FIFTH GRADUATION EXERCISES OF H.S.I.U.
….. The mere existence of a fund of
knowledge is not enough; unless knowledge is nurtured and nourished by devoted
teachers and eager students alike, it will, like a pool of water following the
rains change its hue and slowly disappear …..
It gives Us great satisfaction today, at
the end of the academic year, to observe the number of students who have
successfully passed this University’s requirements and who are assembled here
today to take part in this commencement ceremony. This is a rewarding and
long-awaited occasion for each of you, as it is for Us personally, and We
congratulate each one who will today receive his diploma from Our hands.
Although you have reached this high
landmark in your academic training, your education is not complete; there is no
end to learning. During your years of study We hope that you have come to understand
and appreciate the significance and the importance of education, educational
institutions, and of this University in particular. We hope that you have come
to realize what this University is today, what its role in the life of the
nation is in 1966, and what its potential is for the future.
For Us, the
importance of this University – indeed, of any institution of higher education
– is fourfold. First, it provides the institutional framework wherein ancient
and tested and proven knowledge can be passed on to the present and future
generations. Lacking such a framework, neither a country nor an educational
system can bequeath and transmit profound knowledge to posterity. In this same
fashion, the existence of Ge’ez and Amharic have enabled Ethiopia to preserve
and pass to later generations the civilization and culture of her ancient
people.
Second is the
discovery and development of new knowledge through research. A university which
does not expand the frontiers of learning through research can only be
short-lived.
Third is the
discharge of the obligation to teach others which the very creation of such an
institution implies and embodies. This is its supreme function. The creation of
the institutional framework alone does not guarantee that teaching will be
effective; nor does the growth of learning within the university’s walls by
itself ensure that knowledge will be spread and diffused. The mere existence of
a fund of knowledge is not enough; unless knowledge is nurtured and nourished
by devoted teachers and eager students alike, it will, like a pool of water
following the rains change its hue and slowly disappear.
Practical Aspect Emphasized
And since a university is established and maintained
through the will and support of a people and a government, We may consider,
lastly, the use to be made of the knowledge which it has acquired or developed
and which it is now transmitting to others. Clearly, this knowledge must be
devoted to the ultimate fulfillment of the needs and desires of those to whom
the university owes its being. A university which is unconcerned with the
practical impact of the work on the people and the nation,
which limits its horizons to the theoretical and the abstract and its
activities to the library and the laboratory, cannot long expect to enjoy the
support of the people and the nation.
It is Our most earnest wish that this
University meet all of these requirements so that the full force of the promise
which it holds out to the future of Our beloved country may be well and
gloriously realized. You graduates who have had, through your year of service
to the nation, the opportunity to see at first hand the impact of your
education upon your country and to observe at first hand the nation’s needs,
are in a better position to understand and evaluate the extent to which this is
today being accomplished. This is the essential purpose of the National Service
Programme: the development within each one of you of the inner sense of service
to the nation. Only through dedication and sacrifice can one truly help and
benefit his country.
Although the pressure imposed by the need
for training more teachers is still felt, We note with great satisfaction that
the number of Ethiopian teachers has increased in the five years of the
University’s existence. In order to attain self-sufficiency, we must give
priority to overcoming this shortage. We cannot depend always on others. “The
disciple is not above his master.” We urge you, the teachers, who have a close
acquaintance with the conditions of your country, to use your education for
conducting valuable research directed towards the alleviation of the problems
of your country. Teach, learn, and thereby extend increasingly the frontiers of
your knowledge.
Some of you graduates of the Class of 1966
were unable to pursue fulltime university education. Despite this, you devoted
your spare time to your studies, determined that this should not constitute a
serious impediment in your work. You have been found worthy, and you, in
particular, deserve congratulations.
Ranks Must Be
Filled
Today, Our eyes and Our hopes are on all
you graduates. We hope that the seeds of learning which you have received will,
in the service which you render, ripen into an abundant harvest. We assumed the
obligation to foster and expand education in Our nation both as a solemn duty,
because the nation can flourish and grow only as the ranks of the teachers and
students are expanded and filled; as a matter of free will, because man would
prefer to speak of his nation in terms of its educated men and women rather
than by recounting the size of its population.
Those of you who have not yet completed
your studies look forward with hopes and impatience to the day when you, too,
will attain this honour. To you We give the message of St. Paul: “Who looks
back, having once put his hand to the plough?”
These words remind Us as well of the need
for more universities, for more teachers, more schools, more students and more
work. They commit us ever more fully to the search for the outer limits of the
frontiers of learning. Until these have been achieved, no one can enjoy peace
of mind.
Dynamism, coupled with a conscientious
concern for the well-being of the nation are the necessary qualities of the
youthful mind. You have had a better educational opportunity than many.
Evaluate your ideas; separate the good in them from the bad. Your hands once
put to the plough, do not look back. Education moulds human elements in man. It
develops him from adolescence to manhood. Let usefulness be your hallmark
today, not adolescence.
Once again, We congratulate you all, and
we thank Almighty God that you have proved yourself deserving of this occasion.
June 30, 1966
Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie
– page 38 –
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