderat, Maria and
Beni Amer in the Western lowlands; but quite a lot of there are in
Assaorta, in Samhar, in Sahel, as in the temperate zones of Hamasien,
Seraè, Acchele Guzai. The duration of these courses is of five years.
Learning is to read and to copy the Koran, and the schoolboy, at the end
to be able to read any text, inclusive the journals.
According to an article of mufti of Eritrea, Ibrahim el Muctar, appeared of
25th October 1946, were existing in that year in Eritrea 88 Koran fixed
schools, with 3,240 pupils, and nearly double of the mobile schools
The testimony of PUGLISI, G. seems exaggerated when it is compared with the
following testimony.
<<Education
in Eritrea in the early twentieth century was greatly
influenced by the advent of Italian administrators and settlers and the
need to provide schooling for their children. The 1905 census showed that
there were 754 Europeans in the colony under the age of fifteen. Two
years later there were three government and four Catholic elementary
schools for Italian children only, and five Catholic and nine Swedish
missionary schools for ’’native’’ children, as well as 58 traditional Church
or Koranic schools. The Italian military authorities also established schools
for their ascari, or native soldiers. The schools were first established at
Assab … gave rudimentary courses in Italia, Arabic and Amharic, as well as
a little arithmetic and geography>> (12).
References:
1. Pankhurst, Richard ‘Economic History of Ethiopia, 1800-19335, 1968, p.666.
2. W. MUNZINGER ‘Studi sull’Africa Orientale, Roma 1890 p.25
3. Says Barzano, Giovanni (P. Luca) ‚‘‘Valore e Diritto della Prole …‘‘, 1979, note
138, p. 252.
4. Barzano, Giovanni (P. Luca)‚‘‘Valore e Diritto della Prole …‘‘, 1979, p. 252.
5. Margaret. MORGAN, Continuities and Traditions in Ethiopia History, in the
Ethiopian Observer XII (1969), N. 4, p. 253.
6. Barzano, Giovanni (P. Luca)‚‘‘Valore e Diritto della Prole …‘‘, 1979, p. 253.
7. Idem‚ p. 255.
8. Idem‚ p. 255.
9. Idem‚ p. 255.
10.Idem‚ p. 256.
11. PUGLISI, Giuseppe, La scuola in Eritrea ieri e oggi, in Africa Rivista Mensile di
Interessi Africani, Anno VIII – N.1, Gennaio 1953, p. 69-70.on the << Arabic
Weekly News>>
12. Pankhurst, Richard ‘Economic History of Ethiopia, p.673.
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4 11 2012
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