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ETHIOPIA:
University expansion must be sustainable
12 December, 2010 (By Kate Ashcroft)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Education Coordinator for the World Bank, told a conference in
Addis Ababa last month.
"You need to take it seriously now, not in two years, not in five
years," Salmi stressed at the gathering, which was attended by
more than 100 people from Ethiopia's private and public
universities, NGOs, ministries, the donor community, international
universities and others.
The joint World Bank-Minister of Education conference on
Ethiopian Higher Education was held in the capital from 9-10
November, and focused on quality, management and governance,
the role of the private sector, and finance. It drew on the expertise
of local researchers and international experts to lead a lively
discussion on the achievements, strategic and practical problems
and the future of Ethiopian higher education.
The sustainability of Ethiopian higher education's rapid expansion
was a hot topic. The system grew from 39,000 students in the late
1990s to 185,000 in 2007-08. With the goal of growing further to
467,000 students in next five years, there are serious implications
for the maintenance of quality and affordability.
Presenters urged the higher education sector to further refine plans
with respect to expansion to ensure its sustainability, and to think
strategically about increasing diversified funding such as tuition fees
and productive activities, and about institutional specialisation.
"An expansion strategy is not just about money," Salmi noted. "The
shape and structure of the system affects what you can afford to
do."
Plans for performance-based formula funding were seen as a useful
modernisation of the funding system. But Kenichi Ohashi, Director
of the Ethiopia Country Office of the World Bank, pointed out that
the percentage of government funding spent on higher education
was already very high.
There were questions about whether, if government funding
increased at the same rate, the planned expansion would be
affordable. Even given an optimistic scenario for the economy,
would government revenues increase at the same rate since
agriculture is difficult to tax and assistance from donors is likely not
to grow - and may shrink?
As government funding cannot grow by 150% in line with student
numbers, so other strategies for funding expansion are needed. A
consensus emerged around the notion that universities must become
more entrepreneurial, and other forms of income generation were
discussed, such as introducing student fees.
Ohashi pointed out that high financial returns from higher education
accrue to the individual, so the trend worldwide is towards cost
recovery. "Even if government funding is affordable there is an
equity issue: given high returns to graduates, why should they be
subsidised by others?"
Dr Samuel Kifle, Director of Income Generation at Jimma
University, noted: "The contribution of households to the education
system declines as we move from primary to secondary and at
times reaches nil for tertiary education...the funding pyramid is
steep."
Salmi made his view clear: notions of usefulness and quality needed
to be rethought in order to groom the new generation for the future:
"Are we really preparing our youngsters well for these new
sophisticated skills [expert thinking and complex communication]? I
don't think so...close to 90% of them are not ready in some
developing countries."
New competencies were needed: "It's not only about skills any
more, it's about creativity."
Quality also emerged as an important issue, in terms of quality
processes such as curriculum reform that has been conducted at
national, regional and institutional levels, as reported by Professor
Zinabu Gebremariam, Director-general of the Ethiopian Higher
Education Strategy Centre, and in terms of the effects of the rapid
expansion and overstretched staff.
Professor Alenoush Saroyan of McGill University noted that quality
is an elusive concept and Professor Dr Heike Schroeder, Scientific
Director of the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, reported on
adopting a team-based approach but found the need to change
attitudes: "The single most important challenge is to get people to
take on leadership willingly."
The forms of education suitable for the future were also debated
and how these would impact on modes and delivery of learning.
Ohashi noted: "Innovation needs more than basic undergraduate
training, it needs intellectual free spirits and entrepreneurs:
graduates not looking for jobs but to create jobs."
The governance framework was analysed. Some aspects of the
2009 Higher Education Proclamation were applauded, especially
the provisions for institutional autonomy, but there was a feeling
from some that aspects were over-detailed and too prescribed,
even given the stage of development of the country.
The role of private higher education was discussed in some detail.
Private higher education is recent in Ethiopia, but nevertheless
current enrollment is at nearly 20% of the total and there are more
than 60 accredited institutions at various stages of development.
A consensus emerged that the private sector should be an
important element in the expansion strategy as it can provide a
laboratory for innovation and new practice and competition that
could drive up standards as well as improve access.
Professor Belay Kassa, President of Haramaya University, pointed
out that private higher education institutions' characteristics can
include flexibility to make decisions, response to the labour market,
covering hard to reach areas, and speedy rationalisation of subjects
according to demand.
Professor Daniel Levy from the State University of New York,
Albany, outlined a global picture of a private sector growing but
uneven, with different types of providers - religious and others
which may be semi-elite or demand-absorbing.
Government polices and regulations vary widely and private higher
education institutions may be seen as a threat or a solution to
quality and access. It was noted that private higher education often
concentrates on inexpensive fields that require limited space and
facilities, but even so, it can expand access to higher education and
some institutions later begin to develop more expensive study fields.
There was a feeling from the conference that private institutions will
need less regulation and more freedom if they are to thrive and
contribute more fully to Ethiopia's development. Agreement
emerged that regulatory constraints that disadvantage private
institutions are not useful. Presenters advocated government
modesty in terms of demands they put on private higher education,
and the market as a main mechanism to ensure bad institutions do
not survive and that better institutions thrive.
Salmi's concluding remarks summed up the general feeling that
Ethiopia has vision of its future and where it wants to go, but needs
to define how to get there and which areas need further strategic
thinking - especially in the areas of financing and exploring
projections and alternative scenarios.
The conclusion was that good governance, management, financial
sustainability and quality are closely linked and that the Ethiopian
government and higher education system will need to look at
obstacles to these, including regulations and the administrative
culture that has built them.
The international community committed itself to providing support.
Donors from the World Bank and funding agencies from the UK,
Germany, the US, Belgium and The Netherlands stated interest in
working together and in partnership with the sector for support
Ethiopia's higher education strategy.
.Courtesy
University expansion must be sustainable
12 December, 2010 (By Kate Ashcroft)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Higher education in
Ethiopia is 'massifying'
rapidly. Student numbers
quadrupled in the decade
to 2007-08 and the plan is
for the sector to more than
double in size in the next
five years, to 467,000
students. Urgent decisions
need to be made on
financial sustainability, or
Education Coordinator for the World Bank, told a conference in
Addis Ababa last month.
"You need to take it seriously now, not in two years, not in five
years," Salmi stressed at the gathering, which was attended by
more than 100 people from Ethiopia's private and public
universities, NGOs, ministries, the donor community, international
universities and others.
The joint World Bank-Minister of Education conference on
Ethiopian Higher Education was held in the capital from 9-10
November, and focused on quality, management and governance,
the role of the private sector, and finance. It drew on the expertise
of local researchers and international experts to lead a lively
discussion on the achievements, strategic and practical problems
and the future of Ethiopian higher education.
The sustainability of Ethiopian higher education's rapid expansion
was a hot topic. The system grew from 39,000 students in the late
1990s to 185,000 in 2007-08. With the goal of growing further to
467,000 students in next five years, there are serious implications
for the maintenance of quality and affordability.
Presenters urged the higher education sector to further refine plans
with respect to expansion to ensure its sustainability, and to think
strategically about increasing diversified funding such as tuition fees
and productive activities, and about institutional specialisation.
"An expansion strategy is not just about money," Salmi noted. "The
shape and structure of the system affects what you can afford to
do."
Plans for performance-based formula funding were seen as a useful
modernisation of the funding system. But Kenichi Ohashi, Director
of the Ethiopia Country Office of the World Bank, pointed out that
the percentage of government funding spent on higher education
was already very high.
There were questions about whether, if government funding
increased at the same rate, the planned expansion would be
affordable. Even given an optimistic scenario for the economy,
would government revenues increase at the same rate since
agriculture is difficult to tax and assistance from donors is likely not
to grow - and may shrink?
As government funding cannot grow by 150% in line with student
numbers, so other strategies for funding expansion are needed. A
consensus emerged around the notion that universities must become
more entrepreneurial, and other forms of income generation were
discussed, such as introducing student fees.
Ohashi pointed out that high financial returns from higher education
accrue to the individual, so the trend worldwide is towards cost
recovery. "Even if government funding is affordable there is an
equity issue: given high returns to graduates, why should they be
subsidised by others?"
Dr Samuel Kifle, Director of Income Generation at Jimma
University, noted: "The contribution of households to the education
system declines as we move from primary to secondary and at
times reaches nil for tertiary education...the funding pyramid is
steep."
Salmi made his view clear: notions of usefulness and quality needed
to be rethought in order to groom the new generation for the future:
"Are we really preparing our youngsters well for these new
sophisticated skills [expert thinking and complex communication]? I
don't think so...close to 90% of them are not ready in some
developing countries."
New competencies were needed: "It's not only about skills any
more, it's about creativity."
Quality also emerged as an important issue, in terms of quality
processes such as curriculum reform that has been conducted at
national, regional and institutional levels, as reported by Professor
Zinabu Gebremariam, Director-general of the Ethiopian Higher
Education Strategy Centre, and in terms of the effects of the rapid
expansion and overstretched staff.
Professor Alenoush Saroyan of McGill University noted that quality
is an elusive concept and Professor Dr Heike Schroeder, Scientific
Director of the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, reported on
adopting a team-based approach but found the need to change
attitudes: "The single most important challenge is to get people to
take on leadership willingly."
The forms of education suitable for the future were also debated
and how these would impact on modes and delivery of learning.
Ohashi noted: "Innovation needs more than basic undergraduate
training, it needs intellectual free spirits and entrepreneurs:
graduates not looking for jobs but to create jobs."
The governance framework was analysed. Some aspects of the
2009 Higher Education Proclamation were applauded, especially
the provisions for institutional autonomy, but there was a feeling
from some that aspects were over-detailed and too prescribed,
even given the stage of development of the country.
The role of private higher education was discussed in some detail.
Private higher education is recent in Ethiopia, but nevertheless
current enrollment is at nearly 20% of the total and there are more
than 60 accredited institutions at various stages of development.
A consensus emerged that the private sector should be an
important element in the expansion strategy as it can provide a
laboratory for innovation and new practice and competition that
could drive up standards as well as improve access.
Professor Belay Kassa, President of Haramaya University, pointed
out that private higher education institutions' characteristics can
include flexibility to make decisions, response to the labour market,
covering hard to reach areas, and speedy rationalisation of subjects
according to demand.
Professor Daniel Levy from the State University of New York,
Albany, outlined a global picture of a private sector growing but
uneven, with different types of providers - religious and others
which may be semi-elite or demand-absorbing.
Government polices and regulations vary widely and private higher
education institutions may be seen as a threat or a solution to
quality and access. It was noted that private higher education often
concentrates on inexpensive fields that require limited space and
facilities, but even so, it can expand access to higher education and
some institutions later begin to develop more expensive study fields.
There was a feeling from the conference that private institutions will
need less regulation and more freedom if they are to thrive and
contribute more fully to Ethiopia's development. Agreement
emerged that regulatory constraints that disadvantage private
institutions are not useful. Presenters advocated government
modesty in terms of demands they put on private higher education,
and the market as a main mechanism to ensure bad institutions do
not survive and that better institutions thrive.
Salmi's concluding remarks summed up the general feeling that
Ethiopia has vision of its future and where it wants to go, but needs
to define how to get there and which areas need further strategic
thinking - especially in the areas of financing and exploring
projections and alternative scenarios.
The conclusion was that good governance, management, financial
sustainability and quality are closely linked and that the Ethiopian
government and higher education system will need to look at
obstacles to these, including regulations and the administrative
culture that has built them.
The international community committed itself to providing support.
Donors from the World Bank and funding agencies from the UK,
Germany, the US, Belgium and The Netherlands stated interest in
working together and in partnership with the sector for support
Ethiopia's higher education strategy.
.Courtesy
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