Chapter 2 Indian Educators in Ethiopia—From ‘Brothers in Faith’ to ‘Commercial Recruits’

In: Destination Africa
Author:
Sophia Thubauville
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Abstract

Indian educators played and continue to play an important role in African countries, particularly in the former British colonies where the shared language and familiarity with the British education system created a sound basis for collaboration from the start. The case of Ethiopia is unique in that it is the only African country that has never been colonised and, as a consequence, developed its education system rather autonomously without having to deal with a colonial heritage. Already in the 1940s, Ethiopia turned to India to find teachers, and still today Indians are the largest group of foreign lecturers at Ethiopian universities.

This chapter deals with the history of the Ethiopian education system and the role of Indian educators in it. It shows that the category of ‘Indian educators’ in Ethiopia cannot be generalised and is not—as it seems at first glance—a uniform continuation until today. On the contrary, in the course of Ethiopian history the ‘Indian educator’ has changed from being a ‘brother of faith’ to being a ‘commercial recruit’. In this way, the case of Indian teachers in Ethiopia is an illustration of how the neoliberal world order materialises in the realm of education, both in Africa and globally.

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