The Ministry of Education has announced that for the first time 12-grade university entrance examinations will be given online and students will be given tablets. Based on the Ministry of Education data there are 450,000 grade 12 students that are expected to take the exam.
The exam will be given starting from December 7 up to December 10, 2020.
According to the decision of the ministry every student who has completed grade 11 and attended the first semester of the academic year can sit on the exam, yet registration will be done online.
Before the exam according to the ministry students will take 45 days of classes and technology guidance.
Despite the ministry’s decision a lot of people raise questions of access to the internet and digital materials, and weak connectivity of internet as challenges that students could face.
According to Hereguwa Mamo Communication Director at the Ministry, the ministry has prepared tablets for students “each and every student will get tablet to take the exam digitally in selected schools,” said Hareguwa, adding that by taking into account the internet connection the Ministry has prepared to facilitate networks to the selected schools from its own satellite.
Besides according to Hareguwa the Ministry has given 45 days of training to blind students on how to take the exam. The ministry has differentiated different subjects which should be focused on all grade starting from grade one up to grade 12 to finish the academic year as soon as possible.
The ministry has also decided to give grade 8 exam on December 1 and 2, 2020, and those who completed grade 7 classes and the first semester can sit on the exam.
According to the Ministry in the coming three weeks schools and education institutions will be prepared to start classes with an attempt to control the spread of the virus based on the Ministry of Health guidlines.
Schools are expected to clean and disinfect their class rooms, students should wear face masks, and the maximum number of students in a classroom to be 25 and one student per desk to keep social distance.
As disclosed by the Ministry, schools in Addis Ababa and around Addis Ababa will start on November 10, 2020; however, schools out of Addis Ababa will start class on October 19 and October 26.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF have been recommending countries to reopen schools.
On March 16, 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the closure all schools across the country and on March 27, 2020, the government decides to extend the closure for two more weeks and students from higher education to go back to their home, while the duration of the school closures remain uncertain.
At the beginning of the current academic year the ministry was planning to conduct the national entrance exam from June 1 up to June 3.
Ethiopia has around 20 million pupils in Ethiopian schools about 45,000 schools over the country and nearly a million in the 50 public universities and more than 250 private academic institutions, all of which represent high potential transmission sites.
Ministry of Education to give 450,000 tablets to Grade 12 students
INFLATION IS A CLASS WAR
Inflation is the major instigator of unacceptable inequality in our world system. Granted, there are no two things that are really equal, in the sense of identity, unless of course we import some kind of mathematical abstraction into the picture, like freezing time. In reality, even an individual is not equal to herself, given the elapse of time. Hence, one can conclude; in life, ‘equality’ in its absolute sense is an absurdity. Even heuristically one can see there are no two things that are equal or identical, though they can be undeniably similar. Once we clear this philosophical hurdle, we can talk about social inequality in late modernity. It is the social inequality that is not ‘deserved’ that has become unacceptable, as it is superficially and maliciously derived from the manipulation of the existing economic/financial/judiciary, etc. order!
The existing criminal inflationary regime is being called to question, in one form or another, all over the world. We say criminal, because it is done intentionally by the power that be, i.e., at the behest of the state and its collaborators in crime. We will attempt an explanation. All nation-states in the world system work on a planning model of annual budgeting, thereby dictating all economic activities of the nation, either directly or indirectly. Most importantly, the market is influenced by this government diktat, even in the most bombastically capitalist countries of the world, like the US, etc. This government budget is predicated on forecasted government revenues, (taxes, fees, duties, privatizations, etc.), which always fall short of the desired goal. How does the government fill this budgetary gap? You guessed it; the government covers this shortfall by literally printing money out of thin air. On the other hand, the sheeple (human mass) that comprises of the working stiff has to earn every penny from its labor, physical or mental, while the government takes advantage of its power and systemically dilutes the purchasing power of the currencies by irresponsible printing. It is this callus undermining of the labor value at the expense of unearned income/wealth that has caused and continues to cause unacceptable inequality all over the world!
By the same token, the global system encourages the private sector to become highly dependent on bank credit. What are bank credits? If truth be told, bank credit is money that is created, again, out of thin air, so that it can be lent out to corporations, consumers, etc. to generate interest income for banks. The deposits the bank take from depositors is a minute fraction of the money they actually lend out. This massive money that is lent out to the connected/cronies again dilutes the hard earned money of the sheeple, as the on-going credit creation is always far and beyond what the real economy requires for productive circulation. These excessive bank credits facilitate mal-investment, speculation and outright corruption. The inflation thus generated, directly leads to unacceptable inequality. We will look at a concrete example. Thirty years ago, one US dollar was equivalent to two Ethiopian Birr. Today, the largest denomination we have is the 200 birr note, which is only equivalent to about 6 US dollar. At the same time, the USD dollar itself has lost plenty of its purchasing power, compared to other non-fiat stores of values, like precious metals (silver, gold, etc.) What does this means? For someone employed, say by the government, (teachers, soldiers, nurses, etc.) or small traders/growers, etc., cost of living has become unbearable. While the bank-government connected cronies make plenty of money without lifting a finger! See the articles next page and on page 42 & 50.
There are indications to suggest that global dominant interests might be willing to yield some of their privileges to save the existing global regime from collapse. For instance, there is serious talk amongst the thinking elites of the ruling community about setting up accounts for each and every citizen with their respective central banks. This attitude sounds more like what was once called; ‘enlightened self-interest’. This will allow the government to directly deposit/subsidize the income of the working poor or the non-working poor, without going through intermediaries (read commercial banks) using digital currency. At the same time and to control inflation, bank credit might be significantly curtailed to the connected (read the parasitic class and their Corp.). After all, many of the companies/corporations operating globally are highly dependent on bank credit and the equity market. If credit is taken away from these entities or if they are delisted from the stock market, they won’t survive a day. Many companies are in fact just ‘unicorns’ or zombie companies. It is because of the abundance of easy/free money the world is saturated with overproduction and oversupply of services. If trouble is brewing in sectors mostly catering for the global elites (the luxury sector) there won’t be much of a burning on the streets. For example, the travel industry (air travel, hotels, taxis, etc.) doesn’t cater for the large majority of the world’s population on a regular basis, hence can be systemically restricted without much noise, so long as the workers are subsidized for their loss of employment by the likes of the above schema. Banks and banksters, just like the travel industry, can also be systemically undermined by regulatory legislations without much societal inconvenience; ditto other sectors catering for the parasitic class!
Perceptive observers can see the ‘No Justice No Peace’ slogan is not only for the BLM (Black Lives matter) crowd. It also appeals to most of the working/non-working poor. That is why it has managed to galvanize a significant portion of the US sheeple. The world is in visible transition, whether the transition will be chaotic or more subdued is something that remains to be seen. One way or the other, the move away from fiat currencies will be forcefully imposed on the global regime and its beneficiaries by the ongoing and impending insurrections of the global sheeple, unless new forms of equitable distribution (like the one mentioned above) is put in place ASAP! Let us hope the prediction of the late economist will not come to pass. “People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.” John Kenneth Galbraith. Good Day!
NBE sets new directive for successful demonetization
Under the demonization process, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has emplaced some revisions on the process. The revision is inclusive of the reduction of the amount permissible to depositors account from 10,000 birr to 5000 birr and cross transactions from 100,000 birr to 50,000 birr.
NBE which has been in a tuff position since the currency change which was introduced last week has conducted several discussions with banks for effective implementation and harmonious demonization.
The latest directive ‘Legal Tender Currency Notes Redemption Directive No.CMD/2/2020’ added that any redemption of old notes exceeding 5,000 birr shall be effected only through an account opened in the name of the depositor.
Prior to this directive, the government had disclosed that currency up to 10,000 birr could be deposited to a depositors account. However, during the launch of the demonetization event held at the Office of the Prime Minister two weeks ago, Abie Sano, President of Bankers Association and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia emphasized for the slashing of this threshold to a half to meet the target of the currency change. The latest directive has since then taken this to account.
The directive also stipulates that those that have savings and have regular business but change more than 100,000 to be disclosed to the Central Bank on a weekly basis.
“Banks shall report every week on the currency changes of more than 100,000 birr to those who do not have regular trade or business,” the directive states in the Amharic part, while the English version does not disclose this law.
The Amharic version directive article 6.9 states, “Any transaction of a car, house, precious minerals and others that have more 50,000 birr in value shall be formally done through banks,”
In light of this directive, the Document Authentication and Registration Agency (DACA) had recently also disclosed that any transaction or credit is supposed to be backed up with the statement from the bank. Furthermore, customers are supposed to come with the transaction slip that they secured from banks in order to receive services from the agency.
According to NBE, money held by any person in excess of 1.5 million birr is subject to confiscation, whereas money under the stated amount is legally allowed. At the start of the currency change however confusion arose from several incidents of money confiscation below the 1.5 million mark by the security forces. This was later quickly addressed by government as they gave clarification on what amount is illegal. As a result the government issued a directive that limits the money that anyone can hold on hand, which is 1.5 million birr.
On the latest briefing given to banks by the NBE, allowance for provision of service to individuals who received authenticity of power of Attorney has been approved. This however applies to those that received such before the 14th of September. Initially however the Central Bank had disclosed that this was not possible.
Social, environmental factors seen behind Africa’s low COVID-19 cases
COVID-19 transmission in Africa has been marked by relatively fewer infections, which have been on the decline over the past two months, owing to a variety of socio-ecological factors as well as early and strong public health measures taken by governments across the region, according to World Health Organization (WHO).
The pandemic has largely been in a younger age group and has been more pronounced in a few countries, suggesting country-specific aspects are driving the pattern of disease and death. About 91% of COVID-19 infection in sub-Saharan Africa are among people below 60 years, and over 80% of cases are asymptomatic.
A mix of socio-ecological factors such as low population density and mobility, hot and humid climate, lower age group, interacting to accentuate their individual effects, are likely contributing to the pattern seen in Africa.
Since 20 July, the region has seen a steady decline in new COVID-19 cases. Over the past four weeks, 77 147 new cases were reported, down from 131 647 recorded in the previous four weeks.
Some of the most-affected countries including Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa have all seen infections drop every week over the past two months. Deaths attributed to COVID-19 have also remained low in the region.
“The downward trend that we have seen in Africa over the past two months is undoubtedly a positive development and speaks to the robust and decisive public health measures taken by governments across the region,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “But we must not become complacent. Other regions of the world have experienced similar trends only to find that as social and public health measures are relaxed, cases start ramping up again.”
While governments have made efforts to improve COVID-19 testing, with recent testing rising from a cumulative 74 tests per 10 000 people in 44 assessed countries on 23 August 2020 to 93 per 10 000 people on 21 September 2020, the level is still low.
Nonetheless, the region’s statistics on testing have been useful for policy as they reflect the patterns of infection within a country, and the missed COVID-19 cases are largely because they are asymptomatic. In addition, there is no evidence of miscalculation of death figures, which are more difficult to miss statistically.
“Africa has not witnessed an exponential spread of COVID-19 as many initially feared,” said Dr Moeti. “But the slower spread of infection in the region means we expect the pandemic to continue to smoulder for some time, with occasional flare-ups.”
In recent weeks, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire which are among the countries that have recorded a decline in infections since mid-July, have seen a slight increase in cases. It is crucial that countries maintain public health measures that have helped curb the spread of COVID-19 to limit further infections and deaths.
“The response in African countries needs to be tailored to each country’s situation moving forward as we see different patterns of infection even within a country. Targeted and localized responses that are informed by what works best in a given region of a country will be most crucial as countries ease restrictions and open up their economies. Blanket approaches to the region or countries are not feasible,” Dr Moeti said.
WHO continues to support countries to scale up public health response, particularly in high-risk locations.
