Selected Speeches Of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, 1918-1967

We are pleased to be present today on the occasion of the inauguration of this splendid Technical High School which is the concrete result of the Agreement which was signed three years ago by the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Ethiopian Government. Our pleasure is doubled by the presence in our midst of Your Excellency The Minister of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the U.S.S.R. as a Special Representative of your Government.

This institution, apart from the benefit of training Ethiopian technicians to work for and serve their country, will also stand as a lasting record of the strong and long-standing friendship existing between the Soviet Union and Our country.

The many schools and educational institutions, which it has been Our pleasure to inaugurate from time to time in various parts of the country, is a proof that Our plans for the modernization and the development of Our country are being gradually achieved. The establishment of a sufficient number of well-equipped hospitals and educational institutions is today essential for the basic growth and well-being of a nation, and it can be said that of the many branches of learning, technical knowledge is vital for its livelihood. The greater part of Our efforts has been directed towards giving Our beloved people the advantages of modern medical treatment and access to academic and technical education. With the guidance of the Almighty We are progressively moving towards the fulfilment of Our plans. It is most gratifying to Us to see Our people recognizing the advantages of modern medical and educational facilities and themselves sharing a part of the burden of Our efforts.

One of the requirements of the recently signed Charter of African Unity calls for African nations to assist one another. However, a nation must first be self-sufficing before it is in a position to offer help to others; therefore, the establishment of this Technical Institution, which We today inaugurate, will play an important role in the development of Our country on the road to self-sufficiency. Through the Haile Selassie I Scholarship programme, a certain number of students from all parts of Africa will be admitted to this Institution.

Mind and Hand

The combination of academic knowledge with technical education will give great satisfaction and will create self-supporting individuals. It is by the combined use of the mind and the hand that crude material is changed into an article of beauty and value. The time when manual labour was despised has long passed and we find ourselves in an epoch when manual labour is a source of pride and pleasure not only to the worker but to all. Laziness is the sole breeder of sin, poverty and discontent. Therefore, all those who enter this Technical High School, bearing in mind that technological education is an important weapon for a country's development and prosperity, should rise up and work diligently and industriously in order to benefit themselves and their fellowmen. Our Minister of Education has already explained in detail the advantages to be derived from technical education.

What impressed Us most during Our visit to the Soviet Union was the high standard achieved by the Soviet people in the field of Science and Technology in a period of less than 50 years.

For this magnificent, fully equipped educational institution, together with many thousands of technical books and also five scholarships annually for students teachers to later serve this institution, which enables Ethiopia to share the scientific and technological achievements of the Soviet Union, without any political strings attached and for no pecuniary gain, We request Your Excellency to convey Our sincere and heartfelt thanks together with those of Our beloved people and Government to the people and Government of the Soviet Union and especially to His Excellency Mr. Nikita Khrushchev.

We would like to thank the Soviet engineers and also the contractor and all those whose efforts have contributed to the completion of this building.

June 11, 1963.

Selected Speeches Of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I

INAUGURATES NEW BAHR DAR TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

Mind and Hand