Abstract:
The thesis studies the history of literacy campaign of Qii1lu Awriija in Wallo province. The
study covers the period from 1979 to the downfall of military government in 1991. This period
was the time when the government made a nation-wide literacy campaign in the country. This
historical study examined the implementation, challenges and achievements of the campaign in
the period in the study area.
I have used many primary and secondary sources in the study of this thesis. Primary sources are
collected from local archival sources and National Archive and Library Agency (NALA). I
gathered these sources during my fieldwork in early November, January, and early March 2015-
16. The primary sources are manuscripts and archival documents found in some government
offices. Most of the archival documents are found in the previous Wallo province Educational
office at Dessie. I gathered additional materials from the concerned offices of the previous
Qallu Awraja. I made effort to identify knowledgeable informants who directly or indirectly had
relations with the history of literacy campaign the study area as participants, and observers. To
this end, I interviewed informants in six selected areas of the parts of previous Awraja to get
enough information, which relatively represents the whole of the areas of the awraja. Among the
informants, only few of them were interviewed in-group. The rest were interviewed on an
individual basis. A recorder was used to record necessary information from interviews was
made with knowledgeable informants. The secondary sources are written materials, which
included articles, books, papers, and thesis. I also used the Institute of Ethiopia Studies (JES),
Addis Ababa University libraries and Qallu and Kombolcha Culture and Tourism and
communication Offices to read those sources
