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An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Ethiopian Higher ARE READING
The reports made by HERQA on the quality of individual higher education institutions represent a comprehensive,
honest appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses that have been found, and reliance can be placed in their accuracy.
However, they are not public documents and institutions may choose not to share them with potential partners.
A start has been made in implementing the notion of quality enhancement. HERQA staff have been engaged in
undertaking meta-analysis of institutional audit reports and other documents. They have presented their findings to
the sector at a recent conference.1
The Dutch Government, though the Centre for International Cooperation at the VU University, Amsterdam (CIS/VU),
has also funded a leadership and management development program and a pedagogic development and resource
project that has up-skilled teaching staff and created academic resource centers in nine of the more established public
universities.2
The Government has also worked with the World Bank, Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), UNDP and others to fund a
range of initiatives that have enabled staff from foreign systems to work for extended periods within public
institutions as a means of strengthening teaching and management capabilities.
Anti-Corruption
Ethiopia, by African standards has generally low levels of corruption. Where corruption is found, the Government has
an anti-corruption unit that is vigorous in rooting it out and even senior staff previously favored by the government
lose their positions if found to have acted corruptly or if they have failed to take action against corruption. On the
other hand, the most senior posts in public higher education organizations are appointed or approved by the
Government and are often given to party members or supporters.
Most universities are addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS with their students. They have functioning HIV/AIDS clubs and
societies that campaign on the issues and undertake publicity about safer sex. Some have HIV/AIDS testing facilities.
There are no restrictions on pay in private institutions. The salary of teachers below the rank of assistant professor is
similar to the public sector public institutions, but, above the rank of lecturer, private institutions pay better than
their public counterparts.
The expansion has led to more complex organizations that require more qualified administrative staff than are
available. Many administrative staff are insufficiently skilled to develop systems to cope with the expansion. Public
universities are not allowed by government to pay market wages to attract better staff. This means that
administration is cumbersome, inefficient and ineffective and acts as a break on the effective use of scarce resources.
Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries and the expansion of higher education has been possible because of
the considerable direct budget support by donors. Even so, the system is underfunded. Libraries are under resourced,
classes are large, and equipment and supplies are short.
The problem is compounded by an inflexible system of line budget negotiation between government and institutions
that encourages universities to cling to the status quo as far as the expenditure is concerned, to overstate their needs
and to spend to the limit. A more rational, output-based system of funding is being contemplated that will help to
ensure that the limited funds available would be used more effectively.
There is a limited form of cost sharing that obliges graduates from the public sector to pay back a small proportion
of their teaching costs after graduation. However, in the public sector they get free room and board and pay no up-
front fees. Since there are few opportunities for profit making consultancy, this limits the revenues available to
universities.
The expansion of higher education in other parts of the world has led to a diversification of mission with some
institutions focused on different levels of study: sub-degree, undergraduate and graduate. This allows more efficient
use of resources and a concentration of more experienced, qualified academic staff and resources where they are most
needed. In Ethiopia, the government has decided not to establish a more diversified system and each new public
university has to be a ‘comprehensive’ university offering a bit of everything.
Cultural Issues
The quality problems the system faces are not solely to do with resources and government policies. Government,
managers and staff have a disabling culture of bureaucracy, blame and deference that is often inimical to change and
modernization.
There is over-regulation of the rapidly expanding private sector. Some of this is a result of the admittedly patchy
quality found in these institutions, but the upshot is that the continued viability of the best (some of which rival the
best in the public sector) is called into questions. For example, in 2010, the HERQA said it would stop accrediting or
renewing the accreditation of private institutions (this seems later to have been rescinded) and has prevented them
from offering training in law and teaching fields. Private higher education is now also prohibited from offering
distance-learning programs. These prohibitions seem political and are likely to have far-reaching and unpredictable
outcomes.
As a result of these tensions: managers in universities have to discern hidden agendas rather than working within a
more open system where they can confront the problems they face in partnership with government and staff;
outsiders to the system are sometimes critical of the expansion policy; private higher education faces an uncertain
future; and there is no guarantee that HERQA’s quasi-independence and mode of operation can be maintained.
Despite extensive training programs, there is still a lack of match between employer and stakeholder requirements
and curriculum, pedagogy and assessment methods. Scarce ICT, book and other resources and traditional attitudes
compound these difficulties and discourage a move to more student-centered forms of learning. The result is that
teaching and learning is too often rote learning with a lack of depth and application.
The valuing of science and technology above other subjects (such as the arts and social studies) has led to micro
management of the curriculum and intakes within public and private higher education, without taking into account
what the institutions are able to cope with, the expertise of their staff and the facilities available. This means that in
the short and medium term, science and technology graduates will have been taught using chalk and talk
methodologies by non-specialist and under-qualified staff.
Other forms of discrimination and bias are not recognized. When they are interviewed, female and ethnic minority
students report discrimination and abuse (sexual and bullying) from both other students and some staff. Female
students often get involved in relationships with older men (and not uncommonly their teachers) in a ‘sugar daddy’
relationship: country girls can be dazzled by the treats on offer. This has led to female students becoming one of the
groups most at risk from HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. Managers do not always take relatively simple measures to combat
them, such as codes of practice for sexual relationships between staff and students, a system of anonymous and
second marking of assignments and confidential routes for reporting abuse.
Similarly, with HIV/AIDS the problem is seen to be with students. Teaching about HIV/AIDS is seldom mainstreamed in
the curriculum, and where it is, the focus is on developing students’ knowledge: the pedagogies chosen do not address
attitude change and behavior. The role of students as potential agents for change with respect to gender and HIV/AIDS
is not often addressed within the curriculum in terms of their future role as leaders in society. The issues of HIV/AIDS
and gender are seldom addressed fully as management and staffing issues.
Poor connectivity and a lack of technical expertise make it difficult for those outside the country to connect with
individuals and organizations within Ethiopia. A website set up in 2005 by HERQA and HESC with support from the
Dutch Capacity Building organization NUFFIC was an attempt to create a portal for the higher education sector in
Ethiopia and a means of entry into the sector for those outside the country. Recently the site has been difficult to
access and the data has not been updated.
Conclusions
Higher education can be transformative for both the individual and a country. It has the potential to do this for
Ethiopia but much needs to be done if this transformative potential is to be fully realized.
The Ethiopian system is trying to achieve more graduates without a noticeable loss of quality. HERQA has reported
honestly on the quality of universities within the system. It has mitigated, but has not been able to stem, quality
problems. Their reports show that institutions have considerable strengths, but many have systematic and deep-
seated weaknesses. The fact that the reports are (as yet) largely confidential to government and the institutions
limits their effectiveness as a spur to improvement.
There are tensions within the system that impact on the quality of education offered and graduates’ capabilities:
resources versus expansion; autonomy versus ‘government knows best’; the country’s needs for a professional
workforce versus the need to maintain standards; openness of HERQA reports versus the need to maintain confidence
in the government strategy. Despite these tensions, we are constantly impressed by the progress made and the
commitment of government, and managers and staff in public and private universities to making the expansion work
for the benefit of the country. On balance, the past achievements of the system make us optimistic about the future
of Ethiopian higher education.
1. Conference paper Analysis of Institutional Quality Audit Reports by HERQA: Challenges Faced and Way Forward,
presented by Kassahun Kebede (HERQA Senior Expert) Valerie Lestrade (HERQA/VSO volunteer) Dr. Tesfaye Teshome
(HERQA Director General) and Sisay Tikele (HERQA Senior Expert) ‘The Influence of HERQA on the Quality and
Relevance of Ethiopia’s Higher Education System: Reflections on the Evidence’, Addis Ababa, 4th & 5th May, 2011.
(Conference Proceedings to be published by HERQA later in 2011).
2. These projects included LMDP, The Leadership and Management Development Project; ASSIST-HERQA, Advice,
Strengthening and Support through Investment and Supply of Training for the Higher Education Relevance and
Quality Agency; HELP-HESC, The Higher Education Leadership and Policy Support Project for Higher Education
Strategy Center; EQUIP, Educational Quality Improvement Programme (see http://www.cis.vu.nl/projects/index.cfm 20
Aug 2009).
Their book Higher Education in Development: Lesson from Sub-Saharan Africawill be published later this year by IAP-
Information Age Publishing Inc., Charlotte, NC 28271, USA.
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