The genocidal war has decimated Tigray’s education. Education in Tigray stopped when the COVID-19 pandemic started and continued through the war on Tigray, making Tigrayan students and children out of school for more than three years. A 2021 study on the education sector in the part of Tigray that is under Tigrayan control found that 88.3% of classrooms have been severely damaged, 2,164 students and teachers have been killed, and 63% of books have been damaged. More is destroyed and more killed on the second phase of the war in 2022. On the part of Tigray under enemy control, the numbers are certainly much higher.
But the most shocking is the impact of the genocidal war on Tigrayan school children. A 2023 study on this found that 70% children thought they would die from hunger, 72% experienced shooting at a very close distance, 62% expected they would be killed, 44% saw a dead body, 29% saw someone being killed, and 80% teachers experienced PTSD.
These studies show the devastation of the education sector, but there are additional problems these studies don’t cover. Many of the schools are hosting over a million displaced persons, many teachers have fled Tigray, many students have lost interest in education, many students that should have gone to college are yet to learn and sit for exams, and many new students must enroll to catch up. The challenges facing the education sector are enormous. Yet, many schools have officially resumed classes, under trees, on open fields, on the side of their destroyed schools. Only a fraction of students and teachers are back, the teachers have no salaries and, teachers and students have no materials needed for teaching and learning. But most significant is the loss of interest in education of the students.
We need to overcome hopelessness and rekindle hope in Tigrayan students and children. To do so, we need to tap into our past inspirational and success stories. We need them to inspire us, to move us, to learn from them and to use them to rehabilitate the education sector, to inspire students, teachers and their communities.
When we think of success stories in education in Tigray, Kellamino Special High School stands out. Since its founding in 1998, Kellamino Special High School has had a special place in Tigray’s education. It was the dream of Tigrayan elementary school student across Tigray. To join Kellamino was a pride for yourself, your family, your school and your community. If you joined Kellamino, you were a legend at your school and in your community. Many sweated to join it, some joined it and have been nourished in it and its alumni are found everywhere today.
But the most important role of Kellamino was its inspiration for Tigrayan students and society. It inspired Tigrayan elementary schools and their students for educational excellence. It instilled the love of learning and excellence, fostered a healthy culture of educational competitiveness among schools and students and, in doing so, positively influenced Tigrayan students and the broader society.
This questionaire aims to understand what Kellamino meant for you, your school and your community during your elementary school years. To fill in the questionaire, you don’t need to be an alumnus. Please help us by honestly filling it and sharing it with others to fill in.
Click the link below to fill in. Where you need to write, feel free to use either English or Tigrinya.
Well
Kallamino have been a beloved home for my friends and I. We shared a lot of memories back then….and Our time was somehow different & special in so many ways from the other batches and The time i had there always comes first when i think of my school life experiences.
Though kallamino was an institution that we look up to it back those days as a center of excellence ,yet i do have my own reservations as how the learning and teaching process was administered. Educationally Over stuffing ,i suppose could bring about a negative impact for the students grow to be bored ,thus wind up ineffective or forged to be an academician nerd ,i know of myriad instances of this type .furthermore a uni-directional drill of the school may deter full exposure and render the student secluded from the societal problems that calls for a due solution from such institution. Society based education is of a conspicuous importance if the program is supposed to serve its purpose. U can right me if this is a misrepresentation or gross observation.(i was not a student there )
When the name of Kellamino comes in to my mind, I was really always jealous to be part of this honored home for outstanding students that I miss it to join during my stay @ highschool. This institution is one of the core pillar everlasting every Tigrean expecting of its result to produce quality innovator intellectuals irrespective of the devastated lives & materials in our region as education is the only weapon that can defeat poverty for better changes.
Kellamino was my dream highschool, which inspired me to excell in my academic performance since my early life elementary school. The stories I heard of our senior students joining the school and the admirations our teachers had towards them, always speaking highly of them served best motivation to study hard. Kellamino is the paradise where my dream came true and where I got opportunities I have never imagined.
But for Qälamino Special Highschool, I mightn’t have attended my highschool and preparatory classes. Joining there from a marginalized area was really everything for me.
Fryat Haile
October 8, 2023 at 12:39 am
Well
Kallamino have been a beloved home for my friends and I. We shared a lot of memories back then….and Our time was somehow different & special in so many ways from the other batches and The time i had there always comes first when i think of my school life experiences.
Glad to be part of this legendary school.
KSHS
Mhreteab araya
September 28, 2023 at 9:12 pm
ሕልመይ ዘግሀድኩላ ዕለት ይዝክር!!
ዝተመሃርኩሉ ቀዳማይ ብርኪ ትምህርቲ ማይጎቦ ይበሃል። ኣብ ምብራቃዊ ትግራይ ኣብ ሞንጎ ጎብታት ገርዓልታ ይርከብ። ክሳብ ሐዚ መብራህቲ፣ ስልኪ ኣይተላለይን። Tv ናብ ኩስሚ( ዓመቱ) ናብ መጋብ እንትንከይድ ይርእይ ነይረ። ምስ ዓለም እንራኸበላ ጆሊ ራድዮ ነይራትና። ትምህርተይ ብላምባ( ኩራዝ )የፅንዕ ነይረ። ቤት ትምህርትና ኣብቲ እዋን 850 ብር ዝዋግኡ ሓደ ሶላር ነይሩዎ። ምእንተዙይ ኣወዳትን ኣጓላትን በቢግደ ኣብ ላብረሪ ንሓድር ነይርና።
ወሎደይ ጎቦዝ ኩን ከም ሃይለ ይብሉኒ ነይሮም። ብፍላይ መምህራና ሃይለ እናልዐሉ የምሁሩና ነይሮም።
ተምሃራይ ሃይለ ገብረሂወት ነበር ተምሃራይ ቃላሚኖን ኣብ ዩንቨርስቲ ቴክኒዮን (ኢስራኤል) ተምሃራይ ካልኣይ ድግሪ(masters)እዩ ። ካብ ከባቢና ፈላማይ ቃላሚኖ ዝኣተወ ተምሃራይ እዩ። ንዕረፍቲ ኣብ ዝመፀሉ እዋን ብዛዕባ ቃላሚኖ ይነግርኒ። ” ኣብ ቃላሚኖ ርሑቕ ተጓዒዝካ፤ ገዛ ተካሪኻ፤ በቢሰሙኑ ናብ ዕድጋ ኣብ ዝመፅእ ሰብ ዝለኣኽ እንጀራ እናበላዕኻ፣ ወፃእታት ትምህርቲ ንምሽፋን ፈሓምን ዕንፀይትን እናሸጥካ ምምሃር ዝበሃል የለን። ውራይ ትምህርቲ ጥራሕ ኢኻ ትሓስብ “ይብለኒ። ኣብ ቃላሚኖ ዘሎ ሰናይ ዕዱል ኩሉ የውገዐኒ። ደሓር ቃላሚኖ ኣብ ሕልናይ ኩሉ ግዜ ክብህጋ ጀሚረ። ተወዳዲረ ቀላሚኖ ምእታው ናይ ህይወተይ ዓብዪ ሕልሚ ነይሩ።
ሕልመይ ዘግሀድክሉ መዓልቲ እዝክር። ምስ ኣያይ ኣብ ዓፂድ ነይርና። ድሕሪ ዜና ሰዓት ክልተ ብስራት ሰሚዕና። “ተዋዳዲሮም ናብ ፍሉይ ካልኣይ ብርኪ ቤት ትምህርቲ ቃላሚኖ ዝሓለፉ ተምሃሮ” ኢላ በቢሓደ ክተንበብ ጀሚራ። ስመይ ሰሚዐ ኣብ ዘይተዓፀደ እክሊ ዘለልኩ። ኣያይ ውን ብጣዕሚ ተሓጒሱ። ጎሮባብትና ዓፂድ ኣመንጉዮም እንኳዕ ደስ በለኩም ይብሉና ነይሮም።
ኣብ ፍሉይ ካልኣይ ብርኪ ቤት ትምህርቲ ቃላሚኖ ናይ ካልኣይ ብርኪ ትምህርተይ ወዲአ። ኣብ ርእሲ እዙይ ምስ ዓለም ተላልየ። ኣብ ዝተፈላልዩ ናይ ሳይንስ ፣ ናይ ስነፅሑፍ ፣ ናይ ባህሊ ውድድራ፤ ዓበይቲ ህዝባውን መንግስታውን በዓላት ኣኬባታት ኣብ ትግራይን ካብ ትግራይ ወፃእን ተሳቲፈ። ኣብ ዩንቨርስቲ መቐለ ኮለጅ ሕግን ስነመንግስትን PSSS ተምሃራይ ካልኣይ ዓመት እንዳሃለኹ ትምህርተይ ኣቋሪፀ ናብ ገድሊ ተፀንቢረ። ሐዚ ንትምህርቲ ብሃንቀውታ እፅበ ኣለኹ።
Tsirha Haregot
September 27, 2023 at 7:30 pm
KELLAMINO was special in my mind and my wish was even to visit it one day
Nuruye adane
September 21, 2023 at 5:22 pm
Though kallamino was an institution that we look up to it back those days as a center of excellence ,yet i do have my own reservations as how the learning and teaching process was administered. Educationally Over stuffing ,i suppose could bring about a negative impact for the students grow to be bored ,thus wind up ineffective or forged to be an academician nerd ,i know of myriad instances of this type .furthermore a uni-directional drill of the school may deter full exposure and render the student secluded from the societal problems that calls for a due solution from such institution. Society based education is of a conspicuous importance if the program is supposed to serve its purpose. U can right me if this is a misrepresentation or gross observation.(i was not a student there )
Gebremeskel Teklay
September 21, 2023 at 3:32 pm
When the name of Kellamino comes in to my mind, I was really always jealous to be part of this honored home for outstanding students that I miss it to join during my stay @ highschool. This institution is one of the core pillar everlasting every Tigrean expecting of its result to produce quality innovator intellectuals irrespective of the devastated lives & materials in our region as education is the only weapon that can defeat poverty for better changes.
Gebremedhin Hailay
September 21, 2023 at 4:44 am
Kellamino was my dream highschool, which inspired me to excell in my academic performance since my early life elementary school. The stories I heard of our senior students joining the school and the admirations our teachers had towards them, always speaking highly of them served best motivation to study hard. Kellamino is the paradise where my dream came true and where I got opportunities I have never imagined.
W/gebriel
September 20, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Kelamino was a place/school every student want to learn.
a place base of tegaru scholars.
Brhane Welyergs Berhe
September 20, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Kellamino for me is the center for excellence and innovation
Esdros Kəndäya
September 20, 2023 at 12:19 pm
But for Qälamino Special Highschool, I mightn’t have attended my highschool and preparatory classes. Joining there from a marginalized area was really everything for me.
Gebremariam kinfe
September 20, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Kellamino had been a good motivator to Study hard & get high score so as to enter to that school during my Primary school time in 1990s.