CSSH, British Council Ethiopia, SEELPA organize International Conference.
College of Social Sciences and Humanities, HU, in collaboration with Southern Ethiopian English Language Professionals' Association (SEELPA) and British Council Ethiopia has organized the first Annual International Conference on English Language Education entitled "Managing Education in the 21st Century" held at the main campus AU Hall, on July 8 & 9, 2023.
Dr. Abiy Zewdu, Chairman of SEELPA and head of the organizing committee, has officially welcomed participants of the workshop where he stated that the English language professionals need to work further on updating themselves so they fit in the requirements of the 21st century education. He also thanked the British Council Ethiopia for sponsoring this very important event and Hawassa University CSSH for hosting it.
Dr. Berhan Demeke has then officially opened the workshop on behalf of the Department of English Language and Literature at HU, and she sincerely expressed her gratitude to the British Council Ethiopia, the workshop organizing committee and all stakeholders who intended to bring the teaching professionals of English language together. She added that it's a priceless opportunity for the English language teachers to gather and share their lived experiences and find a way to overcome the daily challenges in their career.
Dr. Emebet Bekele, Director General of the Office of External Relation and Communication and an Asst. Professor of English Language, Literature and Linguistics delivered a keynote speech on the occasion. She stated in her keynote address that the 21st century world is characterized by the most dynamic social, economic, political and technological changes due to technological advances in communication and globalization reinforcing the link between knowledge and development. She added that these days education has moved from the rote memorization of facts to the need for literacy skills, meta cognition, and critical thinking for learners as necessary means to promote lifelong learning in a rapidly changing society. Hence, Dr. Emebet underscored that all stakeholders need to come to terms with the new dynamics of the 21st century where the English language plays a pivotal role in education and empower the teachers so as to positively contribute to the educational quality the country is striving to ensure through collaboration with partners such as the British council.
More than 150 English language teachers from highschools in Southern and Sidama regions, colleges of teachers education and Hawassa university have attended the two days long conference which included capacity building training sessions in smaller groups and common plenary sessions. Participants have mentioned that it is an exciting experience for them to get such refresher trainings with the support of British Council Ethiopia in collaboration with the prestigious Hawassa University.
