ETHIOPIA & PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR
[This brief nicely encapsulates our views as we were setting out on our work in Ethiopia]
0318
Initial Brief to Team
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Memo: 'Course Team Members' - Ethiopian Special Programme
From: David Mercer 2 January 1992
STATUS REPORT
As you have kindly expressed interest in teaching on this new programme, I am attaching a brief summary of the current position - as far as I am aware of it - together with copies of the final report/proposal to the ODA (which includes the best summary of the proposed programme) and the related report to School Board and Andrew Thomson's comments (all of which you may have already received once). I am also enclosing copies of some news clippings which give some background to the situation in Ethiopia.
Would you please handle all this material with care and respect its confidential nature. The sensitivity of the contents comes from the fact that some of the students may be drawn from amongst the most senior members of the Ethiopian administration. You will appreciate, therefore, that at least some of the material is potentially very sensitive indeed - please handle it accordingly.
If the programme is given the go-ahead it will start with my first visit (of one month) to Ethiopia from 3 February this year. Sarah Avery will therefore be setting up a team meeting to take place during the weeks 22 January to 30 January - I hope you will be able to attend this initial meeting.
cc Andrew Thomson
fyi Dympna Brett
Bob Masterton
Rosie Smith
Paul Iles
Sheila Cameron
INITIAL COURSE TEAM - ETHIOPIAN SPECIAL PROGRAMME
CORE COURSES
Sarah Avery - Course Coordinator
Liz Ogden - Administrator
David Asch - B881
Jane Henry - B882
Graeme Salaman - B884
David McKevitt - B887
Tony Stapleton - B885
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
Richard Wheatcroft - B883
Sylvia Brown - B886
Peter Stratfold - B888
Alan Thomas - U208
Alan Plath - International Business
Giles Clark - Publishing
SUMMARY OF CURRENT POSITION
This is seen by all involved, especially by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as being a very important opportunity. If successful, we will be able to help a government facing severe problems, but with considerable potential. The importance in terms of Ethiopia in particular, and the stability of East Africa in general, cannot be overstressed.
STUDENT GROUP
The 'students' will number around 15; made up of the groups listed in my report. It is not yet clear which senior ministers will be involved - though the Minister of Defence, who led the TPLF through their 17 years of struggle, certainly will. As the report stresses, they are all graduate level (their education having been interrupted by the civil war) with very high levels of intelligence (and good English). All are workaholics (with a massive level of commitment). In short they have the profile of ideal OU students.
STUDENT NEEDS
Again as indicated in my report, there are two contradictory aspects;
1) Academic Qualifications - all the students want to obtain reputable qualifications (which are highly valued in Ethiopia) in the longer term, and even the education itself may be seen as being important evidence of their capability in the shorter term. They have been persuaded that our MBA offers the best way to achieving this.
This will represent the base workload, and the most difficult to guarantee success in. This will, therefore, be our first priority - as is normally is (though we have available much greater resources, not least tutorial time, to help with this).
2) Short Term Skills - their immediate need, however, is to be helped with their skills in handling management of a country with many problems.
It is not yet clear what this involves, though it is clear that it will probably compete with the first requirement - though it is now separated out (as the 'consultancy' element).
Traditionally such support has been provided by consultants (probably economists of one or other specialism - and the Ethiopian government has placed some stress on the inclusion of economic elements in the education), and it is possible that such consultants are already in evidence. However, it would seem most logical to use the management training offered by the MBA as the core of such support; and, indeed, the UK government has tended to lean more heavily on London Business School than university economists - so this may be a quite rational approach.
OU/OBS OFFERING
Once again, this is discussed in the report, but the current feeling is that there are two main levels of suuport needed;
a) CORE MBA PROGRAMME - the backbone of the programme, and the qualification, will come from the MBA programme (stage 2), and within it the core courses (with only a few options which will have limited support).
OTHER FACULTIES - specific resources might be pulled from the other faculties (such as the U208 material, developed further to MSc level, or existing economics/sociology courses from Social Sciences) for specific short term skills training
DISTANCE TAUGHT VERSUS FACE TO FACE
Most of the material, especially that in the MBA core, will be normal OU course material; distance taught. The additional material (in economics for instance) will be taught in the same way, using written material from the other faculties.
On the other hand, the short term skills will probably require that this be extended by face to face teaching to put it in the most useful context for the students to apply to their most urgent needs. This face to face element would also help the students to assimilate the core MBA programme more rapidly.
The face to face element will, as currently planned (to meet the specified requirements of the Ethiopian government), be delivered by four one month (4 week) periods (approximately every other month through the OU academic year). One month will be taken by each of the two formally appointed (as per OBS normal practices) course tutors (usually the course team chairs) supported by two months taken by myself. All of us will, though, teach both the courses - as well as the 'consultancy' short term skills element. I will try to switch to 2 week assignments instead of one month (since we all agree that this is pedagogically preferable), and budget provision has been made for this. If this happens the period will be extended to 2 weeks 3 days (since acclimatisation to the 8,000 foot altitude, rather than the 3 hour time difference, can take several days).
RESOURCES
The programme will be fully funded by the Overseas Development Agency (ODA), with the FCO also involved. It will, following our suggestion, be run under the coordination/supervision of the British Council.
RELATED PROGRAMMES
As an obvious requirement in Ethiopia is to introduce an educational infrastructure (government plans now including higher education as well as schools), our pilot programme for Nigeria (budgeted for around $5 million initially, and being submitted to a number of aid agencies) will also be submitted here - and has a greater chance of success since the Ethiopian government has already indicated that it will support this.
ETHIOPIAN ENVIRONMENT
GEOGRAPHICAL
Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, ranging from the deserts on the Arabian Gulf through to the game parks in the Rift Valley; but with much of it (including Addis Ababa) a plateau at 8,000 ft (with mountains rising to 14,000 ft). It has tropical hardwood forests and volcanic mud pools, waterfalls and elephants. It may have enormous potential for tourism.
Despite being close to the equator the temperature on the plateau (where Addis is) stays a fairly constant 20 degrees centigrade - with sunny weather for 9 months of the year (the rainy season, when it rains most mornings, is August - October).
ECONOMIC
It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average income of only around $100 per head and a low literacy level. Its main export is coffee (it was the origin of coffee, and this grows wild - and much of the crop is still collected from the wild), with the second largest export being hides.
The main part of the economy (more than 80% of the population) is subsistence agriculture; based upon small remote farms (typically two days walk away from the nearest road - the road infrastructure is poor where the country is split by ravines)). The nearest UK parallel is the Welsh hill farms - which may give a good feel for the problem (imagine the whole of the UK being dependent upon these).
On the other hand, it has massive potential for hydro electric power and has a highly developed administration; and is the home of the OAU (Organisation for African Unity) as well as a UN agency and other international institutions.
CULTURE
It is unlike any other African Nation. It has only been occupied for 5 years in the past 1,000; and its people are very proud (and may sometimes be touchy - which means that teaching must be sensitive to such matters). A mix of Coptic Christianity and Islam, the population speaks a range of languages (but English is now to be the main, second language). The culture(s) are complex and strange in terms of our own (or other African ones). In many respects the differences reflect those which typify the differences we see in Japanese culture!
The main social structures are family ones, though the country is now organised (by the previous government) on the basis of groups of 1,000 households. This seems to work - though larger groupings (such as political parties) do not seem to work very well in this culture.
Whilst most of the country is very poor it has a very well educated elite (and the government bureaucracy, whilst conservative, appears to be quite efficiently run). This upper part of the infra-structure is quite sound.
POLITICAL
The civil war is now over, and the country is governed by a coalition; though the Eritreans plan to secede in 2 years time (and all parties accept this). The FCO believe that the current government is stable, and will probably remain stable after the elections due in 2 years time.
It is hoped that some of the partners in the EPRDF (the coalition group) will join the MBA programme; but the current group are all from the TPLF (the Tigrayan winners of the war - but not the major population group, that is the Orrumos, whose party the OLF is also in the EPRDF but less active than the TPLF),
Despite its Marxist origins, the government is committed to both full democracy (in 1993) and a market economy. They seem to be genuinely non-doctrinaire, and committed to what is best for the country. The challenge of helping them bring a third world Marxist economy into the first world market economy is something that fascinates us (and the FCO)!
hits