1. The Ethiopian
experience: a higher
education system in
context
Prof Kate Ashcroft

2. What I will cover
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The context
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What sort of place is Ethiopia?
What education (especially HE) is offered?
The 13 new Higher Education Institution Study:
o
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Curriculum and pedagogic issues – what does the
country need?
Organizational and qualifications structures – what is
realistic and desirable?
Resourcing issues – what can the country afford?

3. What sort of place is Ethiopia
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Ethiopia is a happy country
Ethiopians are a strikingly beautiful people
People are friendly and unthreatening and
someone is always willing to go out of their way
to help you
People are generally honest and violent crime is
rare

4. The Ethiopians are a cultured
people
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The Ethiopian monarchy was 3000 years old
The Royal family is believed to be descended
from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon
Ethiopia was never colonized
It still uses the Gregorian Calendar, so is about
to celebrate the millennium
Ethiopia has its own way of telling the time
The calendar has 13 months

5. Ethiopian Christianity is a unique
religion
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the
oldest in the world: it was established in 300 AD
It has books in its bible such as the Book of
Enoch
It is a schism of a schism of a schism
Its practices have evolved from ancient Judaism
Ethiopia’s Jewish community is one of the oldest
in the world. Most emigrated en mass to Israel in
the 1970s
Ethiopia’s religions live in harmony with each
other

6. Every day living is enjoyable for
most people
The food is good and varied in most
places
 There are little shops and businesses
everywhere
 There are comfortable, middle class
homes
BUT
 There are many homeless and beggars
too – poverty is real
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7. Ethiopia has varied wildlife and a
wonderful climate
A beautiful country, endlessly interesting
 More species of bird than any African
country except South Africa
 A wide variety of wildlife in remote areas
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8. Ethiopia’s countryside is stunningly
beautiful
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Varied: mountains mostly, but green plains,
deserts and the Rift Valley
The climate is pleasant in most of the country for
most of the year with temperatures averaging
around 70 degrees
Elsewhere, climates vary from a little chilly to
steamy hot
Plenty of water in most places, but not harvested

9. But, Ethiopia remains one of the
poorest countries: Why?
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Terms of trade and treaties made in the past
Lack of colonization and outside influences
Authoritarian history
Border disputes
Role of the church
Harmful traditional practices and beliefs
A very conservative and traditional society, with strong
authoritarian tendencies
A very bureaucratic country
High birth rate
Land tenure

10. Some statistics
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The average age at death is 46
HIV AIDS rate 7.3% (Millennium Aids Campaign Ethiopia
prepared FHAPCO). Teachers are one of two high risk
groups for HIV/AIDs: supply less than numbers dying.
Most primary teachers have only one year of training
after grade 10: 17 year olds teach class of over 100.
Worst in the world for road traffic accidents
Female genital mutilation and abduction are illegal, but
common
Forced early marriage – the average age of full marriage
(sexual) is 12 and a half and 11 is common

11. Some more statistics
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The 3rd poorest country in the world
85% of the population live in the countryside
Most have no access to sanitation or running
water, even in the towns
The average person lives on considerably less
than 50p a day
Around 50% of the population is Christian, 40%
Muslim and 10% animist
There are 86 languages spoken in Ethiopia

12. BUT there are reasons to be
cheerful
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Ethiopia as a country is determined to
modernise (and if anything a little too ambitious)
ICT is a priority: The plan is to have 12,000
regional hubs
The big push is quality of teaching and numbers
in education at all levels, starting with primary
There are thriving towns and modern and
traditional businesses
There is little religious tension

13. More reasons to be cheerful
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More primary education for girls means later marriage
and fewer children
Power has been devolved from the centre to local
authorities
There have been (imperfect) general elections
The war with Eritrea has not been active for 8 years
Infrastructure development (roads, water and ICT
especially) is proceeding fast
Very little corruption

14. Ethiopia using education to develop
Education from 1996/7 to 2004/5:
 54.7% more primary schools, from 10,394 to 16,563
 85% of the new schools are in rural areas.
 Primary Enrolment Rate grew from 34.7%, to in 79.8%
(71.5% for girls and 88% for boys).
 53.5% more secondary schools from 369 to 690 in
 Enrolment Rate grew from 8.4% to 27%: girls from 7% to
19.6%.
 Public technical/vocational training colleges grew from
17 before 1994 to 199

15. My role
Volunteer for two and a half years, paid on
a local salary
 Higher education management advisor to
the Minister of Education and Vice
Minister for HE
 Acting Director of the Higher Education
Strategy Centre (a mixture of HEFCE and
HEPI)
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16. What I did
Chaired a National Committee of Enquiry into
Governance, Leadership and Management in HE
 Developed a formula to distribute a block grant to
universities
 Studied what should be the partnership between the
public and private sector HEIs
 Researched what the 13 new HEIs to be opened in the
country should do
I will some aspects of cover the 13 new HEIs Study
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17. Higher Education is expanding very
rapidly
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From 1996/7 to 2004/5 HE grew from one
university to 9.
Student numbers grew from 35,000 to 187,500
in 2004/5
13 new HEIs are to be opened in the next couple
of years
Numbers in existing HEIs are to double by 2009

18. The context for Higher Education is
changing very rapidly
New HE Proclamation:
 More autonomy
 More independent Boards
 Move from line budgets to block grant
 Student and staff rights
 A quality assurance agency
 Pedagogic support units
 The Higher Education Strategy Centre

19. What the 13 new HEI study looked
at
Curriculum and pedagogic issues – what
does the country need?
 Organizational and qualifications
structures – what is realistic and
desirable?
 Resourcing issues – what can the country
afford?
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20. Methodology
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An extensive literature review
Analysis of various government policies and strategies
50 interviews with a range of representatives of ministries, donor
organizations, NGOs and employers
Regional workshops with representatives from Education, Health,
Capacity Building, and Finance and Economic Development
Bureaus, representatives of local business or industry, heads of
TVET colleges, heads of a secondary school and representatives
from HEIs in each region
Studies of relevance to the research by contracted researchers
each focused on a particular region or sub regions
Visits by research assistants to four regions

21. Is the Ethiopian HE a system?
If a higher education system is defined as:
 a set of interrelated institutions
 each with its own function within the system,
 each with its own goals,
 each of which makes a particular contribution to
the functioning of the country
Ethiopia has a collection of institutions rather
than a system.

22. Recommendations: New forms of
HEI
Not all the new HEIs can or should be university
colleges
 Universities (Adama)
 University colleges (Dire Dawa and Dilla) Affiliated higher
education colleges (the rest)
- with a close relationship with an existing university
- with close regional ties
- offering 12 + 1 and 12 + 2 only
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Need for a more developed qualifications framework

23. The Present Qualification Pyramid in Ethiopia
PhD (MSc + 3)
MA/MSc+1 absent
MA/MSc
(BA/BSc + 2)
BA/BSc +1 absent
BA/BSc
12+1 & 12+2
absent
Grade 12

24. Recommendations: A New
Qualifications Framework
12 + 1: Higher Education Certificate
 12+2: Associate Degree
 12+ 3: Bachelor’s Degree
 Bachelors +1: Post Graduate Certificate
 Bachelor’s +2: MA/MBA/MSc
 Bachelor’s +3: MPhil
 PhD
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25. Recommendations: Pedagogic
issues
All courses should include:
 Entrepreneurialism
 Work focus and problem solving
 HIV/AIDS issues
 Inclusivity issues
Implies
 Less curriculum
 New methods of staff development
 Focus on what Ethiopia needs

26. Recommendations: New sources of
funding
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Higher rates of graduate tax
Charges for services such as food and lodging
(perhaps supported by food vouchers for the
poorest)
Local recruitment (to save on lodging provision)
Admitting some fee-paying students over and
above those allocated by Government.

27. Recommendations: Staffing
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Focusing mainly on one and two year higher education
qualifications and a limited number of programs
Paying postgraduate degree holders as ‘master
instructors’ to design the programs, give the lead
lectures, do lesson plans for seminars; and second mark
a proportion of assignments
Employing graduate assistants to undertake seminars
and first marking of assignments
(The existing universities) expanding post graduate
training for instructors rapidly and making it relevant for
Ethiopia’s new HEIs
Less PG study abroad

28. Recommendations: ICT
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ICT in distance learning: where there is demand, in
mixed media mode; in cooperation with each other and
international HEIs
In administration: systems for procurement and supplies;
asset monitoring; transport; estates management;
finance, registry; human resource management;
libraries; committee records etc
All new HEIs have broadband quality ICT in all
classrooms; instructor offices; administrative offices;
classrooms and libraries and the hardware to make
these functional.

29. More on the 13 new HEI project
and the other studies
www.higher.edu.et