The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Lecture - Challenges and Opportunities raised by the Expansion of Higher Education in Ethiopia
Professor Kate Ashcroft and Dr. Philip Rayner
Thursday 16th June 2016
7:00pm, Room B102, Brunei Building, SOAS, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG - Public lecture (all welcome)
In this talk the speakers draw on their experience of working for two and a half years within the Ethiopian higher education system in the Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa, the Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA) and the Higher Education Strategy Centre (HESC), as well as within the UK quality systems in Zambia, the Yemen, Eastern Europe and countries of the South Pacific.
When they first arrived in Ethiopia in 2003 there were only 2 public universities, when they left in 2005 there were 8, today there are 33 universities and another 11 planned in the near future. However, Ethiopia's graduate enrolment rate (GER) is still only 5% - one of the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Government's ambition is for Ethiopia to become a middle income country by 2025 in which case the country will need to have a GER of 23% (nearly a 500% increase on today's figure).
In this talk the speakers want to explore some of the challenges and opportunities raised by the expansion of Higher Education in Ethiopia; provide a short historical overview of this expansion; look at the rationale for this expansion and consider some of the possible models Ethiopia might have chosen. They will discuss the model of university structures and curriculum Ethiopia has chosen, their rationale and some of the dilemmas and problems raised by the models chosen.
Kate Ashcroft is Emeritus Professor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Dr. Philip Rayner is an Independent Education Management Professional
Capacity at the venue is limited, so please reserve your place soon to avoid disappointment.