5 - Higher Education in Ethiopia: The Vision and Its Challenges

Abstract

Ethiopia is embarked on a higher education expansion and reform programme of impressive dimensions. Expansion will create new universities, establish three sys- tem support agencies, mount new courses, and triple enrolments. Reforms intro- duce increased institutional autonomy, curriculum revisions, new funding arrange- ments and student contributions by means of a graduate tax. This article analyses current higher education reform efforts in Ethiopia. It begins by sketching the so- cial context in which higher education is situated and describing the country’s higher education system. An assessment of tertiary education financing follows. Management capacities and efficiency in the use of these resources are then dis- cussed, noting the particular challenges posed by HIV/AIDS. Educational quality and relevance are subsequently addressed. Analysis points out potential weaknesses in the reform programme but concludes that enrolment expansion targets are likely to be met. However, the dynamics of expansion may well generate difficulties in maintaining educational quality.

Assessment of Safety Requirements and Their Practices Among Teaching Laboratories of Health Institutes

“…The questionnaire and checklist were taken from the revised and analyzed literature to gather safety practices. 14 We then distributed the created questionnaires to instructors, department heads, and technical assistants to collect quantitative data. Observational checklists were used to collect qualitative information and were finally integrated and triangulated to enrich and elaborate on quantitative data collected through questionnaires.…”

“…Out of 17 participants, 58.8% (10) were from the department of the medical laboratory, and 41.2% (7) were from the environmental health department. Regarding the sex of respondents, 82.4% (14) were females, while 17.6% (3) were males.…”

“…12 Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that is actively engaged in expanding its advanced institutions, increasing the annual enrollment of students in various fields, including health sciences, and increasing self-professed, well-educated, scientific knowledge and meeting the demand for well-trained personnel. 13,14 More emphasis should be placed on the field of natural science, such as health, agriculture, and engineering, and in addition to the theoretical understanding of the scientific field, it is necessary to acquire high-quality and sufficient practical knowledge. Scientific researchers use a wide variety of samples, chemicals, and instruments.…”

“…Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that is actively engaged in expanding its advanced institutions, increasing the annual enrollment of students in various fields, including health sciences, and increasing self-professed, well-educated, scientific knowledge and meeting the demand for well-trained personnel. 13 , 14 …”

New Directions in African Education

“…In 1992 Mwira and Hughes reported that both the student allowances and the student loans scheme had been earmarked for change and that plans had been made to reduce costs by admitting more day students, streamlining the operation of housing and dining facilities, and also abolishing allowances. According to William Saint (2004), Ethiopia is currently expanding its higher education system and is looking at new ways of funding it, including introducing a graduate tax, and, as Johnstone (2003) reports, a loan scheme modelled after the Australian income-contingent loan scheme is also being considered. In other countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Kenya, universities have responded to the challenges of financing by offering parallel systems for fee-paying students, where some university spaces are set aside for students who are able to pay for their education.…”