Ethiopian Higher Education Relevance and Quality Assurance Policy Implications for Conventional and Distance Higher Eduction

The history of higher education in Ethiopia traced its origin from the Orthodox Church. However, a secular higher education began in 1950 following the establishment of the University College of Addis Ababa (World Bank, 2003). According to Yizengaw, (2004) and Bogale (2006), the development of higher education was neglected and remained underdeveloped for almost six decades. It faced problems associated with quality and relevance of programmes of study, research, equity, resource constraints, and inefficient resource utilization (Yizengaw, 2005). With these problems, the contribution of higher education institutions to the development of the country particularly in the area of supplying the large numbers of trained manpower required for development is not significant. As in other countries in Africa, Ethiopia recognises that higher education is a prerequisite in achieving its national economic development and poverty reduction strategies (World Bank, 2003). Indeed, this requires the alignment between higher education provision and other sectors in the country. It is also true that the higher education system is undergoing transformation in order to respond to and gear adequately to the development needs of the society and the country (Yizengaw, 2004: 12). Just as in other developing countries, the Ethiopian government has prioritised quality in higher education as part of a strategy to respond to the human resource development needs of the country. In this regard, it established HERQA in 2003 as its main agency to ensure quality in education. The mandate of this agency included conducting assessments of applicants for licenses, pre-accreditation and accreditation and external quality audits; ensuring the relevance of higher education institutions with regard to national policy; and proposing national benchmarks and standards for quality, among other responsibilities. The function of HERQA encompasses both traditional contact and distance higher education systems. The agency has not yet developed a clear policy framework; it only has general guidelines to ensure quality in both distance and higher education. However, based on the general guidelines HERQA has drafted its own ten focal assessment areas to ensure the quality of higher education. Available records and documents regarding this issue affirm that HERQA follows guidelines to maintain quality in higher education in both public and private sectors. In order to address this, government officials were asked the research question to understand the policy of government in terms of quality assurance in higher education, in general, and distance education, in particular. This was done to establish whether HERQA had already developed policy to further enhance quality assurance in higher education.