ADDIS ABABA- Despite the production of knowledge in almost all of Ethiopia’s universities, the translation of research findings to practice is still far from enough, according to scholars. Universities are mushrooming in the country.
Diametrically opposite to this, research findings of both students and seasoned faculty members usually decorate shelves of academic institutions. Shortage of funding, digital plagiarism and limitation in research skills are among the major challenges facing academic institutions effort of generating problem solving researches.
Yet, authentic research findings that could bring positive impacts on the society remain unnoticed. In an interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Prof. Zerihun Woldu, Research Director at Addis Ababa University, told The Ethiopian Herald scientific findings that may help to narrow gaps in many areas are usually shelved at universities.
Absence of institutions that may bridge university and industry could partly be ascribable to the problem, according to him. To him, researches that could improve the lives of the people remain idle due to limitation in mobilizing financial sources.
In one hand, as Abera Wondoson, Lecturer at Dilla University Department of Journalism and Communication argues, quality constraints in the education sector contributed to the bad appetite the industry developed to research works of universities. As students fathom to modern research skills is questionable which is exacerbated by digital plagiarism has led to less reliable findings, according to him.
To Abera, limitation in language skills, the fact that English is medium of instruction at higher education, are no less important in hampering research quality. Enhancing quality education and ensuring strong university-industry linkage are ways to counter the problem, he said.
Prof. Zerihun for his part indicated that Addis Ababa University (AAU) embarked up on collaborative research method to get adequate funding to researches and to put findings to practice. Also, university-industry linkage has brought about shift in the research trend in which students have been attempting to conduct researches to fill gaps in the industries, he noted.
There are various researches the university has been conducting in areas like health improvement, malaria control, traditional medicine, crop productivity and nutrition, solar energy, quality of education, human health and HIV/AIDS in the 13 research faculties of the University
Herald March 22/2019
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
