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14 July, 2007
The last fifteen years have seen a speedy rise in the ethnic diversification of the Addis Ababa University (AAU) student community with an increasingly more and more nations and nationalities being represented, observed Anteneh Tsegaye, a graduate of Pedagogical Science and an AAU lecturer at a panel discussion held Tuesday evening at the university.
With the change in the ethnic composition came occasional frictions that sometimes burst out into violent fights.
The open acceptance of the existence of diverse languages, identities, religions, and the accommodation and promotion of these, although officially acknowledged by the federal constitution, continues to be regarded by many as anti-Ethiopian, tribal etc. and affects relationship among the university community, according to Dr. Assefa Fiseha who was one of the panelists at the discussion.
Anteneh said that the bulk of the university community were not aware of the recent development in the ethnic composition of students. Students learn in their mother tongue at school. But they come to AAU without learning how to interact cross-culturally. As a result, derogatory words and phrases carelessly uttered in tea rooms, dormitory, classrooms and playground have on a number of occasions wreaked havoc.
Most students have the tendency to sit in classrooms and work only with members of their ethnicity when required to do group assignments. They are also interested in finding out what ethnic background their teachers are from. According to Anteneh, some students attribute failure in exams or poor grades to a teacher's ethnicity. But if a student happens to be of the same ethnic group with the teacher in whose course they fail, they hardly complain.
Dissatisfaction with the quality of food and other service provided by the university is a major cause of student unrest at campuses, commented Mulugeta Naizgi, dean of students at the Social Science Faculty.
"What happened during the last clash in the university was caused by students' opposition to the autopsy on the body of Ahmed Abdurahman who died of natural causes after suddenly collapsing in a classroom at the Science Faculty," said Mulugeta. The next morning the unrest spread to the main campus. And, unfortunately, there was a problem of food poisoning at the main campus that very day.
Students decided not to eat at the universities. But when some of them, who didn't feel strong enough to go on the hunger strike, went in a group to eat at the cafeteria, they were attacked by those who voted to continue the fast. And that was labelled "ethnic clash", said the dean. "Usually, whatever problem started at the Arat Kilo campus seemed to stir division and fight among the students at Sidst Kilo campus."
By Yelibenwork Ayele - Ethiopian Reporter