[etni] Re: Ethiopian Students

Dear Joe,

For the last two years I have been teaching Ethiopian students through a
Matnas project and find some of your questions quite puzzling. However, some
of my Ethiopian teaching colleagues were teachers in Ethiopia or learnt for
at least some time under the Ethiopian system. I will pass your questions
along to them.

My puzzlement comes because without exception the Ethiopians I teach are
Israelis and not recent immigrants. While some were born in Ethiopia or in
Sudan, none received any education in Ethiopia. Similarly I have found that
their knowledge of Amharic is rudimentary at best. Unlike my experience with
Russian students the Ethiopians speak Hebrew among themselves. They do not
even use Amharic as a 'secret' language against the teacher.

However learning Amharic would I'm sure be taken as a compliment. This begs
the question of where you intend to learn the language. I too would like to
pick up some Amharic, more to talk with parents than students. Does anyone
know how this could be done without being prohibitively expensive?

There are two areas which I also would appreciate some feedback.

Firstly, my personal experience has been that that Ethiopian students
educated through the National Religious framework are relatively far more
more disciplined and motivated in class than students in the regular secular
system. Is this also the perception of other teachers?

Secondly, I am constantly running into students who appear to be
significantly older than expected for their class. For example, I have found
17 year olds in Kitta Tet (9th Grade). Their problems, for example,
relationships with the opposite sex, obtaining driving licenses and Army
exemptions add yet layer to the riddle of Ethiopian education in Israel. How
widely spread is this?

Other related posts: