Ecclesiastical order. – Even the Ethiopian Church, as an essential component of Ethiopian society, has had its discipline with written norms (1942), concerning ecclesiastical land rights and the service and remuneration of the clergy, decisively innovating formally with respect to tradition. An action, which lasted several years (1942-1959), by the Ethiopian government, then managed to make the Church autocephalous with respect to the Coptic patriarchate of Alexandria, with the recognition, at first, of a metropolitan of Ethiopian nationality (consecrated in 1951), subsequently elevated to patriarch with the right to consecrate bishops, under its own jurisdiction in Ethiopia, without the prior consent (already imposed on the metropolitan) of the patriarch of Alexandria (1959). The Constitution guarantees freedom to other cults. For Ethiopia religion, please check thereligionfaqs.com.
School system. – Elementary schools are open in several places, with courses that can reach up to the eighth grade; in each province there is also a secondary school), while in the capital there are about ten schools of this type. There are also some technical and commercial training and agricultural schools, and some other special educational centers with a practical or preparatory address for teaching. Of the high school type are some “colleges”: University College, opened in 1950, and Engineering College, opened in 1952, both in Addis Ababa; the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, established in 1956 in Alamāyp̀ at Harar; the Public College, opened in Gondar in 1954. Most important of all is the University College, divided into two addresses (humanistic-commercial-administrative and scientific), with four-year courses and issuance of a “bachelor’s” degree. The considerable help, both financial and specialized personnel and school materials given to Ethiopia from abroad (e.g., World Health Organization, The Food and Agricultural Organization, UNESCO, and European states such as Sweden, France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia); in particular, the concrete assistance given by the USA is extensive and varied, especially following the agreement for technical collaboration stipulated with Ethiopia in 1951. Apart from the private schools, created on the initiative of foreigners (including schools run by the various religious missions). Language of instruction is English, starting with the third grade. born on the initiative of foreigners (including schools run by the various religious missions). Language of instruction is English, starting with the third grade. born on the initiative of foreigners (including schools run by the various religious missions). Language of instruction is English, starting with the third grade.
For university and specialized higher education young Abyssinians are sent abroad (especially: Europe, USA).
Scope and significance of the westernization of the country. – The process of westernization that is reflected in the country’s political, social and economic institutions has naturally also affected customs, and this, essentially, in the few major urban centers, where European ways of living are more imitated and the traditional resists mixed with the modern stranger. Less widespread this influence has hitherto been in the arts (in the broadest sense); in literature, despite a certain amount of writings in the Amharic language, published up to now, no decisive new sign is noticed that goes beyond traditional schemes and concepts. The authors have repeatedly tried their hand at dramatic production, which is still in its initial attempts; frequent the didactic writings; the development of the periodical press paved the way for journalism, under foreign direction. In all literature the didactic-moralistic motif with a national and political purpose is dominant and the encomiastic tone in praise of the current sovereign (Häylp̀ Sĕllāsi̯è) is a must. Some changes have been made in the language, vocabulary and syntax mainly.
But between the external aspect of the Ethiopian state, offered by the structure and official activity mentioned above, and the social and political reality of the country there is still a deep void, due to the opposition of the two cultural entities. in contact, the Western and the Ethiopian in a broad sense. This can already be understood when one thinks of the diversity of peoples, in different cultural stages and in different relationships with the race that holds the power, the Abyssinian Christian, who constitutes the whole population of the country; and these people continue to live within the traditional schemes of their own culture, still remaining confined to the few urban elements, and more often belonging to the ruling class, the forms brought by the West.
