Education Bureau places high emphasis on security as schools resume

By Eyasu Zekarias
Cognizant of the new academic year being on the horizon, the Addis Ababa City Administration Education Bureau has held discussions with principals and vice principals of all schools in the city regarding the beginning of the 2023/24 school year under the theme, “Mutual understanding for effective learning and teaching”.
On September 14, 2023, the education office that conducted the discussion, reflected upon the past academic year, including the pros and cons that were attached to the year. From the challenges raised, keenness particularly on security issues we looked into which stemmed from the country’s current situation.
According to Addis Ababa City Education Bureau deputy head, Wondimu Umar, the content and implementation of the document that was presented at the meeting cited that the security problems were observed in schools in 2022/23, were especially linked to, “Conflicts based on ethnicity and religion, which must be resolved.”
With regards to resumption, the normal teaching and learning works were said to begin on Monday, September 18, 2024.
Among other pertinent issues raised, Wodimu Umer stated that, “Last year, activities that defamed the reputation of teachers on various social media were noticed through the use of mobile phones by students, and this year, we will work to prevent this from happening again.”
In line with the start of the education program, the head of Addis Ababa Education Bureau Zelalem Mulatu told Capital, “In the 2023/24 academic year, by establishing a peaceful teaching and learning system in schools, we want students to get free and fair services. The goal is to ensure the quality of education by creating common thinking around the deficiencies encountered in 2022/23.”
In compliment, Lydia Girma , Head of Addis Ababa Peace and Security Bureau said, “In order to make educational institutions peaceful and stable, they have emphasized that no political or religious issues can be promoted in any schools so that they are not vulnerable to security.”