ኅዳር 3 ቀን 2010 ዓ.ም
ዩኒቨርሲቲው ከሌሎች አገራት ዩኒቨርስቲዎች
ጋር እንደሚሰራ ገለጸ
ጽጌረዳ ጫንያለው
አዲስ አበባ፡- ቅድስት ማርያም ዩኒቨርሲቲ ከኢንዲራ ጋንዲ ናሽናል ኦፕን ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጋር በመተባበር በተለያዩ መርሃ ግብሮች በሁለተኛ ዲግሪ ያሰለጠናቸውን 85 ተማሪዎች አስመረቀ፡፡ በቀጣይም ከሌሎች አገራት ዩኒቨርሲዎች እንደሚሰራ አስታውgል፡፡
የቅድስት ማርያም ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዚዳንት ተባባሪ ፕሮፌሰር ወንድወሰን ታምራት ዩኒቨርሲቲው ትናንት ተማሪዎቹን ባስመረቀበት ወቅት እንደተናገሩት፤ አገሪቱ የምትፈልገውን የተማረ የሰው ኃይል ከማፍራት አኳያ ዩኒቨርሲቲው የድርሻውን እየተወጣ ይገኛል፡፡ ከተggመበት ዓመት ጀምሮም በመማር ማስተማር፣ በምርምርና በማኀበረሰብ አገልግሎት በንቃት በመሳተፍ አገራዊ ኃላፊነቱን እየተወጣ ነው፡፡
እንደ ፕሬዚዳንቱ ገለጻ፣ ዩኒቨርሲቲው ከሌሎች አገራት ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች ጋር ተባብሮ እየሰራ ሲሆን፣ ከኢንዲራ ጋንዲ ናሽናል ኦፕን ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጋር ባለፉት ስምንት ዓመታት ያከናወነው ተግባርም ለዚህ ማሳያ ነው፡፡ በእነዚህ ዓመታትም ሁለቱ ተgማት ከሁለት ሺህ በላይ ተማሪዎችን አስመርቀዋል፡፡በእለቱም ለዘጠነኛ ጊዜ በቢዝነስ አድምንስትሬሽን፣ ሩራል ዴቨሎፕመንት፣ ኮሜርስ፣ ኢኮኖሚክስ፣ ፐብሊክ አድምንስትሬሽን፣ ሶሾሎጂ፣ ሶሻል ወርክና ፐብሊክ ሳይንስ የሙያ መስኮች ተማሪዎችን አሰልጥኖ አስመርgል፡፡
ፕሬዚዳንቱ እንደገለጹት፣ ዩኒቨርሲቲው የሚሰጠውን የትምህርት አገልግሎት ህብረተሰቡ በቅርበት እንዲያገኝ ተደራሽነቱን እያሰፋ ሲሆን፣ ይሄም መንግስት በትምህርት ዘርፉ የሚያከናውነውን ተግባር የሚያግዝ ይሆናል፡፡ ይሄን ሃላፊነቱን ከመወጣት አኳያም አዳዲስ የሙያ ዘርፎችን በመክፈትና አገሪቱ የምትፈልገውን የሰው ኃይል በጥራትና በብቃት ከማምረት፣ ችግር ፈቺ የሆኑ ምርምሮችን ለማከናወንና በማህበረሰብ አገልግሎት ያለውን ተሳትፎ ለማጎልበትም ይጥራል፡፡
ዩኒቨርሲቲው ካስመረቃቸው መካከል ከ30 በመቶው በላይ ሴቶች ሲሆኑ፣ ሶስት የውጭ አገር ዜጎችንም/አፍሪካውያን/ አሰልጥኖ አስመርgል፡፡
19 May 2017 National-News
Scholars Capitalize on Medieval Heritages as
Tourism Potentials
BY LEULSEGED WORKU
A public lecture on Ethiopia’s heritage management emphasized the importance of capitalizing on medieval heritages, averting unnecessary bureaucratic procedures and conducting thorough researches to further promote Ethiopian tourism sector.
St. Marry`s University, Research and Knowledge Management Director, Dr. Kebede Kassa told The Ethiopian Herald during public lecture on Space Archeology: Capitals found, the Might and Demise of an Absolute Medieval Power with a focus on Heritage and Tourism on Wednesday that the medieval period is one of the times when the country experienced several political, economic and social phenomenon. Archaeological and historical documents have also confirmed this fact, according to him.
This generation knows much about the ancient and the modern history of Ethiopia, Dr. Kebede said, adding, the medieval history is still obscured. Hence, public lectures like this one has a significant role in promoting the values of the obscured age in Ethiopian history.
Ethiopia’s medieval age has left significant mark on the history of the country. Several monuments, rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and others are products of medieval Ethiopia, he said.
Dr Ayalew Sisay is a scholar and tour operator. As to him, despite having rich cultural and historical heritages, the absence of peace and stability had been major challenges in utilizing these abundant tourism resources.
“We, Ethiopians are strong in fighting and repulsing any external intruder and have well developed culture of tolerance despite rare incidences which have adverse effects on the tourism sector,” he said.
The government has given due emphasis to utilize the tourism potential of the country as an input to realize economic development. “However, there is a gap in promoting our heritages to global community. Infrastructural and skilled manpower developments must be the major interventions,” he noted.
At the event, scholars from Addis Ababa University have presented medieval Ethiopian archaeological heritages that need further study and promotion.
ጥቅምት 2 ቀን 2009 ዓ.ም
ዩኒቨርሲቲው በሁለተኛ ዲግሪ ያሰለጠናቸውን
ተማሪዎች አስመረቀ
ሚኪያስ ሰይፈ
የቅድስት ማርያም ዩኒቨርሲቲ ከህንዱ ኢንዲራ ጋንዲ ዓለም አቀፍ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጋር በመተባበር ላለፉት ሁለትና ሶስት ዓመታት በተለያዩ የሙያ መስኮች በሁለተኛ ዲግሪ ያሰለጠናቸውን 119 ተማሪዎች አስመረቀ፡፡
ያለፈው ቅዳሜ በአፍሪካ ኢኮኖሚክ ኮሚሽን (ኢሲኤ) የመሰብሰቢያ አዳራሽ በተካሄደው የምረቃ ስነ ሰርዓት የዩኒቨርሲቲው ፕሬዚዳንት ፕሮፌሰር ወንድወሰን ታምራት እንደተናገሩት፣ ተgሙ ካለፉት አሥር ዓመታት ጀምሮ ከህንዱ ኢንዲራ ጋንዲ ዓለም አቀፍ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጋር በመተባበር ባለሙያዎችን በማስተርስ ፕሮግራም ሲያሰለጥን ቆይቷል፡፡ በዕለቱም ላለፉት ሁለትና ሶስት ዓመታት የሁለተኛ ዲግሪያቸውን በቢዝነስ አድሚንስሬትሽን፣ ሩራል ዴቨሎፕመንት፣ንግድ፣ ኢኮኖሚክስ፣ ፖለቲካል ሳይንስ፣ ፐብሊክ አድሚንስትሬሽን፣ ሶሾሎጂና ሶሻል ወርክ ትምህርታቸውን ሲከታተሉ የቆዩ 119 ባለሙያዎችን ነው ያስመረቀው፡፡
በፈረንጆቹ የዘመን ቀመር 2006 በተጀመረው የሁለቱ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች የጋራ የስልጠና ፕሮግራም የትምህርት ጥራትንም ሆነ በምሁራኑ የሚሰሩ የምርምር ሥራዎችን በመደገፍ ሲሰሩ ቆይተዋል፡፡ ዘንድሮም እነዚህን ምሁራን ለውጤት እንዲበቁ ሲያደርጉ ሀገር አቀፍ ይዘት ያላቸው የምርምር ሥራዎች ላይ ትኩረት እንዲደርጉ ምቹ ሁኔታዎችን በመፍጠር ነው፡፡ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎቹ እስካሁንም በተለያዩ የሙያ መስኮች ለ8ኛ ጊዜ በማስመረቅ ከ1 ሺህ 923 በላይ ምሁራንን በማፍራት የበኩላቸውን አስተዋጽኦ አበርክተዋል፡፡
እንደ ፕሮፌሰሩ ገለጻ ቅድስት ማርያም ዩኒቨርሲቲ ከዚህ ዓለም አቀፍ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጋር ተቀናጅተው በሚሰጡት ተከታታይ ስልጠናዎች ብዙኃኑ ሰልጣኞች በኢንዱስትሪው ውስጥ ያገለገሉ እንደመሆናቸው የሚያቀርቡት የመመረቂያ ጽሁፍም ሀገራዊ ይዘት ያለውና ችግር ፈቺ እንዲሆን ይጠበቃል፡፡ ዩኒቨርሲቲዎቹም በዚህ አግባብ እየሠሩ ይገኛሉ፡፡ የምርምር ሥራዎቹንም በተለያዩ ድረ ገጾች በመልቀቅ ፖሊሲ አውጭዎችና ልሂቃን ተመራማሪዎች እንዲጠቀሙባቸው ማድረጋቸውን ጠቁመዋል፡፡
በምርቃት ስነ ስርዓቱ ላይ የተገኙት በኢትዮጵያ የህንድ አምባሳደር አኑራግ ስሪ ቫስታካ በበኩላቸው ኢትዮጵያና ህንድ በመማር ማስተማሩ ዘርፍ የነበራቸውን ታሪካዊ ግንኙነት አንስተዋል፡፡ እንደ አምባሳደሩ ገለጻ ህንድ ከንጉሡ ዘመን ጀምራ በተለያዩ የትምህርት ደረጃዎች የሰለጠኑ ምሁራንን ወደ ኢትዮጵያ በመላክ አጋርነቷን ስትገልጽ ቆይታለች፡፡
ሐምሌ 22 ቀን 2009 ዓ.ም
“ሚክሎል” ከ15 ዓመታት በ=ላ ለንባብ በቃ
በደራሲ ስዩም ገብረ ሕይወት ተጽፎ በ1994 ዓ.ም ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ለንባብ የበቃውና በድጋሚ የታተመው “ሚክሎል – የመቻል ሚዛን” የረጅም ልቦለድ መጽሐፍ ዛሬ ተሲያት ላይ በጁፒተር ሆቴል ተመርቆ በገበያ ላይ እንደሚውል ደራሲው በተለይ ለአዲስ አድማስ ገልጿል፡፡
ወጣትና አንጋፋ ገጣሚያን ስራዎቻቸውን በሚያቀርቡበትና የተለያዩ ኪነ ጥበባዊ ዝግጅቶች በተካተቱበት ፕሮግራም የሚመረቀው “ሚክሎል – የመቻል ሚዛን ”፣ በደርግ መንግስት የመጨረሻ አመታት ተከስቶ በነበረው የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴና የዩኒቨርሲቲ ተማሪዎች የብላቴ የጦር ማሰልጠኛ ዘመቻ ዋዜማ ላይ መቼቱን በማድረግ፣ የተለያዩ አገራዊ ጉዳዮችን በፍልስፍና እየነቀሰ የሚተነትን መጽሃፍ ነው፡፡
መጽሃፉ ጠንካራና ፈታኝ ሀገራዊ ጉዳዮችን በሠመረ ኪናዊ ውበት የሚዳስስ፣ የተሻለ ሀገራዊና ግለሰባዊ የእድገት ጥያቄዎችን እያነሳ ልማዳዊውን የማንነት ገበና የሚጋፈጥ፣ ሀገራዊ ብልጽግናን ከተፈጥሮአዊ አቅም ጋር አስተሳስሮ የሚመረምር፣ ለአንባቢ እጅግ የነጠሩ ቁም ነገሮችን የሚያስጨብጥና የሚያነቃ እንደሆነ ያነጋገርናቸው የሥነጽሁፍ ባለሙያዎች መስክረዋል፡፡
በ395 ገጾች የተቀነበበው መጽሃፉ፣ በቅድስት ማርያም ዩኒቨርሲቲ አሳታሚነት በድጋሚ ታትሞ ለንባብ የበቃ ሲሆን፣ በተለያዩ የመጽሃፍት መደብሮችና በአዟሪዎች በ150 ብር የመሸጫ ዋጋ ለገበያ ቀርቦ እየተሸጠ ይገኛል፡፡
በአሁኑ ወቅት ኑሮውን በእንግሊዝ አገር ያደረገው ደራሲ ስዩም ገብረ ሕይወት፣ የ“ሚክሎል – የመቻል ሚዛን ” ቀጣይ ክፍል የሆነውና ከ15 አመታት በፊት የጻፈውን “የማቃት አንጀት” የረጅም ልቦለድ መጽሃፍ በቅርቡ ለንባብ ለማብቃት እንቅስቃሴ እያደረገ እንደሚገኝም ለአዲስ አድማስ ገልጧል፡፡
ከአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በኢንፎርሜሽንና ኮምፒውተር ሳይንስ የመጀመሪያ ዲግሪውን ያገኘው ደራሲ ስዩም ገብረ ሕይወት፣ በመቀሌ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የመጀመሪያውን ቤተ መጽሃፍትና ኮምፒዩተር ማዕከል በማggምና በማስተማር ያገለገለ ሲሆን፣ በብሪትሽ ካውንስል በፕሮጀክት ማናጀርነትና በቤተ መጽሃፍትና ኢንፎርሜሽን አገልግሎት ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅነት ለሰባት አመታት ያህል ሰርቷል፡፡
19 JULY 2006
Ethiopia: IGNOU, St. Mary’s University College Launch Distance Post-Graduate Programme
By ENA
Addis Ababa — Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and St. Mary’s University College launched distance post-graduate learning programme.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, President of St. Mary’s University College Wondwossen Tamrat said the programme is the first success story of the private sector in introducing post-graduate studies in Ethiopia in partnership with a foreign University.
http://www.marjon.ac.uk/Ethiopia
The University of St Mark & St John ran courses and helped developed materials for ELIP (Ethiopian Language Improvement Project). The University also ran Post-graduate Certificate courses for teachers throughout Ethiopia: 2002-2005.
From 2006-2008 the University worked with St Mary’s University College in Addis Ababa as part of the
England-Africa Partnerships scheme (funded by DIUS) to develop teaching and training materials designed to raise awareness of gender issues in Ethiopian schools and colleges.
ARROW (Art: a Resource for Reconciliation Over the world) is currently developing arts education projects in Ethiopia in partnership with St Mary’s College.
Monday, 13 August 2012 10:52
Collaboration focus of education conference
By Elias Gebreselassie
Collaboration and Investment in education were the focus of the 10th annual conference on private higher education held in Addis Ababa from August 8-10.
The conference organized by St. Mary’s University College (SMUC), Association of African Universities (AAU), African Union Commission (AUC), the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), and Covenant University (CU) based in Nigeria had more than 200 participants from Africa and the Diaspora and with about 31 research papers presented. Wondwosen Tamrat, President of St. Mary’s University College, said that holding the conference in Ethiopia was important because Ethiopia, until the past decade, had been lagging behind other African countries and therefore would accelerate the coverage of private educational facilities, which stands currently at 18 percent and is now on par with other African nations.
He said the percentage would have been greater if private vocational and technical educational facilities were included.
However Wondwosen acknowledged that the issue of quality education is a recurring theme in many African countries with no less than 20 having an education quality supervision and control agency. He adds that Ethiopia will soon be among them.
Reports stated at the conference indicated even though education is improving in Africa, the US and Europe still set the standard.
Ethiopia has 32 public universities and more than 60 Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs), while Nigeria has an impressive 36 federal universities, 37 state universities and 45 private universities well clear of Ghana which has six public universities and 42 PHEIs.
Michael Omolewa (Prof) Former President of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said most of post-independence Africa especially those from south of the Sahara were ruled by military men which didn’t give attention to education.
“The proportion of Nigeria’s population exposed to higher education barely registered at 10 percent,” said Omolewa adding that most other countries have a less than five percent ratio even though human resource capital is needed to be developed for the African continent.
Reports indicate that in the next five years, private institutions will double more than government institutions even though countries like Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia which receive about four billion dollars in aid annually have not diverted a sufficient amount of aid to public education choosing instead to focus on other issues.
Jonathan Mba (Prof.) Research Director at the Association of African Universities (AAU) said there is a recurrent issue of private institutions graduating students with relevancy to a particular need of a country.
However he said private institutions have been forced to innovate and create niche markets in the field and in some African countries education policy has been gathering dust for up to 30 years.
Wondwossen added that private education can still align with public institutions.
He surmised that private institutions on average have a much higher proportion of female students around 55pct, while national government higher educational institutions have difficulty filling the 30 percent female attendance quota.
Araba Botchway AAU project officer, Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program stressed that private institutions have usually little sense of entitlement unlike many government institutions and there is a need for a paradigm shift.
26 August 2012
Issue No: 236 University World News, http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120824144559722
AFRICA
Private universities helping to meet student demand
Reuben Kyama
Private universities play a critical role in advancing the higher education goals of Africa, as the world’s least developed continent grapples with a burgeoning youth population seeking quality, globally competitive skills, a pan-African forum held in Ethiopia agreed.Senior government officials, academics and educationists attending the forum at the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from 8-10 August emphasized that public universities alone could not meet the rising demand for higher education in Africa.Organized by the African Union Commission in conjunction with the Association of African Universities, the conference, focusing on “The Role of Private Universities in Higher Education in Africa”, also assessed the impact of private higher education on development.Other partners included the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, and Covenant University and St Mary’s University College in Ethiopia.“While private universities around the world are commended for their achievements and excellence, Africa is lagging behind. Whether the universities are public or private, no African university features in the top 200 of world university rankings,” the delegates said in a statement issued at the close of the meeting.According to participants, the emergence of private universities in Africa could help boost efforts aimed at bridging gaps in the provision of quality higher education.Globally, the forum statement said, there were many examples of private universities that had contributed greatly to education and development, including Harvard, Chicago and Stanford universities. “In Japan, private universities account for about 75% of all universities.”More state support neededOfficials urged their governments to recognize the contribution of private universities by providing them with an enabling environment in order to flourish.In the Addis Ababa Declaration, obtained byUniversity World News, participants appealed to African governments to expand opportunities for scholarships and loans, to enable students to enroll in private universities.Delegates said there was also a need for governments to provide the sector with improved public services such as efficient road networks, reliable water and electricity supplies.Private universities, they said, would also greatly benefit from fiscal incentives such as tax relief, which would allow them to reduce fees and thus improve access to higher education.They challenged governments to establish policy and legal incentives that would encourage investment in private universities.Ethiopian Education Minister Ato Demeke Mekonnen stressed the need to involve the private sector in the development of private universities in Africa.He pointed out that nearly 30% of universities globally were private and depended on tuition fees as their main source of revenue. Meanwhile, African governments only spent around 0.8% of gross domestic product and 20% of public expenditure on education.Speakers at the meeting emphasized the need to explore innovative resource mobilization schemes targeting public and private sector alike.Need for regulation and quality assuranceThere was also consensus among delegates on the need to regulate private universities and introduce thorough quality assurance systems.Vera Brenda Ngosi, director of human resources, science and technology at the African Union Commission, underscored the need for universities to be appropriately registered and accredited.“The emergence of private universities in Africa has to be subjected to regulations. There is also a need to avoid multiplication of ‘briefcase’ universities delivering degrees with no real value, though costly,” she said.Ngosi said the continent needed a system of evaluation and monitoring of universities, both public and private, to ensure that students received quality education.Analysts have long argued that higher education is critical to economic, social and political transformation in African countries. Scholars at the forum agreed that universities should be the bedrock of sustainable progress.But skeptics have pointed out that higher education in Africa is still grappling with numerous problems such as a biting shortage of lecturers, dilapidated infrastructure, declining funding, gender inequality and obsolete curricula.However, some argue that private universities could help to revive higher education by rolling out curricula that meet the demands of a rapidly globalizing world.“Private universities should engage in problem-solving scholarship and transformation, boost job creation and become pragmatic in their intellectual pursuits,” read the final resolution.*Naftali Mwaura contributed to the reporting.
Role of Private Universities in Higher Education in Africa
Tenth Annual Conference in Addis Ababa
Mrs. Vera Brenda Ngosi, Director of Human Resource, Science and Technology
Addis Ababa, 8 August 2012 – The 10thAnnual Conference on Role of Private Universities in Higher Education in Africa kicked off on 8thAugust 2012, in view to assess the impact of private higher education provision on the revitalization of higher education in Africa and to bring some helpful developments on the role of private universities in higher education in Africa. The two days conference took place at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was organized by the African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Association for the Development of Education in African (ADEA), Covenant University and St. Mary’s University College (SMUC) of Ethiopia.
“When around the world, private universities are commended for their achievements and excellence, Africa is lagging behind. Whether the universities are public or private, no African university figures in the top 200 world university rankings”. It is with this concern in mind that the speakers addressed the audience at the conference.
In her opening remarks, Mrs. Vera Brenda Ngosi, Director of Human Resource, Science and Technology (AUC) underlined the need for universities to be “appropriately registered and accredited”. The emergence of private universities in Africa has to be subjected to regulations. And there is a need to avoid multiplication of “briefcase” universities delivering degrees with no real value though being costly. She said the continent has to have a system of evaluation and monitoring of universities, public and private, so that the students of the continent receive a quality education.
The Ethiopian Minister of Education, Ato Demeke Mekonnen emphasized that engaging in dialogue with the private sector no longer is a choice but rather a necessity, as figures show that nearly 30% of universities worldwide are private, in some countries, this percentage can be as elevated as 60%. He said the majority of the resources of such institutions come from the student tuition fees. However, this cost is unaffordable for some thus restraining access to education. Meanwhile, African governments only spend approx. 0.8% of their GDP and 20% of public expenditure on higher education.
The Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University emphasized on the importance of experience
sharing, networking and resource mobilization as to fully integrate the private sector in the efforts countries are making in the education sector.
According to Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, Former Secretary General of the Association of African Universities said that Africa needs to integrate itself in the global economy and education is the foundation to do so, adding Institutions need to be able receive more students. Another challenge the continent is currently facing is the lack of teachers. Nearly 2.5 million teachers are needed for primary, secondary and tertiary education. Apart from that, issues like gender inequalities, obsolete curricula, dilapidated infrastructure and dwindling funding are all threats to boosting higher education on the continent.
This Conference is the 10th in the series of consultative annual conference on private higher education provision organized by St. Mary’s University College (SMUC) to promote dialogue and better understanding of their roles in the society. This year, SMUC is partnering with the Association of African Universities (AAU), which is the apex higher education body in Africa, to broaden the scope and theme beyond the Ethiopian experience, as had been in the past.
The Conference was attended by vice- chancellors, rectors, presidents, and principals of public and private higher education institutions, as well as researchers, scholars; policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders from various African countries.
The conference ended on 9thof August 2012. The recommendations will be submitted in due time to the Conference of Ministers of Education for consideration.
The Reporter – English Edition
26 OCTOBER 2013
WRITTEN BY YONAS ABIYE
“Quality is a long-term commitment”
Wondwosen Tamrat, president of St. Mary’s University .St. Mary’s University College (SMUC), established in 1998, is a prominent higher learning institution located in Addis Ababa. At present, St. Mary’s University College has four main campuses in Addis Ababa, 13 major distance education regional centers, and 160 coordination offices spreading throughout the country.The University College has over 200 full-time academic staff, close to six thousand students in the undergraduate conventional mode of learning, and about thirty thousand students enrolled in distance education programs. It also has close to 2000 students in its graduate programs. Eight graduate programs are run in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The Reporter’s Yonas Abiye spoke to Associate Professor Wondwosen Tamrat, president of St. Mary’s University, about the university’s recent achievements, the pros and cons of private higher education institutions, government policy and the quality of education nationwide. Excerpts:
The Reporter: Traditionally most private higher education facilities have a college status, while a few apply to the Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA) to become universities. In response, the government prefers to grant them a ‘university-college’ status. Now you have joined Unity University as being the only privately- owned higher education institutes to be elevated to university status. How do you feel about being among the first from the private sector to achieve this recognition? And what was the process?
Wondwosen Tamrat: Well, we are very happy to have been awarded university status. But we are not the first private institution to have secured this. Unity University was the first. We, St. Mary’s University College (now St. Mary’s University), are the second. Actually, we made the application nearly a year ago, and it was granted after rigorous checks by experts from HERQA and the Ministry of Education (MoE). After all these processes were over, HERQA recommended us to the MoE, which has the final authority to grant university status. We only applied once we knew we had all the necessary requirements, which took a great deal of internal evaluation. Once we had completed our investigation, it was presented to the senate of the university college, which consented that we should go ahead. After all our achievements over the past 15 or 16 years, to be granted university status is a just reward and we are delighted.You call it a big achievement for your institution. What significance, if any, does it have for other private colleges or similar businesses trying to gain a similar status?To begin with, it’s recognition of what St. Mary’s has been doing for the past 15 years. There are certain basic parameters that are considered before any institution is granted this status in Ethiopia. It considers the type and number of students, the number of staff, faculties available, the research contribution, community service availability, number of publications and several other factors. So, this is recognition of the efforts and achievements of a private university that only started 15 or 16 years ago. In addition, private institutions are relatively new to Ethiopia, particularly in the higher education sector, only coming to prominence in the last two decades. Hence, offering university status to an institution like St. Mary’s would be recognition of the efforts that are going on in the private sector as a whole. That’s how I see it.Next to this, the implication for other private colleges is clear. The government says that provided private colleges or institutions meet its necessary requirements, there is every chance they could be raised to similar status. The recognition of St. Mary’s should motivate others to keep on engaging in meaningful ways and contributing to society, so eventually they can be recognized as fully-fledged universities.Let’s discuss the issue of the quality of education, particularly in the private sector where it’s common to hear criticism. It is alleged that some private education providers focus less on quality. Meanwhile, you argue that standards are a problem in both private and public higher education facilities. What is your opinion of this criticism?This is a good and critical question. Quality is an issue whether at national or international level, and has been so for the past two or three decades. All over the world there is a big explosion in higher education, with increased access and many able to improve themselves. People and institutions are aiming at what we call a ‘system of lifelong learning’. In such a context, it would be natural to expect the public, students, parents and governments to worry about quality, which is why it’s center stage wherever you go. Ethiopia is no different. Since 2000 we have witnessed an unprecedented expansion of higher education in Ethiopia. Just like any others, Ethiopian leaders have been very suspicious about the quality of our provision, in both the private and public sectors. In terms of how individual institutions should respond, I refer to St. Mary’s position on the problem – quality is institutional, not sectorial. You cannot simply compare the two sectors, it doesn’t work. It depends on the individual institution, and that’s my response regarding quality. It would be very difficult for me to say private sector institutions are worse than the public equivalents.We need extensive research before coming to the conclusion that one is better than the other. As far as I know, there is no specific piece of research that indicates the private sector is inferior to the public sector, or vice versa.Therefore can we say this is simply a stereotype? It’s obvious that most students and parents prefer and are biased towards public institutions. Even during recruitment, employers tend to consider public institution graduates first. What do you think?Specific places may have their own reasons. An employer might lean towards public institutions, or the reverse could happen. Private university graduates have proved just as worthy to employ, so it’s very difficult to generalize. We have had no problems getting our graduates employed, for instance.But does it work for the other private institutions? You have been in this sector for a long time and know it well, at one stage having been the president of the private higher education general assembly. So do you think there are no issues?Not necessarily. If you go back to the first three to five years when private institutions were evolving, there were a lot of problems. Higher education has been more or less public dominated for many decades in this country, and so whenever private institutions started up people were suspicious. This attitude may well have continued because some of us did not meet their expectations. There could be different reasons why employers or parents prefer public as compared with private, or the other way round. Now, if you look at the trend in the past two or three years, we have students coming to us who were assigned to public institutions. What does this tell you? Today, people are beginning to compare the provisions in the public and private sectors. People have different considerations, so it is hard to generalize. Otherwise, yes, there could be a variety of reasons why private or public institutions are not regarded as they should.What more should be demanded from private facilities to ensure a higher quality of education? There is one other issue I would like to address, relating to how institutions should commit themselves to quality. This is important, as quality is a long-term commitment – not secured overnight or by claiming you have this and that. Quality requires a lot of hard work and commitment, the ability to care about not only the present but also the future. If institutions can commit themselves to quality in the long-term, my feeling is they will satisfy parents, students and employers. If they are short-sighted and care only about the next year or two, that would not take us anywhere.Being in the private category, your existence depends on student fees, just like a commercial business. Hypothetically, this draws assumptions and criticisms that you are forced to compromise quality over financial resource. What do you make of such comment?Yes, that’s true. This is a comment usually made on the private sector, whichever part of the world you visit; the profit-making element of private universities is often questioned. In some parts of the world there are not-for-profit universities, but in Ethiopia more than 95 percent of private institutions are profit-making. As you said, whatever they earn is from the fees of students admitted every year. In such an instance, if the goal of an institution is essentially to make a surplus, without caring about the service it delivers, then yes, there is a possibility that quality would be compromised. But if any education provider chose to go this way, it would be short-lived. That’s my feeling. Because we have so many institutions there is a healthy competition, so parents and students are free to walk out if they are not satisfied. If they are not getting value for money, there is no reason to stay. You will not exist for long if you focus on profit, and there must be examples of this in Ethiopia. That’s why I insist on saying quality is a long-term commitment. There are also institutions in Ethiopia that have focused on quality with little resource, striving to deliver a better service on a small budget. That is the essential issue. Institutions should be cautious enough to ensure that any resource gained is invested in quality and long-term growth. It’s more an issue of strategy, discipline and choosing the correct path to take. On top of this, there is nothing wrong in generating profit for the education sector.Still on the issue of quality, the government has a regulatory role and supervises the private sector. However, the government is accused of throwing the book at private institutions on the pretext of ensuring quality, while overlooking the public sector. How do you weigh such views?There are some limitations of HERQA. The private sector repeatedly voices the issues of having a level playing field and addressing double standards. Sometimes public institutions are not as accountable, for example regarding distance education programs. Private institutions are required by law to apply for accreditation that HERQA has to grant before you begin any operation. This rule doesn’t apply to public institutions, which can simply begin programs at any time. How can a private institution compete with a public institution when the playing field is not level? These are some occasions when HERQA is said to come down heavier on private institutions, so the public sector is not as accountable and this has got to be addressed. In terms of the quality audit, HERQA is supervising both public and private institutions. I hope we can reach a level where both public and private institutions are requested for accreditation and judged on guidelines set by HERQA. Public institutions should not have the authority to do as they please.I think the regulatory body is aware and there are signs that they might be moving in the right direction, as it is not fair on the private sector. In my view, the public sector should be more accountable, as two-thirds of higher education enrollment is in public institutions.
St. Mary’s University, Ethiopia joins ICDE
13 December 2013
One of ICDE’s newest members is St. Mary’s University, Ethiopia, which was recently upgraded to university status following its establishment 15 years ago.
St. Mary’s University College was upgraded to a university as of September 2013. St. Mary’s, which evolved from its roots as a language school 15 years ago, has incrementally and steadily grown into a name worth its achievements today. With this development, St. Mary’s University commits itself to live up to the expectations of its stakeholders at home and its partners abroad.
St. Mary’s University College (SMUC) is an outgrowth of St. Mary’s Language School which was established in 1991 in Addis Ababa. The Language school was upgraded to a language centre in 1995 and has solely been devoted to the improvement of the English language proficiency of students, establishing itself as a leading language centre in the capital. It was in this language centre that the University College was born.
St. Mary’s College was established in 1998 under St. Mary’s General Educational Development PLC with its head office in Awassa and a branch in Addis Ababa.
The DED (now College of Open and Distance Learning) today offers a total of 22 degree and vocational programmes through its 154 coordinating centres, which are located throughout the country catering to the needs of close to 30,000 students. In the conventional mode of learning, it has eleven degree and vocational programs with a student population of more than 6,000.
St. Mary’s is a founding member of the Ethiopian Private Higher Education Institutions Association and is a member of the African Association of Universities.
By Rosalie Lack
http://adlsn.org/adlsns-successful-digital-library-workshop/
ADLSN’s Successful Digital Library Workshop
Information specialists from seven African countries attended our workshop, “Practical Digital Content Management from the Digital Libraries & Archives Perspective” at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe gathered for the 3-day workshop, 5-7 November and learned how to increase online access to African research.
Presentations available
The workshop presentations are now available on our site:http://adlsn.org/adlsndl2014/ . They include overviews of FOSS (free and open source software) solutions as well as workflow and policy best practices.
Workshop overview
ADLSN President, Africa J. Bwamkuu, opened the workshop by reminding the participants that in order to fulfill their role as information professionals they must improve global access to the research output of their institutions. The perception that African researchers are not contributing to the global knowledge base persists because the research is not globally available. In order to meet this goal, libraries must provide uninterrupted online access and also provide the necessary tools to easily search and download.
The primary solution comes in the form of Digital Repositories (DR). Through DRs, libraries collect, manage, preserve and provide online access to the research output of their institution.
During the workshop, ADLSN staff demonstrated a range of free, open source software solutions that libraries can use to implement a DR. In addition, for those institutions with limited IT resources or who do not have the infrastructure to support 24/7 online access, participants also learned about ADLSN’sADLC, a cloud-based solution that guarantees 24/7 access along with technical support.
Advocating for Open Access (OA) goes hand in hand with building a DR. OA is the unrestricted online access to peer-reviewed scholarly research. OA is primarily intended for scholarly journal articles, but it also encompasses other research output, including theses and dissertations, book chapters, conference proceedings, and scholarly monographs. ADLSN advocates for OA and encouraged workshop participants to implement policies and best practices to encourage their researchers to broadly share their research.
In addition to managing their institution’s research output, most libraries also have unique archival collections such as historical photographs and newspapers that remain hidden unless they are digitized and made available online. Participants learned about a variety of free, open source solutions for addressing this challenge.
At the end of the intensive, 3-day workshop, the participants expressed their appreciation for what they had learned and also for being able to share best practices with their colleagues.
ADLSN would like to thank the Saint Mary’s University (SMU) staff for being such gracious hosts!
http://www.fhi360.org/news/red-card-when-words-wont-work
The Red Card: When words won’t work
December 05, 2014
In Ethiopia, the “Red Card” has become a popular tool used by women to prevent sexual violence and encourage healthy decisions. When faced with sexual or aggressive advances, a woman will pull out her red card, which indicates that she is saying “no” to any potentially unwanted behavior. The Red Card helps equip women with an assertive and action-oriented response.
In collaboration with the U.S. Embassy of Ethiopia, FHI 360 organized a Red Card event as part of UN Women’s “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.” The event, When Words Won’t Work, was hosted by St. Mary’s University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The event was attended by high-level representatives, including U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia Haslach; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Mission Director Gary Linden; representatives from Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs; and students from universities and high schools.
Through debates, drama, poems and contemporary dance, the students demonstrated how the Red Card can be used to raise awareness and prevent sexual violence. Participants also spoke about how the life skills they are learning empower young girls to say “no” to aggressive sexual advances, resist peer pressure and make good decisions. The students at the event showed confidence, assertiveness and clear self-expression, skills acquired through theUSAID/Ethiopia In-School Youth (ISY) HIV Prevention program.
“The Red Card concept is similar to that in football, where a player who commits a violation is ‘carded’ by the referee and must leave the game,” Ambassador Haslach explained. “Young women, like yourselves, can use the Red Card program in a range of situations — from simple discussions with your own parents to encounters with aggressive men.”
Ambassador Haslach noted, “About five percent of secondary school students and about 15 percent of tertiary level students in Ethiopia have received the Red Card training. Almost half of the students who have received training on the Red Card have used it … to say “no” to sugar daddies, to abusive professors, to avoid violence, to refuse alcohol and other substances, and to insist on condom use.”
“It is great to see such innovative activities that are helping to empower women and reduce gender-based violence,” said Misti McDowell, FHI 360’s country director in Ethiopia. Under the ISY program, FHI 360 provides a package of services to girls, including the distribution of Red Cards and training on life skills.
In closing, Ambassador Haslach presented the students with certificates of recognition for organizing a successful event on this important issue. The students were encouraged to tell their friends about the Red Card and become “empowered to use it in a more assertive manner in the future.”
First photo: The U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Patricia Haslach, speaks about the importance of the Red Card in preventing gender violence. FHI 360/Misti McDowell
Second photo: Students hold their red cards at an event in support of the UN Women’s “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.” FHI 360/Misti McDowell
Ethiopian top TEN universities
ON25 SEPTEMBER 2014
POSTED IN EDUCATION NEWS inShare
This ranking of universities in Ethiopia is based on international university rankings, since there are no Ethiopian rankings as of yet.
International university rankings indicate that Ethiopia’s university system is not even the strongest on the continent: only two universities listed in the top 100 African universities, the one is Ethiopia’s oldest institution of higher learning – Haileselassie I University (HSIU) – rechristened Addis Abeba University (AAU) after the 1974 revolution universities which is 18thbest and JIMMA University which is 71thfrom African Universities. While Mekelle Unversity placed at third in best Ethiopian Universities and 126thbest from African Universities.
To my mind, the revelation about the state of our universities – compared to their peers – bears testimony to the fact that AAU and Jimma University have a very promising future. This is provided that the institutions continue to exert more efforts, devote themselves to the development of their students and the pursuit of scholarship. The implication of this is caution against headlong dive into politics and ideology as vocation.
Especially in the past several years, the universities had witnessed the efforts of those holding the levers of power within the universities and at the level of the state itself that ought to give primacy to the nation’s long-term interests, instead of their own.
If these adjustments are made, many of the institutions could improve, with AAU and Jimma University raising the standards. They could become inspiration for the remaining others.
Below are the top TEN Ethiopian universities and there ranking globally:-
I. Addis Ababa University, 1599th globally
II. Jimma University, 3631th globally
III. Mekelle University, 6358th
IV. Bahir Dar University, 8319th
V. Hawassa University, 9622th
VI. University of Gondar (College of Medical Sciences), 10486th globally
VII. Haramaya University (Alemaya), 10496th globally
VIII. Arba Minch University, 13169th
IX. Debre Markos University, 14467th globally
X. Saint Mary’s University College Ethiopia, 15105th
22-05-2014
http://www.dow.com/news/multimedia/media_kits/2014_05_22a/Ethiopia/index.htm
From Paper to Online
Dow team works with St. Mary’s University to create online education platform.
St. Mary’s University currently enrolls approximately 20,000 students in their distance education program, but could reach far more with the creation of an online curriculum.
“No institution has started an online program in Ethiopia. If this online platform works for us, we could pass it to other institutions,”
said Tedla Haile – Vice President. Several school officials are interested in the success of this program because they believe the online program could reach students outside of Ethiopia and benefit all of East Africa.
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