Address To Parliament ,November 2, 1973
``It is a great responsibility to be elected to legislate upon matters that are
the anchor of personal liberty, security, social responsibility - in general of
a framework of organized and ordered social order.
One measure of the healthy growth of parliamentary democracy is the insight
sense of responsibility and dedication brought into work by deputies in the
course of deliberating on issues originating from either the executive branch of
government or the Chamber itself. Our government has given education, public
health and related programs high priority with the conviction that trained
manpower and sound health are crucial to the progress of advancing economic
growth.
Accordingly, no less than 20% of the national budget was allotted to education.
Enrollment in governmental and private elementary and secondary schools has
surpassed targets of the Third Five-Year Development Plan. It is also gratifying
that enrollment in the University is growing from year to year.
Considerable time and energy have been devoted by experts to the task of making
research into the kind of education best suited to Ethiopia's present needs in
accordance with a directive we personally issued.
The recommendation has reached us through the Council of Ministers and we have
given order for its immediate implementation.
It is normal for every individual family or generation to give way to the new by
adding something to the heritages bequeathed upon it. No man chooses his own
parents. But in the last analysis, a man's ultimate worth is, in the modern
world, determined by his accomplishments and his service in the cause of his
nation and his countrymen. It is thus our sacred duty and responsibility to be
cognizant of the fact that because history is bound to judge us tomorrow by what
we are doing today, we must do everything in our power to leave behind us a
lasting legacy of work.
Lastly, we would like to remind you members of the Houses of Parliament to
deliberate on the bills already submitted, and those which will be submitted to
you as a matter of urgency by realizing the fact that they are matters of
crucial importance for the progress and development of the country.
May God, who proposes and disposes everything, be with you all in the discharge
of your duties and responsibilities. ``