This is part of some important personal moments in school that I think might help our young generation in their learning endeavors. I will end it by sharing some moments in my elementary school. ደግሞ ልነዛነዝ። መነዛነዝ ኣንድም ቅብጥርስ ነዉ። ኣንድም ቅርስ ነዉ።
I really have a mixed feeling about the 1974 revolution in Ethiopia. I have personally benefited from going to one of the elementary schools that was built after the revolution closer to where my family lived in the countryside. While I would most likely still go to school, I don't think I would be able to do so at a younger age in the countryside. Then again, I continue to be baffled by the tragedy in the aftermath of the revolution on our country as a whole. History is likely to be a solid judge about the merits and demerits of that revolution, if it was the best course to bring about the necessary political change in the country.
I started elementary school in the middle of one year after the revolution, on a የካቲት ልደታ። Somehow, there was a perception of associating ልደታ with fullness to embark on things like starting school.
The director of the new elementary school made four decisions that would personally affect me in my learning journey.
Within a few days of my being in class, the director walks in and starts teaching ሀ ሁ። He quickly sorted out those students who were proficient from those who weren't. That wasn't personal but I was one of those who weren't. So, he removed those of us who weren't proficient from Grade ለ to Grade 0. He also had Grade ሀ. When I think about them now, they appear to me First Grade, Kindergarten, and Preschool.
It was really humiliating to me to be demoted from Grade ለ to Grade 0 within a few days of starting school in the middle of the year. The school year started in September. I internally protested that decision because I was very new; I didn't speak out about it.
Then, within a few days, he walks in the classroom that I was in, seated next to an older relative. As a kid, I had a feeling of insecurity in a new place. My older relative gave me a feeling of some sense of security in that new place. After he walked in, the director asked a simple question. This may sound unbelievable to many but it is true. He asked what 1 plus 1 is. I quickly raised my hand and answered it correctly. My relative tried more than once to answer it but didn't answer it correctly. I don't remember any other student trying it. The director decided that I go back to Grade ለ. I could immediately feel the humiliation of demotion a few days ago lift off me. At the same time, I didn't feel that well in losing the security of seating next to my older relative that I was leaving behind. Looking back at him, I walked out with the director.
How answering that simple question was difficult even if it might be in preschool surprises me to this day. In hindsight, I contemplate the importance of childhood education in the family before starting formal schools.
At the end of the school year, I got a relatively higher rank that the director had to say that I started from behind many and was able to get ahead of others. I didn't count it as anything more than normal but it got my late dad who was present at the closing ceremony excited. He kept repeating what the director said.
I kept going and in third Grade, which was the year we started learning English as a language, my records were really outstanding at the elementary school. The director decided that I skip over Grade 4, which would personally affect me. I agreed to that decision as well. Then after the first semester, in fifth Grade, he asked me to jump to sixth Grade and take the national exam. That was on top of all the students in the school cover two years of education in one year after promoting them all during one of the yeas, if I remember correctly.
The moment I heard about jumping to Grade 6, I said no. I didn't take a counsel of anyone about it. I simply wanted to have a more thorough elementary school, was surprised that the director would even have me skip Grade 4, finish Grades 5 and 6 in one year and take the national examination at the end of it. Rumor later got out in the community that it was my late dad's decision to help him with አዝመራ by keeping me closer for another year. I did not even tell him about the opportunity I was given. I don't know if I would be able to score 100 percentile on the national exam if I had agreed with the director's decision to take it one year sooner.
I agreed with one of two other personal decisions and declined the other, also at a moment's notice. I verified recently the other decision that I agreed with but needs confirmation. I do not think he had any idea in his wildest imagination what could come of it. It has been having me wonder for a while now what Einstein had to say about divinity more or less positively.
In all of these decisions, I really think he meant well, which is why I pay homage to his good faith intents about those decisions.
I hope such personal stories are helpful to inspire young and upcoming generations of students and teachers in the teaching and learning process in the age of Ethiopia's አብረሆት።