In the making – A new institute of higher education

Ethiopia’s higher education reform initiatives underline the importance of leadership and management in spearheading sectoral and institutional efforts that address the various challenges the sector faces. As would be obvious to many, the significant influences of leadership in the success or failure of reform initiatives and institution building remain critical.

While the need for well-trained and skilled university managers at all levels of the Ethiopian higher education system has been well recognised, efforts to address this concern have for too long concentrated on providing individual training that lacked focus, continuity and sector-wide coordination.

This has prompted the establishment of an Ethiopian Institute of Higher Education (EIHE), which has been in the making since 2017 as a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through GIZ-Ethiopia, and Addis Ababa University.

EIHE was formally inaugurated on 8 June and comes as the third such institute established to work at system level with the aim of improving the higher education system of the country. The other system level institutes established a decade and a half ago are the Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA), which acts as a national quality watchdog, and the Education Strategy Center (earlier known as the Higher Education Strategy Center), which is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting sector-wide research and policy and strategy development.

EIHE has been warmly welcomed by a wide range of stakeholders who recognise the need for such an institution in the sector. They see the establishment of the institute as an important step in providing support to the system and developing evidence-based strategic plans for this quickly 'massifying' system. However, its success and, importantly, its sustainability depend on the manner in which it is conceived and structured.

Rationale and responsibilities

EIHE is primarily mandated to contribute to the effective and efficient implementation of education policies, strategies, plans and programmes through the development of leadership and management capacity in the sector. The institute aspires to be recognized by 2022 as a leading national centre for higher education leadership and management.

EIHE launched its first training session three days prior to its inauguration by hosting deans of colleges, faculties and institutes drawn from universities around the country. The topics in the training package include leadership and governance; innovation management; strategic management; organisational and change management; organisational culture and leadership skills; quality management; diversity management; human resource management; and conflict management.

The institute plans to host up to four cohorts annually. Currently, there are hundreds of Ethiopian higher education leaders and managers that could benefit from this opportunity. EIHE further aims at supporting candidates to pass their training on to other leaders within their respective institutions.

While leadership and management remain the most critical areas in the Ethiopian higher education sector, EIHE’s exclusive focus on this aspect alone may not be fully rewarding. Since EIHE has the potential to grow into an institution engaged in additional strategic tasks such as research, publication and policy advice, it is important to explore niche areas – and avoid possible duplications of responsibilities with other similar organisations within the sector – to provide further impetus to the institute.

Training modalities

Training packages of the institute are tailor-made based on a preliminary review and analysis of local needs. The packages combine global dimensions with local realities and address the concerns of Ethiopian higher education leaders who are edgy about one-size-fits-all training modules fabricated a priori.

Trainees are exposed to global developments in the sector but are also expected to reflect on their local situations through a broader understanding of their challenges and arrive at decisions that best respond to their context. Simulations, projects, peer counselling and experience sharing are incorporated as major training approaches. Trainees are also provided with an opportunity to participate in what is called a Higher Education Learning Lab, a platform for dialogue and advice involving international and local speakers.

Currently, experienced international experts drawn from institutions such as CHEPS (the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies in the Netherlands) and CHE (the German Centre for Higher Education) are involved in the training. Ethiopian trainers are expected to gradually assume full responsibility in the future.

Organisation and governance

The institute, which intends to cater to the needs of both private and public institutions in the country, is housed at Addis Ababa University – the country’s flagship university. The various research institutes, teaching colleges, libraries and other resources at the university, can provide additional advantage to EIHE in terms of the current and future tasks it wishes to engage.

However, administering a national institution within the framework of another institution with its own mandates and bureaucratic culture – such as budgeting, procurement, and hiring – may not be an easy task. This tension may have implications for efficiency and flexibility as the institute expands its operations in the future.

The need for sustainable resources for a budding institute such as EIHE is obvious. EIHE currently draws its major resources from Addis Ababa University and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through GIZ-Ethiopia’s Sustainable Training and Education Programme (STEP). Addis Ababa University has provided office space and operational support; it also appointed an executive director. GIZ, through its STEP programme, has been providing financial support both for the first training session and launch of the institute, and has assigned a managing director who reports to the executive director.

Sustained success

The success of such a young institute with huge responsibilities depends on sustained support from government, higher education institutions and other stakeholders by way of ideas, resources and financial support. In anticipation of the challenges ahead, mechanisms should be sought to provide EIHE with dependable sources of income and other internal revenues it might be encouraged to generate in the future.

Higher education institutions and the sector at large realise the significance of EIHE in addressing the various challenges the Ethiopian higher education system faces. However the current state of affairs is more suggestive of an institution in the making, rather than a fully fledged institute poised to serve the sector with full capacity and vigour.

While the goodwill of stakeholders that enabled its establishment requires recognition, much needs to be done to address the outstanding concerns that may act as barriers to EIHE’s success. At stake are issues of governance, autonomy, and resources which call for an immediate response to ascertain the viability of the institution and assure its continuity.

I would like to thank Professor Damtew Teferra, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Dr Abebaw Yirga, executive director of the Ethiopian Institute of Higher Education, for their comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this article.

Wondwosen Tamrat is an associate professor and founding president of St Mary’s University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is an affiliate scholar of the Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE) headquartered at the State University of New York at Albany, United States. His email addresses are: preswond@smuc.edu.et or wondwosentamrat@gmail.com.