Posted: July 25th, 2024

Week 1 – Assignment: Create an Annotated Bibliography for Selected Topic

My Research topic: Public administration and Cultural Diversity in Ethiopia

Part 1: Locate five peer-reviewed articles published within the past 5 years related to a topic of interest you wish to explore for your dissertation research. Do not include book chapters, books, editorials, white papers, trade magazine articles, or non-peer-reviewed sources. Then, complete the following for each source in the form of an annotated bibliography:

Begin each annotation with an APA formatted reference.

Then, annotate the source with a block paragraph. The annotation should be double spaced, 200-250 words, including a brief synopsis of the article, the problem, the purpose, a description of the methodology, the findings, the recommendations for future research, and any particular strengths or weaknesses of the article.

Part 2: After reviewing each annotation, describe the topic you wish to explore for your dissertation research. This topic should logically flow from the gaps in the literature noted in your annotations.

Total Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your assignment should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

References

Archibald, D. (2010). “Breaking the mold” in the dissertation: Implementing a problem-based, decision-oriented thesis project.

Bartunek, J. M., & Rynes, S. (2010). The construction and contributions of “implications for practice”: What’s in them and what they might offer?

Corley, K. G., & Giola, D. (2011). Building theory about theory building: What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review

Instruction:

Please submit your Learning Objectives for your lesson. Review a minimum of two peers learning objectives and provide feedback or any questions you have about learning their objectives.

This is book know I will read in my classroom with 3 K students. Please make learning objectives. Like my classmates. You will see in the at the bottom.

Also please give both my classmates opinion.

Classmates 1.M.C.

Learning Objective: For the first week of March students will listen to a read aloud, Float by Daniel Mayiers. Students will be able to describe through words or picture drawings what the word sink and float means. Students will be able to form predictions about whether an assortment of various classroom items will sink or float. Students will be able to test their predictions and form conclusions after testing their theories.

Classmates 2.M.S

The lesson is created for kindergarten students based on the read-aloud to develop comprehension and literacy skills.

Learning Objectives:

Students will actively listen to a story read aloud to develop comprehension.

Students will discuss responses to questions about a fairy tale.

Students will identify characters, settings, and main events in fiction.

Accommodations:

ESSENTIAL

The teacher will explain that the bubbles tell us what the character is saying.

The teacher will use ECHO-READ to read the dialogue on page 24 aloud.

MODERATE

The teacher will assign characters and ask the children to act out the dialogue and read it out loud.

LIGHT

The teacher will let the children pretend to be Jack and act out the dialogue between Jack and Waldorf on pages 13–19.

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Diversity in Ethiopia: A historical overview of political challenges

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The International Journal of

Community Diversity

onDIversITy.Com

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 3

__________________________________________________________________________

Diversity in Ethiopia
A Historical Overview of Political Challenges
ABEBAW Y. ADAMU

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

http://ondiversity.com/

First published in 2013 in Champaign, Illinois, USA
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Diversity in Ethiopia: A Historical Overview of
Political Challenges

Abebaw Y. Adamu, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the political challenges of diversity in Ethiopia. It discusses the ethnic, linguistic
and religious diversity, which are significant distinguishing features of the country. In Ethiopia, for decades, diversity-
related issues such as the right and equality of ethnic and religious groups have been the historic and prevalent questions
of Ethiopian society. With the intention of better understanding the political challenges of diversity in Ethiopia, the
discussion focuses on issues of diversity in the course of the history of modern Ethiopia. In relation to issues of diversity,
to date, Ethiopia has exercised two broad ideologies of state policy. The first state policy was a unitary system of
government which was used until the downfall of the Derg regime in

91. There were two phases of this system. In the
first phase (until the overthrown of the imperial regime), the policy attempted to bring unity without due recognition of
diversity, and resulted in hegemony and suppression. In the second phase (during the Derg regime), the policy
recognized ethnic and religious equality and linguistic diversity but failed to succeed. The second state policy is a federal
system of government that has been used since 1991. It emphasizes and promotes diversity without balancing with unity,
and this potentially threatens national unity and leads to tension, conflict and disintegration. So far, Ethiopia has failed
to properly deal with issues of diversity but is striving to address by maintaining a delicate balance between unity and
diversity.

Keywords: Diversity, Ethiopia, Ethnicity, Language, Religion, Political Challenge

Introduction

uman diversity is a salient and challenging issue in most countries. The term “diversity”
has become one of the most frequently used words in social sciences. However, there is
no single way to define diversity. Finding an agreed upon definition of diversity is rather

challenging. Literally, diversity is a state of being diverse. In some studies diversity refers to
“differences between individuals on any attribute that may lead to the perception that another
person is different from the self” (Van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004, p. 1008), or as a
variation that exists within and across groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, language, religion,
gender, sexual orientation, and social status (Banks et al., 2005). In general terms, diversity can
be broadly conceived as all the ways in which people are different. This includes both visible and
invisible differences that exist between people both at individual and group level.

Ethnic and linguistic diversity were common features of most African countries even before
the arrival of European colonizers. Nevertheless, European colonization influenced the ethnic,
religious and linguistic diversity of most African countries. Many African countries have culture,
identity, and ethnic boundaries that resulted from European colonialism and their ‘divide and
rule’ policy (Van der Beken, 2008). Many of Africa’s colonial boundaries were drawn at the
infamous Berlin Conference, 1884-85. In this conference, European colonizers agreed to avoid a
potential armed conflict in their struggle for compelling motives for conquest which includes
natural resource, strategic advantage, market, and national glory (Keim, 1995). Most political
boundaries, which were drawn between and within the European colonial claims, became the
border of African countries at the time of their independence.

The politically and economically motivated conquest (Sheldon, 1995) and border
demarcation by European colonizers divided ethnic groups that had lived together, merged ethnic
groups that had never lived together, and even created new ethnic groups that had never existed.
European colonizers imposed their languages on their colonies in Africa, despite the fact that
Africans have several indigenous languages. Consequently, European languages such as English,
French, and Portuguese became official or national languages of former European colonies.

The International Journal of Community Diversity
Volume 12, 2013, ondiversity.com, ISSN: 2327-0004
© Common Ground, Abebaw Y. Adamu, All Rights Reserved
Permissions: cg-support@commongroundpublishing.com

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

Although there was Christianity in some African countries such as Ethiopia and Egypt, it was
introduced and spread out in most African countries during the European colonial period through
European Christian missionaries who had converted millions of native Africans to Christianity.

Unlike most African countries, the diversity in Ethiopia is not influenced by the colonial
imperialist design (Van der Beken, 2008), because Ethiopia is one of the two African countries
(the other is Liberia) that retain their sovereignty during the colonial era. Unlike most western
countries, the diversity in Ethiopia is not also influenced by international migration, because
Ethiopia is one of the poorest African countries that hardly attract international immigrants. The
arrival of Europeans to Ethiopia, however, had contributed to increased religious diversity.
Christianity was introduced in Ethiopia in the early fourth century, while Islam was in the
seventh. Orthodox Christianity was the only Christian faith that existed in Ethiopia before the
arrival of Europeans. Later, in the 16th century, when the strong Muslim army from Eastern
Ethiopia led by Imam Ahmed (also known as Gragn Ahmed) destroyed many churches and
threatened the complete destruction of Ethiopian Christendom, Emperor Lebna Dengel requested
help from Portuguese to combat with Gragn Ahmed. Following the arrival of Portuguese fleet
that helped the Ethiopian Christians in the fight against Gragn Ahmed, the King and Church of
Portugal sent their own bishops and patriarchs to Ethiopia (Sundkler & Steed, 2000). This
opened the door for the introduction of Catholic religion in Ethiopia which was first accepted by
King Susinyos in 16

. Afterward, many European Catholic missionaries came to Ethiopia in the
name of other missions and taught the Roman faith.

The present paper looks at the political challenges of diversity in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a
population of more than 85 million which makes it the second most populous country in Africa.
It has more than 80 ethnic groups which have distinct cultural traditions and languages. The two
numerical majority ethnic groups are the Oromo (34.5%) and the Amhara (

.9%). Although the
Tigre ethnic group comprises about 6% of the total population, it is political majority in the
government since 1991 (Gashaw, 1993; Joseph, 1998; Mengisteab, 2001; Tronvoll, 2000).
Hence, discussions that focus on ‘minority/majority’ ethnic groups in Ethiopia have to be seen
from two points of view – political (power relation) and numerical (population).

In Ethiopia, there are different religions and more than 80 languages. The religions include
Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), Islam, Judaism and Paganism. The two largest
religious faiths are Orthodox Christianity (40.5%) and Islam (35.4%). Amharic is the working
language of the federal government and English is the de facto second language of the federal
state. Six languages are being used as a working language of different regional states. More than
20 languages are also being used as medium of instruction in the primary education. English is
given as a subject starting from grade one and is used as a medium of instruction for secondary
and higher education.

Diversity-related issues in Ethiopia are rooted in the social and political history of the
country. However, since early 1990s diversity has become a topic of discussion among
Ethiopians both at government and societal levels. Though other forms of diversity do exist,
Ethiopia has been described as “a museum of peoples” (Beshir, 1979; Wagaw, 1999) whose
population is characterized by a “complex pattern of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups”
(Tronvoll, 2000, p. 6). These aspects of diversity are considered as significant distinguishing
features of the country. Therefore, with the intention of better understanding of the political
challenges of diversity in Ethiopia, this paper focuses on overview of ethnic, linguistic and
religious diversity in the course of the history of modern Ethiopia.

The next four sections of this paper present and discuss diversity during (1) the early modern
Ethiopia; (2) the imperial regime; (3) the Derg regime; and (4) the federal democratic republic of
Ethiopia. In the discussion, emphasis is given to issues of diversity during the current and the
previous two regimes because they constitutionally declared diversity-related issues. The final
section of the paper presents the conclusion.

ADAMU: DIVERSITY IN ETHIOPIA

Diversity during the Early Modern Ethiopia (1855 – 1930)

The history of modern Ethiopia begins in mid-19th century when Emperor Tewodros initiated the
first efforts to unify and modernize the country during his regime from 1855 to 1868
(Mengisteab, 1997; 2001; Van der Beken, 2007; Zewde, 2001). Emperor Tewodros, who was
Orthodox Christian and Amhara, came to power as emperor of Ethiopia in 1855 by ending the
decentralized ‘Zemene Mesafint’ (era of the princes) (Tronvoll, 2000; Van der Beken, 2007;
Zewde, 2001). During his empire, Orthodox Christianity continued to be the dominant religion.
Amharic, which was the official language of the Ethiopian state since 1270 (Haile, 1986;
Wagaw, 1999), also continued to be the official written as well as spoken language of the country
(Pankhurst, 1992; Zewde, 2001). After the suicide of Emperor Tewodros, who chose a proud
death over the humiliation of captivity by British Soldier, Emperor Teklegiorgis II (1868-1872)
from the Amhara and then Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1889) from the Tigre ethnic groups
came to power. Yohannes was a committed Orthodox Christian (Haile, 1986) and a nationalist
who continued in unifying Ethiopia. However, his ambition failed due to profound internal and
external confrontations. Islam has no place in Yohannes’s ideology, and his unyielding policy
forced Muslims to convert and baptize; or else they were obliged to give their land and property
to his administration (Zewide, 2001). For instance, Mohamed Ali was converted to Christianity,
took Christian name and became Ras (Head), later King Michael of Wollo. Emperor Yohannes
stood as his godfather at his baptism. The emperor was believed to be cruel toward Muslims who
refused to convert their religion.

Following the death of Yohannes in 1889, Menelik II (1889-1913) from the Amhara ethnic
group became emperor of Ethiopia. In the late 19th century, Menelik expanded his empire to
(some historians argue that he rather conquered) the southern part of Ethiopia (Tronvoll, 2000;
Zewde, 2001) to integrate and create the modern state of Ethiopia. This incorporation had a
significant contribution to the diversity in Ethiopia, because the most ethnically and linguistically
diverse region that comprises more than half of the languages and ethnic groups of the country
was incorporated as a result of this expansion. Along with this powerful expansion, Orthodox
Christianity, Amharic language and the Amhara cultural values dominated the diverse ethnic
groups of southern part of the current Ethiopia (Gudina, 2007; Van der Beken, 2008). The ethnic
groups incorporated into the empire were believed to be treated as subjects, and predominantly,
their culture, language and identity were suppressed (Mengisteab, 1997).

After the death of Menelik, Lij Iyasu (1913-1916) – Menelik’s grandson, Empress Zewditu
(1916-1930) – Menelik’s eldest daughter, and Haileselassie (1930-1974) – Menelik’s cousin came
to power. All these rulers were also from the Amhara ethnic group and they were Orthodox
Christians who claimed lineage to the Solomonic dynasty. The Solomonic dynasty is the
traditional ruling class of Ethiopia that claims descent from King Solomon of Jerusalem and the
Queen of Sheba of Ethiopia who is said to have given birth to Menelik I of Ethiopia.

Diversity during the Imperial (Haileselassie’s) Regime (1930 – 1974)

The Haileselassie regime claimed its descent from the Solomonic dynasty, and this is clearly
stated in the 1955 constitution of Ethiopia – “the Imperial dignity shall remain perpetually
attached to the line of Haileselassie I, descendant of King Sahle Selassie, whose line descends
without interruption from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of the Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of
Sheba, and King Solomon of Jerusalem”. Succession to the throne and crown of the empire was
not by election, merit or other criteria that invite potential successors. It rather constitutionally
reserved to the line of Haileselassie (Turner, 1991) which requires a lineage of the Axumite
Kings and the perceived Solomonic dynasty. This implies that, as a principle, people from every
ethnic group have a chance to become Head of State if he/she claims a royal blood attached to

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

the Solomonic dynasty (Haile, 1986). However, this excludes Muslims as the royal blood
essentially requires Christianity.

The imperial regime was a strong centralized state (Mengisteab, 1997; Tronvoll, 2000) that
designed homogenization as a nation building strategy that gives the best guarantee for the state
integration (Van der Beken, 2008). In pursuance of this policy of national integration, the regime
wanted to create a national culture, language, and religion for all Ethiopians (Alemu &
Tekleselassie, 2006). As a result of this policy, Amharic was the only language used for media,
court, education, and other publication purposes. It was not legal to teach, publish and broadcast
languages other than Amharic and English (Boothe & Walker, 1997; Keller, 1988; Markakis,
1989). In practice, Amharic served as “the language of administration as well as the language and
culture of integration” (Tronvoll, 2000, p. 13).

The spread of the dominant Amharic language and Amhara culture through administration
and education had a negative impact on other languages and cultures (Van der Beken, 2007). The
Amharic language hegemony was at the center of the “Amharization” process, and as part of the
process, Amharic language proficiency was considered for political positions and economic
resources of many kinds (Smith, 2008). It is believed that several people who joined the imperial
army and bureaucracy had passed through the process of acculturation. As Marcus (1995) points
out, “politically and socially ambitious people became Christian, took appropriate names [typical
Amhara names], learnt Amharic, and began to dress and even to eat like Shoans [Amhara]”
(p.194). This is apparently a process of acculturation that imposed the culture, language and
religion of one ethnic group on all other ethnic groups (Keller, 1988; Levine, 2000).

Although Orthodox, Muslim, Catholic and other religions existed, due to the policy of
national integration, the constitution declared Orthodox Christianity as the empire religion – “the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, founded in the fourth century, on the doctrines of St. Mark, is the
Established Church of the Empire and is, as such, supported by the State. The Emperor shall
always profess the Ethiopian Orthodox Faith”. Since the restored Solomonic dynasty, Amharic
and Christianity were confirmed as integral parts of the imperial tradition dominating the
government (Marcus, 1994). Due to the Orthodox Church supremacy, “the concepts of the
Ethiopian state and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been almost synonymous – both locally
and internationally” (Friedman, 1989, p.

9).

The constitution did not mention the status of ethnic groups, languages other than Amharic,
and religions other than Orthodox Christianity. However, presumably the imperial regime had an
assimilationist political system toward other ethnic groups, religions and languages. Although the
regime seems tolerant toward Muslims by allowing Islamic courts to settle family disputes and
Islamic schools, it discouraged and alienated them in several ways. For instance, there were no
official Muslim holidays, and the teaching of Arabic, which was related with Islam, was banned
through time (Abate, 1991). The imperial regime did not officially impose Orthodox Christianity
on other religion followers, but nurturing Ethiopian’s identity with Christianity had negatively
affected Muslims and others. As a result of the regime’s discriminatory state policy and nation
building strategy, arguably Muslims “had no role in public life” (Markakis, 1989, p. 119).

During this period, the Amhara and Tigre, especially the Amharas, were considered as ‘true
Ethiopians’ (World Bank, 1948). The ‘true Ethiopian’ allegedly was one “who spoke Amharic,
listened to Amharic music, believed in the Amhara-Tigray religion [Orthodox Christianity], and
wore Amhara dress; to be ‘authentic,’ Ethiopians sometimes had to alter their names and hide
their true identities” (The Struggle, 1969 cited in Wagaw, 1999, p. 79). The Ethiopian national
identity was also equated with the Amhara ethnic identity (Van der Beken, 2008), and “being
Ethiopian has often been synonymous with being Amhara” (Mains, 2004, p. 342).

Dissatisfaction with the cultural assimilation and traditional political dominance of the
monarchy resulted in the creation of several rebellion groups (Habtu, 2004; Van der Beken,
2007). There were nationalist, ethno-nationalist and peasant oppositions across the country. The
Eritrean liberation movement in 1960s, the Woyane rebellion of Tigray in 1943 and the peasant

ADAMU: DIVERSITY IN ETHIOPIA

rebellion in Bale in 1964 (Lakew 1992), among others are groups that challenged the monarchy.
Equally, even more importantly, the movement of students and intellectuals worried the imperial
regime. The students’ movement raised substantial issues such as the land tenure system,
poverty, cultural imperialism, education for the poor, class and problems of ethnicity (Tegegn,
2008). Finally, after 45 years in power, in 1974, the Haileselassie’s regime was overthrown by
the Provisional Military Administrative Council which was well known as the ‘Derg’.

Diversity during the Derg Regime (1974-1991)

The Derg, which advocated the Marxist-Leninist ideology, wanted to demolish the issue of land,
ethnicity and religion which were criticized by the majority of the population for several decades
and considered as a threat for the nation’s unity. At the beginning of its regime, in 1975, the Derg
came with land reform proclamation, which mostly addressed the main historical criticism raised
by several ethnic groups. Later, in 1976, as part of building socialism in Ethiopia, and alleged
response to the demands of ethnic nationalism, the Derg came with the declaration of the
National Democratic Revolution (NDR). NDR declared that “the right to self-determination of all
nationalities will be recognized and fully respected. No nationality will dominate another one
since the history, culture, language and religion of each nationality will have equal recognition in
accordance with the spirit of socialism” (PMAC, 1976). The pronouncements on land reform,
ethnic, religion, language and cultural equality seems positively responded to many inequalities
perpetuated under the previous regimes. However, their implementation was far beyond the
expectation of the society.

In the 1987 Constitution, the military government declared that its political system is a
unitary state in which all nationalities (ethnic groups) live in equality. The constitution also
ensured the equality of Ethiopians before the law, irrespective of ethnic, religion, sex,
occupation, social or other status, and the equality, development and respectability of the
language of ethnic groups. It also declared that state and religion are separate. Despite these
efforts, opposition based on ethnic, religion, and class interests continued because traits based on
religion and ethnicity are deeply embedded and are not susceptible to elimination by ideology
alone (Abate, 1991). It requires practical implementation of constitutional rights and positive
ideologies which the Derg regime failed to succeed.

There are people who argue that in addition to socialist ideology and centralized authority,
the military government was also characterized by Amhara cultural and political domination
(Clapham, 2002; Van der Beken, 2007). The Derg itself constitutionally affirmed its centralized
political system. However, there is no foundation for the accusation that the Amhara dominated
the Derg like its predecessor because the ruling group of the Derg was composed of Amhara,
Oromo, Tigre and other ethnic groups (Clapham, 1990; Haile, 1986). This indicates that “the
system is not ethnically exclusive” (Clapham, 1990, p. 222); rather, regardless of its
successfulness, attempted to dismantle the Amhara aristocracy and ethnic operation and broaden
popular participation.

The separation of state and religion had ended the official status of Orthodox Christianity as
religion of the State. Islam was granted official standing, and Muslim holidays became official
holidays in Ethiopia (Abate 1991). Although the regime declared freedom of religion, in practical
terms, it portrayed religion as antinational constituent. The regime took extreme measures against
religion in general and separate religious groups in particular (Friedman, 1989). Christians and
their institutions were highly repressed by the Derg (Brown, 1981). For example, Christians had
been accused of corresponding with their “imperialist West” counterpart and of being CIA
agents. Churches were also adversely affected by the nationalization of land. In general, the
military regime was considered as repressive by all religious groups.

During the Derg regime, Amharic remained as the official language of the state. On the other
hand, the ban on printing and broadcasting languages other than Amharic and English was lifted.

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

As a result, Oromiffa and Tigrigna languages were used for print media. Afar, Somali, Oromiffa
and Tigrigna languages were also used for radio broadcasting. In addition to Amharic and
English, Oromiffa, Tigrigna, Afar, and Somali languages were used in the campaign called
‘Development through Cooperation Campaign’ (Smith, 2008). Fifteen indigenous languages,
including Amharic were also used in the National Literacy Campaign (Gashaw, 1993; McNab,
1990). However, Amharic continued as the only medium of instruction in the primary education.

The Derg came to power under the slogan of “Ethiopia First” and “Land to the Tillers”, and
it was initially popular following the overthrow of Haileselassie. However, it sooner became
deeply unpopular because of its centralized policies and mass executions. Thus, several ethnic-
based rebellion groups such as the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), Tigrian People’s
Liberation Front (TPLF), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Western Somali Liberation Front
(WSLF) intensified their assault on the military government. In 1991, the coalition effort of the
ethnonationalist movement mainly led by TPLF overthrew the military regime. In 1995, the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) was formed by Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Diversity during the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1991-
Present)

EPRDF is a coalition of ethnic political movements, dominated by TPLF (Young, 1996), and the
ruling political organization of the FDRE. By understanding Ethiopia as ethnically diverse
country with a past political history of ethno-linguistic domination (Zewde, 2004), the EPRDF-
led government introduced an ethnic-based federal system that believed to promote diversity.
Consequently, ethnicity became the ideological basis of the EPRDF government’s political
organization and administration (Abbink, 1997), and Ethiopia has become a federal polity with
nine states and two chartered cities that constitute the federation. According to the state policy,
unity or Ethiopian national identity is based on the recognition of and respect for diversity (Van
der Beken, 2008). However, because of politicizing ethnicity, differences of ethnicity, language
and culture, became more significant than citizenship.

The 1995 constitution affirms that state and religion are separate, and there is no state
religion. The constitution also declared that everyone has the right to freedom of religion, and
believers can establish institutions of religious education and administration in order to propagate
and organize their religion. In Ethiopia, Christians and Muslims have long lived peacefully and
generally respecting each other’s religious observances. However, in the last seven years there
have been a series of violent interreligious conflicts in the western part of the country that
threatened historic tolerance and stability (United States Department of state, 2007). There is also
an ongoing religious tension in which the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council blames the
“Wahhabist” groups for exacerbating tensions between Christians and Muslims (United States
Department of state, 2011).

The constitution also gives all ethnic groups the right to speak, write and develop their own
language; to express, develop and promote their culture; and to preserve their history. With
regard to language, all languages are declared equal, and Amharic retained the status of the
working language of the federal government. Regional states have been given the right to choose
their own working language which is applicable within their own territories. Ethnic groups have
the right to choose the language for primary education, but Amharic should be taught as a
language of countrywide communication. Consequently, more than 20 languages are being used
as medium of instruction in the primary education in different regions.

Although the constitution declared that all ethnic groups are equal, several groups argue that
politics in Ethiopia has been dominated by the TPLF-led EPRDF, which in turn, dominated by
numerical minority Tigre ethnic group (Gashaw, 1993; Habtu, 2004; Joseph, 1998; Tronvoll,
2000; Záhořík, 2011). It seems that the political domination of one ethnic group continued, and

ADAMU: DIVERSITY IN ETHIOPIA

therefore, “as the two previous regimes were largely identified with the Amhara, so the present
government is widely perceived to be Tigrean” (Mengisteab, 2001, p. 24).

The constitution gives every ethnic group an unconditional right to self-determination,
including the right to secession. This right is assumed to result in unity in diversity, and the
creation of an Ethiopian national identity through the respect for ethnic diversity (Van der Beken,
2008). There are people who consider the right to secession as a conclusion of centuries old
ethnic domination in Ethiopia (Nahum, 1997). However, other people argue that it is a signal of
disintegration of the historic and multiethnic state of Ethiopia, which endured various ups and
downs for three millennia (Haile, 1996). Proponents of ethnic federalism support the system even
at the expense of unity because they believe that it is the only means to promote freedom and
equality among ethnic groups and check tyranny. On the other hand, opponents argue that ethnic
federalism tends to divide people rather than unite them. They expressed their fears about the
potential threat of state disintegration because of the division of the country along ethnic lines
(Engedayehu, 1993; Gashaw, 1993). Although there may be a few cases where state
disintegration lead to relatively more peaceful small states (Shaw, 1994), “dividing states along
ethnic lines is not feasible since ethnic groups often cohabit” (Mengisteab, 1997, p. 116).

It is believed that the ethnic-based federal system and its embedded political strategy
reinforced ethnonational sentiments and segregation along ethnic lines. This, in general, has
facilitated and at times become cause for several conflicts across the country because of
controversies over ethnic boundaries and ethnic identities. Studies also show that there are
several conflicts caused by conceptualized ethnicity in many parts of the country, and the current
constitution somehow helped to stress instead of lessening the historically rooted divisive aspect
of ethnicity (Záhořík, 2011). These indicate that many years after the implementation of the
ethnic federalism, “Ethiopia remains mired in ethnic strife” (Mengisteab, 2001, P. 20), and
contrary to the very problem it was intended to address, the ethnic federalism in Ethiopia seems
to have created more problems than it set to solve (Gudina, 2007; Haile, 1996; Maru, 2010). This
leads to argue that the implementation of ethnic federalism in Ethiopia is problematic and
ineffective (Maru, 2010) and it seems “a fragile and perilous experiment” (Habtu, 2004, p. 91)
that puts a big challenge on the nation’s unity in diversity.

Conclusion

Diversity-related issues have been the historic and prevalent questions of the Ethiopian society.
The reality of ethnic domination during the imperial regime is beyond dispute as the regime was
led by the motto of one country, one religion, one people and one language. There was a clear
ethnocentrism, and linguistic and religious discrimination based on the perception that the
Amhara ethnic group, the Amharic language and the Orthodox Christianity are superior to all
other ethnic groups, languages and religions. The discrimination was not simply an individual
bias, rather an institutional, and above all a state practice that denied equality among the diverse
Ethiopian society.

During the Derg regime, the domination of the Amhara ethnic group was not as visible as it
was in the imperial regime but government’s high positions were filled by ‘Amharaized’ people,
not merely Amhara. Although the military government allowed using some other languages in
mass media and national literacy campaign, Amharic continued as a dominant language both in
administration and education sectors. The demise of Orthodox Christianity as state religion was
one of the positive measures taken by the regime. However, instead of establishing religious
equality, its socialist ideology severely repressed all forms of religious expressions. Compared to
the imperial and the Derg regimes, the EPRDF-led government has empowered ethnic groups in
many areas of linguistic, religious, and cultural aspects. Even though the ‘clear domination’ of
one ethnic group is vanished, and diversity and equality of ethnic groups are constitutionally
ensured, it is believed that there is still an implicit domination of one ethnic group – Tigre ethnic

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY DIVERSITY

group. What makes this domination different is that it doesn’t promote cultural assimilation
which was the typical features of the imperial regime. Its domination is more of political than
cultural.

Since the establishment of modern Ethiopia, those who come to power have made an attempt
to address diversity-related issues in a way they thought is best to serve the interest of the country
or their political ideology. In relation to issues of diversity, to date, Ethiopia has exercised two
broad ideologies of state policy. The first state policy was a unitary system of government which
was used until the downfall of the Derg regime in 1991. There were two phases of this system. In
the first phase (until the overthrown of the imperial regime), the policy attempted to bring unity
without diversity, and resulted in hegemony and suppression. In the second phase (during the
Derg regime), the policy recognized diversity but the implementation was far beyond the policy,
and thus failed to succeed. The second state policy is a federal system of government that has
been used since 1991. It emphasizes and promotes diversity without balancing with unity, and
this potentially threatens national unity and leads to tension, conflict and disintegration.

So far, Ethiopia has failed to properly deal with issues of diversity but is striving to address
by maintaining a delicate balance between unity and diversity. It is very difficult to realize such
an effort unless the current government halts politicizing ethnicity including emphasizing
ethnicity at the risk of citizenship and national unity, and manipulating historical interethnic
grievances to evoke resentment, fear, and hatred toward the “other”.

ADAMU: DIVERSITY IN ETHIOPIA

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abebaw Y. Adamu: Abebaw Yirga Adamu is a PhD student at the School of Education, Tampere
University, Finland. He has been working as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Bahir Dar
University, Ethiopia since 2003. Currently, he is on study leave. He also worked as coordinator
of Bahir Dar University’s cultural center. Abebaw holds a B.Ed. in Amharic, M.Ed. in
Multicultural and Multilingual Education and M.A. in Lifelong Learning: Policy and
Management. His research interest includes higher education (diversity, quality
internationalization, and harmonization), lifelong learning and adult education.

The International Journal of Community Diversity
is one of four thematically focused journals in the
family of journals that support the Diversity knowledge
community—its journals, book series, conference and
online community. It is a section of The International
Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and
Nations.

This journal examines the processes of governance
and democracy in diverse communities. It explores
the consequences of global human movement (e.g.,
immigrants, refugees) on local communities, and, in
response, the development of multicultural policies
and practices. It also investigates community self-
governance and community capacity development.

As well as papers of a traditional scholarly type,
this journal invites case studies that take the form
of presentations of diversity practice—including
documentation of socially-engaged practices and
exegeses analyzing the effects of those practices.

The International Journal of Community Diversity is
a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

ISSN: 2327-0004

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458

FUTURE STUDIE

RESEARCH JOURNAL ISSN 2175-5825 SÃO PAULO, V.12, N.3, P. 458 – 482, SEP. / DEC. 2020

FUTURE STUDIES RESEARCH JOURNAL – FIA BUSINESS SCHOOL
Scientifc Editor: Renata Giovinazzo Spers
Evaluation: Double Blind Review, pelo SEER/OJS

Review: Preliminary
Doi: https://doi.org/10.24023/FutureJournal/2175-5825/2020.v12i3.517

TRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: A BALANCED

SCORECARD APPLICABILITY FRAMEWORK IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

1 Pedro Henrique de Oliveira

2 Marco Antonio Catussi Paschoalotto
3 Diego Valério de Godoy Delmônico

4 Fernando de Souza Coelho
5 Fernando César Almada Santos

6 Edmundo Escrivão Filho

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims at developing a framework of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in public

educational organizations.

Theoretical framework – There are 3-sections: Strategic planning in public sector, Balanced

Scorecard and BSC in the public sector. Strategic management in public administration is an

important issue, with the BSC as one of the most widely used tools. Although, the application

of this technique in public schools is still unexplored and uncommon, it does possess the

potential to improve their effectiveness.

Methodology – A 3-stage qualitative approach: (i) 8 semi-structured interviews with the

principals of participating schools; (ii) 4 stages of focus groups with 3 of the principals from

different schools; and (iii) non-participant observation using a field diary. Also, the data were

analyzed through content analysis and cross-referencing the different forms of data collected.

Findings – The results do not indicate a vast knowledge concerning the BSC’s techniques and

tools, or an alignment between management planning posture, principles nor objectives of BSC

application. Also, school planning is realized through the expertise of the Principal, without

instruments of strategic management. Finally, adapted BSC models and strategic maps were

proposed in public schools to collaborate and facilitate the strategic management process.

Research, Practical & Social implications – The paper contributes towards developing new

research agendas for strategic management in Brazil, with the possibility of improving public

results and to appoint new practices in public schools.

Originality/value – We have collaborated with the creation of a tool to use in the strategic

planning of primary schools and pushing BSC studies into public sectors.

Keywords: Strategic management. Balanced scorecard. Strategic Map. Public administration.

Public school.

How to cite the article:

Oliveira, P., Paschoalotto, M., Delmônico, D., Coelho, F., Santos, F., & Escrivão Filho, E. (2020).
Strategic Management in Public Administration: A Balanced Scorecard Applicability Framework in School

Management. Future Studies Research Journal: Trends and Strategies, 12(3), 458-482.
doi:https://doi.org/10.24023/FutureJournal/2175-5825/2020.v12i3.517

1 School of Engineering, University of São Paulo – EESC/USP, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail: oliveira.pedro@usp.br Orcid id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1616-6465
2 University of West Paulista – UNOESTE, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail: marcocatussi@unoeste.br Orcid id:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2276-8531
3Bauru Engineering School, Paulista State University – FEB/UNESP, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail: diegodelmonico@gmail.com

Orcid id: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-190X
4 School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo – EACH/USP, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail:

fernandocoelho@usp.br Orcid id: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-0722
5 School of Engineering, University of São Paulo – EESC/USP, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail: almada@sc.usp.br Orcid id:

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9317-088X
6 School of Engineering, University of São Paulo – EESC/USP, São Paulo, (Brasil). E-mail: edesfi@sc.usp.br Orcid id:

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5181-5398

https://doi.org/10.24023/FutureJournal/2175-5825/2020.v12i3.517

mailto:oliveira.pedro@usp.br

file:///D:/Revsitas/Journal%20Future/v.%2012,%20n.%203%202020/Arquivos/Orcid%20id:%20https:/orcid.org/0000-0002-1616-6465

mailto:marcocatussi@unoeste.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2276-8531

mailto:diegodelmonico@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-190X

mailto:fernandocoelho@usp.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-0722

mailto:almada@sc.usp.br

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9317-088X

mailto:edesfi@sc.usp.br

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5181-5398

19 459

Strategic Management in Public Administration: A Balanced Scorecard Applicability Framework in School

Management

FUTURE STUDIES RESEARCH JOURNAL ISSN 2175-5825 SÃO PAULO, V.12, N.3, P. 458 – 482, SEP. / DEC. 2020

ESTÃO ESTRATÉGICA NO SETOR PÚBLICO: A APLICAÇÃO DE UM ESBOÇO

TEÓRICO DO BALANCED SCORECARD NA GESTÃO ESCOLAR

Resumo

Objetivo – O objetivo foi desenvolver um esboço teórico do Balanced Scorecard (BSC) em

organizações públicas escolares.

Quadro teórico – Há 3 seções: Planejamento estratégico no setor público, Balanced

Scorecard e BSC no setor público. A gestão estratégica na administração pública é um

tópico importante, com o BSC sendo muito utilizado. Entretanto, a aplicação desse

instrumento em escolas públicas ainda é pouco explorada e pode aumentar a sua

efetividade.

Metodologia – Houve 3 etapas utilizando-se a abordagem qualitativa. (i) 8 entrevistas

semiestruturadas com diretoras escolares; (ii) 4 dias de grupo focal com 3 diretoras e; e

(iii) observação não participante com diário de campo. Os dados também foram analisados

por meio da análise de conteúdo e triangulados pelas diversas coletas de dados.

Resultados – Os resultados indicam que não há conhecimento das técnicas e ferramentas

do BSC e que poderia haver um alinhamento do planejamento estratégico pela aplicação

do BSC. Observou-se também que o planejamento escolar é feito pela experiência da

diretora, sem uso de instrumentos de gestão estratégica. Por fim, foi proposto um esboço

teórico da adaptação do BSC e mapa estratégico, contribuindo para o processo da gestão

estratégica.

Contribuições práticas, sociais e de pesquisa – O artigo contribuiu para o

desenvolvimento de uma nova agenda de pesquisa na gestão estratégica brasileira, a

possibilidade de melhoria no setor público e o apontamento de novas práticas em escolas

públicas.

Originalidade/relevância – Foram criados instrumentos que podem ser usados na

gestão estratégica das escolas públicas. Também pelo avanço do uso do BSC no setor

público.

Palavras-chave: Gestão estratégica. Balanced Scorecard. Mapa estratégico.

Administração pública. Escola pública.

Como Citar:

Oliveira, P., Paschoalotto, M., Delmônico, D., Coelho, F., Santos, F., & Escrivão Filho, E. (2020). Gestão

Estratégica no Setor Público: A Aplicação de um Esboço Teórico do Balanced Scorecard na Gestão
Escolar. Future Studies Research Journal: Trends and Strategies [FSRJ], 12(3), 458-482.
doi:https://doi.org/10.24023/FutureJournal/2175-5825/2020.v12i3.517

https://doi.org/10.24023/FutureJournal/2175-5825/2020.v12i3.517

460

Pedro Henrique de Oliveira, Marco Antonio Catussi Paschoalotto, Diego Valério de Godoy Delmônico,
Fernando de Souza Coelho, Fernando César Almada Santos & Edmundo Escrivão Filho

FUTURE STUDIES RESEARCH JOURNAL ISSN 2175-5825 SÃO PAULO, V.12, N.3, P. 458 – 482, SEP. / DEC. 2020

1 INTRODUCTION

Although attention from the scientific community toward strategic planning has

dwindled since 1990, it is still one of the most widely used tools in contemporary

management (Wolf & Floyd, 2017). Also, articles on this subject are still being published

by relevant scientific journals (Najgebauer, Antkiewicz, Pierzchała & Rulka, 2017),

including journals outside the scope of management, in areas such biology (Ringma,

Wintle, Fuller, Fisher, Bode, 2017) and engineering (Purnawan & Sanjaya, 2017).

This does not go without criticism, as the literature suggests that issues concerning

strategic planning in the public sector should be more dynamic and integrative (Mintzberg,

1994; Olsen, 2012). Despite such, recent literature has recognized the positive aspects of

strategic planning in the public sector (George, 2017).

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a system widely used for deploying strategic

management (Queiroz & Lobosco, 2015). One tool for the development of BSC is strategic

map, which also aids in the strategic management process by showing the visual

framework for the objectives of the cited perspectives (Kaplan & Norton, 2000).

There are studies on the application of BSC in the public sector, which include a

variety of contexts – Italian (Bracci, Maran & Inglis, 2017), Czech Republic (Plaček, Půček

& Šilhánková, 2017), Ethiopia (Bobe, Mihret & Obo, 2017) and New Zealand (Northcott &

Taulapapa, 2012; Greatbanks & Tapp, 2007). However, few studies present Brazilian

cases, especially when it comes to observing education management.

Critical studies based on the use of BSC for public sector organizations suggest the

need for community participation in strategic management and the proper understanding

of the internal-external environment (Maccarone, Filiciotto, Buffa, Mazzola & Buscaino,

2014; Rahiminia & Karzogar, 2016; Souza & Cordeiro, 2010; Younis & Knight, 2014).

Despite this criticism, BSC contributes toward improving the performance of public sector

organizations (Kaplan & Bower, 1999). The study by Northcott and Taulapapa (2012), for

example, shows the BSC being used for supporting performance management in public

sector organizations.

On the other hand, the administration of school organizations is one management

activity of the public sector. This function is responsible for pedagogical organization of

school activities by aligning educational issues with strategic vision and intertwined actions

(Lück, 2009). In this process, the political perspectives of the principal and teachers (Paro,

2010) coexist alongside the management approach (Lunenberg, 2010).

Despite the relevance concerning the matter, there are significant research gaps in

the public sector in terms of the BSC regarding strategic planning in educational

organizations. Additionally, no papers were found that aim at developing a theoretical

model for a better understanding into BSC, and this is also true when seen from the

Brazilian context.

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In order to cover this gap, this study sought to answer the following question: what

is the theoretical structure that best integrates the perspectives of school administration

with strategic management, involving BSC and strategic mapping, in the public sector? To

answer this question, this paper shows the development of a framework that synthesizes

the application of the Balanced Scorecard in public educational organizations. This

framework was developed based on multiple case studies and multiple methods of data

collection such as interviews, questionnaires, focus group, non-participant observation and

field diary with public administration school

organizations.

The theoretical contributions of this paper include the development of a framework

for strategic management by using empirical data from public school organizations and a

theoretical model for BSC implementation in public sector educational organizations. This

study potentially contributes to researchers, where it allows for more confirmatory and

comparative approaches. In addition, this paper provides an empirical basis that will allow

for some anticipation of challenges concerning BSC implementation in public schools and

organizations.

2 THEROTICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 STRATEGIC PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Strategic management in the public sector has its emphasis placed on strategic

planning, as in other areas. However, other stages of the strategic cycle, such as execution

and evaluation, were neglected and these have an influence over possible strategy failures

(Mintzberg, Lampel & Ahlstrand, 1999; Thompson Jr. & Strickland III, 2000).

Strategic planning in the public sector is essential not only in the present, but

also for the future (Poister, 2010). According to the study by George (2017), the effect of

strategic planning can be positive or negative, which depends on three variables, those

being stakeholder behavior, participatory nature, and the planning of group psychological

characteristics.

In the literature, crucial strategic orientations are highlighted, and these are

successful in government planning (Mcmahon & Phillimore, 2013), and more recently,

when seen in public-sector characteristics (Favoreu, Carassus & Maurel, 2016). This

multiplicity approach aligns with Johnsen (2015), which indicates that strategic

management in the public sector draws heavily on strategic planning associated with

several other approaches.

The literature shows a lack of leadership and fluidity in strategic planning hindering

an effective contribution to government reforms (Kayuni, 2017), also that there are

inadequacies between strategic plans and the approach concerning emergency situations

(Oloruntoba, 2013). However, strategic planning is significant for development

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transformation (Mawela, Twinomurinzi & Ochara, 2017), for the process of strategic

changes in the face of turbulent environments (Pasha & Poister, 2017) and in environments

of complex policy (Rinaldi, 2016). The recent literature on strategic planning and the public

sector also includes the evaluation of integration between hiring processes and strategic

planning (Staples & Dalrymple, 2016).

BSC axis are commonly addressed by strategic planning studies in public

administration, these usually include strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

(Bryson, Edwards & Van Slyke, 2018). Moreover, the editorial article by Bryson, Edwards

and Van Slyke (2018) presents a special edition article and suggests as research agenda

studies on operationalization and the effects of strategy dimensions.

2.2 BALANCED SCORECARD

As addressed previously, strategic management in the public sector has a wider focus

on the planning phase. Execution and evaluation need to be included in this cycle, in order

that strategic objectives are achieved and no problems occur, as well as a diagnosis of the

actions taken as a means to deepen changes in the public sector (Bryson, 1988; Moore,

2002).

Therefore, the concept of strategic management should be broad, with the inclusion

not only of the strategy, but also the implementation and evaluation of the strategy

(Mintzberg, Lampel & Ahlstrand, 1999). The BSC strategy tool is an alternative to this

problem, which allows for a better understanding of strategic objectives linked to

organizational perspectives, as well as inserting greater strategic control by measuring

through use of indicators, along with establishing cause and effect relationships (Kaplan &

Norton, 1992, 2000).

Another advantage of the BSC is the inclusion of other perspectives that do not focus

on financial aspects. This aids in producing the holistic view of organizations and in

understanding other non-financial factors that may influence organizational performance

(Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 2000). A tool previously used for BSC was the Tableau de Bord,

which divided financial and non-financial data for information management and control in

industries. However, the BSC addresses new perceptions for the strategic management of

organizations (Epstein & Manzoni, 1997; Quesado, Rodrigues & Guzmán, 2012).

In general, the BSC is an organizational strategy management control system that

allows the manager to approach businesses in four essential perspectives (Kaplan &

Norton, 1992) – customer, internal processes, learning and financial. Moreover, BSC

processes help to improve strategic control, facilitating communication and provide a more

integrated perspective (Norreklit, 2000, Queiroz & Lobosco, 2015).

In the Brazilian context, the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV, 2016) and the National

School of Public Administration (ENAP, 2014) highlight the potential contribution for BSC

by translating the strategy into operational objectives, structuring the measurement

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system of the organization, recognizing the indicators, communicating the strategy,

aligning the strategy with business and strategic learning.

The strategic map as cited by Kaplan and Norton (2000) is a BSC support tool and

provides a visual framework for the organizational objectives regarding the four BSC

strategic perspectives (financial, customer, internal processes, learning and growth).

The adoption of the strategic map helps to illustrate how the organization transforms

initiatives and resources (including intangible assets such as corporate culture and

employee knowledge) into tangible results (Maar, Schiuma & Neely, 2004). Another

contribution includes the representation of the cause and effect relationship of the strategic

objectives (Quezada, Cordova, Palominos, Godoy & Ross, 2009).

Grouping information is one of the advantages of using the BSC, as it limits the

number of prospects to four, such information can be based on customer orientation,

reduced response time, increased quality, use of teamwork and focus on change with

identification (Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 1996).

2.3 BSC IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Some authors suggest that the adoption of BSC by public organizations is part of a

broad wave of ideological policy-driven reforms (Bobe, Mihret & Obo, 2017), which

establish the adoption of accountability and accountability tools in the private sector.

However, the literature also shows the BSC potential to address the multi-stakeholder

approach issue in the public sector (Mcadam, Hazlett & Casey, 2005).

BSC changes have been developed to suit public sector issues, such as the public

sector scorecard (PPS), which is an integrated performance management framework that

incorporates strategic mapping, service improvement, measurement and evaluation

(Dimitropoulos, Kosmas & Douvis, 2017).

The study by Bracci, Maran and Inglis (2017) focuses on performance, system design

and BSC implementation in two Italian public service organizations. The authors Plaček,

Půček and Šilhánková (2017) carry out the strategic management study of museums in

the Czech Republic, identifying weaknesses and best practices, as well as presenting

optimal performance indicators for the segment. Some studies focus on national level

organizations, such as in the case of the analysis of a large Ethiopian public health

organization (Bobe, Mihret & Obo, 2017). Only a few studies focus on robust quantitative

research techniques. In Grigoroudis, Orfanoudaki and Zopounidis (2012), for example, the

authors conducted a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) study, using the BSC

framework to evaluate the strategic performance of health organizations.

Other studies investigate performance management in the public sector, while

approaching the integration of BSC in performance management (Mcadam, Hazlett &

Casey, 2005). In this sense, when looking at organizations of higher education, the

literature shows that organizations whose financial strategies are better related to

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educational returns are more likely to succeed, even with changes in their funding model

(Schobel & Scholey, 2012).

Different governments have used the BSC to develop performance models for more

transparent, efficient and effective management (Sutheewasinnon, Hoque & Nyamori,

2016). Apart from the perspective of the BSC as a performance tool, other BSC approaches

focus on improvement of the strategic alignment through integrated planning (Bobe, Mihret

& Obo, 2017). In this way, part of the literature sees BSC as a performance measurement

tool (Northcott & Taulapapa, 2012).

Although literature concerning BSC in the public sector proposes a framework, Yuen

and Ng (2012), for example, focuses on the development of a theoretical framework for

the application of BSC in a Chinese hospital organization. Few studies have been found

that focus on public educational organizations. In this sense, some authors have evaluated

the application of BSC to evaluate higher education schools (Schobel & Scholey, 2012).

In Brazil, there are few studies that focus on the application of BSC in the public

sector. Existing studies are aimed at federal public agencies (Felix, Felix & Timóteo, 2011).

The number of studies pertinent to the application of the BSC in Brazilian public schools

are even lower, with these being focused on the efficiency of the educational system as a

whole and not on the specific reality of school strategic management (Mizrahi & Canen,

2012). However, no article proposes a theoretical framework for understanding their

applicability nor develop a model for public educational organizations.

Finally, we positioned the theoretical framework in order to synthesize the

background of the bibliographic review. It should be noted here that this framework was

used as a support for the data discussion on the theoretical view (Frame 1):

Topic Definition Authors

Strategic planning in

the public sector

Strategic planning in the public
sector helps with implementation,
but it should include the stages of
implementation and the strategic
control

Mintzberg, Lampel &
Ahlstrand, 1999; Staples &
Dalrymple, 2016

The Balanced

Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard tool helps
with integration of the strategic

cycle, adding new perspectives for
understanding organizational reality

Kaplan & Norton, 1992; 2000,

Norreklit, 2000

BSC in the public
sector

Internationally. There are more

studies on the application of BSC in
the public sector. In the Brazilian
scenario, there are few studies and
in the scenario of public-school
lesser still.

Northcott & Taulapapa, 2012;
Felix, Felix & Timóteo, 2011;
Mizrahi & Canen, 2012

Frame 1 – Schematic framework of the background theory

Source: Prepared by the authors.

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3 RESEARCH METHODS

This research study was developed within a qualitative exploratory framework, from

an applied perspective, that generates knowledge for the practical application, addressing

the solution of specific problems (Silva & Menezes, 2005). The analysis has a descriptive

perspective, which directs the presentation of characteristics from a given population or

phenomenon (Cooper & Schindler, 2013). The technique used for data collection was the

case study, allowing the knowledge and information and analysis to be performed in a

broader and more detailed fashion (Silva & Menezes, 2005, Cooper & Schindler, 2013).

For an improved understanding of the steps in this research study, a visual schedule

was created, as seen in Figure 1:

Figure 1 – Schematic framework of the method

Source: Prepared by the authors.

3.1 PRELIMINAR ASSESSMENT

The first step of the study involved the collection of quantitative data on school

performance with the annual municipal investment per student, the socioeconomic level

(NSE), with the infrastructure as input and the performance in the IDEB as output.

Municipalities and schools were divided according to socioeconomic level 2 and 3; 4; 5 and

6, with 2 and 3 representing the worst and 5 and six the best. Of these, the only

municipality that presents more than 20 schools, in the state of São Paulo (placed as a

necessity of the study in question, i.e., for a more extensive sample of schools), was track

5 and 6.

Quantiative Data
Colleciton

(Input+Output)

Sampling for
convenience –

Ribeirão Preto /
SP

Elementary
schools definition

(4+ and 4-)

Principal as focus
of study (school
management)

1st Data
Collection –
Preliminary
Interview

Focus Group –
2nd data
collection

(Interview +
Questionnaire)

3rd Data
Collection – Non-

participant
observation and

Field Diary

Content Anlysis –
BSC + Strategic

Map

Results and
discussions

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3.2 SAMPLE

From the preliminary survey, the city of Ribeirão Preto, located in São Paulo state,

was chosen, through its size, as a municipality for the investigation of public schools.

Through its possessing 600.000 habitants, the city does not suffer from small town

financing issues, neither does it have the benefits of the state capital, which can represent

two major research bias. Consequently, contact was made with the Education Department

of the city to use some basic level public schools as an object of the research conducted

herein. Four schools with the best performance (School A, School B, School C and School

D) and four worst-performing schools (School E, School F, School G and School H) were

chosen from within the same socioeconomic range, as previously explained.

In terms of school administration, the school principal is primarily responsible, as this

individual is in charge of creating a team for assisting in administrative and pedagogical

functions. The principal provides attributions to school management, coordinating human

effort and is responsible for the proper functioning of the school (Paro, 2010). In this way,

the principal determines a significant part of the school management, being responsible

for the integration coordination and results achieved by the school (Neto & Castro, 2011).

It is the principal who composes teams, coordinates human effort and assumes a high

responsibility for school management (Paro, 2010). Thus, data collection is focused on the

perspective of school principals.

3.3 DATA COLLECTION

In this research study, the technique of data collection was performed through use

of the field diary, observation, questionnaire, focus group and interview. The semi-

structured interview (Silva & Menezes, 2005) was developed from two scripts, one during

the interviews and the other after the focal group. The scripts had opened, closed, and

multiple-choice questions to gather the information needed to conduct the study. A

questionnaire was also used to evaluate the perceptions of respondents after termination

of the focus group and training. Noteworthy here is that all interview scripts underwent a

pre-test before being applied. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with each

school principal.

The focus group was used to obtain information on four subsequent encounters (Berg,

1998). Initially, all 08 principals were invited to perform this stage, but only three (School

B, School C, and School G) attended the meetings.

The objectives of the interview scripts are to transform the desired information into

questions, to motivate the interviewee toward providing answers and complete the script

(Malhotra, 2012). The questionnaire was used in the focus group stage to identify the

perception and reaction of the school principals for the applied stage.

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The non-participant observation that was used in the study consists of the effective

interaction of knowledge in the current situation of society, the group or a specific situation

(Cooper & Schindler, 2013). It can be understood as a peculiarity of observation. From the

two previous steps, interviews and focus group, two schools (one high school and one

lower school level) were identified in both stages for non-participant observation, and the

researcher spent two days in each school (School B and School G) to understand why there

existed a performance difference between them.

The field diary, which works as the investigation of affective, cognitive and social

processes in greater detail, was used in the three stages of the research study, those being

interviews, focus group and non-participant observation, where notes were taken by the

researcher (Zaccarelli & Godoy, 2005).

3.4 CLASSES AND DATA ANALYSIS

The categories used in this article were BSC and strategic map: a management

control system of organizational strategy in four perspectives (client, internal processes,

innovation & learning and financial) and the strategic map is a visual framework for the

organizational objectives of the four perspectives cited; and the specificities of public

management, understood by the particular characteristics of management, so that the

organization achieves its objectives, such as following laws, political environment and not

seeking profit, but rather the quality of services for society. The research questions used

in this study were the following: What is the adequacy of the possible use of the BSC and

strategic map? What are the characteristics of the BSC and strategic map in the strategic

management of public schools?

The data analysis technique used was content analysis, which is organized into the

following steps of pre-analysis, material exploration and treatment of results obtained and

interpretation (Neuendorf, 2002).

4 DISCUSSION RESULTS AND RESULT ANALYSIS

The interview phase described the schools and the school principals of the research

study, and also pointed out concepts about the public administration practiced, along with

the importance of the school plans, as for example, the Political Educational Project (PPP),

Teaching Plan and Classroom Plan. This phase highlighted that schools did not use the

School Development Plan (PDE) (Brazil, 2016). Some of the institutions included in the

study had already used an interview phase, when they were defined as priority schools

(schools with poor performance), as a project to improve educational levels and linked to

the transfer of financial resources from the federal government to carry out programme

activities.

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Schools received funding from the federal government through the Direct Money in

Schools Program (PDDE). The PDE was updated to Interactive PDDE, which is a

management tool for and of the public school. The schools from which principals were

interviewed received the PDDE from the federal government, the Interactive PDDE acted

much more as a criterion for receiving the resource than efficiently as strategic

management of the schools.

For strategic management, the principals that participated in the interviews pointed

out that the schools had strategic planning, mainly linked to their Political Pedagogical

Project (PPP). Most schools had only the values formalized in their PPP. Another observation

made is based on the realization of the Pedagogical Political Project as a pedagogical tool

and not as an administrative tool. Thus, when used as a tool of strategic planning, it

becomes a failure. The establishment of a specific strategic management plan would be a

breakthrough in terms of the future performance of schools.

All the principals interviewed stated that they did not know of the BSC tool and

strategic map for strategic management. Likewise, these also had never been trained in

strategic management. The conceptions of strategic management based on the viewpoint

of the principals were of the most diverse (Queiroz & Lobosco, 2015), with the following

being mentioned:

• The manager must always be ready to analyze the strategy applied and together

with the school staff and parents adapt it and improve it when necessary;

• The way that it is administered and is applied to the school needs to reach the

desired goal (good education provided for the students);

• Take care of everything, always using the strategy to improve the educational and

administrative plan over the long term;

• Flexibility to deal with diversities in every way;

• Use different paths to achieve one main goal, understanding the school as a whole;

• Set goals and prepare strategies, so that goals are achieved on a daily basis;

• The need to draw up various plans, where it is essential these do not lead to

conflict situations;

• Everything that should be done to make good progress within the school and

provide a better performance to the student;

• One applies the understanding of how to think of goals and objectives in terms of

improvement in the life of the student while at school.

The focus group presented the emergence of the BSC, its use, the theoretical content

of the BSC perspectives and their practical applications, an adaptation of perspectives and

as a tool for the public sector. Subsequently, authorization was questioned, as to how it

was granted and applied in research with the municipal schools of Ribeirão Preto/SP, while

explaining that the initial contact was through the Municipal Secretary of Education of

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Ribeirão Preto and after reading the qualification, authorization was granted through an

office for conducting the research study.

The focus group explored the application of the BSC to specific sectors and discussed

two articles that deal with the application of BSC in public schools (Canan, 2005). The

principals have raised the possibility of the management team being composed of a general

principal, an administrative coordinator and a pedagogical coordinator. They also pointed

out that, in schools, the management team learns through practice, since the Pedagogy

course does not offer subsidies for school management. The discussion of the plans was

resumed, with the proposition of the BSC as the private administrative plan enacted in the

administrative part, which includes strategic management.

The proposal of the application of the BSC to the reality of the school was presented,

respecting the particularities of each school unit. The principals pointed out that the schools

need mechanisms to strengthen the learning of the student body. Thus, the BSC would be

used as an evaluation of the organization as a whole, both in pedagogical and

administrative aspects.

The evolution of the concept of the BSC was presented with the emergence of the

strategic map, its concept, elaboration, characteristics, exemplification of the map for a

fuel distributor and its advantages. Then, the use of the strategic map in the public sector

was shown, for such, change of the perspectives concerning the name and function is

necessary, besides the alteration of the order of presentation. The authors herein have

presented cases for the use of the strategic map in the public sector and the discussion of

the strategic map of the Federal Public Ministry. Discussed also were some of the phases

of the Brazilian public administration, Pluriannual Planning (PPA), Annual Budgetary Law

(LOA) and Budgetary Guidelines Law (LDO).

A strategic map implementation case was presented in the Fulton County School

System (United States). Next, we discussed each of the strategic objectives of the

perspectives worked out for the case.

Finally, the results of the case for the application of the strategic map in the

educational system of Fulton, in the United States, were presented. Next, a case was

worked out for the public sector of the UK Ministry of Defense and the results of this

application in terms of the case cited. Following this, the outline of the BSC was made for

a public school with the following perspectives and questions:

• School community perspective (How does the school community see the school?)

(Customer perspective);

• Innovation and learning perspective (Can the school improve and generate value

for its employees, infrastructure, and technology?) (Innovation and learning perspective);

• Resource perspective (How does the school use its resources (staff, infrastructure,

and budget)? (Financial perspective);

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• Pedagogical and administrative processes perspective (What should the school do

to improve pedagogical and administrative aspects?) (Perspective of internal processes).

With this general reference, the outline of a strategic map for public schools was

presented (Figure 2). Noteworthy here is that the strategic objectives were based on Canan

(2005) and Kaplan and Norton (2004). The perspectives were as follows school community

at the top (old customer perspective), followed by the perspective of pedagogical and

administrative processes (the old perspective of innovation processes), the perspective of

learning innovation (original name was maintained) and perspective of resources (the old

financial perspective). This was divided into the political dimension and instrumental

dimension, with the more significant objective being defined by improving the quality and

efficiency of public education. Also represented was the traditional strategic map, with an

alert concerning the order of traditional presentation for the perspectives.

Figure 2 – Balanced Scorecard Framework in School Management

Source: Prepared by the authors.

Each perspective and strategic objective was discussed, Figure 3 shows the latter

draft model discussed. Each perspective is composed to the following strategic objectives:

• School community perspective: improvement of learning and mastery of the

curriculum; active parental involvement in the school board and APM; safe and enriching

climate in school; attendance of the local community with vacancies in the school;

improvement in IDEB.

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• Pedagogical and administrative processes perspective: attends to pedagogical and

political plan, attendance of the school plan and lesson plan, new didactic resources, and

library operation, quality school meals; action plan (administrative).

• Innovation and learning perspective: trained and motivated teachers and staff;

information systems; knowledge management.

• Resource perspective: availability of material resources, maintenance of

infrastructure; retention of teachers and staff; compliance with the budget.

Figure 3 – Strategic Map Framework in School Management

Source: Prepared by the author.

The BSC was drafted along with a strategic map for public schools. There exists a

need for the establishment of clear goals by the school. The necessary adaptation of each

tool was made with the adaptation of the perspectives and function of the BSC and

rearrangement of the layout of the perspectives concerning the strategic map (Kaplan &

Norton, 2000). All principals agreed on the BSC’s presenting models and a strategic map.

They agreed on the grouping of the “community” perspective containing parents and

students. Principals cited some school cases where it is necessary to call the student’s

parent to the school to discuss issues of student indiscipline, and that often parents do not

take responsibility for misbehavior and blame the school.

In regards to the application of the BSC in the public sector, mention was given to it

as a possible means of producing more explicit ideas concerning the administrative part,

thus allowing the manager to take a general look at the organization in order to accomplish

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the strategy (Maccarone et al., 2014; Rahiminia & Karzogar, 2016; Souza & Cordeiro,

2010, Younis & Knight, 2014). The principle also justified the search for the proposed

objectives and that, with the BSC, the official plan will not be left “in the drawer.” On the

understanding of the application of the strategic map in the public sector, the principles

stated that the strategy is more transparent with the use of the strategic map because it

shows the cause and effect relationship of the objectives and draws the actions that will

be sought. They pointed out the importance of the strategic map in the implementation.

In terms of the possible use of the BSC and strategic map in the school setting,

management stated that through the BSC, it will be possible to follow a long-term goal

planning, and not having to deal with every problem as an emergency issue Northcott and

Taulapapa (2012). The principles also cited the adequacy of the names and functions of

the BSC perspectives and the reordering of the presentation of the perspectives of the

strategic map. The constraints on the use of strategic management in the public sector

were lack of financial resources, political factors, wrong people in wrong positions,

legislation (old laws), lack of technical personnel, lack of professionalism and the issue of

indication through a political factor, without considering technical factors of knowledge

(Mcadam, Hazlett & Casey, 2005). The benefits of using strategic management in the public

sector have been the alignment in management, long-term look, which brings

improvements to strategic management (Kaplan & Bower, 1999). The benefit of the holistic

view of the school was also highlighted.

The specificities of school management for the use of strategic management were

the focus on student satisfaction and learning, goals more oriented to the pedagogic, while

they should include both administrative and pedagogical aspects in strategic management

(Schobel & Scholey, 2012). A questionnaire was used to evaluate the reaction of the

principals in the focus group. Overall, the focus group was evaluated highly by the

participating school

principals.

During the non-participant observation phase, identification was made of the main

activities performed by the principal in their daily routine. The previous phase of the focus

group study was discussed. The principal said that this phase was positive. After applying

the phase, the focus group thought about how it could apply the strategic management in

the school. The two principals pointed out that they need strategic management to think

long-term and stop the “put out the fire” situation in which the school currently functioned,

with the proposal of more considerable planning, organization and laying out of

organizational routines and objectives.

The principal of School B stated that he had not yet had time to study and reflect on

the focus group. He said he wanted to print all the material to ponder on it. He spoke about

the current situation of problem-solving (fire extinguisher) and also stated that it was a

tool that he did not know and that, if implemented, could bring improvements. The principal

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of School G pointed out that the training helped her to think of the school as a whole, as

well as produce more appropriate planning with the teachers and students and in fact bring

an end to the so-called “putting out fires” situation. She also mentioned the moment of

conversation with the other principal, in the sense of building collective knowledge and

learning new concepts, such as the strategic map, addressing both the administrative and

the pedagogical aspects, with a long-term vision.

In general, the principals interviewed had little knowledge about strategic

management, although they did formulate some strategic actions intuitively or that were

contained within the political-pedagogical projects. Through the training and focus group,

the principals began to gain more significant knowledge on some topics within the strategic

literature. The restrictive factors of the use of strategic management in the public sector

and public school circulate around political factors. The potential factors are communication

and participation. The BSC and the strategic map appear as viable within the public sector

and public schools. However, both need to be adapted for the best use possible. These

adaptations would be changing the name of the perspectives, changing the function of the

perspective, rearranging the order of presentation of the strategic map perspectives. The

evidence found for the specificities were the goals principally directed toward the

pedagogical, lack of personnel, public school that aims at the satisfaction of society,

restriction of resources, participation of the school community in the decisions, influence

of the environment in which the school is inserted and influence of political factors, mainly

of the municipality.

The interview step contributed to greater knowledge of the routines and peculiarities

of the schools and their respective principals. The focus group phase served to obtain the

data for the general outline of the BSC and strategic map. The non-participant observation

phase contributed to ascertain the way in which each principal deals, potentially and in

practice, with the management of the municipal public school. In this way, it was possible

through using due adaptations, to present the BSC and consequently, the strategic map

as tools that could be used to confront and plan the contingent environment in which the

schools are inserted.

4.1 REVIEWING THE BACKGROUND THEORY AND SINTHETYZING THE FINDINGS

This study helps to connect the strategic cycle, understanding the relationship of

planning steps, along with implementation and evaluation (Mintzberg, Lampel & Ahlstrand,

1999; Staples & Dalrymple, 2016). It is understood that strategic management is of real

assistance to the present and the future of public organizations, as well as having a positive

effect on the participation of educational players and the school community, as it increases

within the investigated scenario (George, 2017; Poister, 2010).

The strategy may have a positive role in the plans of public schools, often marked by

the absence of developed administrative programs (Favoreu, Carassus & Maurel, 2016;

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Johnsen, 2015; Mcmahon & Phillimore, 2013). The leadership role for the development of

strategic management in schools is a crucial point, marked by the predominant role of

school management decisions (Kayuni, 2017). Emerging strategies are also a difficulty in

public schools, which makes it harder to implement certain actions (Oloruntoba, 2013).

As shown in the literature, the adoption of strategic planning can really improve the

relationship of the public school with its environment, understanding new situations that

can change the established course of action. Furthermore, the setting of participatory

strategic plans can alter the development of changes in the school scenario and in the

improvement of administrative and pedagogical performance (Mawela, Twinomurinzi &

Ochara, 2017; Pasha & Poister, 2017; Rinaldi, 2016).

The operationalization of the BSC in the school reality, through the understanding of

new dimensions and perspectives, is another topic for study in the research agenda of the

strategy (Bryson, Edwards & Van Slyke, 2018). The BSC also helps to layout the strategic

objectives and evaluate the results achieved, thus constituting the tool that is able to

incorporate the relationship between areas and in the holistic view of the organization

(Mintzberg, Lampel & Ahlstrand, 1999; Staples & Dalrymple, 2016).

The financial part of public schools is still heavily tied up, depending on the guidance

of the municipal secretaries of education. So, the inclusion of new perspectives for strategic

management are particularly important, since it can be a tool that suits the reality of the

school. Another point is that the tool attests to the flexibility in model adaptations, which

is in line with literature and established by Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 2000, Maccarone et

al., 2014, Rahiminia and Karzogar, 2016, Souza and Cordeiro, 2010 and Younis and Knight,

2014.

Another consistent point in line with the literature was the importance of BSC in the

management of the organization itself (ENAP, 2014; FGV, 2016), understanding the

development of new organizational routines, new communication channels, relationship of

the cause and effect concerning strategic objectives and the importance of participatory

strategic processes (Kaplan & Norton, 2000; Maar, Schiuma & Neely, 2004; Norreklit,

2000; Queiroz & Lobosco, 2015; Quezada et al., 2009). At this point, it was important

to elaborate not only the BSC, but also the strategic map together with the school

principals.

Once again, the research carried out brings a new topic to the discussion (Bryson,

Edwards & Van Slyke, 2018), this is noted through the reality of the Brazilian public sector

and Brazilian public schools, which is a differential to be analyses. Most studies are

international, for this reason the importance of studies addressing the reality of Brazil exist.

For example, there are different approaches to the use of BSC in the international

public sector, such as accountability system (Bobe, Mihret & Obo, 2017), stakeholder

management (Mcadam, Hazlett & Casey, 2005), strategic management system

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(Dimitropoulos, Kosmas & Douvis, 2017), performance management (Grigoroudis,

Orfanoudaki & Zopounidis, 2012), evaluation of indicators (Bracci, Maran & Inglis, 2017)

and financial management of educational organizations (Schobel & Scholey, 2012).

In Brazil, studies are aimed at federal public agencies (Felix, Felix & Timothy, 2011)

or with more general approaches to strategy and BSC (Mizrahi & Canen, 2012). This study

has the importance of focusing on the specific reality of public school, developing of the

BSC and the strategic map from the reading of the directors that are participating in the

research.

In addition, the advantages brought forth in the literature on BSC and the strategic

map were identified from the design of the frameworks (Bobe, Mihret & Obo, 2017,

Northcott & Taulapapa, 2012, Sutheewasinnon, Hoque & Nyamori, 2016) as a tool for

participatory management, strategic alignment and performance management.

Finally, some of the main findings of the study are summarized, relating to the

theoretical background performed (Frame 2).

Topic Findings

Strategic planning in public sector

There is plenty of room for the development

of strategic management in the public

sector. Implementation and evaluation

remain challenges in the area.

The Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard and the strategic

map are useful, flexible and integrative

tools for the management of organizations

BSC in public sector

There is a great space for the application of

the BSC and the strategic map in the

Brazilian public sector. The tools need to be

aligned with the reality of each object, as in

the case of the elaboration of the

instruments by the school directors

Frame 2 – Schematic framework of the findings

Source: Prepared by the authors.

5 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The paper developed herein may generate several views and new ideas for the use

of strategic planning in school management, i.e., it will provide new tools for public

managers for development in their work, especially in the management of public schools.

The first lesson learned, in this case, is that all public-school managers were not

aware of the strategic planning tools, while using PPDE intuitively and without prior

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knowledge of the tool, including the BSC which was later presented and developed through

their participation.

Subsequently, using interviews, focus groups and other methods, it was noted that

the BSC is a fundamental and extremely important tool for school management, while

creating a model adapted for its use in 4 adapted perspectives of its reality: School

community perspective – How does the school community see the school? – (Customer

perspective); Innovation and learning perspective – Can the school improve and generate

value for its employees, infrastructure, and technology? – (Innovation and learning

perspective); Resource perspective How does the school use its resources with staff,

infrastructure, and budget? – (Financial perspective); Pedagogical and administrative

processes perspective – What should the school do to improve pedagogical and

administrative aspects? – (Perspective of internal processes). In this way, a strategic map

can be created for the management of public schools, a fundamental tool for the good

management of any organization (Figure 3).

Finally, after the implementation of the research project, there was an observed need

for school managers to acquire more knowledge about strategic planning in school

management, to develop and adapt the more general strategic planning for their school.

In addition, one of the limiting factors pointed out for the use of the BSC as a tool of

strategic planning is the political factor, with its suffering of constant changes all the BSC

created can undergo drastic changes.

Therefore, we have achieved our goal by developing a framework and identifying the

vision of the principal in strategic management with BSC and strategic mapping in the

public sector. The perspective of the strategic management for the principal was seen as

involving the definition of goals and objectives, predominantly to improve the life quality

of the student.

The vision of the principal on the application of strategic management with BSC and

the strategic map in the public sector indicates the possibility of its application, provided

that the model is adapted to the reality of the public school. The framework involved the

idea of long-term planning using goals, from the elaboration of a tool for the administrative

part that seeks long-term goals, with structured planning by the BSC and a comprehensive

view of the school. Furthermore, this tool would complement the pedagogical part and from

the strategic map, a visual picture of the cause and effect relationship between the

proposed objectives would be indicated.

From among the results, the authors highlight the appropriateness of the model for

the use of BSC and the strategic map for the specific approach of school organizations.

Among the necessary adaptations changes are made to the name of the perspectives; the

perspective of the strategic map, with the following proposal: school community at the top,

followed by the perspective of pedagogical and administrative processes, the perspective

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of innovation and learning and the perspective of resources at the bottom. Noteworthy

here is that the characteristics of the BSC and the strategic map in the strategic

management of public schools, before the research study, were unknown by the

participating school principals.

The Principals understood the importance of strategic management and the use of a

tool such as the BSC and strategic map to improve school management activities, and the

move away from the current situations of only solving problems. Through the instituted

fieldwork, the characteristics of the BSC and the strategic map were understood as being

tools for the elaboration and implementation of the long-term strategy. Similarly, the

principals elaborated a visual framework that points out the relationship between the

strategic objectives

This article is useful for the academic community, public managers, and public-school

principals by providing the design of BSC frameworks and the strategic map that can be

adapted to other public organizations and public schools. Thus, new instruments are

available for strategy designs, which can help improve the performance of school units,

both in pedagogical and administrative aspects.

It is not yet understood how the adoption of the BSC and the strategic map would

happen in practice in terms of school organizations, as there are no studies in this sense.

From scientific studies, it is known that both tools have several benefits when used in the

public sector. Therefore, advantages in the application of BSC and the strategic map in

these organizations have been noted. This research study fits into this context, as it is the

first initiative of its kind provided for municipal public schools in using strategies that

improve participation and performance.

One aspect that can be taken from this study is that there is a lot of room for the

development of strategic management in the public sector, especially in public schools. In

addition, the importance of knowing the reality of the object of study for the development

of valid options for organizational innovation is of the upmost importance. Consequently,

the frameworks developed are valid in the way they were developed. This research study

brought detailed exposure of BSC development and strategic map, as well as the

relationship with the relevant literature. Therefore, this advances knowledge of the area

by indicating how school organizations can improve their performance.

The limitation of the study is found in the low participation of school principals in the

focus group phase, sampling was small for a broad perspective of the model, but it does,

however, provide a basis for understanding the variables involved in the strategic planning

process using BSC in educational public sector organizations, and the lack of quantitative

approach, when laying out the models proposed. Furthermore, we revealed two situations

that are still under explored by academics: the strategic planning approach in educational

organizations and the BSC approach in Brazilian organizations (theoretical).

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The propositions for future studies, including these contributions: development of a

specific BSC practical model for educational organizations, quantitative approach for

improvement of frameworks, new research studies applying the theme in other regions in

Brazil and in the other countries, application of an adaptive BSC model in other areas of

public administration, such as public health, city development and public security.

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CULT UR A L DI V ER SIT Y IN ET HIOPI A
Between appreciation and suppression

Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

A b st r Act. The aim of this collection of papers is to contribute to the discussion concerning
the compatibility of cultural diversity with the concepts of human rights and development in the
light of certain experiences in Ethiopia. Since the overthrow of the military and socialist regime
in 1991, Ethiopia has undergone enormous changes with respect to the political process, devel-
opment efforts and international relations. The introduction of ethnic federalism promises the
equality of all of its more than eighty ethnic groups, and cultural diversity is publicly celebrated.
However, it appears that the agenda of fast national development has led to apparent conflicts
between continuity and change, as well as between tradition and modernity. This collection of
papers highlights some contradictions and inconsistencies within Ethiopian laws and policies, as
well as clashes between certain policies and particular cultural values and practices at the local
level. The implementation of some of these policies caused resistance on the part of the local
communities against certain – from their perspective – new developments, and this resistance led
in turn to different forms of pressure applied by the government and non-governmental institu-
tions to ensure compliance. The individual papers provide insights into local perspectives, expe-
riences and reactions to perceived pressure and induced cultural change, ranging from smooth
transition to new forms of life, to confusion and reluctance or partial involvement, to negotiated
compromise and strict legal enforcement.

INTRODUCT ION

The title of the 2011 meetings of the German Anthropological Association (GAA) was
“Wa(h)re Kultur”, ‘true’ or ‘commodity culture’.1 The wordplay between ‘wahr’ and
‘Ware’ referred to the increasing popularity of ‘local cultures’ in a time of expanding
globalisation, including the revitalisation of certain traditions as a means of gaining
international recognition and appreciation. Internationally, cultural diversity is being
promoted as a ‘common heritage of humanity’ that ‘should be cherished and preserved
for the benefit of all’ (UNESCO 2005). The GAA meetings were designed to investigate
whether the new popularity of culture and cultural diversity should be attributed to
diversity as a new global norm, or whether it is actually a means of self-marketing for
local communities.

The call for papers inspired us to think about current developments in Ethiopia.
More specifically, we felt the need to explore the seemingly conflicting projects of up-
holding cultural diversity and ensuring the continuity of traditions on the one hand,

1 See the conference website (http://www.tagung2011.dgv-net.de).

Paideuma 58:153–166 (2012)

154 Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

and promoting social transformation, and attaining modernity and a certain level of
homogeneity on the other. The various papers in this collection point to the presence
of manifest contradictions or inconsistencies in policy and practice. With the aim of
providing a broader picture, this introduction sets out with the analysis of the policy
context, particularly the relevant provisions in the constitution of Ethiopia and the cul-
tural policy of the country.

ETH IOP I A ’S CULT UR A L POL IC Y: CONT EXT AND D I L EMMA S

After the overthrow of the Derg military regime in 1991, the new democratic govern-
ment reorganised Ethiopia on the basis of ethnic federalism, giving full recognition
to the autonomy of ethnic groups.2 Following a form of governance that was highly
centralised and regimes that tried to emphasise the cultural unity of the country by
focusing only on the highland Christian ‘great tradition’ (Clapham 2002:11), the fed-
eral reorganisation brought promising perspectives, especially for the inhabitants of the
former periphery. Having been neglected and even exploited by former regimes, now
their rights were to be respected and representation was to be granted to all groups in
the government.3

What constitutes an ethnic group was defined in Article 39,5 of the new constitu-
tion of 1995:

A ‘Nation, Nationality or People’ for the purpose of this Constitution, is a group of peo-
ple who have or share large measure of a common culture or similar customs, mutual
intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related identities, a common psychologi-
cal make-up, and who inhabit an identifiable, predominantly contiguous territory (http://
www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/et00000_html).

The new constitution grants respect and equality to all nations, nationalities and peo-
ples. In Article 39 the ‘Rights of Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ are declared, fo-

2 The term ‘Derg’ (literally ‘committee’ in Ge’ez, an ancient South Semitic language today still used
in the liturgy of the Ethiopian Church) is commonly used to refer to the military regime that ruled
Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987 under the leadership of Major Mengistu Haile Mariam. He continued
in power until in 1991 a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPDRF), finally overthrew his regime. The EPRDF, actually an alliance of four parties, is still
in power today.

3 For a critical discussion of Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism, see, for example, Abbink (1997), Turton
(2006b). While ethnic differentiation as a main organising principle has often been criticised for be-
ing artificial and fuelling ethnic conflicts, Ethiopia’s federalism has also been condemned for placing
all power in the executive, while the Council of People’s Representatives (one of two chambers of the
Federal Parliamentary Assembly, with one representative from each ethnic group) does not have any
right of initiative (Abbink 1997). David Turton sees Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism at risk of failure ‘not
because it is too ethnic, but because it is not sufficiently federal’ (2006a:29).

C U LT U R A L DI V E R SI T Y 155

cusing mainly on two issues: the ‘unconditional right to self-determination, including
the right to secession’ (Article 39,1) and ‘the right [of a nation, nationality or people] to
speak, to write and to develop its own language; to express, to develop and to promote
its culture; and to preserve its history’ (Article 39,2) (http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/
et00000_html).

In line with Article 39,2, mentioned above, the Ethiopian government designed a
‘cultural policy’ which was endorsed in 1997. In this policy the government clearly dis-
tances itself from previous governments, which had allegedly followed a discriminatory
policy by seeding enmity among peoples and promoting the domination of the culture
of one nation or nationality at the expense of others.4

To overcome the abuse and exploitation of one ethnic group by another, all cul-
tures, defined as ‘the modes of life, beliefs, traditions and the whole set of the material
and spiritual wealth which characterise a certain society as distinct from others’, should
be considered equal.5 This is most clearly expressed in the first objective of the cultural
policy, where it is said that the main aim is

to enable the languages, heritage history, handicraft, fine arts, oral literature, traditional
lore, beliefs and other cultural features of the various nations, nationalities and peoples of
Ethiopia to receive equal recognition and respect; to preserve and conserve these and pass
them over to future generations.6

This paragraph gives the impression that all cultural practices deserve preservation. But
reading further down, the fifth objective states that the existing cultures in Ethiopia
should ideally be developed ‘in harmony with modern education, science, and technol-
ogy’, and, according to the seventh objective, ‘traditional harmful practices should be
eliminated step by step’.7

The next section, entitled “Contents of the policy”, specifies some of these issues,
for example, under number 13, where it is said that any tradition that would ‘cause
poverty, deter to development, violate human rights by causing physical or psychologi-
cal harm or defy social values’ should be eliminated.8 In the section “General strategies
for the implementation of the policy”, point 2.13, it is suggested that research should
be carried out to identify ‘erroneous conceptions about women and the harmful tradi-
tional practices’.9 In the same section, point 2.15, it is finally stated that ‘all studies and
research activities in the cultural sector shall be directed to suit the country’s develop-

4 Cultural policy (cp), Introduction (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/

fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)

5 Cp, Introduction (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)
6 Cp, Objective 1 (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)
7 Cp, Objective 5 and 7 (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)
8 Cp, Contents of the policy, 13 (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)
9 Cp, General strategies for the implementation of the policy, 2.13 (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/

fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)

156 Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

ment endeavours and will be supervised to make sure that they are carried out in ac-
cordance with professional ethics’.10

In day to day life one can witness some of the efforts being made to achieve ‘di-
versity in unity’, which is not only proclaimed in the cultural policy: the diverse cultures
and their languages, costumes and dances are celebrated daily on Ethiopian Television
(ETV), which broadcasts programs not only in Amharic, the national language, but
also in the languages of other ethnic groups, such as Oromo, Tigray, Afar and Somali.
Increased efforts are made to provide primary schooling in local languages.11 During
‘cultural festivals’ people from the remotest areas are brought together to perform and
celebrate on stage. During so-called ‘cultural days’ in kindergartens, schools and insti-
tutions of higher learning, children and students dress up in their own or other peo-
ple’s traditional dress to celebrate Ethiopia’s cultural diversity. In the same context, a
commercialisation of culture can also be observed, especially in the areas of the folk-
lorisation of culture through dances and music being broadcast on television, radio or
cultural shows, and in the promotion of ‘cultural’ tourism.

On the other hand, also clearly stated in the cultural policy, Ethiopia is said to be
striving for a rapid development. In its five year “Growth and Transformation Plan”,
the major goals to be achieved include economic growth and major transformations in
the agricultural sector, industrial growth in different areas, investment in infrastruc-
ture (telecommunication, roads and railway), renewable energy (mainly hydropower,
wind, bio-fuels and geothermal), as well as a focus on extractive industries (gold, oil and
others). The plan projects growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 11 to 15 per cent
per year from 2010 to 2015.12

These development plans must at least to some extent be understood in the global
context, and especially in the context of Ethiopia’s efforts to achieve the eight UN mil-
lennium goals which are based on the UN millennium declaration as signed in 2000,
the major goals of which are to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environ-
mental degradation, and discrimination against women.13 The economic development
being promoted in Ethiopia thus includes social and cultural development as well. This
means, for example, that certain traditions or cultural practices that are considered
‘backward’ or ‘harmful’ are being fought against, that gender equality and ‘education

10 Cp, General strategies for the implementation of the policy, 2.15 (http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/
fact%20file/a-z/culture.htm)

11 See Seidel and Moritz (2009) on the multi-lingual approach to education.
12 For the complete Growth and Transformation Plan, see http://photos.state.gov/libraries/

ethiopia/427391/PDF%20files/GTP%20At-A-Glance .
13 The eight millennium development goals are: ‘1) to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; 2) to

achieve universal primary education; 3) to promote gender equality and empower women; 4) to re-
duce child mortality; 5) to improve maternal health; 6) to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other dis-
eases; 7) to ensure environmental sustainability; 8) to develop a global partnership for development’
(http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/about/en/index.html).

C U LT U R A L DI V E R SI T Y 157

for all’ are being highly promoted and that traditional livelihood strategies are being
replaced by modern agriculture to achieve local and national food security.

A question that comes up immediately is how development and the preservation of
local indigenous cultures can be combined. Related to this is the problem of who should
decide which practices are harmful and should be fought against, which are worth keep-
ing and which should be developed ‘in harmony with modern science and technology’.
And how would that be practically possible? Ethiopia is definitely not the only coun-
try that is facing such dilemmas and clashes with reality. Contradictions between the
interests of the local people and national economic interests, or between traditional
practices, e.g. local cultural ideals, and national law and international human rights can
be expected. In their volume “Cultural diversity, heritage and human rights”, William
Logan, Michele Langfield and Nic Craith point out:

Human rights are often evoked when claims in favour of cultural diversity and heritage
(particularly intangible) are at stake, but such claims are fraught with contradictions and
inconsistencies. For instance, often groups claim a cultural practice as a human right, even
though others may claim that the practice contravenes laws and or human rights instru-
ments (2009:14).

The idea of ‘cultural rights’, i.e. the right to live according to one’s own traditions, as a
form of human right as declared in the 2003 UNESCO “Convention for the safeguard-
ing of intangible heritage” especially clashes with cultural practices that contradict
other human rights that protect the rights of less powerful individuals, such as ‘women
and children, stateless persons and the weak or destitute’ (quoted in Logan, Langfield,
and Craith 2009:14). The Convention tries to minimise abuses of ‘cultural rights’ by
stating that only cultural heritage that is ‘compatible with existing human rights instru-
ments, as well as with the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups
and individuals, and of sustainable development’ should be protected (Logan, Lang-
field, and Craith 2009:14). Nevertheless it has remained an issue for general debate as
to how far respecting cultural rights should go. As the case studies edited by Langfield,
Logan, and Craith (2009) reveal, since local concepts of what lies at the core of a given
culture vary, one can expect that solutions will not be easy.

THE R E SE A RCH AR EA

The contributions in this collection are all case studies based on research in the South-
ern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). The SNNPR is one of nine
largely ethnicity-based federal states of contemporary Ethiopia. In addition Ethiopia
has two autonomous City Administrations (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa). The SNNPR
is unique in that it consists of 56 different ethnic groups brought together based on
physical proximity rather than on common ethnic identity.

158 Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

The SNNPR and its zones (http://www.mursi.org/images/map-05.gif/image_view_fullscreen)

Many of the groups in the SNNPR, especially those living in the very south in the South
Omo Zone, are known for their ‘traditional’ lifestyles that have been left unimpeded by
globalisation and modernity until very recently. It is only in the last one or two decades
that newly built roads, the introduction of markets, electricity, mobile networks, TV,
community radio and other traces of modernity have brought formerly remote groups
into contact with different forms of life, though until today most members of the of-
ficially acknowledged sixteen ethnic groups in South Omo still rely on agro-pastoralism
and adhere to their cultural practices and traditional beliefs.

Many tourists are attracted by the cultural diversity of the area, and in the last
one or two decades the number of tourists travelling to SNNPR, especially to South
Omo Region, has increased significantly.14 On many web pages of Ethiopian and foreign
tour agents the peoples of South Omo are praised for their uniqueness, but the official
website of the SNNPR Culture and Tourism Bureau also promises an exceptional expe-

14 According to the homepage of the SNNPR Culture and Tourism Bureau, in 1999 61374 domestic
and foreign tourists travelled to the region; in 2008 the number was nearly five times higher, namely
332,863 (http://www.southtourism.gov.et/Home/tourism.html).

C U LT U R A L DI V E R SI T Y 159

rience for tourists, claiming that the ‘environment is harsh and wild but the people are
welcoming and their life styles and tradition is untouched and unmixed for centuries’.15

The SNNPR today is also one of the regions in which major national development
plans are localised. In the last decade, major investments have been made in the area of
infrastructure (asphalt roads, telecommunication, public transport, health services), ed-
ucation (building of new schools and the enrolment of children), and the modernisation
of agriculture (for example, through the introduction of fertilisers, irrigation systems
and modern forms of cattle breeding). Generally the SNNPR is open for investment,
and the official homepage of the SNNPR advertises its land and people, saying that
there is a ‘chance of getting land within short period’.16 In South Omo, more investment
plans, both national and international, are currently being put into effect. These include
pastoral development (ranches, introduction of camels), cash-crop production (sugar
cane, cotton, sesame and other crops) and other irrigation projects, mainly along the
Omo River. Two other major projects are the construction of the Gibe III dam, which is
intended to produce electricity for local use as well as for export, and the exploitation of
oil by international companies (Africa Oil, Tullow, and Agriterra), which are at present
exploring for oil in the very south of Ethiopia.17 The plan to transform one of the remot-
est areas of Ethiopia into a fast developing location was announced by the Ethiopian
Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, on the occasion of the 13th Pastoralist Day celebrated
in Jinka, the capital city of South Omo Zone, in January 2011. In his speech, the Prime
Minister expressed the determination of the Ethiopian government to develop the re-
mote south, an area, he said, ‘known as backward in terms of civilization’ (Meles 2011).
The investment plans would help to improve the lives of the pastoralist people by mod-

15 Http://www.southtourism.gov.et/Home/Destinations/ActualDestinations/Jinka.html.
This so-called ‘cultural tourism’ and its effects on the images of local people in Ethiopia and the

world have been critically assessed by Jon Abbink (1999) and Turton (2004). Tourism so far has
brought only little profit to the local people who are being paid for photographs and who sell some of
their personal items to the tourists.

16 See http://www.debubomozoneti.gov.et/Tourism_Parks&Hotels.htm.
17 See, for example, the official report, “Environmental and social impact assessment executive sum-

mary”, of the Gibe III hydroelectric power project (http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/
afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Gibe%20III_EIA_%20Executive%20Summary%20
EBJK%2006-08-08 ). For information on the planned agricultural investment in South Omo,
see the report by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (http://assets.
survivalinternational.org/documents/194/SouthOmoAgrInvestmentAreas ). For information on
the exploration of oil, see, for example, the website of Africa Oil (http://www.africaoilcorp.com/s/
Ethiopia.asp?ReportID=352253). Such projects have also been widely mentioned in the Ethiopian
Press, for example, in articles on planned sugarcane factories in South Omo (http://allafrica.com/
stories/201106281072.html), or on oil exploration (http://www.tigraionline.com/articles/article08017.
html). For critical views, see, for example, a report published by the Oakland Institute (http://www.
oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/Land_Deal_Brief_Ethiopia_Omo_Valley ).
Also, see Turton (2010) and websites of activist groups such as Survival International (http://www.
survivalinternational.org/tribes/omovalley) for a critical assessment of the impact of the aforemen-
tioned dam on the lives of the local people, who depend on flood retreat cultivation.

160 Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

ernising cattle herding and agriculture. The spirit of his speech was a clear emphasis
on development and participation, but he did not mention how this would allow local
cultures to continue to exist in their diversity.

The focus of the following papers is to examine the discrepancy between the ex-
pressed wish to respect and enhance individual groups, the need to unify them in a
nation state with common values and goals (some of which may not even necessarily be
of Ethiopian origin but obviously relate to international or global ideas), and the agenda
of the rapid development of contemporary Ethiopia.

LOCA L ADA P TAT ION AND R E S I S TANCE TO CHANGE

As explained above, the people of the SNNPR, especially those living in remote villag-
es, have been experiencing more and more changes in the last two decades. Innovations
aiming at fostering local cultures (e.g. cultural festivals, the use of local language as a
medium of instruction, the promotion of tourism) have been embraced by local com-
munities, and novel concepts such as formal education have also been partly accepted.
But still many people tend to resist change when they suspect that the continuity and in-
tegrity of their cultures and lifestyles are being threatened by it. The forms of resis tance
range from partial acceptance to hidden disagreement, withdrawal, and open rejection.

Presently more and more tension is arising between new laws or policies and the
particular customs of local communities. As already noted, with the introduction of
ethnic federalism in 1991, equal rights were granted to all ethnic groups in Ethiopia.
One of the first steps was to empower the different ethnic groups by de-centralising the
state and forming nine regional states with several subunits (zones, districts and wards
or peasant associations). According to Article 46 of the constitution, the regional states
were delimited ‘on the basis of the settlement patterns, language, identity and consent
of the peoples concerned’ (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995). By redefin-
ing ethnic and territorial boundaries and by granting a specific status and certain rights
and privileges to individual communities within the Ethiopian context, some groups
were granted regional status based on their population or territorial size, while others,
though equally numerous, were grouped together and have to share the same region. In
Article 47 of the constitution the nine states are listed, SNNPR being the seventh. The
same article grants the right of any nation, nationality or people (to be understood as
‘ethnic group’) to secede at any time and to form its own state following a certain proce-
dure. The inconsistency with which Article 46 has been applied has caused discussion
and conflicts, the Sidama being one group that is striving for an independent regional
state.18

18 See the contribution by Ambaye Ogato in this collection.

C U LT U R A L DI V E R SI T Y 161

Other legal interventions include the prohibition of certain practices such as
hunting, which has forced societies to seek new livelihood strategies.19 The labelling
of numerous practices as ‘harmful’ and awareness-raising programs by governmental
organisations (GOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on this issue have
been forcing many societies to redefine their concepts of gender and gender relations,
aesthetics, and also ritual practices – in some cases affecting core values of their cultural
identity.20

The intensification of modern education and the increasing pressure to send all
children to school leads to different problems. First, children’s contributions to the
subsistence economy collide with school programs during certain seasons. Secondly,
education means that socialisation is to some extent being taken out of the hands of
families and local communities, especially when children attend school outside their
home communities. This carries the risk that children identify more with the lifestyle
and ideals of urban environments than with their original culture and as a consequence
give up core cultural values. This may cause a gap between the generations and can lead
to conflict between communities and government.21

The suspicion and also resistance of local communities to change has led to even
more pressure from different sources (such as interventions from government, NGOs
and missionaries) and has taken different forms. During awareness-raising programs
and continuous meetings organised with government representatives and community
elders, as well as in the formal educational system, traditional practices are questioned
and at the same time new ideas introduced. Missionary schools in some regions have
led to widespread conversions, while protestant missionaries forbid many local practices
(Böll, Kaplan, and Martínez d’Alòs-Moner 2005). Finally, there are even cases where
adherence to traditional values or practices has subjected individuals to imprisonment.22

THE C A SE S T U D I E S

The case studies in this collection provide different examples of how people experience
the implementation of national law and policies at the local level and how they react and
also resist changes that seem to threaten their cultural continuity.

In his paper “The revival and reconstruction of tradition and ethnic politics in
Sidama”, Ambaye Ogato shows how the Sidama are trying to revitalise certain traditions
in order to underpin their common identity and history. As the most populous ethnic
group in the SNNPR, the Sidama have been demanding regional status, i.e. to be given

19 See the contribution by Fabienne Braukmann in this collection.
20 See the contributions by Shauna LaTosky and Kate Nialla Fayers-Kerr in this collection.
21 See the contibutions by Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville in this collection.
22 See the contribution by Thubauville in this collection.

162 Susanne Epple and Sophia Thubauville

their own region based on ethnicity. So far this has been denied. The paper argues
that criteria used to draw regional boundaries and to depict certain ethnic groups as
‘nations’, and others as ‘nationalities’ or ‘peoples’, have not been applied consistently
and clearly. This has led to confusion, protests and also competition among different
groups over rights, privileges and resources, and, as in the case of the Sidama, to an
emphasis on ethnic identity and distinctiveness from neighbouring groups. Ogato’s pa-
per is therefore an important contemporary document of this cultural revival by a local
anthropologist.

Our own papers give examples of how people resist formal education when they
feel that their cultural integrity is being threatened. Susanne Epple shows that the
Bashada, a small agro-pastoral group living in South Omo Zone, deal with the intro-
duction of formal education actively by discussing and influencing the way in which
education is provided to their children. Fearing that their children are not being treated
respectfully and taken care of properly in government institutions, the Bashada have
long resisted sending any of their children to school. Since conditions have changed and
schools have been built closer to their homes in the past one or two decades, they have
become more cooperative with the government, and more and more children are being
educated. However, when core values of their culture, such as the continuation of their
lineages, are under threat, they do not hesitate to take their children out of school again.

The Maale (also Male, Malle) of the South Omo Zone do not generally resist edu-
cation, but they do experience clashes in culture when married females are not allowed
to go into seclusion as brides – a central part of the female rite of passage into adult-
hood. Sophia Thubauville explains how bride seclusion is recently being disturbed as
girls who have been attending school are not allowed to leave for the time of their seclu-
sion. This has lately led to conflicts between families and the police, and might result,
on the long run, in a change to this initiation rite, as well as in the loss of important
cultural knowledge that is transmitted to brides during their seclusion.

These two papers show that the government’s efforts to achieve access to educa-
tion for all clearly collide with local perceptions of gender roles and safe socialisation, as
well as with the felt need to continue certain practices that lie at the core of one’s own
culture. After a time of confrontational encounters with police and government officials
who prevent children from being forcefully taken out of school by their parents, the
Bashada seem to have entered a phase of negotiation and compromise with the govern-
ment, while the Maale are presently experiencing forced police intervention in cases
where female students stay away from school to undergo bridal seclusion.

The Haro, a small group of formerly hippopotamus hunters living on Gidicho
Island in Lake Abaya, have been under pressure to adapt to new laws for decades. In
her paper “Marginalised hunters?”, Fabienne Braukmann shows how the Haro have
been very inventive in their economic and livelihood strategies since game hunting and
the possession of firearms were prohibited and penalised by previous Ethiopian govern-

C U LT U R A L DI V E R SI T Y 163

ments. The Haro were greatly affected by these prohibitions and had to develop new
livelihood strategies. Their example shows the ability of a small, rather marginalised
group to change, but at the same time reveals that adaptation can also mean that cul-
tural practices that lie at the heart of a given society may continue to exist hidden from
the public to avoid legal confrontation – as the Haro still secretly hunt hippopotamus on
a smaller scale. This also exemplifies the inconsistency with which wildlife issues have
been treated: while the local communities were not allowed to hunt anymore, wealthy
foreigners were given special licenses to do so.

The papers by Shauna LaTosky and Kate Fayers-Kerr both focus on the Mursi
(also Mun), a small agro-pastoral group of the South Omo Zone, which is best known
for the clay discs which women insert into their lower lips. Both authors discuss the
issue of so-called ‘traditional harmful practices’, showing the obvious contradictions
between local identity and core cultural values on the one hand, and international and
national concepts of human rights and development on the other. In “The ‘miranda’ and
the ‘cultural archive’”, Fayers-Kerr explains the lip-plates of women within the wider
context of body painting and the people’s generally earth-centred habitus. The labelling
of the lip-plates as harmful practice and their prohibition has led to mixed reactions
among the Mursi. In her paper “A form of self-harm?”, LaTosky provides a detailed in-
sight into the world of Mursi women and the current local discourse on the wearing of
lip-plates, which to some extent seems to be marked by confusion. The pressure caused
by awareness-raising programs and threats by the government to imprison girls with
fresh wounds seems to give rise to mixed feelings, causing some women to cling even
more strongly to tradition, while others are deciding to have their lips sewn.

The different case studies in this collection show the variety of possible responses
to the various forms of tension between state policy and particular cultures in Ethiopia.
They range from the acceptance of innovation, partial adaptation, negotiation or com-
promise and confusion to open resistance, the emphasis on one’s own culture and the
revitalisation of cultural practices or symbols that had been given up.

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-021-09436-8

1 3

“It is all About Giving Priority to Older Adults’ Needs:”
Challenges of Formal Caregivers in Two Old Age Homes
in Ethiopia

Meriem Dawud1 · Messay Gebremariam Kotecho2,3 · Margaret E. Adamek4

Accepted: 22 July 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
2021

Abstract
With a growing older population needing long-term care in Ethiopia, this study
examined the challenges and needs of formal caregivers at two older adult homes. A
qualitative, exploratory design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to iden-
tify 14 formal caregivers and 6 key informants who engaged in in-depth interviews.
Formal caregivers assisted older adults with personal care, medication administra-
tion, and emotional support. As a result of high workloads, long work hours, an
absence of training, and minimal compensation, caregivers faced many challenges
including managing older adults’ difficult behavior, exposure to health hazards, and
task burden. The all-encompassing demands of caring for older adults in resource-
poor environments contributed to negative consequences that spilled over into car-
egivers’ personal lives. The capacity of formal caregivers to meet the needs of long
term care residents in developing nations can be enhanced through training in geri-
atric care, adequate compensation, and best practice guidelines for long term care.

Keywords Older adults · Formal caregiver · Long-term care · Old age home

* Margaret E. Adamek
madamek@iupui.edu

Meriem Dawud
Meriemdawud43@gmail.com

Messay Gebremariam Kotecho
mesghe@gmail.com

1 Mizan Tepi University, Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia
2 School of Social Work, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3 Department of Social Work and Community Development, University of Johannesburg,

Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Indiana University School of Social Work, Indiana, USA

Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

/ Published online: 14 August 2021

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4884-9041

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9333-5691

http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s12126-021-09436-8&domain=pdf

1 3

Currently, the world’s population is aging at an alarming rate (Dovie, 2019).
According to the United Nations (2019), in 2019 there were 703 million persons
aged 65 and above globally. This number is projected to more than double to 1.5
billion by 2050. The older population is growing at a faster rate than the younger
population and thus by 2050, 1 in 6 people in the world will be 65 or over (UN,
2019). With the rate of increase being higher in less economically developed nations
(Shrestha, 2000), it is projected that by 2050 over 80% of older adults globally will
live in developing regions (UN, 2017).

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of older adults is expected to increase
from 32 million currently to 101.4 million by 2050 (UN, 2019). Others estimate
a six-fold increase in older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa to 215 million by 2050
(Schatz & Seeley, 2015). Based on assertions that Africa is the world’s poorest
continent and the pace of population aging is greater in Africa than in other world
regions, Muza and Mangombe (2019) surmise that “Africa may get demographi-
cally old before getting socioeconomically developed” (p. 4914). The current
study was based in Ethiopia, the second most populous nation in Africa. Though
exact data regarding the number of older adults in the country is lacking, the Cen-
tral Statistical Agency (CSA, 2007) projected that older adults (60 and above)
constituted 5% of the population of Ethiopia in 2010. If the current demographic
trend continues, Ethiopia’s aged population is projected to more than double to
10.3% (19.4 million) by 2050 (CSA, 2007).

Globally, the most rapid increase in the aging population is occurring among
those 80 and over—the age group with the greatest care needs—with northern
Africa being among the world regions with the greatest increase in the 80 + age
group (United Nations, 2019). Advanced aging is associated with fragility and
reduced functionality that brings many responsibilities to both informal and for-
mal caregivers. As an increasing number of older adults require caregiver assis-
tance to meet their health, social, physical, and emotional needs, care provision
for older adults has become a public issue (Batista et al., 2014; Kloppers, 2011;
Özçakar et al., 2012).

Based on demographic projections, Sheresta (2000) points out that old-age
dependency ratios will increase dramatically in most developing nations and
these shifts “will likely have significant consequences on the demand for and pro-
vision of social and support services—among them health care, housing, income
security, and long-term care” (paras. 19). In addition to population aging, the
lack of middle generation family members available to serve as caregivers as a
result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has contributed to the “growing care deficit”
in parts of Africa (Schatz & Seeley, 2015, p. 1185). A study in Zimbabwe indi-
cated that the lack of family support and abject poverty were primary reasons that
older adults became residents of old age homes (Ncube, 2017). Adamek and
Balaswamy (2016) likewise concluded that poverty and waning family supports were
two major factors contributing to the growing need for congregate long-term care
in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, at a time when population aging is increasing and
traditional family care is diminishing, the demand for support services for older
adults in Africa is steadily climbing (Kpessa-Whyte, 2018).

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In the absence of public social welfare programs and social protection to support
older adults in developing countries, older adults who can no longer work and who
lack family support have few options. Even older adults who have families willing
to care for them are at-risk because families are often too impoverished to provide
support (Chane & Adamek, 2015; Zelalem et al., 2020). Though Cattell (1993) called
attention to waning family supports in Sub-Saharan Africa nearly 30 years ago,
organized care and social services for older adults remain lacking. Older adults who have
care needs that exceed the capabilities of their families or who lack family support will
increase the demand for residential long-term care (Lima et al., 2016). Nevertheless,
according to the World Health Organization (2017), “in many sub-Saharan African
countries, organized long-term care services are essentially non-existent” (p. 26).

Despite population aging occurring much faster in developing nations, gerontol-
ogy remains a neglected area of research in the African continent (Ahmad & Komai,
2015). A recent survey of gerontology scholars identified the top five critical issues
facing older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa as: poverty, local of geriatric profession-
als, food insecurity, disability and health issues, and the growing need for long-term
care (Adamek et al., 2021). Yet, thus far, relatively little is known about the extent,
quality, and nature of institutional long-term care for older adults in developing
nations (Balaswamy & Adamek, 2017).

More likely to be referred to as “old age homes” in Africa, residential care facili-
ties provide care for older persons who are ill, disabled, or suffering from dementia
and are thus unable to care for themselves (Changala et al., 2016). Old age homes in
developing nations are much less likely to be regulated or monitored by government
oversight agencies. In addition, government-sponsored institutions tend to be under-
resourced and overcrowded, and thus hampered in providing quality services.

A study in Malaysia comparing government and non-governmental institutions
found that government-owned centers were money-centric and did not offer high
quality services (Wagiman et al., 2016). The government-sponsored old age homes
were described as simply a place to stay, eat, and sleep (Wagiman et al., 2016).
Habjanic (2009) found similar results in Slovenia where institutions run by the
government were known for physical maltreatment, poor building standards, over-
crowding, and lack of privacy. With few resources and little training, staff members
were dissatisfied with the working conditions and experienced physical and emo-
tional fatigue (Habjanic, 2009).

In Africa, most nations do not have organized geriatric training and education
(Dotchin, et al., 2012). Likewise, in Ghana, where institutional care for older adults
is a new phenomenon, qualified caregivers are nonexistent (Dovie, 2019). There
is inadequate training, a lack of geriatricians and health care facilities, and limited
financial support for long term care dedicated to older adults (Essuman et al., 2019).
Two recent studies documented the lack of training facilities for geriatric care in
Ghana (Karikari et al., 2020; Kpessa-Whyte, 2018). A qualitative inquiry conducted
in an older adult home in Ethiopia revealed that formal caregivers did not receive
training and lacked professional qualifications to address older adults’ physical and
mental health needs (Teka & Adamek, 2014).

Given the slow emergence of long term care institutions in much of Sub-Saharan
Africa, it is not surprising that research on long term care for older adults on the

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continent is minimal. Thirteen of 20 studies identified (Chabeli, 2003; Chipps &
Jarvis, 2016; Conradie, 1999; Hansson & Kluven, 2016; Le Roux & Kemp, 2009;
Puckree et al., 1997; Ramlall et al., 2014; Robb et al., 2017; Roos, 2004; Roos & Du
Toit, 2014; Roos & Malan, 2012; Van Bijon & Roos, 2015; Van Bijon, et al., 2015
were conducted in South Africa. The others took place in old age homes in Ghana
(Malmedal & Anyan, 2020), Namibia (Kloppers, 2011), Zimbabwe (Hungwe, 2011;
Ncube, 2017), Ethiopia (Teka & Adamek, 2014), and Zambia (Changala et al., 2016).
Understandably, some aspect of resident well-being was the focus of nearly all of the
studies—including older adults’ psychosocial well-being (Teka & Adamek, 2014),
cognitive status (Ramlall et al., 2014), functional status (Puckree et al, 1997), quality
of life (Van Bijon & Roos, 2015), and loneliness (Roos & Malan, 2012). Resource-
poor environments and lack of trained staff in long term care settings contrib-
ute to poor outcomes of older residents such as inadequate nutritional status (Robb
et al., 2017) and even abuse (Malmedal & Anyan, 2020).

Though not specifically focused on formal caregivers, Roos and Du Toit (2014) con-
sidered older residents’ views of their relationships with caregivers, noting that residents
viewed caregivers as friendly, flexible, empathetic, and trustworthy. Kloppers (2011)
found that caregivers in old age homes in Namibia lacked administrative support, food,
medication, transportation, promotion, and incentives in their practice. A study of nine
old age homes in Zambia found that caregivers faced many challenges including “inad-
equate and erratic funding, low staffing levels, lack of training opportunities, absence of
a national policy on ageing, lack of transport, lack of information communication tech-
nology facilities, and high demand for admission” (Changala et al., 2016, p. 7). Unfortu-
nately, the high stress placed on formal caregivers in residential care settings may lead to
burnout (Özçakar et al., 2012) and even abuse of elder residents (Conradie, 1999).

Studies conducted in developing nations outside of Africa likewise point to criti-
cal needs of paid caregivers caring for older adults in residential settings. A study in
Singapore found that caregivers experience emotional and psychological stress asso-
ciated with the caregiver-care recipient relationship, lack of cooperation, financial
issues, physical abuse, and a sense of helplessness (Mehta & Leng, 2017). Similarly,
in Malaysia, Goh et al. (2013) found that both formal and informal caregivers face
challenges of preparing nutritious food, cleaning/bathing, work obligation, moving
of immobile residents, and managing and monitoring the medicine intake of elderly
residents. The study in Malaysia further documented caregivers’ needs for ambulance
services, geriatric training, flexible work hours, counseling, physical therapy center,
senior citizens’ club, social day care and support group service (Goh et al., 2013). A
study in Brazil revealed that formal caregivers need a procedures manual that specifies
professional duties and responsibilities as well as training about how to care for older
adults (Batista et al., 2014). Based on a study in New Zealand documenting the stress
of non-health professionals working in a long term setting, Czuba (2015) concluded,
“To meet the increasing demand for long-term care, it is important to enhance under-
standing of and address the work stress that formal caregivers’ experience” (p. 9).

Due to the lack of empirical studies on formal caregivers of older adults in sub-
Saharan Africa, this study explored the challenges and needs of formal caregivers
at two large old age homes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Three overarching questions
guided the study:

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(1) What are the challenges faced by formal caregivers of older adults in old age
homes in Ethiopia?

(2) What are the needs of formal caregivers of older adults in old age homes in
Ethiopia?

(3) What are the differences in the experiences of formal caregivers in a government-
sponsored old age home compared to caregivers in a non-governmental long
term care setting?

Methods

A qualitative, multiple case design was employed to investigate the experiences of
formal caregivers and to examine the similarities and differences of the care provision
context at two large long-term care institutions in the capital city of Addis Ababa:
Kality Institutional Care Center for the Elderly (“Kality Center”) and the Mekedonia
Home for the Elderly and Mentally Disabled (“Mekedonia Home”). While there is
no exact data or historical account of the emergence of long term care in Ethiopia,
the Kality Center was the first old age home in the nation. Established by the order
of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1970, when first opened this institution separated older
adults by marital status and by age. Later on, both government-owned and other pri-
vate old age homes were established. Currently, there are about 10 old age homes
or long-term care institutions throughout the country. Non-governmental institutions
including long term care centers are registered, monitored, and regulated under the
Societies and Charities Proclamation No. 621/2009.

A multiple case study was selected to analyze the challenges and needs of formal
caregivers within and across the two types of old age homes. Preliminary observa-
tions were conducted at five old age homes in Addis Ababa before the primary data
collection. Three of the old-age homes were small non-profit organizations housing
fewer than 10 older residents. Based on the observations, Kality Center was cho-
sen because it has been housing older adults since 1970 and is a government-owned
institution. The Mekedonia Home was selected because it is a well-known non-profit
organization that hosts a huge number of older adults and employs many formal
caregivers.

The Kality Center is the only fully government-financed institution providing
long-term care to older adults and is located in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis
Ababa. The Addis Ababa City Administration Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs
covers all the costs for running the center including employee salaries. At the time
of data collection, the Center housed 124 older adults including 94 males and 30
women. Of them, 27 were bedridden and needed the close supervision of caregivers.
Of the 38 staff members, 12 were formal caregivers–10 female and 2 male. Other
staff members included the general manager, coordinator, counselor, nurses, guards,
cooks, record officer, finance officer, laundry staff, and housecleaners.

The Mekedonia Home is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded
in 2010 starting with 20 residents in the private home of the Executive Man-
ager. Mekedonia has grown to providing care to over 2,300 elderly and men-
tally disabled residents at its current location on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.

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About one-quarter of the residents are age 60 and over (Our Impact, 2020). The
home raises financial support from different sources, including contributions in
cash and in-kind from the community and online donations. The Addis Ababa
City Administration donated a plot of land as a site for constructing buildings to
provide residential and health care. In addition to the Executive Manager, pro-
ject coordinator, social worker, special needs expert, psychologist, medical staff
(including two doctors and 6–12 nurses) and dozens of volunteers, the Mekedo-
nia Home employees 80 to 90 formal caregivers, many of whom started out as
volunteers.

The International Federation on Ageing (2014) defined formal care as paid care
services by a health care institution or by an individual for a person in need. For-
mal caregivers include paid carers, nurse aides, direct care staff, support workers,
personal assistants, and health care assistants who provide the majority of paid
care to those who need assistance with activities of daily living (Czuba, 2015).

Purposive sampling was used to identify study participants. Potential partici-
pants were contacted with the help of a gatekeeper of each institution. Formal car-
egivers who met the following inclusion criteria were identified: (a) paid employ-
ees from Mekedonia and Kality, (b) minimum of six months of work experience,
(c) willingness to participate in the study. Data were gathered from March to May
2018. The same inclusion criteria were applied in identifying key informants,
along with a fourth criterion of being considered professional staff. Altogether 20
participants, including 14 formal caregivers (7 from Mekedonia and 7 from the
Kality) and 6 key informants (2 from Kality and 4 from Mekedonia) participated
in semi-structured interviews.

Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with formal caregivers and
with key informants who were professional staff at the long term care facilities.
The perspectives of both the professional staff and the hands-on caregivers were
documented in an effort to triangulate the data (Flick, 2018). The interview guide
included both closed-ended socio-demographic items to describe the profile of
the study participants and several open-ended questions focused on the challenges
and needs of formal caregivers in relation to their work environment and care
duties with older residents. The interviews took place on site in the two long term
care settings and lasted from 34 to 67 minutes. Interviews were audio-recorded
with the permission of participants.

The narrative data was analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s
(2006) six steps of thematic analysis. Recorded audios of each interview were
transcribed first into Amharic language and then translated into English. After
becoming familiar with the data by repeatedly reading the transcripts, the first
author developed the initial codes. Next, the initial codes were developed into
potential themes. The themes were reviewed by the researchers to determine
whether the elements within each theme were sound and related to each other.
The themes and sub-themes were further refined to accurately reflect the data.
Ethical oversight and approval for the study was provided by Addis Ababa Uni-
versity. To preserve study participants’ confidentiality, pseudonyms are used in
presenting the study results.

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Results

Fourteen formal caregivers were the primary respondents in this study—7 from
Kality and 7 from Mekedonia. Eight caregivers were female and 6 were male. Their
ages ranged from 18 to 52 with an average age of 30.2 years. Half were married
and half were not. None of the caregivers had a college degree. Their years of work
experience as caregivers ranged from 3 to 23 years (x = 6.4) (see Table 1), with
caregivers at Kality having longer work experience on average (x = 8.3 years) than
caregivers at Mekedonia (x = 5.1 years). Caregivers in Mekedonia were younger
(x = 22.6 years) on average than those at Kality (x = 37.8 years). At Mekedonia, most
of caregivers first joined as youth volunteers and later become paid caregivers (see
Table 1). The six key informants were a counselor, nurse, social worker, psycholo-
gist, special needs expert, and HR manager. Key informants ranged in age from 24
to 48 (x = 30.3 years). Five were men and one was a woman. Their years of experi-
ence in a long term care setting ranged from 2 to 22 years (x = 6.8) (see Table 2).

Types of Services Provided by Formal Caregivers

Caregivers reported that they assisted older adults with personal care, distribut-
ing medication, and providing emotional support. We briefly describe the nature
of the care provided to older adults below, followed by a description of the types
of challenges caregivers faced and their needs as described by both the caregivers
themselves and the key informants.

Table 1 Demographic Profile of Formal Caregivers (n = 14)

Pseudonym Sex Age Marital Status Religion Education Yrs of
Experience

Work place

Simegn Female 40 Married Orthodox Grade 12 5 Kality
Mastewal Female 52 Married Orthodox 10 + 3 10 Kality
Belete Male 27 Married Orthodox 10 + 3 5 Kality
Birtukan Female 37 Divorced Orthodox Grade 12 6 Kality
Kelemua Female 23 Single Orthodox Grade 4 6

Mekedonia

Mintesnot Male 20 Single Orthodox Grade 10 3 Mekedonia
Bekalu Male 24 Married Orthodox 10 + 3 5 Mekedonia
Hanan Female 28 Single Muslim 10 + 3 4 Mekedonia
Asefa Male 43 Married Christian 9 23 Kality
Chaltu Female 38 Single Protestant 10 5 Kality
Aster Female 28 Married Orthodox 10 + 1 4 Kality
Rahel Female 18 Single Orthodox 7 5 Mekedonia
Bekalu Male 24 Married Orthodox 10 + 3 5 Mekedonia
Tariku Male 21 Single Orthodox 10 4 Mekedonia

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Personal Care: All caregivers in both settings stated that assisted older residents
with all ADLs such as bathing, feeding, dressing, cutting their hair and nails, assist-
ing with mobility, changing their diapers and bandages. They also clean rooms, do
laundry, cook, and offer bereavement support to families. For instance, Bekalu, who
had been providing care for about five years in Mekedonia, reported that he assisted
older adults in different types of personal care: “I cut their nails, wash their clothing,
assist with bathing, change their bedding, and feed those who are unable to do so by
acting like a child with his parent.”

Assisting Older adults with Medication: Formal caregivers in Kality assisted older
adults who have tuberculosis, diabetes, and HIV with their daily medication. How-
ever, in Mekedonia nurses are responsible for administering medication. Aster, who
has provided care for older adults for four years in Kality explained that, “I usually
give medicines before and after food depending on the physician’s prescription.”

Emotional Support: Formal caregivers in both settings also provide emotional care
and support for older adults by being available to them, listening to their stories,
sharing their feelings–both their sorrow and happiness–and giving affection and spe-
cial regard as they do for their own parents. Bekala stipulated that, “In order to fulfill
the needs of older adults, I will be around them for 24 hours during breakfast, lunch,
and dinner and do whatever they need. I am like their child and they are like my
parents.”

Challenges Faced by Formal Caregivers

Formal caregivers in this study who provide care to older adults in an institu-
tional setting faced many challenges that were categorized into two overall types:

Table 2 Demographic Profile of Key Informants (n = 6)

Pseudonym Sex Age Marital
Status

Religion Education Duration
on Site

Position Work place

Kebede Male 48 Divorced Protestant MA 22 Counselor Kality Center
Eyasu Male 26 Single Orthodox Degree 4 Psycholo-

gist
Mekedonia

Kumsa Male 26 Single Orthodox Degree 3 Social
Worker

Mekedonia

Samuel Male 24 Single Orthodox Degree 2 Special
Needs
Expert

Mekedonia

Selam Female 28 Married Orthodox Degree 4 Nurse Kality Center
Yonas Male 30 Married Orthodox 10 + 3 6 HR

Manager
Mekedonia

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• challenges related to providing care to dependent older adults, and
• negative consequences in caregivers’ personal lives.

The care-related challenges included managing older adult’s difficult behav-
ior, exposure to health hazards, and caregiver burden. The challenges related to
negative consequences experienced by caregivers in their personal lives included:
restrictions on their social lives, family conflict, financial struggles, psychological
problems, and lack of self-care.

Older Adult Care‑related Challenges

Older Adult’s Difficult Behavior. Formal caregivers reported that they faced
behavioral problems from some older residents, particularly those with dementia.
Some older adults resist taking medicine as prescribed preferring injections over
pills, they may be easily irritated and disappointed with caregivers, drink tradi-
tional alcoholic beverages such as Areki and Tela, and become aggressive and
behave destructively–sometimes even beating the caregivers. For instance, Mas-
tewal, a caregiver in Kality stated that,

Older adults can be like babies. They easily become angry, resist eating
food, taking medicine, not taking off their clothes when asked that require
us being patient. They also fight with others because of hallucinations,
which is problematic for us to manage.

In relation to the behavioral problems faced by formal caregivers, Mintesnot
shared:

Older adults hesitate to take their medicine on time. They cry, harm them-
selves, and other older adults and also abuse us [caregivers]. Older adults
with mental health problems are more difficult than their counterparts,
because we can’t pinch or control them as one can do on babies as they are
old. In some cases, when older adults with mental illness act aggressively
we may use an injection.

Samuel, a key informant from Mekedonia, elaborated on the behavioral prob-
lems faced by formal caregivers:

Older adults in Mekedonia are allowed to go outside the institution and
return drunk and disturb caregivers as some of them have pension benefits
and others will be given money on holidays and even worse others may sell
their T-shirts to buy alcohol.

Exposure to Health Hazards. Caregivers reported facing a number of health-
related challenges including physical health problems like abdominal pain, kid-
ney disease, and vomiting. They are also susceptible to communicable illnesses
such as colds, tuberculosis, and other diseases transmitted by blood contact with
the long term care residents. Caregivers felt insecure about their own health

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because of the lack of health screenings of incoming residents. Mastewal, a car-
egiver from Kality, reported that, “When older adults become sick on my shift I
will spend the whole night in the hospital and I am exposed to asthma associ-
ated with the bad smell in the hospital.” Kelemua, a caregiver from Mekedo-
nia stated, “I am easily caught by colds and other communicable diseases as a
result of close interaction with older adults during service provision.” Moreo-
ver, Birtukans, a caregiver from Mekedonia, shared:

Because of their [older adults] inability to control their feces and urine,
I am exposed to bad smell in their rooms that have high risk of airborne
disease. I don’t commonly use masks, as you can see me today my voice is
changed as I am sensitive to bad smell.

Caregiving Burden. Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by caregivers is the
non-stop press of care duties. Formal caregivers experienced caregiving burden
as there are many tasks such as changing diapers, feeding, bathing, assisting
with mobility, washing clothes, and administering medicines. Female caregiv-
ers in Kality are more burdened due to having care responsibilities both at work
and at home. At Mekedonia caregivers live onsite and do not have other outside
responsibilities. With regard to the physical and emotional burdens faced by car-
egivers, Kumsa, a key informant from Mekedonia stated:

Since there are a number of older adults in Mekedonia, one caregiver will
be assigned to care for at least four older adults per day, leading to both
physical burden and emotional exhaustion. To that end, caregivers may not
have enough time for themselves resulting in poor personal care.

In relation to the burdens faced by formal caregivers, Mintesnot, a caregiver
in Mekedonia stated: “it [caring] is all about giving priority to elder’s needs at
the expense of the caregiver’s safety and well-being. I don’t eat unless I make
sure that older adults eat, take their medicine, and their needs are met.” Asefa,
who provided care for 23 years in Kality, elaborated about caregiving burden: “I
become very tired as caring for an older person is an awkward task; it costs a
huge energy to satisfy them. Because of tiredness, I sometimes prefer to take rest
and don’t eat.” Chaltu, a caregiver in Kality, described the burdens associated
with providing care:

Starting from the time I enter the institution, I have no break time. I will
be busy cleaning urine and feces from overnight, changing their blankets,
bathing, giving their medicine, and feeding them.

Negative Consequences Experienced by Formal Caregivers

Financial Struggles. Almost all caregivers reported that they face significant
financial struggles in meeting their personal needs such as for clothing, trans-
portation, household expenses, rent, and health expenses as they do not have
any health insurance especially the females and younger caregivers. Caregiv-
ers, particularly from Kality, face significant financial challenges. In contrast,

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caregivers at Mekedonia live at the facility where their basic needs are covered.
As stipulated by Eyasu, a key informant from Mekedonia, “I think that caregiv-
ers here have a better chance in terms of living standard as the institution covers
all the basic living costs such as food, health, shelter, and clothing.” Neverthe-
less, a young caregiver in Mekedonia depicted her financial problems as follows,
“Because I am youth, I need money to buy jewelry, to go to beauty salon, or to
buy clothes like my friends. But now even one standard shoe cost 300–400 birr
which is unthinkable for me.” Similarly, Kebede, a key informant from Kality,
stated that there are some reparations given to caregivers by institutions even if it
is not enough: “Caregivers employed in Kality will be given uniforms and some
money for milk; however, it is not enough. Furthermore, they make personal sac-
rifice for phone calls since there is no budget allowance for mobile card.” Belete,
another caregiver in Kality, stressed the financial challenges he faced: “I am liv-
ing in a rented house and there I face economic problems as the standard of liv-
ing in Addis Ababa is very expensive so I have difficulty allocating the salary to
cover the household expenditures.”

Restrictions on their Social Life. In addition to their caregiving tasks, almost
all caregivers shared significant social time with older adults in the context of
providing care including taking part in major events such as holiday and birthday
celebrations. As a result, caregivers lack time to spend with their own friends and
family. In line with this, Tariku, a caregiver in Mekedonia, revealed that, “we [me
and my friends] have spent a lot of bad and good times and have unforgettable
memories. However, after I started to work here, we have separated and I always
miss them.” Similarly, Aster, a caregiver from Kality, elaborated:

While Sunday serves as break time for government employees they will
spend it with their friends and peers. However, it does not work for us. If
it is my turn, I do not have any excuse to be off from work that I will not
respect appointments that forced me to lose my close friends.

Hanan, a caregiver from Mekedonia, described the social challenges she faced:

As we work all the days here, I don’t have time to attend to major social
events like weddings, mourning, and birthdays which negatively affect my
social interaction and involvements and end up with separation from peers
and relatives.

Paradoxically, one key informant from Kality had the perspective that provid-
ing care for older adults does not negatively impact caregiver’s social life. Kebede
stated,

I don’t think caregiving has a negative impact on caregivers’ social life as
they work in shifts. They will have adequate time to spend for their personal
and social life.

Family Conflict. Some caregivers reported that after they began providing care,
conflicts increased in their families due to the huge time commitment of their work.

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For example, Aster, explained that, “There is no one who will take my son from
school and sometimes I and my husband argue when I go to work on Sunday. He
says what type of work do you have on Sunday?” Mastewal, who had been provid-
ing care for older adults in Kality for about ten years, explained that, “When I go
home I become totally tired, and moreover household chores will wait for me. Then,
I become angry at my daughter why she didn’t perform household tasks, even if I
know she is reading.”

Psychological Problems. As a result of the social, health, and economic conse-
quences of being a full-time formal caregiver in an old age home, study respondents
experienced various emotional difficulties such as loneliness, distress, fear, depres-
sion, guilt, and uncertainty about fulfilling the older adults’ needs. For example,
Rahel shared,

I feel like I treat them improperly, do not meet their needs, or I disappointed
them unintentionally when they keep silent or shout for no reason. The food
may not be delicious for them, they may be afraid to eat from my hand, or
they may not eat adequately. Because of this fear, I prefer not to feed them
from my hand as I think that they may not eat as they want because of fear-
ing me.

Lack of Self‑Care. Participants asserted that their work demands as older adult car-
egivers have made their personal lives unpredictable as they prioritize care receivers’
needs and provide them with holistic care, but fail to take care of themselves. For
instance, as described by Birtukan from Kality, “I become tired of the caregiving
tasks, so I don’t eat food even if I become hungry rather, I prefer to sleep because I
become eager for break and I don’t care where I sleep.”

Needs of Formal Caregivers

In order to provide quality care and minimize caregiving burden, formal car-
egivers prefer that incoming residents have prior health examinations. Given the
all-consuming nature of the work they perform, they also need better salary and
incentives. Birtukan, who has been providing care for older adults in Kality for
about six years stated that, “Compared to the cumbersomeness of caregiving, I
don’t even think the salary as salary because it is nothing. So, we need a bal-
anced payment that would help our caregiving experience better than this.”
Chaltu, a caregiver from Kality, also emphasized the need for improved salary:

In order to cope with this changing world, there needs to be an improvement
in our salary that would help caregivers to update themselves and that fur-
ther will help us to be more committed to our task.

Caregivers also need assistive facilities such as laundry facilities, baking
machines, more wheelchairs, information, and transportation. As Rahel stated,
“We still use our hands to wash clothes, but we need washing machines and

858 Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

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cleaning equipment to clean rooms that will not only reduce our burdens but also
save time.”

According to Asefa, a caregiver from Kality, there is no convenient transporta-
tion for formal caregivers which in turn negatively affects their care provision:

We have no break at weekends as it [caregiving] is a day-to-day activity;
however, there is no convenient public service on all days. The absence and
lack of transport have a negative influence on the quality of care we provide
that the time of taking medicine may be delayed or skipped. So, we need
a public (transport) service on weekends for caregivers working in institu-
tions.

Moreover, formal caregivers need accessible restrooms to lighten their car-
egiving burdens. As explained by Asefa, a caregiver from Kality, bathrooms were
not accessible for dependent older adults:

Older adults are weak and unable to use toilets and bathrooms on their own
as the facilities and buildings are classic and narrow and don’t consider the
needs of dependent older adults. So, they always need our supervision. The
rooms should be redesigned so that older adults with disabilities and mental
illness are able to use them independently. That will also help us to reduce
our caregiving burden.

Caregivers expressed a need for a conducive work atmosphere including
reduced work hours, training and psychosocial education, and respite services.
Belete, a caregiver in Kality, valued the importance of training, sharing that
“Older adults have varying needs and behaviors. So, we need trainings about
how to manage their behavior and to respond accordingly as issues we face are
complex and dynamic.” In line with the need for training, Kumsa, a key informant
from Mekedonia, stated that:

Caregivers are not aware of their tasks and responsibilities, how to inter-
act and communicate with older people, the behavior of older adults and
in general how to care for older adults. They only deliver services out of
a passion to help older adults. However, it will be better if they are given
training in order to professionalize care.

Likewise, Selam, a nurse from Kality, elaborated on the need for training for
formal caregivers:

Caregivers have closer interaction with older adults than anybody else,
so the government before hiring and distributing caregivers to institutions
should give those trainings and other life skill trainings about the nature of
caregiving. It will further help novel caregivers to be free from the confu-
sion they experience at the beginning of their stay with older adults.

859Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

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Discussion

This study explored the challenges and needs of formal caregivers in two old age
homes in Ethiopia–one governmental and one non-governmental. In addition to
providing personal care to older adults such as feeding, bathing, dressing, mobility,
medication, and hygiene, the formal caregivers in this study provided ongoing emo-
tional support to older adults, sharing both their joys and sorrows. Formal caregivers
in old age homes in Ethiopia essentially provide all of the supports that family mem-
bers provide to older adults in need of care in their own homes. The type of services
provided to older adults was similar in the two types of old age homes.

As a result of high workloads, long work hours, an absence of training, and mini-
mal compensation, the formal caregivers in this study faced many challenges includ-
ing managing older adults’ difficult behavior, exposure to health hazards, and car-
egiver burden. The all-encompassing demands of providing care to older adults in
resource-poor environments contributed to negative consequences that spilled over
into the caregivers’ personal lives–-resulting in financial struggles, restrictions on
their social life, family conflict, psychological problems, and lack of self-care. These
consequences mirror those experienced by family members of hospitalized older
adults in India (Popli & Panday, 2018).

Both the caregivers and the key informants in this study identified various needs
of caregivers including the need for better salary, respite care, health screening of
incoming residents, transportation, and flexible work schedules to improve their
well-being and thus the quality of care provision. In terms of the qualifications of
formal caregivers, this study found that caregivers from both the governmental and
non-government long term care settings did not have any geriatric qualification or
training. Some caregivers did not complete even primary education. In Mekedonia,
there are no standard criteria to hire caregivers. However, in Kality caregivers must
attend at least grade ten in the current curriculum or grade twelve with the past aca-
demic curriculum.

The study found that the Mekedonia Home was more comfortable, there were
amicable interactions among staff, and the rules were flexible. Whereas, caregivers
in the Kality Center worked long hours, lacked transportation, and are governed by
rigid institutional rules which are top-down as they come from the Bureau of Labor
and Social Affairs. Even though the Mekedonia Home is a non-governmental organ-
ization, formal caregivers faced higher workloads because there were large numbers
of bedridden older adults compared to Kality. In addition, residents’ rooms were
overcrowded and lacked privacy.

Similar studies in South Africa and Brazil found that formal caregivers of older
adults working in long-term care settings as paraprofessionals do not have adequate
training. They are easily hired, without screening for physical and emotional prereq-
uisites for their caregiving duties (Lima et al., 2016; Mehta & Leng, 2017; Ngubeni,
2011). Formal caregivers in developing nations likewise face poor self-care (Mehta
& Leng, 2017), deteriorated physical and emotional well-being (Goh et al., 2013),
and difficulties with eating and sleeping (Czuba, 2015). Those caregivers—typically
females–who have additional responsibilities for their own families combined with

860 Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

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caring for older adults become overloaded with care duties, contributing to physical
and emotional exhaustion (Mehta & Leng, 2017).

This study was limited by its small, non-representative sample making generaliz-
ability difficult. The study focused on caregivers working in an institutional setting
and so may not be applicable to formal caregivers in other settings. Moreover, since
this study was cross-sectional, the findings represent only the current perspectives
of participants and cannot demonstrate causality between the factors contributing to
caregivers’ challenges and caregiver or older adult outcomes. Future studies should
examine the beneficial aspects of the work of formal caregivers. Quantitative stud-
ies are also needed to assess the need for congregate long term care in Sub Saharan
Africa and to document the training needs of formal caregivers.

Consistent with studies in other developing nations, the formal caregivers in Ethi-
opia need training and psychosocial education about caregiving as well as best prac-
tice guidelines, assistive devices, accessible transportation, better salary, and respite
services. The caregivers in this study demonstrated their commitment to caring for
older adults, but lacked basic supports needed to be effective in their work without
getting burned out. At this stage, most countries in Africa do not offer geriatrics
training or education in their health care curricula (Dotchin et al., 2012; Essuman
et al., 2019). Commenting on the status of geriatric expertise in Sub-Saharan Africa,
Clarfield and Rosenthal (2017) call for “the relevant medical and social disci-
plines….to invest more of their efforts in motivating and training young people to
become interested in gerontology and geriatrics” (p. 1137). Policy makers and social
work educators and practitioners in developing nations must advocate on behalf of
formal caregivers to promote their well-being and capacity to deliver quality care.

In Ethiopia there are only a few studies on informal caregivers of older adults
with this being the first that focused specifically on formal caregivers. Further stud-
ies are needed on formal caregivers’ managing of older adults’ mental and physi-
cal disabilities as well as comparative studies of formal and informal caregivers’
experiences. Based on their study of the needs of older adults at an old age home
in Oromiya, Ethiopia, Teka and Adamek (2014) suggested adopting Conradie’s
(1999) recommendations for improving institutional care for older adults in South
Africa including “developing and offering training to caregivers, an ombudsman
office, public awareness campaigns, an institutional bill of rights for residents of old
age homes, and community involvement in institutional care” (p. 402).

From another point of view, Gutierrez- Robledo (2002) asserted that the lack of
infrastructure in developing nations presents an opportunity to develop more home-
based long term care models rather than institution-based facilities that are com-
mon in more developed nations. Supporting families engaged in older adult care can
ensure that aging Africans have the opportunity to age in place. For those lacking
family support, community-based options including day care, respite, and outreach
programs can be developed using a community development approach (Drower,
2002).

Based on a demographic analysis of population aging in Ethiopia, Moges and
colleagues (2014) acknowledged that the growth in the older adult population will
be a “serious challenge to the traditional extended family support network unless
supported by innovative measures and new initiatives such as community circles and

861Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

1 3

long term care services” (p. 14). These and other aging-relevant research efforts can
help to build the type of uniquely African gerontology research agenda that has been
missing—an agenda that accounts for the place of older adults in the development of
African nations while also documenting older adults’ needs and advocating for their
rights (Aboderin, 2017; Apt, 2012).

Conclusion

As population aging advances and family care for older adults diminishes in devel-
oping nations, the demand for long-term care will undoubtedly increase. Currently,
Ethiopia has only about ten long-term care facilities with less than 1,000 beds in a
nation with over 5 million older adults. To meet the growing demand for older adult
care in developing nations, the long term care workforce must be increased and
receive training in best practices in older adult care. Based on its review of the sta-
tus of long-term care in Sub Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization (2017)
concluded that, “governments have an essential role to play as stewards of long-term
care systems” (p. 24). In alignment with the recommendations of the African Union
Common African Position on Long-term Care Systems for Africa, WHO (2017)
advocates for:

1. Building understanding and commitment for long-term care systems,
2. Establishing national coordination mechanisms,
3. Developing indicators and mapping long term care, and
4. Fostering cross-national learning and exchange.

To build the capacity of the long-term care workforce in developing nations
including both formal and informal caregivers, the needs of older adults must be
prioritized, though not at the expense of caregivers. Respecting older adults entails
supporting those who care for them.

Declarations

Conflicts of Interest There was no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent All research participants provided informed consent to be interviewed. Participants
were informed that they did not have to answer any questions they chose not to answer. They were aware
that they could stop the interview at any time. All participants agreed to have their interviews audio-
recorded.

Research Involving Human Participants Research participants were adults age 18 or over who were
employees at one of two age old homes in Addis Ababa The study objectives and data collection methods
were explained to all participants. Participants agreed to be interviewed in a private office at their work
place.

862 Ageing International (2022) 47:847–865

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“It is all About Giving Priority to Older Adults’ Needs:” Challenges of Formal Caregivers in Two Old Age Homes in Ethiopia

Abstract

Methods

Results

Types of Services Provided by Formal Caregivers

Challenges Faced by Formal Caregivers

Older Adult Care-related Challenges

Negative Consequences Experienced by Formal Caregivers

Needs of Formal Caregivers

Discussion

Conclusion

References

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