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Historical Analysis of the Challenges and Opportunities of

Higher Education in Ethiopia

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DOI: 10.1177/2347631116681212

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Article

Historical Analysis Higher Education for the Future

4(1) 31–43
of the Challenges and ©2017 The Kerala State
Higher Education Council
Opportunities of Higher SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
Education in Ethiopia DOI: 10.1177/2347631116681212
http://hef.sagepub.com

Alemayehu Bishaw1
Solomon Melesse2

Abstract
There is a massive higher education expansion in Ethiopia. However, the efforts to
expand higher education are characterized by great opportunities and significant
challenges. The current higher education policy formulation and practice are the
result of long history of traditional education in Ethiopia, the western countries’
influence and the current opportunities and challenges observed in the sector.
Thus, to formulate and enact workable higher education policy in Ethiopia, one
must understand the trends of higher education in Ethiopia with emphasis on
purposes, challenges and achievements. The article, therefore, tries to pinpoint
the history of Ethiopian higher education and concludes with recommendations
for current efforts to improve higher education in the country.

Keywords
Higher education, expansion, higher education policy, traditional education

Introduction
Ethiopia is a multilingual and multicultural country that constitutes around more
than 80 nations and nationalities. Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa. The
country is divided into nine regions and two administrative cities. The capital city,
the largest city, is Addis Ababa. The country has also registered a double digit

1
Professor, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Department, College of Education and
Behavioral Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.
2
Associate Professor, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Department, College of Education
and Behavioral Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.

Corresponding author:
Alemayehu Bishaw, Professor, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies Department, College of
Education and Behavioral Sciences, Bahir Dar University; Bahir Dar Town, Amhara Region, P.O. Box:
79, Ethiopia.
E-mail: alemayehubishaw@yahoo.com
32 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

economic growth for the last 8 consecutive years. Currently, the country is
engaged in huge investment on power, road and telecom construction to meet the
growing demand of the economy. To ensure sustainable development, the country
is engaged in huge investment to expand higher education. There are 34 public
universities and many private universities, university colleges and colleges
(Alemayehu, 2006).
However, the road to expansion of higher education in the country is not
without limitations. The progress in higher education is with full of challenges.
Thus, historical analysis of higher education development helps proactively set
mechanisms to minimize the impacts of the challenges.

Higher Education in Ethiopia

Yared Music School, which was established in the fifth century, is one of the earli-
est education institutions in the world. One of the strong justifications to this bold
conclusion is that the purpose of the school was to train the highly qualified priests
to organise religious music and dancing. Saint Yared’s invention is still domi-
nantly practised in the Ethiopian Orthodox church. The musical nota (musical
style) developed by St. Yared is still being taught in Ethiopian schools and are
being practised in higher level trainings of the Ethiopian Orthodox church.
Although Ethiopia possesses a 1,700 years of tradition of elite education linked
to Orthodox church (Girma, 1967), secular higher education was initiated only in
1950 with the founding of the university college of Addis Ababa. The university
college had less than 1,000 students and less than 50 teachers in the late 1950s.
Most of the teachers were foreigners.
During the following two decades, half of a dozen of specialized technical
colleges were established to address training needs in agriculture, engineering,
public health and teacher education. They include the College of Agriculture
and Mechanical Arts at the municipal, College of Engineering at Addis Ababa,
Institute of Building Technology at Addis Ababa, Gondor Public Health College,
Theology of Holly Trinity at the municipal and Cotebe College of Teacher
Education. With the former Soviet Union assistance, Ethiopia established its
first Polytechnic Institute at Bahir Dar in 1960s. It was giving training in agro
mechanics, industrial chemistry, electricity, textile technology and wood technology.
In 1961, most colleges were reorganized under Haile Selassie I University
(Marew, 2000).
These institutions fostered an educational culture that was heavily influenced
by its long informal association with Orthodox Church (Teshome, 1990). In their
academic organization, they were somewhat more American and less British, than
in the former colonies of East Africa. Strikingly, tertiary enrolment totalled only
4,500 in 1970 out of the national population of 34 million. The resulting tertiary
enrolment ratio of 0.2 per cent was among the very lowest in the world. The
skilled human resource available to generate and guide development in one of
Africa’s largest and poorest countries was, therefore, very small in relation to the
enormity of the task (Pankhurst et al., 1990).
Bishaw and Melesse 33

The nation’s new higher education institutions (HEIs) strived, with considera-
ble early success, to maintain international standards, but the cost was high, with
wastage rates approaching 40 per cent in the late 1960s (Teshome, 1990).
Awareness of the need for reform began to grow as demonstrated by the 1964
decision to require 1 year of community service of university students prior to
graduation. However, these incipient reforms were shortened by political events.
In 1974, a socialist military coup overthrew the government of Emperor
Haile Selassie I and established a regime known as Derg. The same year, the
name of the university was changed to Addis Ababa University (AAU).
Immediately after claiming power, the Derg adopted many of the radical ideas
espoused by the university community such as land reform, nationalization of
industries, linguistic independence, creation of a national communist party and
rural service for university students, which ultimately alienated many students
from academics (Teshome, 1979).
According to Tekeste (1996), many university students followed by their allies
from high schools joined a bloody urban guerrilla movement (the White Terror) that
was severely repressed by the Derg (the Red Terror). The Derg consequentially
blamed the university system for corrupting Ethiopian values and as a result an
immense anti-intellectual climate prevailed in the system. Government intervention
in university affairs expanded including security surveillance, repression of dissent,
mandated courses of Marxism–Leninism, prohibition of students’ organization,
appointment of senior university officers and control of academic promotion. In
1977, the revolutionary government issued Proclamation No. 109/77. In this proc-
lamation, a new organization of higher education including the establishment of the
Commission for Higher Education was entertained. This proclamation also outlined
the main objectives of higher education as the following:

1. to train individuals for high-level positions in accordance with the national

plan of development and to provide medium-level personnel to meet the
immediate needs of the economy,
2. to improve the quality of education,
3. to strengthen and expand tertiary-level institutions,
4. to establish new research and training centres and
5. to contribute to a better standard of living among the masses by developing
science, technology, the arts and the literature.

Based on the framework of the proclamation, the colleges were reoriented to

reflect the new regime’s objectives and modified admission criteria to benefit
students from small town, rural areas, students of poor family, returnee of military
service, students of military family and to some degree to female students. This
was the first attempt of the Derge regime to provide equity in education. It is
because such admission criterion helps to uphold class, gender and rural–urban
equity in access to higher education.
Higher education expanded in the period after 1975. A postgraduate studies
programme was established in 1978 which had an enrolment of 246 students in
1982/1983, of which 15 were women. Graduate programmes were offered in
34 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

several fields including engineering, natural sciences, agriculture, social sciences

and medicine. To support the training given in these fields, different research
institutes were established. Addis Ababa University and its satellite colleges,
such as Bahir Dar Teachers College, provided an evening extension programme
offering courses in many fields. The extension programmes had opened a great
opportunity for those who did not get access to higher education through
matriculation and for those who needed to upgrade their qualifications through
on-the-job training. The college of agriculture at Alemaya, which was part of
Addis Ababa University, was granted independent university status in 1985
(Teshome, 1990, 2004).
Other junior colleges trained middle-level human resource in several fields.
These include Cottebe College of Teacher Education, Municipality College and
Junior College of Commerce, all in the capital. Others outside of Addis Ababa
constitute Junior Colleges of Agriculture in Ambo, Awassa and Jimma, Arbaminch
Water Technology Institute, Institute of Health Assistances in Debreziet,
Wondogenet College of Forestry and Jimma Health Sciences Institute. Due to
shortage of colleges and universities in the country, the competition for admission
was so intense. The cut-off points of university admission were changing year
after year (Marew, 2000).
Even though the number of Ethiopian academic staff grew from time to time,
the Ethiopian higher institutions were supported by foreigners from Cuba, former
East Germany, former Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Despite their
long years of contribution in higher education, the role of these foreigners was not
mostly welcomed by both students and the staff and considered as one of the
causes for the declining of quality education in higher education in Ethiopia. One
of the reasons for this conception was the problem of medium of instruction in
higher education. That is, the medium of instruction in Ethiopian higher education
was English while English was not the medium of instruction in the aforemen-
tioned countries. Like that of the Emperor’s regime, the higher education during
the Derge time was characterized by shortage of experienced staff with MA/MSc
and PhD holders (Alemayehu, 2006).
The academic programmes were interrupted by various reasons such as adult
education and literacy campaign, participation in relief and rehabilitation pro-
grammes and military training 1976–1977, 1983–1984 and 1990–1991, respec-
tively. Each of these campaigns had strongly hampered the effective management
of the academic programmes of the time. Mostly, the decisions were made
abruptly by the top government officials without considerable plan of the pros
and cons of the campaigns. To compensate the missed periods, students were
forced to complete the semester programme through crash programmes. Though
its impact on quality of education was not studied, it would not be difficult to
wisely guess that it had added fuel to the already declining quality of higher
education in Ethiopia. Consequently, many of the students were alienated from
the academics.
Enrolment in higher education grew from 4, 500 in 1970 to more than 18,400 in
1985–1986 of which nearly 11 per cent were women. This implies that despite the
increase in number of female students’ enrolment, the male–female ratio was
Bishaw and Melesse 35

similar with that of the previous government. This implies that females were
deprived of access to higher education. Furthermore, while compared to the total
population of the country, higher education enrolment was very low (Marew, 2000).
The higher education during the Derge regime was criticized for top-down
management system, lack of vision, lack of equal opportunity, resource constraints
and consequently low level of quality of education (Tekeste, 1996).
Three notable outcomes followed over the next two decades. Intellectual
life emaciated on campuses, academic brain drain increased and the country’s
education system became largely cut-off from the western world (Tekeste, 1996).
As twentieth century drew to a close, Ethiopia found itself with a higher educa-
tion system that was regimented in its management, conservative in its intellectual
orientation, short of experienced doctorates among academic staff, concerned
about declining of quality of education, weak in its research outputs, limited in its
autonomy, and weakly connected to the currents of the international higher educa-
tion community. The reform pressures that had begun to build up in the 1960s
only to be suppressed by the Derg in the 1970s and 1980s.
Only 15 per cent of those who completed high school education were admitted
to higher education each year. When Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic
Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991, the majority of HEIs were either closed
because some of them were occupied by the then freedom fighters or because
students of some HEIs were sent to different military camps for military training
by the Derge regime. When the EPRDF occupied the Capital, the majority of the
students from different military training camps migrated to Kenya being afraid of
the possible conflicts that would arise between EPRDF troops and the govern-
ment troops and the confusions that arise. A year after, the HEIs were engaged in
reorganizing the institutional set-up and the psychological make-up of the institu-
tions’ community. Since then, the academic calendar of the HEIs was affected by
minor and major students’ movements against some of the new political, eco-
nomic and social policies of the new government (Alemayehu, 2006).
The tradition of students’ movement that arose in 1960s and 1970s was consid-
ered as legitimate by students of HEIs. However, this situation was lessened step
by step and from time to time. Despite such problems, the EPRDF government
has launched the ‘New Education and Training Policy’ that shows the direction of
the government in the field of education. Until 2002, except some developments
made in the students’ enrolment in the already existing universities and colleges
and the establishment of junior colleges in the regions, there were no major
changes that took place in higher education (Alemayehu, 2006).
In 1999, enrolments reached 5,154 and 7,199 in diploma and degree programmes,
respectively. There were a total of 27,345 regular students in the institutions of
higher learning in 1998–1999 academic years. Of these, 16 per cent were females.
The number of graduates in the year 1999 was 6,111; of these 14 per cent were
women. The rate of enrolment and graduation of female students was still at a lower
level as compared to their male counter parts. Until 2000, there were only two uni-
versities. In 2002, six additional universities were established (MOE, 2003).
The Ethiopian Education Sector Development II (2002) set out with a vision for
higher education’s role and its aim. The aim of higher education was formulated
36 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

to provide good quality higher education in large number, with diminishing

dependence on public resources in the longer term. Thus, in its main aim, the
reform programme links the issue of quality, the context of expansion and greater
market awareness. Ethiopian higher education is indeed expanded rapidly. From
1996 to 2003, undergraduate enrolments doubled to 18,000 in public sector HEIs
and tripled overall in general.
The increase in enrolments of students in the already established universities
was one of the educational and political debates among higher institution aca-
demia and political figures. The former argue that without fulfilling the prerequi-
sites for expansion, increasing enrolment affects the quality of education in higher
education while the latter insist with the view that using the available resource we
can make a difference. The government was facing strong resistance from Addis
Ababa University so as not to open new MA/MSc and PhD programmes with the
existing meagre resources of the institutions we have.
The government had exerted strong pressure on universities to respond to
the growing demand of higher education in the country. One of the strategies to
expand higher education was opening graduate programmes in various fields.
Consequently, graduate programmes were established in eight universities,
Addis Ababa, Alemaya, Bahir Dar, Mekele, Gondor, Jima, Arbaminch and
Hawasa. Despite such attempts, there was a difference of pace between the way
universities reacted to the government’s intention to expand graduate pro-
grammes. To tackle this problem, the government has set a different strategy.
That is, the Ethiopian government has signed an agreement with Indian
Universities (IIT and Delhi University) and UNISA, South Africa to train 2,000
PhD and 10,000 MA/MSc trainees in information technology, sciences and
business fields through teleconference mode of delivery (Abiy, 2005).
The years from 1999 to 2007 are characterized by high expansion of higher
education in terms of student enrolment, fields of study, graduate programmes
in the already established universities by adding additional infrastructure,
libraries, laboratories, dormitories, classrooms, sport fields and computer cen-
tres and establishing 13 new universities in the different regions of the country.
The new universities include Debre Markos, Axum, Debre Berhan, Semera,
Meda Wollabo, Dessie, Sodo, Dirie Dawa, Dilla, Nekemetie and Jijiga. Despite
these efforts, participation remains low at 2 per cent of school leavers.
Currently, there are 34 public universities and many other private university
colleges.
As to Teshome (2004), generally, the higher education of the current govern-
ment has passed through three major stages including policy and strategy adapta-
tion, especially the legal framework, rehabilitation and expansion of facilities and
improvement and revitalization of the system.
The first of these stages focused on setting a working higher education procla-
mation. As a result, the Higher Education Proclamation 351/2003 was announced.
The second stage was developed to the construction of building for classrooms,
dormitories, libraries, laboratories and computer centres and other educational
facilities. The third stage was addressed to assuring the quality of higher educa-
tion and training by developing quality assurance systems.
Bishaw and Melesse 37

Higher Education Proclamation of 2003

In this part, attempts have been made to analyze the Higher Education Proclamation
of 2003 using content analysis. The analysis was made by taking articles and sub-
articles as units of measurement. One of the achievements of this government in
higher education is the Higher Education Proclamation of 2003. The Higher
Education Proclamation 351/2003 was issued with the intent of providing legal
framework for the higher education expansion so that higher learning institutions
can produce quality and skilled manpower adequately in accordance with the
needs of the country, to make the research work in higher education to be problem-
solving and directed towards adequate utilization of resources of the country, to
assure academic freedom and accountability of the HEIs and to provide direction
and to outline the contribution of private HEIs to educational practice of higher
learning institutes of the country.
The proclamation has clearly indicated the objectives of higher education as
follows. Higher education shall have the objectives to:

1. produce skilled persons in quantity and quality that will serve the country
in different professions;
2. expand higher education services that are free from any discrimination on
the grounds of race, religion, sex, politics and similar others;
3. provide equitable distribution of HEIs;
4. lay down problem-solving educational and institutional system that ena-
bles to utilize the potential resources of the country and undertake study
and research;
5. provide higher education and social services that are compatible with the
needs and development of the country;
6. lay down an institutional system that ensures the accountability of the
institutions;
7. ensure the participation of all concerned bodies in administration, decision-
making, create and promote a culture of participation;
8. make efforts to develop and disseminate the culture of tolerance, respect
and harmony together among the people.

The proclamation is divided into six parts each part containing sub-articles.
The first part deals with the definition of important terms. The second part deals
with objectives of higher education, autonomy of institutions, the establishment
of institutions, education programmes, language of instruction and the like.
The curriculum of higher education is required to focus on experience and
student participation, practice-oriented, problem-solving and in line with the
objective conditions of the country. It is also expected to encourage independent
thinking and develop modern views. This proclamation set up a system of cost
sharing, partial autonomies for universities on budgets, administration of personnel
including employment, internal organization and academic freedom. Another
important new experience drawn from the proclamation was cost sharing. In this
regard, any student who has graduated from higher education of the public
38 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

institutions is required to share the cost of education, training and other services
on the basis of cost-sharing principles.
This part also reflects the nature of the staff of the institution. One of the inno-
vative issues of the proclamation is its attempt to overcome the shortage of quali-
fied staff in higher education through joint appointment. It is a condition whereby
an academic worker can work in two or more institutions.
Part four of the proclamation puts emphasis on private HEIs. This part deals
with the process of accountability of private HEIs and the way of directing their
contribution through the process of pre-accreditation and accreditation. The proc-
lamation establishes criteria for achieving accreditation as a particular type of
higher institution that would apply to both private and public institutions.
Part five is concerned with the establishment of Higher Education Relevance
and Quality Agency (HERQA). This issue will be discussed in the next section.
The proclamation has also treated the issue of student selection and admission.
The proclamation encourages HEIs to select and admit students and engage in
affirmative action for women, disabled people and those from disadvantaged
regions. Despite such rights of higher learning institutions to select and admit
students, the selection for regular undergraduate programmes of public universi-
ties is carried out centrally by Ministry of Education (MOE). The researchers feel
that the approach may lead decision-makers to do impersonal decisions that are
believed to give little consideration to the set criteria.
Women and those from deprived regions were given special emphasis through
affirmative action. This was the second attempt in Ethiopian history to provide
equity in the Ethiopian higher education system. The first was during the Derge
regime that tried to give access to women and students from military class, rural
areas and poor people.
The proclamation has created conducive conditions for HEIs to realize multi-
cultural education by giving more opportunity and access of admission and by
balancing inputs and process of education. It enabled and encouraged HEIs to
engage in income generation activities and to keep income.
Except assigning heads and the vice heads to universities by MOE, the procla-
mation gives considerable autonomy in their own affairs. However, practically
seen, the boards of universities and MOE are observed as interfering in some
academic and administrative affairs.
Another significant change in the history of higher education is the expansion of
distance mode of delivery. Despite intense criticism against the quality of distance
education, its contribution both to provide access to the the needy and the encour-
agement it received from the side of the public institutions are immense. In this
regard, the role played by private institutions exceeds that of the public higher insti-
tutions. Currently, both the government and private higher institutions are greatly
participating in expanding distance education. For instance, Bahir Dar University,
Mekele University, Jimma University, Addis Ababa University from public insti-
tutions and Alpha, St, Marry, Unity, Admas, Ethopis and other private higher
institutions are offering distance courses in various disciplines both at diploma and
degree programmes. Universities, such as Addis Ababa University, Gondar and
Jimma, introduced modular approach in graduate programmes (Abiy, 2005).
Bishaw and Melesse 39

Another significant paradigm shift in higher education is cost sharing. One

strategy to expand higher education and to provide regional equity of distribution
of resources for educational expansion is cost sharing through graduate tax.
Other income generation means proposed by HEI’s includes consultancy, con-
tract research, short courses etc that are planned to generate 20% of the total cost.
Besides, better use of resources (e.g., contracting out services to private sectors)
was also considered as one way of minimizing the cost of expanding higher edu-
cation in Ethiopia.
However, the implementation of this system has faced several challenges due
to many reasons. One of the challenges coming from students is that they claim to
join departments of their choice. The second challenge relates to the way of
implementing the proposal. That is, some students want to pay the graduate tax
during the training programme while others want to pay it in the form of services
after graduation. Despite these and other problems, the government was dedicated
to realize the cost through sharing by students.
Public money for universities will be in the form of block grant funding
formula. Despite such matters were well articulated in the Higher Education
Proclamation of the 2003, they were not put into effect until 2015. Eventually,
some autonomy on academic matters was given to HEIs, but until recently, little
was allowed over financial and administrative matters. The Ministry’s fear so as
not to give greater autonomy for HEIs was due to the belief that it makes it diffi-
cult for the MOE to supervise and monitor the way the HEIs tackle the problems
of equity and relevance and resource utilization. Furthermore, the staff recruit-
ment was carried out by the MOE which goes against the proclamation.
Even though MOE has argued that supervision by its staff is important to
assure equity and relevance, when compared in terms of experience and qualifica-
tion of their staff, universities have well-qualified and experienced personnel that
can manage both administrative and financial matters compared to MOE staff.
Therefore, the argument suggested by MOE’s decision to supervise higher institu-
tions is inadequate.

Expansion of Facilities
The expansion of higher education was challenged with the absence of adequate
classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, dining rooms and other facilities. One of
the aggressive measures the government has taken was allocating a very huge sum
of budget for expansion (Teshome, 2004). The construction of these facilities was
divided into three phases and attempts were made to meet the growing demand of
higher learning institute students’ admission. However, problems like lack of
well-organized contractors in the construction sector in terms of management,
integrity; scarcity of construction materials, and delay in the construction have
seriously affected the expansion of higher education. However, different institu-
tions tried to manage such problems by renting dormitories from private owners
and assigning many students in one room.
40 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

Higher Education Quality Assurance

The Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (hereafter HERQA) is an
autonomous agency established through the Higher Education Proclamation
(351/2003) as one of the key agencies responsible for guiding and regulating the
higher education sector in Ethiopia. The mission of HERQA is to help ensure high
quality and relevant higher education system in the country. The agency is man-
dated to report on the relevance and quality of higher education offered by all
HEIs in Ethiopia. One of the central roles of HERQA is to encourage and assist
the growth of an organizational culture in Ethiopian higher education that values
quality and is committed to continuous improvement (HERQA, 2007).
A quality assurance agency was organized in the MOE which is directly
accountable to the prime minister’s office. Partly, this was a strategy to realize the
Ethiopian Education and Training Policy that stresses on improving the quality of
education in the country through improving the qualification of teachers, earning
process, management and leadership, financial management, autonomy and
accountability and the involvement of stakeholders (HERQA, 2007).
The focus on quality also encompasses relevance so that students can have
practical, problem-solving skills as well as theoretical knowledge. This in turn
requires improvements in teaching and research, greater responsiveness to the
labour market and continuous review of curricula based on the needs assessment
and relevance to the needs identified. There is a need for better leadership and
management in higher learning institutes in Ethiopia. To realize this vision, vari-
ous strategies were designed. These include upgrading of skills and gearing
towards result orientation and efficiency, revitalizing governance, new staff eval-
uation methods, and staff career, salary and promotion system, strategies to
decentralize at department level, boards with local government and participation
of private sector, accountability system including evaluation conference at least
twice a year, short-term training of managers and experience-sharing meetings.
These reforms were enshrined in the Ethiopian Government Proclamation No.
352/2003 (FDRE, 2003).
HERQA has developed a number of quality audit guidelines that are instru-
mental to enhancing the quality of provision of education in HEIs assuming that
they will serve as reference sources and basic tools for the quality care units which
are responsible for the day-to-day quality care and quality enhancement in HEIs
(HERQA, 2007).
As one of its key activities, HERQA has carried out institutional quality audits
of all HEIs. An institutional quality audit is an in-depth analysis and assessment
of the quality and relevance of programmes and of the teaching and learning envi-
ronment. Besides, an institutional quality audit tries to assess the appropriateness
and effectiveness of HEIs approach to quality care, system of accountability and
internal review mechanisms (HERQA, 2007).
An essential contribution to a HERQA institutional quality audit is a self-
evaluation document prepared by the HEI. The purpose of this document is to
provide information and guidance to HEIs on the 10 areas that HERQA will focus
on an institutional quality audit and so set a common frame of reference for the
Bishaw and Melesse 41

review of quality within the Ethiopian higher education system. The document
describes the 10 focus areas and provides reference points or criteria on which the
evaluation of the focus point is to be made. It also indicates sources of evidence
to which HERQA may refer. Hence, it indicates the sources of information or data
and the concerned officials of HEIs to whom HERQA could contact to get data
about what has been accomplished in the area (HERQA, 2007).
These 10 areas of focus can be categorized into four main areas of quality
assurance, such as context, inputs, processes and outputs. As a context, HERQA
stresses on assessing the vision, mission and educational goals, programme rele-
vance and curriculum. As an input, HERQA focuses on infrastructural and learn-
ing resources, academic and support staff, student admission and support services.
As a process, the document focuses on teaching, learning and assessment and
governance and management systems. Finally, as an outcome, the document gives
due emphasis to assess the student progression and graduation outcomes, research
and outreach activities and internal quality assurance (HERQA, 2007).
HERQA has drafted the pre-accreditation and accreditation guidelines and is
reviewed to provide greater clarity and explicit objectivity. The draft was distrib-
uted to most of the stakeholders for their suggestion and comments before imple-
mentation. Based on the criteria set in the pre-accreditation and accreditation
manuals, many private and public HEIs are visited. Furthermore, HERQA has
drafted the manual for internal and external quality audits and other relevant doc-
uments for use (HERQA, 2007).
There is a strong belief that familiarity with the areas of the focus points for
HERQA institutional quality audit will help HEIs to evaluate the relevance and
quality of their activities and prepare for an institutional quality audit. An institu-
tional quality audit will seek to verify claims of quality and relevance made in a
self-evaluation document.
To sum up, the major driving forces of the reform can be summarized into
three, that is, increase in students’ number, more institutional autonomy and
greater market focus on quality. To realize these objectives, the reform follows
three major steps. They are setting legal framework, fulfilling the prerequisites
and setting the quality assurance mechanisms.
The Ethiopian higher education is criticized for giving little attention to the
application of different teaching methods such as debates, discussion among
students and between teachers and students, among teachers and it hardly invites
experienced members of the society and professionals in different fields of
study to deliver speech on their success stories and accumulated experiences.
Furthermore, the training is criticized for detaching the training from the real life
practice. Even though it is clearly portrayed in the Education and Training Policy
of the country and the Higher Education Proclamation of 2003 that the nature of
training should be designed to develop problem-solving, practice-oriented and
relevant to the community, the nature of training rests on mere transmission of
factual information. In the absence of adequate references, books and journals, the
reading habit of university students is partly limited to their lecture notes. The
absence of books especially written by Ethiopian scholars has affected the train-
ing in its becoming more relevant to real situation in the country.
42 Higher Education for the Future 4(1)

The 3-year undergraduate programme is highly criticized for its deteriorated

quality of training given due to the short duration of the training provision.
The language ability of both higher education instructors and students is
believed to be deteriorating from time to time. To overcome this problem, the
MOE has designed language training for English language teachers of high
school and higher education.
To equip instructors with modern teaching approaches, teacher professional
development programme was launched. This programme is being given in the
education faculties of all universities, junior colleges and for high school teachers.
This programme constitutes 1 year training planned to upgrade teachers with
active learning strategies, student-centred teaching and action research.
Above all, graduate unemployment has now become a serious political con-
cern in the country. The mismatch between the economic development to accom-
modate university graduates and the number of university graduates is increasing
from time to time. To overcome such a challenge, the government has designed to
enhance entrepreneurship skill among the graduates and some other schemes to
create jobs for graduates. Considerable attention is given to train graduates to be
skilled in finding their own jobs.

Recommendations
Fortunately, the Ethiopian government understands the value of higher education
for national development and currently dedicates a significant amount of
resources towards expanding higher education. Recognizing the need for the
twenty-first-century workers who are skilled in science, technology, mathemat-
ics and engineering (STEM), Ethiopian universities are steering students towards
these STEM-related fields. Paradoxically, the number of graduate unemploy-
ment has increased and yet, the graduates are not well equipped with the neces-
sary skill to participate in the world of work effectively. The following
recommendations are, thus, forwarded to uplift the contribution of higher educa-
tion to the countries sustainable and speedy development.
First, higher education in Ethiopia is not the direct descendent of traditional
education. As a result, the curriculum relevance will be in question. Thus,
attempts should be made to encourage higher education staff to value and
explore indigenous knowledge and skill and systematically organize for curric-
ulum development.
Second, the academic freedom in higher education is the result of the teaching
approaches exercised in HEIs. Thus, efforts should be made to enhance debates
among the higher education community.
Finally, the scarce national resource allocated for higher education expansion
should be efficiently utilized to trigger national development. Thus, teaching and
research nexus should be planned. This cannot be achieved at once. Rather, there
should be a planned time for instructors to develop academic skills to promote
teaching, research and industry link.
 Bishaw and Melesse 43

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Authors’ bio-sketch

Alemayehu Bishaw completed his First Degree in Pedagogical Sciences, Master’s

Degree in curriculum and instruction both from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia,
and completed his PhD in education from Delhi University, India. He has been
teaching at Bahir Dar University for the last 17 years.

Solomon Melesse completed his First Degree in Pedagogical Sciences, Master’s

Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and his PhD in Curriculum Design and
Development both from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He has been teaching
at Bahir Dar University for the last 14 years.

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