Ethiopian new public universities. Achievements, challenges and illustrative case studies
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-12-2014-0054 |
| Date | 04 April 2016 |
| Published date | 04 April 2016 |
| Pages | 158-172 |
| Author | Rita Van Deuren,Tsegazeab Kahsu,Seid Mohammed,Wondimu Woldie |
| Subject Matter | Education,Curriculum, instruction & assessment,Educational evaluation/assessment |
Ethiopian new public
universities
Achievements, challenges and illustrative
case studies
Rita van Deuren
Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Tsegazeab Kahsu
Aksum University, Aksum, Ethiopia
Seid Mohammed
Jigjiga University, Jigjiga, Ethiopia, and
Wondimu Woldie
Wolaita Sodo University, Woilata Sodo, Ethiopia
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to analyze and illustrate achievements and challenges of Ethiopian higher
education, both at the system level and at the level of new public universities.
Design/methodology/approach – Achievements and challenges at the system level are based on
literature review and secondary data. Illustrative case studies are based on university data and
interviews with university representatives.
Findings – The Ethiopian higher education system has increased its enrollments substantially. The
construction of 13 new universities that started enrolling students around 2007 contributed greatly to
this achievement. Challenges accompanying this growth lie in funding, quality and quantity of stafng,
teaching practices, research and community service, quality assurance and gender balance.
Originality/value – The present study contributes to existing literature by describing case studies
illustrating challenges and achievements in new public universities in Ethiopian higher education.
Keywords Higher education, Challenges, Ethiopia, Case study, Quality, New public universities
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Higher education is considered instrumental in attaining objectives of poverty reduction
and increased socioeconomic development in developing countries (World Bank, 2000;
African Union, 2014). Unfortunately, enrollment rates in these developing regions
mostly lag behind, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the lowest enrollments rates
are found (Altbach et al., 2009; African Union, 2014;USAID, 2014). Ethiopia, the
second-most populous country and also one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan
Africa, is no exception. However, in the past few years, the country has realized an
impressive quantitative growth in the public higher education sector as a result of the
This paper is partly sponsored by the Dutch Nufc-funded project “University Leadership and
Management Capacity Development”.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
QAE
24,2
158
Received 4 December 2014
Revised 28 September 2015
Accepted 30 October 2015
QualityAssurance in Education
Vol.24 No. 2, 2016
pp.158-172
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/QAE-12-2014-0054
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