INAUGURATES NEW BAHR DAR
TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
.....
The time when manual labour was despised has long passed and we find ourselves
in an epoch when manual labour is a source of pride and pleasure not only to
the worker but to all.
We
are pleased to be present today on the occasion of the inauguration of this
splendid Technical High School which is the concrete result of the Agreement
which was signed three years ago by the Government of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics and the Ethiopian Government. Our pleasure is doubled by
the presence in our midst of Your Excellency The Minister of Higher and
Secondary Special Education of the U.S.S.R. as a Special Representative of
your Government.
This
institution, apart from the benefit of training Ethiopian technicians to work for and serve their country, will
also stand as a lasting record of the strong and long-standing friendship
existing between the Soviet Union and Our country.
The many schools and educational
institutions, which it has been Our pleasure to inaugurate from time to time in
various parts of the country, is a proof that Our plans for the modernization
and the development of Our country are being gradually achieved. The
establishment of a sufficient number of well-equipped hospitals and educational
institutions is today essential for the basic growth and well-being of a
nation, and it can be said that of the many branches of learning, technical
knowledge is vital for its livelihood. The greater part of Our efforts has been
directed towards giving Our beloved people the advantages of modern medical
treatment and access to academic and technical education. With the guidance of
the Almighty We are progressively moving towards the fulfilment of Our plans.
It is most gratifying to Us to see Our people recognizing the advantages of
modern medical and educational facilities and themselves sharing a part of the
burden of Our efforts.
One of the requirements of the recently
signed Charter of African Unity calls for African nations to assist one
another. However, a nation must first be self-sufficing before it is in a
position to offer help to others; therefore, the establishment of this
Technical Institution, which We today inaugurate, will play an important role
in the development of Our country on the road to self-sufficiency. Through the
Haile Selassie I Scholarship programme, a certain number of students from all
parts of Africa will be admitted to this Institution.
Mind and Hand
The combination of academic knowledge with technical education will give
great satisfaction and will create self-supporting individuals. It is by the
combined use of the mind and the hand that crude material is changed into an
article of beauty and value. The time when manual labour was despised has long
passed and we find ourselves in an epoch when manual labour is a source of
pride and pleasure not only to the worker but to all. Laziness is the sole
breeder of sin, poverty and discontent. Therefore, all those who enter this
Technical High School, bearing in mind that technological education is an
important weapon for a country’s development and prosperity, should rise up and
work diligently and industriously in order to benefit themselves and their
fellowmen. Our Minister of Education has already explained in detail the advantages
to be derived from technical education.
What impressed Us most during Our visit to the Soviet Union was the high
standard achieved by the Soviet people in the field of Science and Technology
in a period of less than 50 years.
For this magnificent, fully equipped educational institution, together
with many thousands of technical books and also five scholarships annually for
students teachers to later serve this institution, which enables Ethiopia to
share the scientific and technological achievements of the Soviet Union,
without any political strings attached and for no pecuniary gain, We request
Your Excellency to convey Our sincere and heartfelt thanks together with those
of Our beloved people and Government to the people and Government of the Soviet
Union and especially to His Excellency Mr. Nikita Khrushchev.
We would like to thank the Soviet engineers and also the contractor and
all those whose efforts have contributed to the completion of this building.
June
11, 1963.
Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie
– page 85 –
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