Category: Education

A Chinese proficiency competition for Ethiopian university and secondary school students with the view to enhancing cultural relationship between the two countries has taken place here in Addis Ababa today.

Some 16 university and 6 secondary school students participated in the final round competition.

The talent show included singing Chinese songs, Chinese dancing, poetry recitation, cross talk, tongue twisters, Huangmei Opera, and martial arts performance.

Special prizes, first to third prizes, and excellence awards were given to the twenty two contestants.

The winners in the university and the secondary school group categories will go to China to participate in the finals, it was learned.

Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador Zhao Zhiyuan said that he is very confident that those Chinese learners in Ethiopia and Amharic learners in China will become ambassadors of friendship in the near future.

“I am very confident that those Chinese learners in Ethiopia and Amharic learners in China will become Sino-Ethiopia ambassadors of friendship in the near future, contributing to the consolidation of the bridge of brotherly relationship between our two countries, to the building of the bridge of a community with a shared future for our two people.”

He added that the competition is an important platform to promote exchanges and friendship between Chinese and foreign students, and an important bridge to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Since the first round competition in 2002, more than 1.4 million non-native Chinese language learners from more than 150 countries have participated in the Chinese proficiency competitions, Ambassador Zhiyuan stated.

Representing the Internationalization and Scholarship Desk of the Ministry of Education, Terefe Belay said that the two countries have a long-standing relationship.

According to him, strengthening cultural ties between the peoples of the countries will further consolidate the cultural relationship.

‘The relationship between Ethiopia and China is long standing. It has been around for long. Both countries have great cultural and ancient heritages. Therefore, in order to strengthen the brotherly relationship between the two countries, it will make them more effective if people learn each other’s culture, languages through academic exchange.’

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Dr Emmanuel Manu, Head of Department, Population and Behavioural Sciences, Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, UHAS, says there is the need for educating girls on the use of locally produced reusable menstrual pads to help them deal with problems associated with pad affordability during menstruation.

He said the education on the pads would erase some myths surrounding menstruation such as ‘it is a taboo to touch menstrual blood.’

‘Menstruation is a biological and reproduction process without which one will not be born so people should not feel shy to touch menstrual blood.’

Dr Manu, speaking during the climax of activities to mark this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Celebration in Hohoe, said menstrual hygiene had been a problem with girls from rural areas when it came to menstruation.

He noted that most girls in rural areas nationwide and in the Volta Region were from poor homes and hardly afforded pads during their menstrual periods.

Dr Manu said when the girls get equipped in producing their own pads, it would help them afford more pads since the materials used were less expensive.

He urged girls to always be hygienic when they were on their periods and not be shy whilst they went through the period and also teach their colleagues about menstruation.

Miss Portia Owusu Annor, the Facilitator, noted that reusable pads were hygienic, absorbable, clean, durable, and repeatable.

She said the reusable pads had no chemicals in the materials used which in a long way do not pose dangers to the users.

Miss Annor said the advantages of the reusable pads were that the user could design the length and thickness of the pads according to their preferences.

She said reusable pads were the preferable choice of the users since they met the desires, patterns, and designs to suit their comfort.

Mr Israel Wuresah, a Member of the Organising Committee, said it was their mission to create awareness to ensure that people had good knowledge about menstruation and menstrual hygiene.

He said one of the key areas being looked at was to end period poverty by teaching girls how to produce their own menstrual materials they needed to be able to manage their menstruation.

Mr Wuserah said equipping girls with the skills to produce their menstrual materials would be in the short term while they hoped the government took off taxes on menstrual materials.

He said their aim was ending period stigma where young menstruating girls were being stigmatised by their colleagues and male parents such as restricting the girls from some tasks at home.

Mr Wuserah said they hoped to extend the education to all young girls while hoping that beneficiaries would continue to teach their friends.

Ms Juanita Agyei, a 10-year-old pupil from Momo Montessori School and a participant said she was delighted with the knowledge imparted to help her when she began to menstruate.

More than 100 girls from selected schools in the Hohoe Municipality, teachers and some seamstresses benefitted from the activities to mark the Day held on the theme: ‘Ending Period Stigma.’

Other activities carried out included a float, radio talk, a donation to Gbi Special School and talks on menstrual hygiene.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Pencils of Promise (PoP), an education-focused non-profit Organisation, has broken ground for the construction of a 3-Unit classroom block for the Gbi-Wegbe E. P School to improve upon teaching and learning.

The edifice, expected to be completed in months, would accommodate the kindergarten pupils of the school.

Mr Freeman Gobah, Country Director of Pencils of Promise, noted that the community, for about four years now, wrote to the Organisation for assistance.

He said the gesture to support the community was also due to some dilapidated structures of the school which were still in use.

Mr Gobah said as a not-for-profit Organisation, they would provide 80 per cent of the total work to be done in the form of skilled labour while the community provide 20 per cent of work including labour and building projects.

He noted that the Organisation had built many schools in the Municipality and would continue to address the educational needs of other communities.

Mr Gobah admonished the community to offer the needed support to ensure that the project was completed on schedule.

Mr Daniel Noble Awume, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said it was commendable that PoP had come to assist the community adding that the community must be committed to working assiduously towards the project completion.

Mr Kafui Boso, Acting Hohoe Municipal Inspector of Chiefs on behalf of the Education Director, expressed gratitude to the Organisation for the support.

He said it was the hope that the project would see the light of day.

Mr Patrick Dzandu, Assemblyman, Gbi-Wegbe Traditional Area, expressed gratitude to Pencils of Promise for assistance when the community called on them.

He said they would complete the project since some citizens had already begun supporting the project.

Mr Dzandu urged the community to always take a keen interest in the education of children since they would become future leaders.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Doctoral students in Somalia are to receive financial support under a new agreement signed between Qatar Charity and the University for Peace of the United Nations (UPEACE).

The move is part of a grant programme from Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, which provides 100 Somali researchers with grants for PhD studies over the next three years.

Abdel Fattah Adam Muallem, director of QC’s office in Somalia, and Professor Samuel Kali, regional director for Africa for UPEACE, signed the document.

Farah Sheikh Abdul Qadir, the minister of education, culture, and higher education for Somalia, Ishaq Mahmoud Mursal, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, and the ambassador of Qatar to Somalia were present at the signing.

‘Qatar Charity has become the first organisation that enabled the president to fulfil this promise and today has signed a grant for 40 Somali researchers,’ Abdul Qadir said.

‘The cooperation agreement in the field of education with Qatar Charity contributes to the investment of the Somali intellectual to contribute to the sustainable development of the country, through a package of disciplines that serve the security and peace process while empowering students with skills required for studies and research,’ Kali noted.

‘The agreement also enhances the spirit of innovation among students.’

Muallem said: ‘Qatar Charity pays special attention to the education process in Somalia, as it seeks to contribute to building a brighter future for Somali generations.’

‘Qatar Charity has been working in Somalia for many years and has provided support in the education sector, including building and renovating schools, providing scholarships to Somali students, supporting teacher training programmes, and providing educational materials and supplies,’ he added.

Source: Somali National News Agency

The European Union (EU) has awarded a full Masters Scholarship to 53 Ethiopian students for the academic year 2023-2024, according to the Delegation of the EU to Ethiopia.

The students will spend two years in prestigious European Universities in 12 European countries to pursue their Master Degrees in various fields, it added.

In a press release it sent to ENA, the EU Delegation stated that the Erasmus+ Scholarships are exclusively awarded to students coming from both EU and non-EU countries that have been selected to attend one of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Programmes at Masters or Doctorate level.

Ethiopia is one of the top beneficiary countries of the Erasmus programme, it was learned.

Since 2004, Ethiopia has been one of the top five performing countries in the world and top in Africa, both in terms of student selection and applications for the Erasmus Scholarship programme, according to the presser.

Since 2010, the European Union has awarded the Erasmus Mundes Scholarship to more than 500 Ethiopian students.

The EU Delegation Head in Ethiopia, Ambassador Roland Kobia said “the Erasmus+ European scholarships highly contributes to the country’s human development effort in higher education”

The program offers a lifetime opportunity for young Ethiopian students to pursue their studies at the highest level, to learn more about European cultures, languages, academic systems and, not least, people at some of the best universities in Europe.

Apart from improving the student’s expertise, the scholarships are also meant to enrich the student’s life experiences, help create mutual understanding and openness between people and cultures, the ambassador noted.

“We hope that these scholarships will help these students to excel and that they will return to Ethiopia with enhanced skills and knowledge useful for the country and themselves, as well as with fond memories of Europe.”

The Erasmus+ Scholarship programme is a valuable opportunity for Ethiopia as it supports the country’s endeavor of the development of higher learning to address its need of more experts of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and humanities.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A team from the Western Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) Thursday engaged some school children in the Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Area on the need to avoid tobacco and other substance abuse.

The children were enlightened on the effects the use of other types of substances could have on the human body.

Ms Ivy Dorinda Essien, a Regulatory Officer, said the children were made part of the sensitization programme to arm them with the requisite knowledge to make informed choices as they grew up.

Mr Solomon Boni, the Public Relations Officer, FDA, said the global campaign aimed to raise awareness on the alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encouraged them to grow sustainable, nutritious crops.

The campaign would also expose the tobacco industry’s efforts to interfere with attempts to substitute tobacco growing with sustainable crops, which contributed to the global food crisis.

Close to 800 school children from the municipality were engaged as part of activities to mark World No Tobacco Day, on the theme: ‘We Need Food Not Tobacco’.

Mr Boni said the Authority was also carrying out market surveillance to ensure that consumers were protected against any unwholesome commodities in the market.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The linkage between manufacturing and input suppliers should be strengthened in order to achieve sustainable economic growth in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University Post-Graduate Coordinator and Researcher Mariamawit said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Mariamawit Fikresellasie said efforts to link industries that use agricultural products, employ large number of people, and produce export products must be strengthened.

She stated that local investors should give priority to agri-business manufacturing and pay attention to engagement in comprehensive market linkages.

Industrial parks should be developed and private investors supported to enter the sector. In order to achieve this quickly, there is a need to create a linkage between industrial development and agriculture and service development sectors based on a positive and proportionate level of development.

If we start with light manufacturing, then there is medium and high level, Mariamawit noted, adding that we can start with agribusiness as our economy focuses on agriculture.

According to the researcher, the nation can start with agro-processing and agri-business industry and move on to light manufacturing and then to medium and large processing. But these need linkage.

Each sector must be linked not only in the manufacturing sector, but manufacturing should also be linked to agriculture, manufacturing and then the service sector. We have to create what we call backward forward linkages, she stated.

Mariamawit explained that it is a viable practice for industries worldwide to produce finished and semi-finished raw materials that add value to each other and create multi-faceted connections to become competitive in the international market.

In order to alleviate the shortage of foreign currency needed for industrial development, any developing country should expand its comparative advantage products and services to the international market, according to the researcher.

In particular, Mariamawit pointed out that it is necessary to link agriculture-related industries to the mining and tourism sectors.

Educational institutions also need to produce manpower required by the industries.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Athens, A cyberattack on Greece’s Education Ministry, led to long delays in end-of-year exams across the country on Tuesday.

Exams in the top three classes of Greek high schools could not be held, as the exam contents could not be transferred from the central database, the ministry said.

‘This is the biggest cyberattack that the country has experienced,’ Giannis Antoniou, the head of the body responsible for high school exams, told the Athens-based news broadcaster Skai.

State radio ERT reported that Athens prosecutors, had launched an investigation to uncover those responsible.

The ministry said the attack had been launched on a smaller scale on Monday, and that IT experts were working to restore the service.

Source: Ghana News Agency