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Welkite, Ethiopia – June 17, 2025 (Gurage Zone Calendar: Sene 10, 2017 E.C.) – The Gurage Zone Administration has urged all stakeholders to contribute their full share to make the ongoing efforts to promote the Guragigna language successful. The Gurage Zone Education Department also announced its plans to standardize Guragigna language instruction by the 2018 academic year.
The department recently held a discussion in Welkite town with stakeholders regarding the Guragigna language education initiative.
Ato Desalegn Fekede, Head of the Gurage Zone Administration Office, emphasized the need to strengthen the work initiated to develop Guragigna into both a language of instruction and a working language. He stated that all stakeholders must play their respective roles appropriately to ensure the success of the language development efforts over the past three years. He further highlighted the importance of focusing on strengthening technical committees, providing capacity-building training for teachers, and securing other necessary resources.
Ato Mebrate Woldemariam, Head of the Gurage Zone Education Department, noted that his department has been undertaking numerous activities for the past three years to integrate Guragigna into the education system. He pointed out that the adoption of the Guragigna alphabet has significantly contributed to the prominence of the community’s culture, language, and other values, leading to a steady growth in Guragigna language education.
Ato Mebrate underscored that the community’s long-standing demand for children to learn in their mother tongue is now being addressed, with the current reform-oriented government prioritizing Guragigna as a media, education, and working language. For the upcoming budget year, he stated that the department will focus on strengthening the lower-level technical committee, addressing existing deficiencies in teaching and learning, identifying and training new teachers, and incorporating resource provision as part of their plan and budget.
Ato Mebrate also revealed that the Guragigna language education currently being provided in the zone will be standardized in the 2018 academic year. He called upon the community and other stakeholders to continue strengthening their contributions to the language’s development.
He mentioned that full implementation of Guragigna language instruction will extend from pre-first to second grade in the 2018 academic year, and preparations for textbooks for a pilot third-grade program in the next budget year have been completed. Ato Mebrate stressed that making the Guragigna language development initiative successful requires the support of native entrepreneurs at all levels, leaders, investors, Welkite University, Gulbama, colleges, parents, teachers, and others, urging everyone to fulfill their responsibilities.
Participants in the discussion indicated their commitment to ensuring children learn in their mother tongue. They also requested that efforts to promote the Guragigna language focus on addressing the shortage of books and trained teachers, as well as enhancing teachers’ capacity through training.