FIRST GRADUATION EXERCISES
OF HAILE SELASSIE I UNIVERSITY
…..
Academic freedom, unless it conforms to the common good of the society in
which it is expected to be exercised, is meaningless …..
In as much as your country has provided
you with this special opportunity, you are duty-bound, upon your graduation, to
devote all your knowledge to the betterment of your motherland. What is expected
of you is not academic achievement alone. In fact, as it is at the expense of
the government that you have been educated, what is expected from you is
commensurate with the extent of your knowledge. Education is not an end in
itself, but an aid to assist you to distinguish between good and evil, between
the harmful and the useful. Academic attainment, untested by practical
experience, does not put one in any better position than that of the uneducated.
Higher education entails comparatively higher responsibility or obligation.
The purpose of university training is to
produce people capable of achieving the progress and advancement of the nation.
People of such caliber are expected to possess deep insight, high academic
discipline and intellectual zeal to crave and search for truth, to know not
only the causes but also effective remedies for any ills that affect the
society. Unless one is guided by such noble objectives – to know, not only the
maladies and how to expound them in vain words but also to present effective
solutions and accomplish them – the possession of degrees alone does not classify
anyone as fully educated. This is particularly so at this period, crowded as it
is with continuous change and improvement. Moreover, since our educational
system is essentially based upon the experience of other countries, the impact
of modernization could create contradictions in our long-standing African
traditions. We can only lay a sure and stable foundation towards rapid progress
for Africa if We foresee the consequences of every step in its true aspect, and
try to apply effective and appropriate methods to the problems of each country.
Co-ordination Necessary
We
have never failed to observe this approach in all stages of achievement in the
past. The very valid proof of this is that, although it is more than a decade
since institutions of higher learning have been established in Ethiopia, there
has always been sound co-operation between the administrative bodies and the
students. The basis of this co-operation has been a collective effort for the
common goal, the interest of the country always paramount. In the future also,
it is Our wish and determination that all higher studies shall be co-ordinated
and guided by this University. Ethiopia is endeavouring, like many other
countries, to achieve a high stage of technological progress. In this period of
concentrated effort, she cannot afford to be handicapped by trivial problems
based on selfish motives .....
The world today has become oriented to
science, which has developed and progressed to a remarkable extent. Apart from
the will of the Almighty, in this 20th Century peace is determined by the will
of the technologically advanced nations which dominate the sentiments of
mankind by this privileged position. Intent on freeing themselves from such
fear and insecurity, developing countries are using the level of progress of
these advanced nations as the yard-stick of their own progress. Developing
nations, however, must first attain the basic standard of civilization by
stamping out illiteracy through mass education. To be able to provide mass
education, co-operation, peaceful co-existence and dedication to the common
good are needed; because to arrive at higher scientific achievement, one has to
discipline one’s mental attitude and work with the aim of being the recipient
of true knowledge.
So far, the continuous co-operation of Our
people and the small cadre of elite we have produced have enabled Us to devise
successful short-cuts in guiding Our country towards the goal of progress. One
such method was, side by side with educational expansion, to launch
simultaneously more than one programme of development, by acquiring the services
of skilled foreign experts and establishing industrial and other development
schemes, without waiting until We had Our own qualified experts. This
University, which today is granting you your degrees and diplomas, is in itself
the fruit of such combined effort which we have made in the past.
The Need for Home Training
You
also know that to be able to have our own qualified people even before
establishing local institutions of higher learning, We have been sending
students abroad for advanced studies, and that there are many who have come
back, and are rendering disinterested service to their country. One of the many
fundamental purposes for which We have established this University is to have a
greater number of qualified people who will augment the efforts of those
already in service and of those who will come in the future, and, thus, to have
a larger corps of trained people not completely divorced from our traditional
heritage. Although a few learned people of our own are returning from foreign
lands, We have foreseen and are convinced that Our country’s pace of progress
can only be accelerated if there is a high influx of educated Ethiopians at one
and the same time.
Economically also, the expenditure needed
to help a single student through higher studies abroad is quite sufficient to
train a number of students locally. The reason why higher studies on a large
scale were impossible in the past was mainly this: foreign training was very
expensive. But We believe that it is clear to everyone that the establishment
of our own University will give us great and valuable opportunities for
expanding higher education in Ethiopia. In addition to this, it has a
significant economic contribution, in that it helps us to save foreign exchange
which we need for investment in other fields by avoiding the transfer of money
abroad to finance our students studying in foreign lands. You most probably
know that there are many great men produced in their own home institutions of
higher learning.
In
as much as higher education needs much money, the expansion of higher learning
is one of the major problems facing developing and economically poor countries.
Hence it can be said that their pace of development is highly determined by
this single factor. In the case of Ethiopia – the only bearer of the torch of
freedom for the rest of Africa in the past – to prove that she is not behind in
the pursuit of modern education also, she is obliged to give opportunity of
access to education not only to a few but to as many as possible. To this end,
We are also quite aware that one university is not enough but many universities
must be established in the future.
The Wealth of Our Heritage
The establishment of our own University is
an effective aid in combining modern education with our noble traditions.
Accordingly, it is Our earnest desire that this University shall jealously
guard the wealth of our heritage and pass it on to the succeeding generation
with all its richness and glory as reflected in modern education.
We say this with the understanding that
any foreign training not assessed in the light of one’s long-standing traditions,
is detrimental to the well-being of the individual and the country, and in no
way useful. We are confident, therefore, that this University will produce
useful citizens by inculcating these views in the minds of its students.
University training entails deep research
and intensive studies. Any research should be related to the requirements and
conditions of our country. We are very optimistic that there are many
historically valuable things to be discovered. The students of this University
are particularly lucky to be of school age at this particular time, and it is
Our hope that you will avail yourselves of this exceptional opportunity and
contribute to the knowledge of your country in particular and that of mankind
in general, by revealing the hidden, great, historic lore. Our University,
therefore, has also a special contribution to make in this field.
Academic Freedom
One
of the fundamental principles which the establishment of a university brings
forth is the idea of academic freedom. Academic freedom, if used for the sole
purpose of acquiring true knowledge is undoubtedly the very foundation of the
pillars of education; and it is universally recognized that it has been
jealously guarded by all institutions of higher learning. An honest and
persistent quest for truth is essential to the attainment of higher learning.
In the past, both in our country and in the rest of the world, it has always
been vital to lay down such prerequisites for intellectual achievements in
order to produce philosophers, scientists, writers and men of academic
prominence in other fields. These
pre-requisites have also been the source of law and order.
We have also clearly guarded this
particular right of academic freedom by clearly stating it in all the Charters
issued in the establishment of our various colleges. But what We want you to understand
very clearly is that academic freedom, if used for any other aim than that for
which it is designed, will defeat its own purpose and be harmful rather than
useful.
Academic freedom, unless it conforms to
the common good of the society in which it is expected to be exercised, is
meaningless.
Academic freedom affords a base for higher
studies. And the aim of higher studies is to serve the society which is waiting
for the leadership of the educated elite. Academic freedom that does not
reflect this aim has lost its very foundation for it is no more than an
instrument for the protection of that particular right, dedicated to the true
quest for knowledge that is useful for the society. Academic freedom, on
application, should be tested always against the true end of satisfying the
interest of the society. As a proof, if academic freedom as has been applied in
one country is copied and fully applied in another, there would be a divergence,
because the purposes and aims which it is expected to fulfill can never be
identical, as the interests of the people of no two countries completely
coincide. Apart from this, the interests of each country also vary with time
and circumstance.
An
additional reason why academic freedom is held in high esteem and respect is
that it makes possible for human beings to improve their ideas and improve
their standard of living. For, without academic freedom, human life would
remain hopelessly stagnant. However, to use this freedom, which is given for
such noble purpose – to divide a people struggling to improve its life and thus
make vain all its effort cannot possibly be considered as a valid exercise of
academic freedom. In some other countries, too, this is the precise manner in
which academic freedom is practised. Such attitude is in fact to undermine the
wide application of academic freedom itself.
Parental Agreement on Education
One of the important contributions We are
dedicated to bequeath to Our beloved people is education. When We first
launched Our programme of educational expansion, it was necessary to struggle
against the interest of parents in sending their children to school. But now
the people, understanding the benefits of the programme which We have been
intent to prosecute for their own betterment, are not only co-operating in
sending their children to school upon their own initiative, but many have
expressed their desire to share in the great burden of educational expenditure
which had fallen solely on the government treasury until today, some by cash
contribution and some by building schools. This has very appropriately proven
to Us that the Ethiopian people, as in time of crisis, are still behind Us and
co-operating even in all Our administrative efforts. This has given us encouragement
and further determination to dedicate Ourself for the people to the extent that
We feel it is for their lasting welfare. Hence We have decided to further
expand education.
With
the help of a limited number of educated people we have been able to reach the
present point of progress. Encouraged by the continued service of this devoted
cadre who have served Us faithfully, We shall embark upon an extended
educational programme.
Within a single generation, We have seen
parents who had to be cajoled to send their children to school become so
convinced of the value of education that today, those who have the means are
assisting Us in bearing the financial burden of education, and many of those
who are unable to do likewise continue to stop Us on Our way to request that
their children be given places in the school-house. This is highly gratifying
and is a source of encouragement for Us to extend Our efforts in education. We
shall endeavour to work for the betterment of Our people by applying funds from
Our private purse, utilizing simultaneously whatever assistance Ethiopia can
receive from friendly governments.
Jul. 12, 1962.
Selected
Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie – page 27 –
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