In many countries of the world people were eager to see how this UNO plan for the future of the country would work out in practice, Eritrea being responsible for its own internal affairs, while Ethiopia, to which it was federated, would have responsibility for Highways and Railways, Posts and Telegraphs, Currency, Ports and Customs. In regards to the latter, dues levied on goods intended for Eritrea was passed on to the Eritrea government. 

   By the time I arrived the personnel of the government was composed almost entirely of Eritreans who had assimilated to the technique of administration from British officials, and of those British who remained several, left during the course of the year.  There still remained two British officials in the Legal Department, an Attorney General and, I believe, an Assistant Attorney General-the post having become vacant just before I left. There were three British judges and there were a few British officers in the police. There is at present one British schoolmaster, and the Education Department will need at least three more qualified teachers. There is a British Financial Adviser as also a British Auditor-General.  As regards foreigners other than British, there is one Italian judge to deal with cases between Italians, which are tried under Italian law. Apart from the municipality, to which I will allude later, there are a few Italians holding posts in various departments, for which at present no Eritreans are qualified, and drawing salaries generally at Eritrean rates. The Medical Department is a case in point, and at present all the doctors in the government hospitals are Italian. Residing also in Samara is the Emperor�s Representative with a considerable staff.  There is also in Samara a Federal Court staffed from Addis Ababa for trying offences against the laws relating to Federal matters.  

  I should mention moreover that a contingent of the Ethiopian army resides in Eritrea, occupying the barracks on the Keren Road.  On ceremonial occasions they parade and are extremely smart. Moreover their discipline is exemplary, and I never heard of a single instance of bad behaviour by the Ethiopian soldiers in the town. 

  By the time I arrived in the country the Eritrean government appeared to have settled down to its work. The chief executive Ato (now Dejasmatch) Tedla Bairu was apparently quite sure of himself and grappling confidently and effectively with the various problems of government.  The departmental high officials likewise I found friendly and co-operative, and for the most part they appeared to be tackling their respective tasks with industry and interest. And the same is certainly true of the assembly where searching questions are asked in regard to details of administration and amendments to Bills are sometimes passed. As regards Public Security there is a certain amount of larceny in Samara, much of which may be put down to the fact that so many of the people have no other means of subsidence. Also in the streets of Samara many beggars are to be found, especially from among the child population, often with a supervising mother in the background who accost passers by for alms. However, when as is usually the case the answer is �No� the urchins cheerfully respond �O:K: Mister� and make a dart for someone else. 

  Of a more serious nature are cases of highway robbery by so-called �Shifta�.  The British Administration tackled this matter very firmly and thoroughly with excellent results. 

  On the assumption of the reins of government by the Eritreans there was some recrudescence of the trouble, and one heard of a few individual cases. But the police were very active in the matter and there were but a few cases. The last occasion as far as my knowledge goes, occurred some months before I left, when a Greek merchant was stopped and robbed. He was made to surrender all the money he had with him, and moreover he was forced to divest himself of and to hand over the coat and waistcoat he was wearing, and indeed the trousers, which annoyed him very much. However, the police were very quick off the mark and the culprits were brought to justice. 

  Now, one of the matters which required very careful handling was the fact that the population of the country consisted of two groups which can be classified as Christian and Muslim. The former are to be found mostly in Hamassien, the Province in and around Samara, and in the Provinces of Serai and Akele Gazai, while the latter form the majority of inhabitants in the Red Sea and Western Provinces. The Christians are mainly Ethiopian Copts though there are some Roman Catholics and some members of the Swedish Christian Church. The cleavage between these two groups was one between two sections of the population who had somewhat different ways of life and followed different codes of conduct, which also reflects in the legal system, and whose holy days and festivals were different.

  Very great care was taken when choosing men for high office to have both these sections of the population more or less equally represented. The chief executive is a Christian, the President of the Assembly is a Moslem.  The secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Social Affairs are Moslems, while the Secretary of Economic Affairs and the Financial Secretary are Christians. 

  I did have in the course of my work opportunities of seeing both the Headquarters staff and the various S.D.O.�s and D.O.�s at work around the country. In both cases I was struck by the keenness and efficiency of all grades if official and the apparent contentment of the rank and file of the population. At this moment of history when we as a colonising power in Africa are trying to pass on the government of the countries concerned to the local inhabitants it is pleasing to find in Eritrea that after so short a period of tutelage a really promising start has been made. I do not want to suggest that the Government of Eritrea is perfect; no government in the world is that and the Eritrean Government will presumably have its troubles as is the case with most governments. Moreover there may be difficulties and misunderstandings between the Government of Eritrea and the federal Government of Ethiopia-differences which however will probably be resolved.  

  Now one of the questions which loomed large was whether Eritrea could maintain herself as a viable State or whether by choice or necessity she could eventually become one of the Provinces of Ethiopia. The Moslems were at first, I think, a little apprehensive of the possibility, in view of the fact that the vast majority of Ethiopians, except those who are pagans, are now Christian, and they feared that in Ethiopia they might suffer some loss of status. The Emperor indeed is very much alive to the advantage of winning the goodwill of the Moslem section of the population. He has presented the people of Massawa with a new Mosque and he distributes largesse to Moslem crowds with a liberal hand. He has made unhurried tours through the Western Province and shown interest in all that is going on there. I think however that all sections of the people are beginning to take a pride in their nationhood and would not at present welcome a complete merger with Ethiopia. But it is clear that ways and means must be found to swell the revenue in order to provide adequately for normal budget increases and for the expansion, so much desired, of social services. 

  Agriculture is rather chancy in many parts of the country. The soil is for the most part light, quite unlike the rich and fertile lands in many areas of Ethiopia. A welcome exception to this generalisation  is to be found in the western corner of Eritrea, near the Sudan border, where there is excellent soil which can be enriched by the Gash and Barka.

Concessionaires have done some very promising farming in this area. In addition to these schemes Italian agriculturists have worked small farms, mostly for fruit and vegetables but including some exportable crops such as sisal, where the lie of the land and the supply of rain water makes the prospect favourable. The Government has been considering the possibility of sponsoring similar farms operated by local inhabitants. The Government is indeed well aware of the desirability of improving agriculture throughout the country both generally and especially in regard to food crops in order that there may be sufficient food for the growing population.  A difficulty in the past has been the custom of redistributing the land available each year which took away all incentive to improve it.  During the past year the Government passed a law entitled �The Communal Land Tenancy Act 1953� which in the operative clause reads as follows: �The redistribution of communal land amongst the persons entitled shall henceforth be carried out at uniform intervals of 27 years commencing in respect of each gebri or share of land in the year next after the coming into force of this Act in which such land would, under the existing system applied to such land, have been redistributed.�  

  As regards industrialisation the Italians have started and still maintain a few factories, which do not provide much work for Eritreans as their operatives are almost entirely Italian. 

  In this connection the American Point IV Aid Organisation may be of considerable help. Under this scheme funds supplied by the Eritrean Government and the American Point IV Aid Organisation sponsored by America are being used to build a large technical school to train young men in various branches of technical work such as carpentry and the various types of work practised by artisans in wood and steel. However the question may arise as to whether the school will not in a comparatively short time flood the market with technicians of these types in view particularly of the fact that the existing major and minor engineering shops and factories are in the hands of Italians who use their own nationals to staff their workshops.  It is to be hoped that a considerable number of these young men, when they are trained, will find work in the various centres throughout the country. 

   To some people it seemed that to organise something in the nature of a polytechnic with a wide range of crafts, in addition to what is generally considered to be the subjects taught in a technical school, would be a useful move.  For example the making of carpets for export as well as for home consumption and other woollen articles, particularly if the experiment now suggested, of improving the local wool by crossing the sheep with good wool growing stock from America, is carried out. Eritreans are quick to learn and if it was thought advisable to experiment with selected types of industry it might be worth while to import such materials as are required and in view of the fact that at present many Eritreans have a very low standard of living, it might be possible to sell cheaply abroad if suitable markets could be found, while at the same time increasing gradually the standards of living of the workers. Once industries were established and markets found, wages could be stabilised at a figure considerably in advance of present earnings of Eritrea skilled labour. 

   Asmara the capital, as all who know it would agree, is a beautifully laid out and very attractive city. It has still a considerable Italian population of all grades of society from eminent lawyers and doctors to the manual workers. Although a great number of Italians have left Eritrea, a very considerable number remain. 

  The official who corresponds to the Mayor is an Italian and the running of the services of the Municipality is in Italian hands, and is extremely efficient.  How long this will be the case one does not know, but it would appear to be difficult to resist the demand for at any rate partial Eritrean-isation of these Important services when there is a supply of competent Eritreans to take the posts. It is indeed to be hoped that the Government, when the time comes, will tackle the matter with great caution and proceed with it very slowly. It is perhaps worth mentioning that there are considerable suburbs round Samara which have grown up without proper control over the years and which are somewhat lacking in the usual services of a town and are in some cases untidy, unclean and overcrowded.  Recently, however, the Government decided to apply town-planning gradually to all the Samara suburbs. It is unfortunate that, as is so often the case with cities, people from the country come crowding in, with the hope of finding lucrative jobs, in most cases to be disappointed, and become liable to turn to crime. It is a problem which has faced many countries and one of which the Government is well aware. To sum up my remarks on this part of my talk, I would say that the Eritrean Government has found its feet and has acquitted itself well during the first year of independence. There is however, much to be done and I think those responsible are fully aware of the many problems that lie ahead. 

  Now I will turn to the question of Education and recount some of the steps taken by the Eritrean Government for its development. There was no organised education for the Eritrean population during the Italian regime, and one of the first acts of the British Administration was to create an educational system.  

  By the time it was handed over to the Eritrean Government there were nearly 140 Government schools in the country, established and maintained through a Government � Department of Education. In addition there were some first-rate Mission schools, as for example the Komboni College for boys staffed by Roman Catholic Fathers and Brothers, and a corresponding school for girls, staffed by teaching sisters.  The Swedish Mission also has schools both in Samara and outside. Moreover, there were a few schools staffed by Italian priests and teaching sisters to which Eritrean children were admitted. The British Administration based its educational system on a growing number of elementary schools throughout the country, with middle schools in centres of population.  In Samara there were a Teachers� Training College and a junior secondary school with a three year course. Owing, however, to the rapidity of expansion towards the end of the British administration, the standards throughout were somewhat below those generally achieved elsewhere in Africa. It was obviously necessary for the time being for the government to call a halt to rapid expansion and to take steps to raise standards. To this end the Training College concentrated on refresher courses, and the number of new schools to be opened yearly was strictly limited.  Both the Training College, with a one-year course, and the junior secondary, with a course of three years, were, after the withdrawal of British administration, short of staff qualified for advanced work. Fortunately, three Eritrean teachers who had been sent by the British Administration to the Training Department of Edinburgh University had returned with excellent reports from that university.  One became principal of the Training College and the other two became Education Officers, supervising educational work in two of the provinces of the country. 

  It was not long after the settlement of the Eritrean question that the Emperor of Ethiopia promised to provide and maintain a full secondary school in Samara.  In due course, on a visit to Samara, he laid the foundation stone of the new school. Some time, however, elapsed before steps were taken to start the building, and meanwhile the foundation stone was looted-in the expectation, presumably, of discovering coins therein. Eventually a new and, I think, better site was selected, and work was started on it just above the time I left the country.

  When the Emperor had first announced his intention of building a full secondary school, it was said to be a school for 500 or 600 boys.  The suggestion was later made to the Emperor�s representative in Asmara that a wise modification of the scheme would be to build two schools, one for boys and another for girls, with about 250 to 300 pupils in each, and that in the case of girls wishing to study medicine or some other specialised branch, for the preliminary subjects of which there was no provision in the girls� school, they should attend classes for the last two years of the course at the boys� school, while residing in their own school with the other girls. Presumably the University College in Addis Ababa would be available for qualified students of either sex from the Samara secondary schools. The Emperor�s Representative cordially agreed to the suggestion. It was proposed that the secondary school course should be one of five years with a break at the third year, after which two years would be available for what we call in England sixth form work, preparatory to some form of higher education at the University College in Ethiopia or elsewhere. Those not wishing to specialise after completing the period devoted to general education would leave at this point. As regards the future of the existing junior secondary school, no decision has yet been reached. It might remain a junior secondary school parallel in status to the lower section (classes 1 to 3) of the new secondary school, or possibly the building might provide accommodation for a commercial school. 

    Girls� education in Eritrea is far more advanced than might have been expected after so comparatively short period during which the British Administration was building up an educational system. There are a considerable number of girls at school in the Christian area, and to a somewhat lesser extent is that the case in the Moslem area.  Generally speaking, they attend school with the boys except where, in a large centre of population, it is practicable to have two schools, one for boys and another for girls. In either case special periods are allocated for sewing, dressmaking and other activities suitable for girls. At present, however, some important subjects-cooking, for example-are not taught, in view mainly of the lack of qualified teachers. Any big advance in social conditions originates more easily where there is a school to which girls can be sent as boarders and absorb in their day-to-day existence as well as in very practical instruction the essential conditions of civilised home-life. If and when the girls� secondary school is built, and if it can be planned and staffed as well as the Empress Menen School in Addis Ababa, one of the best schools for girls I have seen in Africa, then it should be possible for the women of Eritrea to have a very great influence on the whole life of the inhabitants of the country. This influence would spread among the younger generation when the educated men were able to marry educated girls. In this connection the Eritrean Government was anxious to try out other measures through which social conditions, especially in the rural areas, might be improved.  The Government was impressed with the fact that so much school education-using the word in the widest sense as a preparation for life-is wasted when, as often the case, the homes from which the children come are instantly and devoid of comfort, while the parents do not know the difference between a dwelling and a home.  Too often their main and, indeed, only interest in schooling for their children is that they may as a result obtain lucrative employment.  The government therefore decided to make an experiment in a dozen villages-by sending to them teachers who would be giving some coaching to enable them to teach the parents as well as the children, not only reading and writing and simple arithmetic, but the ways of improving their day-to-day existence. It was an adult education scheme which linked up very closely the pupils at their school and their parents in their homes. The teachers chosen for this task were to be of a certain age, if possible men with natural dignity and presence-a little beard would also be an asset.  In short, they were to be of a type likely to command the respect of the countryman. The men selected for the experiment were put through a short course in first-aid, in sanitation and hygiene-very simple, but dealing with essentials.  They were also given a short period at the Forestry Department to learn about the care of trees, and they also had some time at the Agricultural Station, where they were shown various crops and told many things about seed-selection and other secrets of the profession.  Both before and after the course they had a lengthy group discussion with the senior members of the Education Department as to aims and ideals, and their practical application. On returning to their villages they were each given a handsome wooden box with a handle, containing first-aid materials and a few medicines. This also added greatly to their prestige in the eyes of the villagers.  

  It was too early before I left Eritrea to observe the full results of the experiment, but travelling round the country during my last few weeks I was able to observe the �Rural teachers� at work, and certainly they had in most cases made a very good start. In one place the adults-all men: the women had not yet taken up the idea-had decided to use the local coffee shop as schoolroom and club, and were talking of a small library and the ordering of the daily paper in Tigrinya as soon as they had learned to read.  The coffee shop owner welcomed the idea, and gladly offered his premises for the purpose, provided non-scholars could also come in-after all, learning to read is a thirsty work. 

   Discussing the schemes with other groups of villagers, all the young and middle-aged men were much interested and said that when they had finished their work of harvesting they would get down to it seriously. The old greybeards shook their heads and looked rather unhappy, and were much relieved when they heard that the scheme was entirely a voluntary one and that in any case no one would expect grandfathers to turn up.  

  In some parts of the country a considerable number of adults were already enrolled for literacy classes, and in one area arrangements had been made by the local committee to install lighting in the school buildings for use by the adult classes in the evening. Already the people were beginning to show an active interest in the practical suggestions the teachers had to offer. The scheme-comparable to many adult education experiments all over Africa-shows that adult Eritreans as well as children are eager to learn. 

  To conclude my remarks about education in Eritrea, I should like to say a few words about the language. As a matter of policy the Government decided that both Tigrinya and Arabic should be taught in all the elementary schools in the country. To this end, part of the long summer holiday in 1953 was devoted to language classes for teachers in which selected teachers of one of the two languages held classes for a batch of teachers of the other. It was noticeable that the young teachers learned the second language very quickly, while the elder teachers, as might be expected, proceeded at a more pedestrian pace. The best class I saw was that of young Tigrinya-speaking women teachers who were learning Arabic at an astounding pace, rather to the annoyance of a group of men teachers. These courses will go on until all the existing teachers have mastered the second language, which will in future be taught in the Training College to teachers in training.

  There is no doubt that Eritreans are very quick at languages and when at the instance of the Emperor, who offered to supply both teachers and books, the Eritrean Government started the teaching of Amarynia-the language of Ethiopia-in the middle schools, all the pupils set to with enthusiasm. They doubtless thought it would come useful if they went to Ethiopia for further education or for any other purpose. I found the speed with which they were picking up the language astounding, and in view of one�s own efforts a little humiliating, but for one who knows Tigrinya it is easy to learn. As English is the language of instruction in the top classes of middle schools and in post-middle educational institutions, it is taught orally in the top class of the elementary schools and intensively throughout in the middle schools. The Eritrean pupils in fact cope with four languages-Tigrinya and Amaryina, which closely resemble each other, Arabic and English. It certainly would appear to be a heavy burden, but in fact they enjoy learning languages and have an aptitude for them. Many of us at school have had to learn English and French, Latin and Greek, and are apparently none the worse for it. At present many of the teachers of English in the middle schools are not themselves sufficiently well grounded in English idiom and have not mastered English pronunciation. The present refresher course for middle school teachers is intended primarily to effect improvement in the English language, although other subjects are also included. 

  It is, of course, the case that students learn to speak a language more correctly and fluently where they have ample opportunities of conversing with people whose mother language it is. Anyone who has had an opportunity of talking to some of the Ethiopian and Eritrean students in this country cannot fail to be impressed by the extent to which they have assimilated the English idiom and pronunciation.

    The Government of Eritrea certainly attaches great importance to English as a subject of instruction, and indeed it will be in the majority of cases the language of instruction in professional training whether students go to Ethiopia, Great Britain or America for advanced study.

    In conclusion, I hope that I have been able to demonstrate that in the sphere of education and in the other spheres of Government activity a satisfactory start has been made, and that we may look forward with some degree of confidence to steady progress in the future. 

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