BY ESSEYE MENGISTE –
ADDIS ABABA – The Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) said that it gave training to leading actors of the privately-owned higher learning institutions with a view to helping the sector become nationally and globally competitive.
MoSHE Private Higher Education Institutions Affairs Director Demena Moreda told The Ethiopian Herald that the capacity building, monitoring and technical training that were provided for leaders of the private higher learning institutions are also crucial to address the sector’s pressing challenges.
Noting the destiny of a higher education institution is determined by the top leadership, Demena stated that the training helps to equip the participants with the desired leadership skills and knowledge. The training is also beneficial to the leadership to put their institutions on the right track and create a professional and disciplined workforce.
Equipping the capacity of higher education institutions would help Ethiopia to obtain diligent citizens it aspires and the success in nurturing competent graduates from the private sector would play a substantial role for the country’s vision to prosper, the director added.
“There are questions and doubts among the community regarding education quality in private higher learning institutes,” he said, adding that the doubts are a mixture of realistic concerns and wrong perceptions. Accordingly, the government has formed close partnerships with private higher education institutions to address the public’s legitimate concerns and ease major challenges the latter have been encountering.
Demena noted that instead of blaming the private sector for the problem in education quality, the government has been engaged constructively and it has been providing the required support and putting in place the monitoring mechanism.
The director further highlighted that MoSHE has been closely working with different government agencies to satisfy private higher education institutions’ demands to plots, forex, training and other supports thereby enabling the sector to become the dependable source of skilled labor force.
The training was provided for leaders of private education institutions drawn from Addis Ababa, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar, Gambella, Harari and Dire Dawa whilst similar training was offered for stakeholders in the Amhara State. It was learned on the occasion that a plan was set to train leaders of private academic institutions in Tigray soon. Currently, there are more than 270 privately-owned higher education institutions in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Herald June 18 /2021
