ADDIS ABABA – Globalizing of higher education is vital for producing quality generation through building democratic society and tackling poverty, migration and global climate change at large, says Professor Hirut Woldemariam, Minister of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE).
On the opening session of “the 17th International Conference on Private Higher Education in Africa” here in Addis Ababa yesterday, she said that the ministry has given priority to the expansion of quality higher education. It has laid down the framework for sustainability, internationalization and development of research capacity for knowledge creation and technology transfer in the education sector, she added.
According to her, the ministry has been introducing fundamental reforms on higher education quality and relevance due to the fact that the expansion of higher education enrolment is increasing in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular. Also MoSHE has recently come up with a platform to engage with Ethiopian scholars abroad, she noted.
Professor Etiene Ehile, Secretary General for the Association of African Universities on his part said that the United Nations decade of education for Sustainable development from 2005-2014 encompassed a concept education for sustainable development. It is helpful for encouraging behavior change and empowering people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future, he added.
According to him, the decade offered a strategic guide to the African Higher Education community to review its curricula and undertake development-relevant scientific research. On his welcoming speech, Associate professor Wondwosen Tamrat, Founder and President of St. Mary University also disclosed that, the conference can support higher education as a critical component of continental growth.
The two days conference was organized by St. Marry University in collaboration with MoSHE and other stake holders under the theme “Internationalization of Higher Education in the New Era of World (Dis) Order”.
The Ethiopian Herald July 26/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
