Indigenising the Curricula in Ethiopia from a Gamo Ethnic Group Perspective: The Case of Constitutional, Policy and Strategy Provisions

Abstract

Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism was introduced when EPRDF came to power in 1991 after overthrowing the Derg regime. The country’s constitution and important policy and strategy documents were promulgated in order to promote the indigenisation of basic education curricula, from an ethnic group perspective in the post 1991 era. In this paper we will, thus, critically analyse the country’s constitution and other important policy and strategy documents related to the indigenisation approach. The study used a qualitative case study approach and design. Findings of the study revealed that the country’s constitution, policies and strategies have a number of salient provisions that support the indigenisation approach. However, there are still provisions that are aligned to the standardisation thesis, which is an antithesis to indigenisation and the blended indigenisation approach. Finally, based on the findings, it is recommended that these provisions should favour either the standardisation thesis or a stand-alone indigenisation approach, which would allow for an environment that will pave the way for an intercultural dialogue among equals.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p185