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Award for Dr. Sabrina Maurus

Sabrina Maurus is honoured with the second Prize for Excellence in Applied Development Research for her ethnological work on the consequences of the introduction of compulsory schooling for agro-pastoral societies in Ethiopia. Maurus' work describes how the "school for all" policy initiated by the Ethiopian central government as an instrument for economic growth and poverty reduction threatens the way of life of agro-pastoral communities in the Hamar region and leads to conflicts between them and the central government. The work raises awareness of the dilemmas that can arise when fundamental development policy goals conflict with traditional ways of life, highlighting the importance of the quality of education provided by the state and raising the important question of how to deal with conflicting goals within the international development agenda. Maurus defended her dissertation in June 2020. Her excellent work was graded with "summa cum laude".