THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON NON-SCIENTIFIC BELIEFS IN ETHIOPIA.

The article discusses the impact of education on non-scientific beliefs in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, with the technical advice and economic assistance of the United Nations, the United States, and other free countries of the Western World, is making a valiant effort to bridge a thousand-year gap in development. She is investing over one-fourth of her national income in educational programs in the effort to bring about literacy, changes in attitudes, in behavior, and in methods. While technical information and adequate budget are essential elements in achieving the goal of transition to modernity, an equally essential element is knowledge of the people who are involved in the dynamic processes of change. Malaria is one of the greatest health problems in Ethiopia. American advisers of a malaria-control team have expressed the hope that the disease can be eliminated within a decade. The academic curriculum for the government-sponsored schools introduces the scientific study of malaria in the fourth grade; yet one can hear Ethiopian teachers insisting that malaria can be prevented by eating garlic and that the best treatment for the disease is to eat butter that is 15 or 20 years old.