NewUniversitiesStudy (Tesfaye, S.)

NPU Capacity Building Needs Analysis - Final report - October 2008
A STUDY
on
Human capacity building needs analysis of Ethiopian

new public universities (NPUs)
April 1 - September 30, 2008
Final Report
Preface
The Centre for International Cooperation of the VU University Amsterdam is pleased to

submit herewith the final report on the Human Capacity Building Needs Analysis of the
New Public Universities in Ethiopia. This final version addresses the feedback from the
HETF on the first version of this final report.
We would like to acknowledge the Development Assistance Group (DAG) that

supported the study financially from the education pooled fund and the UNDP office in
Addis Ababa that administered the study.
The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) made the study possible by handling all of the
organisational and logistical matters with quiet efficiency. Our thanks in this regard go
especially to Ato Belete Demissie, Head of the PCU, and to his supporting team.
We would particularly like to thank the New Public Universities (NPUs) for
their support and for their contribution to the results of the study – and also for their
kind hospitality during the visits to the universities.
We trust that this report will make a contribution to the further development and
strengthening of Higher Education in Ethiopia.
Drs Tineke Melis, Team Leader,
on behalf of CIS/VU and the study team
Prof. Kate Ashcroft

Dr Ian Macfarlane
Dr Philip Rayner
Dr Tesfaye Semela
Dr Teshome Yizengaw
List of Abbreviations
AA Addis Ababa
AAU Addis Ababa University
ADRC Academic Development and Resource Centre
ARM Annual Review Meeting
BDU Bahir Dar University
BPR Business Process Re-engineering
CIS/VU Centre for International Cooperation (of the VU University Amsterdam)
CPD Continuous Professional Development
DAG Development Assistance Group
DfID Department for International Development (UK)
DIF Development Innovation Fund
EdPM Department of Education Planning and Management, AAU
EMI Ethiopian Management Institute
ESDP III Education Sector Development Programme III
GEQIP General Education Quality Improvement Project (incorporating TDP-II)
GTZ/IT Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit
GmbH/International Services
HD Higher Diploma Programme for Teacher Educators as supported through
TDP and GEQIP
HEI Higher Education Institution
HERQA The Higher Education Relevance and Quality Assurance Agency
HESC The Higher Education Strategy Centre
HE-TF Higher Education – Task Force, a working unit that includes
representation of the MoE and the donor community
LAN Local Area (computing) Networks
LMDP Leadership and Management Development Project
LMCD Leadership and Management Capacity Development
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MIS Management Information Systems
MoE Ministry of Education
MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
MU Mekele University
NPU New Public University
PCU The Project Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Education
TDP
TDP Teacher Development Programme
ToR Terms of reference
UCBP University Capacity Building Programme
UNISA University of South Africa
VUA Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU University, Amsterdam)
VSO Voluntary Service Overseas
WAN Wireless Area Network
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 4

1. Introduction and background .............................................................................................. 10
1a. The purpose of the study ............................................................................................. 10
1b. Methodology and activities ......................................................................................... 11
2. An overview of the human capacity development requirements of the New Public
universities .................................................................................................................................. 14
2a. The context of the NPUs ............................................................................................. 14
2b. Capacity problems and needs as identified by the NPUs ............................................ 15
Contextual issues ................................................................................................................. 15
Leadership and management .............................................................................................. 15
Academic processes............................................................................................................. 16
Administrative processes ..................................................................................................... 17
Human resources management ........................................................................................... 17
Cross cutting issues ............................................................................................................. 17
Needs per individual NPU................................................................................................... 17
2c. Needs identified by the external stakeholders and donors .......................................... 18
3. Reflection by the study team ............................................................................................... 20
3a. General issues.............................................................................................................. 20
3b. Leadership and management ....................................................................................... 21
3c. Academic processes .................................................................................................... 23
3d. Administrative processes............................................................................................. 25
3e. Cross cutting issues ..................................................................................................... 26
3f. General concluding remarks on the principles and philosophy................................... 26
4. Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 27
4a. General ........................................................................................................................ 27
4b. Philosophical underpinnings for the recommendations .............................................. 28
4c. Leadership and management ....................................................................................... 29
4d. Academic processes .................................................................................................... 31
Academic staff qualifications .............................................................................................. 31
Teaching and learning ........................................................................................................ 32
Research .............................................................................................................................. 34
Community service .............................................................................................................. 35
4e. Administrative processes............................................................................................. 36
4f. Cross cutting issues ..................................................................................................... 38
5. Costed funding scenarios ........................................................................................................ 40
5a. Shorter term interventions ........................................................................................... 40
Inventory and exchange of good practices .......................................................................... 40
Change agenda in higher education, including BPR .......................................................... 40
Learning from the Academic Development Resource Centres in the established universities
............................................................................................................................................. 40
5b. Longer term interventions ................................................................................................. 41
Leadership and management .............................................................................................. 43
Administrative processes ..................................................................................................... 46
Cross cutting issues ............................................................................................................. 47
Annexes:...................................................................................................................................... 49
Executive summary
The Federal Republic of Ethiopia recently established 12 new public universities. They admitted
their first cohort of students in 2007. This development of the higher education system followed
a period of rapid expansion of the pre-existing universities. The cumulative effect of the
expansion creates various strains within the system, especially in terms of the availability of a
trained and experienced labour force. To address this situation, the Development Assistance
Group (DAG) decided to commission a study of the human capacity building needs of the
NPUs, to be administered and managed by UNDP. CIS/VU won the tender to conduct the study.
The study started on April 1 and the work was completed by the end of September 2008. It
culminated in this report which maps the current status of the NPUs, identifies immediate
human development needs and the means by which they may be met over a three-year period
with support of government, the donor community and others.
The key questions that this report addresses are:

1. What are the major human capacity buildings needs in the short and the longer term for
each of the NPUs?
2. Are there separate capacity building priorities for each NPU and how may these be met?
3. How can identified needs be met through credible programmes of action?
4. How can identified needs be met with different levels of funding?
The methodology included:

 visits to each NPU and some longer established universities;
 meetings with academic, administrative and management staff in each NPU and
some longer established universities;
 document and data collection from NPUs, some longer established universities and
the MoE;
 workshops for representatives of NPUs;
 meetings with key MoE staff;
 meetings with representatives of the donor community;
 reports of research conducted by Research Assistants in each NPU into their context
and interviews with the external stakeholders of their university.
It is clear from interviews with all stakeholders that there is a window of opportunity just now
for government, donor1 and other interventions with the NPUs that will make a real difference.
It is evident that the NPU staff and management are ready and eager to change and to learn so
that these institutions can fulfil their role as engines of development in the country and in the
reduction of poverty. The study team is of the view that it is essential that maximum use is made
of this window of opportunity before the present high levels of keenness, energy and drive
inevitably diminish over time.
The study team identified various contextual issues that will need to be resolved with help of the
donor community, such as ICT connectivity and the establishment of local area networks
(LAN), and resources for learning and research.
1
The term “donor” in this report should be understood in its broader, and more generic, sense – that is to say, also including those
partner organisations (and potential partners) that provide help, assistance and expertise in ways other than through direct transfer of
funding.
4
The report makes clear the philosophical underpinnings that should inform any projects that
result from the study. These include a focus on institutional and team learning; improving daily
practice: working together on a problem; peer learning; deep learning; and support for changes
in behaviour over time.
Although many individual aspects have been identified by stakeholders, the report recommends
that any projects should focus on relatively few higher order and important topics. It suggests
that exchanging good practice is a key process in achieving development needs and proposes
interventions at university level with activities at national level. The report emphasises linkages
with existing structures and projects.
Priorities for action recommended in the study are based on leverage (the ability for
improvements in an area to impact positively on a number of problems), external drives derived
from the institutional context and a few „quick wins‟ (important aspects that can be achieved
with a modest outlay of time and money).
The study team identified four principal foci for interventions to develop human capacity;
 Leadership and management
 Academic processes
 Administrative processes and
 Cross cutting issues (including HIV/AIDS, gender and the environment).
The report recommends that these should be translated into four separate projects2 to be
supported principally by donors (working in partnership with government) but also by others
such as the NPUs themselves, the MoE, the established universities, HESC and HERQA.
Although the recommendation is that mainstreaming cross cutting issues should receive separate
attention, we recommend that there should be cross cutting themes such as gender and
HIV/AIDS in projects covering other areas.
Leadership and management
The report identifies management teams working effectively on the right issues as the key higher
order problem that, if dealt with, will impact positively on institutional performance.
The report recommends strategic planning and implementation, HRM, management styles,
decentralisation, maintaining quality, roles and responsibilities and team working as possible
practical issues that, if explored and strengthened will enable the NPUs to achieve solutions to
the problem. It recommends interventions should include mentoring by experienced HEI
managers; workshops and certificated training; support for networking and exposure visits; and
work shadowing of managers in business and other universities All of the above should include
top and middle managers and key MoE staff. In addition, the report recommends quality
management training for academic managers and training in their role for members of the NPU
Boards.
Academic processes
The report identifies pedagogic skills development; curriculum review and development;
developing a research culture; community service and academic staff qualifications as key
higher order problems that, if dealt with, will impact positively on academic performance.
With respect to pedagogic skills development the report recommends problem-oriented learning,
practical teaching and assessment in large classes; laboratory teaching, advanced skills for
pedagogic mentors and basic skills for new instructors as possible practical topics for
2
Where appropriate, these four overarching projects could be made up of a number of sub-projects.
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interventions that will enable the academic staff to develop pedagogic competence. It
recommends interventions should include an EQUIP/HDP/CPD-type programme; setting up
ADRC-like structures; support by established universities; and short courses for new instructors.
With respect to curriculum review and development the report recommends development of
national and institutional research strategies, principles and practice of curriculum development;
subject specific content for a modern curriculum; transferable skills (communication skills,
problem-solving skills, team building skills, etc.); attitudes; and ethics as possible practical
topics for interventions. It recommends interventions should include support for central
curriculum development by external subject experts; VSO-type placements and partnerships
with higher education institutions in Africa and the North.
With respect to developing a research culture the report recommends research epistemology
and methodologies; bidding for research grants, including writing research proposals; and
writing papers for publication as possible topics that are important to the development of a
research culture. It recommends that interventions should include funding for a competitive
bidding process and its administration; seed corn funding for a few centres of excellence;
proposal development; short courses; the provision of research-focused resources and
publications; and exchange programmes with foreign universities.
With respect to community service the report recommends a few „quick win‟ topics that may
kick-start the development of this area beyond the existing extension courses: an inventory of
good practice; work on foci for community service; how to work with the community; ethics;
costing, pricing and marketing services; and quality control. It recommends that interventions
should include short skills-and-awareness training; workshops; and expert facilitation of
university task forces.
With respect to academic staff qualifications the report recommends that support for higher
degrees and supervision is necessary to enable quality interventions. It recommends that
interventions should include so-called sandwich masters and doctoral trainings for the academic
staff, support to research for higher degrees locally at AAU and other existing universities, and
support to supervisors and advisors from foreign universities.
Administrative processes
The report identifies establishing efficient and transparent systems and processes and setting up
and running an MIS in each of the NPUs as the key higher order problems that, if dealt with,
will impact positively on administrative performance.
With respect to these, the report recommends supporting academic processes and management
functions; service cultures and their implications; how to specify, run and develop a good
system of support; and changes in practices to maximise the efficiencies as possible practical
topics for interventions. It recommends that interventions should include national workshops;
training key staff teams in individual NPUs; administrative management training in block grant
management; establishing networks and common interest groups and facilitating their operation;
exposure visits to commercial enterprises and established universities; and TVET training and
selective upgrading of staff to bachelors and masters degree level.
Cross cutting issues (equity - including gender, ethnicity, religion and others; special needs;
HIV/AIDS;)
The report identifies attitude and behaviour change as the key higher order problems that, if
dealt with will impact positively on institutional performance. It recommends that this should be
a separate project. It recommends that interventions should include local or regional workshops;
6
specialist coaching; experience sharing networks, all facilitated by outside experts as well as the
purchase of resources and publications. Technical assistance to develop institutional and
national policies and strategies is also required.
With respect to HIV/AIDS and gender, the report recommends mainstreaming cross cutting
issues should also be an all embracing topic for interventions.
Conclusion
The report recommends that manuals, guidelines and good practice guides, should support all of
the above.
The report includes suggestions on different partners who could take the main responsibility (or
lead) for each of the recommendations above: the donors; MoE; NPUs; established universities,
HESC and HERQA.
With respect to the elements supported by the donors, the report suggests some costings for
each of the projects above.
The following table summarizes the recommendations resulting from the study on the human
capacity building needs analysis of the new public universities in Ethiopia.
Project Area Focus Possible content foci Possible interventions Proposed Lead
Funder(s)/Implementers
General issues ICT Access to the internet Improvement of the Donors and MoE
connectivity and LAN or WAN, E- infrastructure and
Granary connectivity
Philosophical Institutional and team Exchanging good All
underpinnings learning; daily practice: practice a key process;
working together on a priorities for action
problem, to foster peer based on leverage,
learning and deep external drives and
learning; support for quick wins.
changes in behaviour Linkages with existing
over time to ensure structures and projects
sustainability. Interventions at
Fewer higher order and university level with
important aspects. activities at national
level.
Leadership and Management Strategic planning and Mentoring by Donors
Management teams implementation; experienced HEI
working HRM;management managers.
effectively on styles;decentralisation; Workshops and
the right maintaining quality; certificated training
issues roles and responsibilities Support for networking
and team working. and exposure visits.
Work shadowing of
managers in business
and other universities.
All of the above for top
and middle managers
and key MoE staff.
Training for Board
members on their
changing role.
Quality assurance Quality management HERQA, NPUs and
mechanisms for training for academic established universities
academic processes; managers.
quality enhancement,
monitoring and
evaluation.
7
Change agenda in higher Dissemination of HESC
education. information, facilitating
development.
Academic Pedagogic Problem oriented EQUIP/HDP/CPD-type Donors
processes skills learning; practical programme, setting up Established universities
development teaching and assessment ADRC-like structures. (in terms of time)
in large classes; Mentoring by
laboratory teaching; established universities.
advanced skills for Short courses for new
pedagogic mentors; and instructors.
basic skills for new
instructors
Curriculum Principles and practice Support for central Donors
review and of curriculum curriculum development HESC (in supporting the
development development; subject by external subject central curriculum
specific content for a experts. development process)
modern curriculum; VSO-type placements.
transferable skills;
attitudes; and ethics.
Developing a Research epistemology Funding for competitive Donors
research and methodologies; bidding process and its
culture bidding; and writing administration; seed
research proposals, corn funding for a few
papers for publication centres of excellence
and bids and proposal
development;
Short courses.
Provision of resources
and publications.
Exchange and linkages
programmes with
foreign universities.
Community Good practice inventory; Short skills and Donors
service possible foci for awareness training and
community service; workshops.
working with the Expert facilitation of
community; ethics, university task forces.
costing, pricing and
marketing services;
quality control.
Academic Subject and supervision Expert support for MoE, Donors
staff support for higher AAU‟s higher degree
qualifications degrees and for their programme.
design and development. Additional part-time
higher degree
programme validated by
Administrative Establishing Supporting academic National workshops. Donors, with practical
processes efficient and processes and Training key staff in help from HESC and
transparent management functions. individual NPUs. MoE
systems and Service cultures and Top and administrative
processes their implications. How management training in
to specify, run and block grant
develop a good system management
of support, including National workshop. Donors
Setting up and MIS and HRM. Changes Establishing networks
running a MIS in practices to maximise and common interest
the efficiencies. groups and facilitating
their operation.
Exposure visits.
VSO-type placements Donors
in consortia of NPUs.
Visits to commercial NPUs
enterprises etc.
Visits to established NPUs
universities. Established
8
universities(in terms of
time)
Various content TVET training and MoE
depending on the role. selective upgrading of
staff to bachelors.
Cross cutting Attitude and Mainstreaming cross Local or regional Donors
issues behaviour cutting issues in: workshops; specialist NPUs (in terms of time)
change curriculum; research; coaching; experience
community service; sharing networks; all
student services; facilitated by outside
management; and HRM experts.
Resources and
publications.
All of the above to be supported by manuals, guidelines and good practice guides.
All of the above taking HIV/AIDS and gender as cross cutting issues.
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1. Introduction and background
1a. The purpose of the study
In the past few years, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has embarked on a nation-
wide reform in higher education with the aim of enhancing the relevance, strengthening the
quality and increasing the contribution of the tertiary education sector to the country‟s poverty
reduction strategy and overall sustainable and accelerated national development. The
Government‟s educational reforms have resulted in a significant increase in overall enrolment in
all sub-sectors and have contributed to the increase in student population. It is in this context
that the twelve new public universities (NPUs) are being established. The rapid expansion of the
higher education sector has taken place despite the shortage of well-qualified and experienced
staff at all levels that also affect the existing sector. This means that the NPUs must develop
capacity under extremely difficult circumstances, across all categories of staff and at all levels,
as they simultaneously increase the number of students and study programmes. This study is
therefore timely in helping to develop plans to achieve this.
In spite of there being many highly educated and very able Ethiopian academics already in the
Higher Education system, the capacity in the system as a whole to conduct the administrative
and academic work appropriate to the sector is significantly below what it needs to be for a
system of this size, especially during such a dynamic phase of its development. Although
planning continues to improve, it does not always manage to grapple with all of the real
dilemmas faced by the institutions; implementation can then slip and monitoring is not always
sufficiently on the timely realization of objectives and outcomes.
It was exactly this awareness that made the Development Assistance Group (DAG) decide to
commission a study on the specific human capacity building needs of the NPUs. The study aims
to map the current status of the NPUs and to identify immediate development needs. The
activities of any project or projects that might arise out of the study should then strengthen the
capacity, and increase the capability, of the NPUs to deliver relevant, high quality teaching-
learning, research and outreach to the local communities.
The Request for Proposals for this study was published in June 2007 and the contract for this
work was finally awarded to the VU University Amsterdam, Centre for International
Cooperation (CIS/VU) and this was signed on 28 March 2008. April 1 was agreed as the formal
start date of the study and the work was completed by the end of September 2008, thereby
covering the agreed period of 6 months.
The key questions that this study has addressed are:

1. What are the major human capacity buildings needs in the short and the longer term
for each of the NPUs?
2. Are there separate capacity building priorities for each NPU and how may these be
met?
3. How can identified needs be met through credible programmes of action?
4. How can identified needs be met with different levels of funding?
This study focuses on human capacity building needs. Establishing new universities however
also relates to a range of other needs in the area of infrastructure, equipment and so forth.
Notwithstanding the aim of the study, other urgent needs also came up during the interviews
and discussions. The most important ones (identified by the majority of the interviewees) are
summarized in Annex 4.
10
This report describes the outcomes of the study. The following section of this chapter describes
the methodology used and gives an overview of the activities carried out. Chapter 2 sketches the
current context of the NPUs and summarizes the main human capacity building needs. The
methodology has included a series of interviews with external stakeholders of the universities,
conducted by Research Assistants appointed in each of the NPUs3. The main findings of this
part of the study are described at the end of chapter 2.
Chapter 3 provides reflection from the study team on the results of the research – based on the
team‟s extensive experience in the analysis of, and contribution to, higher education institutes in
Ethiopia as well as in other parts of the world. These reflections are categorized as follows:
- General remarks
- Leadership and management (all issues related to governance issues and managing the
university)
- The academic processes (the core processes of the university; teaching and learning,
research and community services)
- The administrative processes (all processes that are aimed at supporting the core
activities and the management of the university)
- Cross cutting issues (in particular, gender, HIV/AIDS, special needs and the
environment)
The study team has used this grouping in all the chapters of this report.
In Chapter 4 recommendations for capacity building programmes are formulated while Chapter
5 gives an overview of possible costed-scenarios for the execution of the recommended
programmes.
1b. Methodology and activities
In the original Request for Proposals the methodology was summarized as follows4:
- visits to each NPU and some longer established universities
- meetings with senior academic, administrative and management staff in each NPU and
some longer established universities
- document and data collection from NPUs, some longer established universities and the
MoE
- workshops for representatives of NPUs
- meetings with key MoE staff
- meetings with representatives of the donor community
- meetings with an Advisory Committee
The study team has chosen an approach which emphasises partnership with the NPUs and other
stakeholders – in which each of the partners brings in knowledge and experience relevant to the
situation. In addition to this, further research was conducted by Research Assistants appointed
in each NPU – looking into the background and context of their NPU and conducting interviews
with external stakeholders. The total analysis has thus been a joint assessment by the study team
together with stakeholders across the NPUs and others such as the MoE. After a series of initial
interviews with relevant stakeholders (MoE, established universities, support organisations and
donor community) the study proceeded with an initial workshop in which all Presidents and
Research Assistants of the NPUs participated as well as senior staff members of the MoE and
3
See Annex 1 B for a job description of the Research Assistants
4
For the list of activities see the Request for Proposals in Annex 6
11
other stakeholders. The objective of this first workshop was to inform all involved about the
objectives of the study and the proposed programme of activities to achieve these. The logistics
of the planned visits were also discussed as well as the programme for these visits.
The workshop succeeded in achieving its objectives5 and the commitment of the participants
was clear from the outset – being illustrated by their request to hold and actively participate in
an additional workshop half-way through the study to discuss the intermediate results.
Validation of results at several phases of the study was also an important aspect of the
methodology used. The university visits included meetings and discussions with a range of
groups across the university community – including senior and middle management, academic
staff, administrative staff, students and others. At the end of each visit the results were shared
and discussed with the top management, who gave the study team additional feedback.
The programme for the visits can be visualized as follows:
Phase 1: Phase 2:
Visit to the NPU
Collect background information
and study these. NPU staff 1. Top management
members interview external 2. Academic process
stakeholders 3. Academic services
4. Administrative services
Phase 4: Phase 3:
 Workshop with top management Reflection

to discuss results and set priorities.
Consultants produce draft report
 Meeting of top management with PPT format
middle management and a selection
of staff members to discuss results
and prioritisation of top management.
Validation also took place during the second (interim) workshop (held on August 9th, 2008). A
paper was prepared on the basis of the intermediate results. This was discussed during the
workshop and a first attempt to set priorities was undertaken. After completion of all the visits
to the NPUs, the draft final report was prepared and discussed during the final workshop (held
on September 24th and 25th 2008) and feedback from the participants and the donors
incorporated in this final report.
5
See also the inception report, annex 2a
12
Most encouraging has been the very high level of interest and commitment shown in the study
by the NPUs throughout the exercise. This was not only evident during the university visits,
where large groups usually participated in the meetings, but also by the interest and
commitment of top management of the NPUs and the enthusiastic work of the Research
Assistants in conducting external stakeholders analyses and organizing the site visits of the
study team. During the final workshop, rather than the study team interpreting the needs of the
NPUs on their behalf, the NPUs presented the results of the study to the donors themselves –
this providing the ultimate form of validation of the results of the study.
Lastly, an important part of the methodology has been the triangulation of the different sources
of information (documents, interviews, discussions and observations) in order to assess the
extent of agreement amongst these sources and to explore further wherever they might differ.
The input of the Research Assistants in the NPUs, and the composition of the study team (6
individual consultants from a variety of backgrounds) that operated in changing team
compositions, increased the reliability of the results through their extensive analytical
discussions and the checks and double-checks at key stages along the way.
Although serious attempts were made by the study team to have a proper Advisory Committee
established through the good offices of the Higher Education Task Force (HE-TF), for a variety
of reasons this did not happen during the implementation phase. However, we hope that the
Ministry of Education will be willing and able to take the outcomes of this study a step further
and will take the lead in initiating future interventions (in cooperation with willing partners in
the donor community) as it considers necessary and appropriate.
During the final workshop the State Minister for Higher Education dr. Adhana Haile stated that:
- He had not commissioned the report and therefore had waited to see its outcomes before
committing the Ministry to it
- Although he had some initial reservations he now found the study generally useful, well
done and welcomed it
- Support for the new universities is essential for the Government‟s policy on higher
education and he urged the donors to meet him to look at the way forward as soon as the
final version of the report would be finished
The study team presents the results of this study – as included in the present report – as an
accurate overview of the main human capacity building needs of the NPUs. Based on this, sets
of recommendations for actions and external support are proposed, both for the short and long
term.
13
2. An overview of the human capacity development
requirements of the New Public universities
2a. The context of the NPUs

The plan to establish new university colleges was articulated in the third education sector
development programme (ESDP-III) of the Ministry of Education in 2004. The ESDP states:
“...Thirteen new higher education institutions, which will ultimately grow to universities, will be
established. At the end of the planning period each of these new institutions will have a capacity
to enrol 9–10 thousand students. … programmes in engineering and technology, computer
sciences and IT, applied sciences, resource management, veterinary technology, etc. will be
opened. The total annual intake capacity of institutions under the auspices of the Ministry is
expected to reach 110 thousand. (ESDP-III, p 37).
On the basis of this strategic plan, the locations for these NPUs, the programmes of study they
should open and the possible number of total enrolment over a period of five years were
outlined and specified. The locations were selected on the basis of a number of criteria, which
largely take into account equity in geographic distribution relative to population and area,
presumed size of the town in terms of population, accessibility and the possibility to provide
some services to students and staff of the institutions being established.
On the basis of these criteria, Nekempt, Bale Robe, Debre Markos, Debre Berhan, and
Dessie/Kombolcha from Amhara, Dilla, Wollaita Sodo and Mizan/Tepi from Debub, Aksum
from Tigray, Diredawa from Diredawa administrative council, Jigjiga from Somali, Semera
from Afar were selected. While some institutions such as Dilla and Dire Dawa were established
by building on existing infrastructure and a number of years of teaching experience, other
institutions were established from scratch. Some institutions, such as Dessie, Nekempt, and Dire
Dawa, were established in towns which are better in terms of facilities such as food and
recreational services, internet connectivity and access to utilities, while others such as Samara,
Robe and Mizan/Tepi have fewer of these services.
Following the selection of the site, and decisions on the programmes of study and the number of
students to enrol, a decision was made to enter an agreement with GTZ/IS to manage the
construction work of the institutions. Preparation for survey and procurement started
immediately after the signing of the agreement in early 2005. The capital for the construction
works, for consultants and supervision and procurement of goods was committed from the
Treasury of the Government of Ethiopia. GTZ/IS was contracted to mobilize German expertise
and provide services at cost. The survey of the sites and design of buildings started in early
2005, but actual construction work of the first of the three phases started only in 2006.
The first batch of students was placed to the NPUs in the 2007-08 academic year. The
expansion programme is aimed at the:
 provision of access to a larger number of secondary school completers,
 better distribution of higher education institutions that can contribute, through teaching,
research and community services, to local development in different parts of the country,
and
 development of centres of excellence, depending on the competitive advantages of each
locality.
14
Although the criteria for selecting the different locations included accessibility and provision of
services to the institutions‟ communities, there are some challenges currently being faced by
many of these institutions. These include:
 poor water and electricity services,
 poor or absent internet connectivity,
 poor catering and recreational services in close proximity or surrounding the
institutions,
 lack of trained and skilled human resources, particularly to manage departments and
university academic affairs, as well as working in cafeterias, libraries, and other student
services areas;
 in some institutions, inappropriate design that does not give sufficient consideration for
climatic and site context.
The critical challenge faced by these new institutions is the lack of qualified teaching staff.
Although the Ministry has been recruiting teaching staff for the institutions – this being
necessary in the initial stages of establishment – and is managing the training of these staff at
masters and doctorate levels, many of the institutions still lack the required number and quality
of teaching faculty.
With proper investment and prioritization in implementation, there is a great opportunity for
these new institutions. However, in the short to medium term the implementation of the policy
of 70:30 without sufficient preparation in terms of laboratories, equipment and staff will be a
critical challenge for these institutions. On the other hand, since they are in the establishment
stage they may more easily adjust the strategic plan to cater for the requirement of the policy
than the more established universities. They can take advantage of curricula being developed at
national level and benefit from their involvement in preparing the framework with other
relatively older universities and institutions.
2b. Capacity problems and needs as identified by the NPUs
Contextual issues
To enable the NPUs to deal with the challenges described above, sound and clear strategic plans
should be available that will help the university community to work jointly towards realizing its
mission and vision. The stage of development (and therefore the availability) of longer-term
strategic plans differs across the universities. The use of such plans as an instrument for
development and change vary as well. Where strategic plans are available and updated, more
attention could be paid to a further breakdown of the strategic aims to faculty and department
level. This should result in a clearer description of objectives and ways to achieve these
(including indicators and monitoring mechanisms) to ensure that the strategic plan has
implications for the day-to-day practices of the institutions. Although the NPUs have to
develop their strategic plans with the requisite involvement and participation of their
community, they will need support in developing such a strategic planning process including the
necessary benchmark-activities.
The generally observed limited autonomy in terms of human resources policy and flexibility in
allocating budget is hampering the implementation of strategic options. Especially the
development of centres of excellence, relevant community outreach, research and the 70:30
policy requires more freedom to find solutions that fit the context of the individual university.

The top management often does not have sufficient experience, knowledge and skills to run a
complex organisation such as a university, especially in the current context of a very demanding
15
environment and a variety of challenges. The management feels that they need support with
respect to the following issues:
 All academic managers need better understanding and skills upgrading in higher
education management and administration.
 In the (near) future devolvement of responsibilities will have to be dealt with: this
requires senior and middle managers to be capable of doing their jobs and top
management to be able to devolve responsibilities in an appropriate way
 The organisational structure has to be adapted in the sense that it should be clearer
who is responsible for what (Deans, Heads of Departments and Heads of
Administrative Sections) and the structure should also be simplified and include
clear rules and regulations and ways to hold people accountable for their actions
 Change management is required not only now but also in the future. The
universities will be confronted with all kinds of changes in the environment,
including changing Government policies. There is a lack of knowledge on how to
plan and implement change in a participatory way that, for example, includes all
managerial levels and has a specific role for the student council
 Administrative procedures will also need to change and the management should
support implementing these.
In terms of the interventions that will help to build capacity in the above mentioned areas, those
interviewed indicated that a priority should be the management development of the top and
middle managers. Interventions should include short training, exposure and benchmark visits (in
Ethiopia and abroad), written support documents, team-based training on the job and work
shadowing both aimed at the transfer of knowledge as well as at developing the necessary skills.
Supporting the management to create a culture of openness, transparency and accountability,
integrity and responsibility for the university community as a whole was mentioned several
times during the interviews. The Board of the NPU should oversee and guide this process and
they need training to do this. Team-based decision making and team responsibility was
mentioned as a valuable instrument in developing the universities.
When a culture of taking responsibility at all levels is implemented, the top management should
not be overloaded by issues that should be dealt with at another level or by another department.
Combined with adequate secretarial support, they should be able to do what they are hired for in
the first place; leading and managing the university as a whole and guiding the implementation
of their strategic objectives, based on clear guidelines and adequate monitoring mechanisms.
Academic processes
The rapid growth has resulted in hiring young, often inexperienced staff with low academic
qualifications for the work that they are expected to do. The main need is twofold; upgrade from
bachelors to masters level, from masters to PhD and retention of senior faculty and management
staff. This will have a positive influence on the development of research programmes and
projects. In itself this may result in generating additional income for the universities.
Establishing a more research orientated culture is required, but the current high teaching loads
combined with the lack of accessibility to journals, or linkage with other universities and the
lack of experience with proposal writing to acquire research projects, hampers the realisation of
such a culture.
The emphasis in all universities is on providing an adequate teaching and learning environment
so that students will graduate with a body of knowledge and skills that enables them to
contribute to the development of the country. Pedagogical skills of the teachers and knowledge
about pedagogical methods are essential in any university, but especially in the NPUs because
of the limited experience and skills deficiency of the teaching staff, lack of books and materials
and the challenges in teaching large groups of students. It was noted that curriculum
development and review was another important issue and needs to be high on the agenda.
16
Administrative procedures, and the results of the efforts of administrative staff, are supposed to
be supportive of the core processes of a university (teaching, research and community service).
This implies a service-oriented attitude and management information systems (MIS) that allow
the staff to do their job well with the necessary knowledge and skills. All these three issues have
to be addressed by any future intervention. A range of capacity needs are evident, such as
English proficiency, computer skills and behavioural aspects. Introducing an MIS will be made
easier if pre-existing procedures and (manual) systems are perceived as adequate by providers
as well as clients of these systems. Currently too little attention is paid to communication about
these issues because of the work load.
NPUs will acquire increasing autonomy once the block grant is introduced. This requires more
capacity in the form of adequate financial management and budgetary control, as well as
efficiency and effectiveness in resource use. Capacities to diversify revenue and mobilize
resources are also critical in view of coming out of dependence on government resources and to
leverage autonomy. The staff need to be upgraded to deal with these new challenges.
Human resources management

Staff turnover is an important issue. Staff development has to be combined with adequate
policies to retain and reward staff. Since salaries are low compared to the competitors in the
labour market, other incentives need to be developed. The institutional culture and organizations
and the current human resource managers are not able to develop creative methods for retaining
staff. For academic and administrative staff and for the management at all levels, policies need
to be developed that enable an attractive working environment with fringe benefits so as to
prevent unnecessary staff turnover. The human resources departments should not only be
responsible for personnel administration, but should also support the management in
recruitment and selection procedures, staff development plans and procedures for appraisal,
including disciplining systems. In the future, the human resource department should be a true
partner working with senior management to realize cultural change. The majority of the human
resource staff and managers are not yet equipped to fulfil these roles.
Cross cutting issues

It is felt that policies on equity and HIV/AIDS are still stand-alone activities that are not
incorporated into the curriculum and everyday activities. The gender offices and student
committees are trying their best, but would benefit from external support in developing
adequate ways of achieving their objectives. In some cases the focus should be extended more
to policies that include university staff as well as students. Policies to provide facilities for
students and staff with special needs have not (yet) been developed.
Needs per individual NPU

One of the issues that this study is called upon to address is the needs of each of the NPUs. Not
surprisingly, the study revealed some occasional differences between the universities. These can
be found in the reports that have been produced of each individual visit6. However, regarding
human capacity building needs the differences are relatively few and the similarities are great.
We have therefore chosen to focus greatest attention on recommendations for interventions from
which all NPUs will benefit. We do acknowledge differences however and for this reason we
want to put emphasis on a process of working on real problems with teams at individual
university level whilst exchanging good practices in university management and other activities
amongst the universities. We would also like to propose that these will be strategies embedded
within all projects that result from the study.
6
For the separate reports on the university missions see Annex 3 A
17
2c. Needs identified by the external stakeholders and donors
The stakeholder research7 conducted by the Research Assistants in the universities is a valuable
resource for this study. In addition, it is likely that the reports on the interviews of external
stakeholders will also be useful resource documents within the NPUs themselves.
It is interesting to note that stakeholders largely reflect the views of the universities themselves
in terms of the difficulties the NPUs face and their human capacity needs and priorities and so
the results and implications are reported here only to the extent that they differ from the rest of
the report in tone or emphasis. The full stakeholder reports can be found in Appendix 3.
With respect to the student skills that stakeholder‟s value, there is much overlap with the
university staff analysis, but with some notable differences in emphasis. Stakeholders emphasise
vocational and practical skills (e.g. ICT skills) as being especially important for graduates, as
well as intellectual skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and communication. These
seem to be given as much, or more, emphasis than knowledge, and will have implications for
the forms of pedagogic training given to instructors.
What is particularly interesting is the extent that stakeholders emphasise attitudes and
behaviours: ethics, work discipline, gender awareness, HIV/AIDS and environmental issues
seem to be very high up the agenda of stakeholders. They would also like to see students able to
act as entrepreneurs, creating jobs and productive enterprises. Students who are committed to
the rural development of the country and who are able to act as local role models are needed.
These are subtle and difficult matters to include in curricula in ways that will be effective. They
should also be an important element of pedagogic training: mere coverage of the issues
theoretically will not be effective in creating the changes needed and so special consideration
and imaginative approaches will be important.
Some stakeholders noted the need to make the transition from secondary to university smoother
for students, especially in the light of the proposed 70/30 science and technology/social sciences
curriculum mix and the demands that this will make on students in terms of the standard of their
maths and science. It has been suggested that a number of staff may need to be trained and
guided into designing and running a type of freshman programme which is student-centred,
understands where the students are coming from and makes provision for a lot of hands-on
science and problem solving (missing from students‟ secondary education because of some of
the plasma screen-based teaching that may be improved, poor school provision, etc). It is
suggested that experience from Southern Africa of developing foundation (or bridging)
programmes in the sciences provides a good model. As well as supporting the development and
implementation of these programmes more generally, the donors could also fund the necessary
equipment for the laboratories and technician training.
Stakeholders, like the university staff themselves, see the value of research mainly in terms of
its application to the problems in society and the economy. They would like to see research
developed that is evaluative and solution orientated. They emphasise dissemination as a key
feature. This should influence the forms research capacity development take.
In terms of community service, stakeholders emphasise local skills development through long
and short training and consultancies. They would like to see universities and their graduates
really involved in cross cutting issues in their localities, especially in gender, HIV/AIDS and the
environment.
7
See annex 1 for the assignment to conduct this research
18
Stakeholders appear to be willing to act generously in supporting their university. They are
prepared to contribute directly to curriculum development and review; and to offer on-the-job
training to students, share their experience and facilities and even contribute in minor ways to
the teaching.
This implies that stakeholders might be a useful resource in the human capacity building of the
university and could usefully be seen as (minor) partners in this respect: for example, it may be
that instructors and university managers‟ engagement in job shadowing in local businesses and
public sector organisations would be one way of helping them to develop the awareness needed
to design and review really practical programmes and develop some entrepreneurial awareness
and skills. It might help in areas such as developing a customer focus that the NPUs can then
incorporate into courses and their everyday practice.
One notable difference of emphasis between concerns of the stakeholders and the NPUs is the
importance stakeholders place when discussing teaching, research or community service on the
linkages to the local economy and needs and - most especially - to agricultural development and
change. Stakeholders see universities as a key resource in developing both the national and local
rural economy and would like to see this as an important focus and expressed their willingness
to support this development.
Some stakeholders see the Teacher Development Programme (TDP) as a good model for human
capacity development, but it may not be sustainable unless university staff leading it are
rewarded. It may be helpful if the status of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
would be increased. Thought could be given to CPD programmes being certified in the same
way as the Higher Diploma (HD). Donors could contribute by offering to support (regional)
CPD offices and equipment.
19
3. Reflection by the study team
3a. General issues
These reflections are based on the research undertaken for this study as well as on the wide
experience of the study team (in a variety of capacities), including knowledge and
understanding of higher education in Ethiopia and in other international settings.
Higher education is the means by which the professionals that the country needs can be trained.
Ethiopia needs engineers, teachers, health workers, agriculturalists, designers and many more if
it is to emerge from poverty. It must develop beyond dependency on subsistence agriculture and
practices that tend to hinder development rather than to promote it. If its citizens are to enjoy
good health, and sufficient prosperity and life chances, then higher education is part of the
network of improvements that will help bring about and underpin this progress. Thus, the
expansion of higher education should be seen as an important contribution to Ethiopia‟s
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and it is essential that the human
capacity development projects that may emerge from this study are directed towards helping the
NPUs to make their contribution to this end.
On the positive side, the expansion of higher education has provided thousands of young
students with the access to further education that they never had before. (The need for more
bachelors and masters degrees will only increase in the (near) future – calling for even further
expansion.) However, despite the very best efforts of all involved, the rapid developments with
little provisions of all the necessary resources in its initial stages and skilled labour force, will
also lead to a poorer educational experience for at least some of the first generation of students
within the NPUs. Earlier in this report, the impressive and striking levels of dedication,
commitment, and eagerness to learn on the part of the staff of the NPUs was stressed. However,
there is a danger that these admirable qualities may not last forever – and that a resource-poor
environment may lead in time (perhaps sooner rather than later) to a long-term culture of
acceptance of low standards and that poor performance may become embedded in the system.
The Higher Education sector is very much aware of this danger and takes every opportunity to
prevent this from happening – although it needs help and assistance in this regard. The country
needs a generation of professionals who know their craft, can create good governance, health
and economic productivity and can contribute adequately to development. With investment now
in facilities and staff by the government (as is currently happening) and in capacity building by
the donors (in partnership with government) there is an opportunity for the new universities to
become engines of development. These universities can then produce the leaders of men and
women that future generations will need.
It is the view of the study team that there is at the moment a rare, unusual and exciting window
of opportunity for training and development at the NPUs when staff, at all levels, are at their
most receptive. The forthcoming period coincides with the time when the NPUs are beginning
to establish working cultures, systems and procedures and so there is an opportunity to support
staff in the NPUs to develop critical reflection and thinking about the ways in which they
organise and run their institutions. The study team also is also of the view that at present there
appears to be very little of the resistance to change which generally characterize more
established universities, both in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world. It is therefore very likely
that implementing a BPR-type process at each of the NPUs will have different characteristics
than the current implementation at the established universities. There will be fewer processes to
20
transform and more to develop and so processes will be well engineered from the start, rather
than having to be re-engineered.
The study team calls on the donors, the Ministry of Education and others to capitalize on this
window of opportunity, before the risk that bad habits, and ineffective and inefficient systems,
creep in and become embedded in the culture of the new universities. If the donors and other
supporting partners would offer their help in the short term, it is very likely that staff in the new
universities will not become resistant to change because of the losses and effort such changes
may involve later on. They are just now ready and willing to move outside of their comfort zone
because they can see clear benefits; for example administrative staff in many of the NPUs
recognize the advantages of establishing new systems and processes rather than importing the
old ones and then going through a process of BPR at some point in the future. Young academic
staff members are eager to build up new curricula, new teaching and learning approaches and
acquire the capacities to improve their teaching and research knowledge and skills.
The study team noted that the terms used to differentiate between established and new
universities are not always entirely clear and unambiguous and the distinction itself is not
always helpful. Some universities, such as Dilla (first founded as Dilla College of Teacher
Education and Health Science in 1996), have been based on institutions that have been
established for some time and so already have some infrastructure and experience on which to
base their transformation and expansion. At the other extreme, some other NPUs, such as
Mizan/Tepi, are completely new institutions starting up with no existing infrastructure or
systems to build upon.
The study team met with representatives of the senior management from four of the nine
established universities and in each case it was pointed out that they themselves are still
struggling to fully establish their own institutions and that the term „established‟ is perhaps only
adequate for some parts of their university or some faculties, while others are still in an early
stage of development. This has implications for the amount of support that these established
universities are able to offer to the NPUs.
In spite of the observation above, the senior managers of established HEIs that were interviewed
for this study generally expressed a willingness (on the part of themselves and their institutions)
to offer support to the NPUs. In this respect, the study team has been informed that the MoE has
sent out a letter detailing (potential) „clusters‟ where established universities are expected to
support local and/or regional NPUs – although in practice this does not seem yet to have to have
developed strong roots. This notwithstanding, many senior staff from the NPUs have
nevertheless already visited some of the more established universities to learn from their
experiences and practices. Support structures are certainly needed to encourage the more
experienced universities (and more experienced university managers within the NPU group
itself) to share expertise with other less experienced ones, sometimes this will be in
geographical clusters, but – in the view of the study team – does not need to be restricted to this.
3b. Leadership and management
To help achieve the ambitions of the Government‟s policy in regard to the expansion of higher
education and its contribution to the development of the country, training and support is needed
to enable NPUs to take on increasing levels of autonomy and to manage the devolution and
decentralisation of resources and decision-making. With the increased expansion of higher
education in Ethiopia it will become increasingly difficult for the MoE to micro-manage what
goes on in individual universities. Some devolution of management is therefore inevitable. The
MoE is very well aware of this and, in the New Proclamation, which is on the verge of being
approved by parliament, attention is paid to the issue of autonomy. However at present the
21
NPUs need to be provided with the support to enable them to better manage their own affairs in
a way that reflects their own particular individual set of circumstances and needs.
Currently there is a lack of implementation capacity in the NPUs and this needs to be addressed;
for example how to build teams that can identify and solve their own problems and how to make
the decentralisation/devolution of management and financial decision making sustainable across
the various management layers. Central to this is the function and appropriateness of the
strategic planning process, the setting of priorities that are translated into feasible activities,
clear indicators, as well as the regular and systematic monitoring of progress. The Strategic
Plans of the NPUs will then be living documents that steer activities of the NPU at all levels
rather than something that is more likely to end up unused in a drawer.
Effective team working at the top allows devolution of responsibilities to middle level managers
(Deans, Heads of Departments). A set of interventions could take this as an aspect of team
working and could help management teams to look at impacts on job descriptions and
accountability procedures. Effective interventions could be designed to encourage a different
style of management by the top managers and different indicators for good or bad performances.
Interventions should encourage them to move away from a traditional approach towards a more
coaching and learning attitude in which role-modelling is important and mistakes are allowed
(as long as these are openly admitted and not the kind of mistakes that could have been easily
avoided).
The move to more devolution in a team-based system will lead to rule changes and managing by
indicators that are accepted throughout the university. Decentralisation and devolution from the
MoE to the institutions and then to the faculties and different units of the institutions will
require changes in relationships and strengthened team capacity at different institutional levels.
Any proposed interventions will have to support this process, drawing on experience from
outside Ethiopia as to what can be devolved and how safeguards may work, always adapting
these to the Ethiopian context by working with teams to develop processes and practices that
will enable safe, appropriate and effective devolution in their particular context.
Once relationships of trust and responsibility are established, an organisational structure

becomes possible that is as lean and simple as possible and at the same time very transparent.
Based on devolution, this should be the outcome aspired to. Business process engineering is
presently being implemented across the Ethiopian system and institutions can be supported in
using the process to achieve better structures and clearer decision-making systems based on the
principle of putting responsibilities as low in the organisation as possible and compatible with
the roles of managers at different levels: so (by way of example) a Dean could be made
responsible for job appraisal, appointments and recruitment of staff members and/or proposals
for disciplinary procedures (all HRM responsibilities) but also for a budget for teaching
materials and a Head of Department could be responsible for teaching schedules and so on.
Interventions could support people at the middle level in their responsibilities, but also the top
managers in their own coaching and mentoring role for more junior managers.
Another of the key issues identified through the interviews conducted for the study is human
resource management. Seen in a broad context this implies providing positive role models,
encouraging people to take more initiative without waiting for others to tell them what to do,
setting up a more open and transparent culture as well as providing more creative policies for
motivating, rewarding and retaining staff.
Getting teams working effectively will have a major impact on human resources management.
A project on leadership and management can enable the teams to set up a proper human
resources policy that includes:
- Input: recruitment procedures that determine who is involved in what; not on the basis
of hierarchy but based on the effectiveness of the process. This will influence salary
22
schedules and types of contracts (to the extent that they are within the university‟s
control)
- Throughput: promotion, demotion and incentive policies (e.g. basic training;
community services like schools; health care; research facilities). If team working
becomes transparent, accountable and participatory, job description and job appraisal
procedures will all be subject to change
- Output: dismissal procedures including disciplinary procedures, coaching methods for
finding another job etc. will equally be affected.
The NPUs have identified a long list of human capacity needs in relation to management issues.
To deal effectively with these needs, an interdependent approach may be the most appropriate.
A training programme should be part of this, but not set up solely as an independent set of
isolated workshops (although the approach will undoubtedly include workshops) as this carries
the risk of being too superficial to be effective. Therefore, in the recommendations chapter that
follows, the study team suggested strategies that enable a more holistic and streamlined
approach. This will facilitate Ethiopian solutions to Ethiopian problems, based on national and
international data and experience, instead of importing strategies from abroad and trying to
„shoe horn‟ them into an Ethiopian context. Most of the dangers described above will be
alleviated by a bottom-up approach that starts with the problems faced by each NPU.
All this implies that there must be a real focus on change management: strategies to implement
the required changes and mechanisms to monitor progress and address any challenges that may
occur. Although there are many similarities, each NPU faces its own specific issues and must
work as a team to solve them if the solutions are to be sustainable. This means that interventions
should be targeted at university level in the first instance, within a national framework. Such a
bottom-up approach should achieve the Government‟s transformation agenda.
3c. Academic processes
Teaching, research and community services are each a part of the academic process and each
depends upon the other – although those interviewed agreed that management and teaching
should be seen as immediate priorities. At the same time, research and community service
remain important and cannot be ignored. The study team have therefore based their
recommendations on the assumption that research and community service will grow gradually
as academic expertise increases and that this growth should be reflected in the timing of
activities.
The study team is of the view that it is essential that the curriculum offered by the NPUs is
relevant and contextualized as much as possible and that a process whereby subject groupings
come together should be supported. In the Recommendations chapter the study team has made
some suggestions as to how this might be achieved, particularly through external assistance.
Almost all universities expressed a wish to link with other universities to help them to set
benchmarks for their own programmes and activities. The study team feels that, despite the
progress that is being made in articulating the core intellectual skills and competences that all
students should have acquired to move between the different stages of a degree and to graduate
successfully, the new higher education sector needs considerable help moving beyond this
articulation. This support can help to create the conditions that students need to really develop:
for example practising the transferable skills that are needed in employment. There is much
work going on at national level on core knowledge that should be contained within different
subject degrees, however this may not be enough to ensure standards do not fall. The
curriculum, and the skills contained within it, should be the basis on which staff members can
develop the skills to maintain standards and quality in practice. Staff needs to be clear about
23
what a graduate should look like (i.e. the knowledge, qualities and skills a graduate should
possess) and the processes that will develop them.
The Government‟s policy of moving forward on the 70:30 balance in the curriculum has already
been mentioned in this report. This will have implications for the pedagogic approaches and
training that are required. Instructors will need to refine their skills in practical pedagogy in
laboratories and workshops; technical assistants will need to become more knowledgeable and
skilled in dealing with and repairing complex technology and helping students and staff use it,
and many staff will need their qualifications upgraded. These are all areas where NPUs will
need help and support if they are to contribute properly to the development of the country.
In almost all the interviews with academic staff the issue of research was addressed. There is
clearly a requirement for a better understanding of the different types of knowledge
(epistemology in particular) as a basic concept of research before researchers in the NPUs can
start to develop research proposals, apply for external funding or develop equal linkages with
international universities. The expertise to write proposals to generate necessary additional
income should be developed. Whilst some NPUs do currently undertake research in the local
community and recognise the value of applied research, this needs to be enriched through the
understanding and application of a variety of research methods, attitudes and skills (for example
addressing ethical dilemmas). Local community organisations are unlikely to be able to pay for
this, so a source of seed corn funding will be necessary to encourage links between the
universities and their surroundings.
The study team were told of several examples of NPUs working with their community, for
example providing tailor-made training for a local town administration. It might be a useful (and
relatively simple and cheap) proposition to ask all the NPUs to make an inventory of the various
kinds of linkages that already exist. This would be a good example of how NPUs could
cooperate and share examples of good practice. Another idea might be the possibility of
establishing group projects to undertake interdisciplinary research as part of a masters
programme supported by external supervisors. Learning from the experiences of other
universities was mentioned often during the university visits as a valuable way of improving
performance. It was stressed that asking for information on each other‟s good practices,
preferably documented in guidelines, is a very valuable exercise that has not been conducted
due to the overloaded agendas of the NPU staff.
Many of those interviewed expressed the desire to become centres of excellence in their
respective fields, but as yet there does not appear to be a sufficiently solid knowledge base on
which to build these centres of excellence. Currently, in every NPU there are some groups
and/or individuals that have experience and knowledge on certain areas of research. Initially
perhaps, these groups could be identified for their potential to make the NPUs more relevant to
their communities and to address contextual challenges. For instance, one could envision
different institutions being developed into centres of excellence in specific areas, such as
industrial technology at Kombolcha/Dessie, natural resources, spices and horticulture at
Mizan/Tepi, tourism and anthropology at Axum and so on.
All the NPUs have expressed the desire to build relations and linkages with universities abroad
as a means of developing their human capacity. This is understandable and entirely appropriate.
However, it may not prove quite as straightforward in practice in the short or intermediate term
as the NPUs might hope, especially if the NPUs are thinking in terms of ivy-league institutions
and equal academic cooperation. The reason here is that for many (although by no means all)
such potential international partners, this is likely to require a better established foundation in
most fields of study than currently exists during these early stages of development of the NPUs.
Important exceptions here are where the NPU is fortunate enough to have a so-called
comparative advantage, such as a resource, or field of study, that others around the world do not
have and are likely to envy (by way of example, Axum and the fields of tourism, anthropology
24
and archaeology). Where such a comparative advantage exists, this can often be used to form
the foundation of what may lead to much broader and more varied international linkages.
Notwithstanding these remarks, there is a need to have partnerships and linkages between NPUs
and foreign institutions and these needs to be supported by financial allocation for exchange of
teaching and research faculty, technical assistance to assist in curriculum development,
preparation of specific manuals and guidelines, to compile and transfer good practices, develop
teaching materials, etc.
Just because establishing linkages with well-established universities abroad may not always
prove easy and straightforward, this should not, of course, deter any the NPUs from trying.
There may, for example, be opportunities to develop twinning partnerships, or mentoring, from
international universities using external funding (if this is available through e.g. the donor
community, or charitable foundations) to cover the costs of the international partner as well as
the Ethiopian NPU. Many institutions are willing, and even keen, to participate in such
international development cooperation. Such partnerships could provide support to the NPUs in
terms of building/developing their capacities in selected fields of study. Members of the
Ethiopian diaspora may also be willing to support one or more selected NPUs with expert
advice and guidance on a voluntary basis, forming the nucleus of an international link.
Taking another approach, if video conferencing facilities are available (perhaps using facilities
at the established universities) then this may also provide a way of making external expertise
available to the NPUs.
In addition to the above, there may also be opportunities to look for mentoring from industry
and the private sector.
Underpinning the quality of all the academic processes is the subject knowledge of the academic
staff. Most have been educated only to bachelors level. This is not enough to ensure quality
teaching, research or community service. This means that support for the country‟s higher
degree programme, and for some enrichment of this through free standing masters and PhD
programmes elsewhere, will be important to the maintenance of standards in all of these areas.
3d. Administrative processes
The NPUs are in the process of designing and implementing their administrative systems and
there is an opportunity to create a new paradigm in the way that university systems are run: one
that looks to the future and is ICT-based rather than the paper-based systems being currently
used in the NPUs as well as the established universities and the MoE. Some administrative
managers interviewed also talked of the need to create a cultural shift towards greater efficiency
with perhaps a smaller but more highly qualified administrative staff, a customer orientation,
and service level agreements to ensure that the system is client orientated and delivers what is
required to the appropriate level. Such a shift implies that the administration system helps
managers and the academic staff to do their jobs better. It also implies a user-friendly service for
students, who are seen as „customers‟ of the service as well.
This shift can be exemplified by a change of the term from „administrative staff‟ to „support
staff‟ where greater emphasis is placed on the role of the support processes in strengthening and
facilitating the higher priority core processes. For example, improving the student support
services could prevent these from taking much of the time of the senior management away from
focusing on quality education, research and community services. Alternatively, if the Registry
would increase its performance, its output will simplify the lives of the department heads and
this will enable them to spend more time on teaching and less time on fire fighting. Again BPR
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can assist in this process through careful design of the „to be‟ scenarios, but additional support
for the administrative department heads is required to implement this shift.
It is widely acknowledged by senior managers in the NPUs (and the established universities
consulted) that the reform of funding mechanisms through a funding formula and/or block grant
would be a useful development that will be implemented in the near future. However, a block
grant funding system requires efficient and adequate financial information procedures, systems
and controls. These have to be in place before the block grant is implemented in full, and the
staff need to be qualified to implement and monitor the new financial processes. This will
require long term support starting now, but probably extending beyond the span of this study, to
prepare NPUs for the introduction of the funding formula/block grant.
The issue of procurement was often mentioned by those interviewed as being very frustrating
and time consuming, for example the requirement to provide three quotations even when there
may only be one supplier in the whole country. Some of the problems associated with
procurement may be related to a lack of planning capacity in the NPUs rather than to the
procurement regulations. Therefore some of the study team‟s recommendations try to address
the issue of building/developing planning and implementation capacities in the NPUs.
3e. Cross cutting issues
With respect to HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming, and to a lesser extent other cross cutting
issues such as special needs and education for diversity, the study team noted that they are
usually defined as issues for students to deal with through offices and clubs supported by the
university. Although the importance of these issues was acknowledged throughout, we would
have hoped to see evidence of more reflection and understanding by staff and managers that
mainstreaming of these issues is also their concern, that they should be role models in terms of
ethical and moral behaviour. This calls for a policy that any management or pedagogic human
capacity development will include these issues in a manner that enables staff and management
to reflect on their own attitudes and practices. There have been many projects in the past that
take these issues and claim to mainstream them. We would certainly advocate such an approach,
since it has been proven to be effective elsewhere – at least to an extent – in raising awareness
and knowledge. However, we question whether such an approach will be enough in itself:
attitudes and behaviour often remain resistant to change. In this regard, it may also be useful for
these issues also to have their own separate focus. This would involve engaging proven experts
in these subjects, who have worked successfully on attitude and behaviour change, to work with
institutions to mainstream these themes across all functions. We return to this issue in the next
chapter.
3f. General concluding remarks on the principles and philosophy
Finally, the study team would like to reiterate that many of the needs outlined above can not be
met through participation in various short training courses alone, instead a range of different
intervention methodologies and modalities is necessary. The recommendations listed in the
following section are based on a philosophy of training that – in the broadest sense – is practice-
oriented, involves the sharing of strategies that work, and provides examples of good practice
and includes the training of trainers. This means that that new knowledge and experiences can
be cascaded down within NPUs and that the training is holistic and benefits the institutions as a
whole rather than just the individual, some of whom may not remain in post for any length of
time.
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4. Recommendations
4a. General
Although this study is aimed primarily at mapping the human capacity needs, it is necessary
also to pay some attention to the issue of ICT. Managing a university, improving administrative
procedures and processes, introducing block grants, increasing pedagogical skills…., and many
more – the necessity and importance of ICT applications cannot be over-stated, although the
speed and extent to which this is required may vary across the NPUs. Access to internet will not
only have a positive effect on the academic process (not only for the communication with peer
academics but also to access relevant material in the respective academic fields, not only for
staff but also for students) but will also be absolutely necessary to implement the recommended
interventions. In our view a basic provision in this respect is essential for almost any sustainable
intervention in human capacity building at university and for running a smooth, effective and
efficient university administration.
In making our various recommendations we have tried to be as clear and as specific as possible,
addressing the interests and needs of the various stakeholders, without being too prescriptive, or
restricting, in terms of how the eventual deliverers of any future interventions should deal with
the issues identified.
The above notwithstanding, it is important however, to reflect on the repeated emphasis of those
interviewed on the need for training and other interventions to be focused on real problems
faced in institutions, on teams working together on the problems and on in-depth, long-term
development of institutional and team learning. Such approaches take more time than the
traditional „expert lecture, discussion and go off and apply‟ kind of approach. In this regard,
greater gains can be expected from an approach that focuses on a smaller number of
fundamental issues - and doing this well - rather than covering a wide range of management
issues but in a more superficial manner. This approach will also allow the team and institutional
learning to be developed, relationships built and attitudes and processes agreed that can then be
applied to other problems and situations, not necessarily always requiring outside intervention.
This means that the foci of human capacity development recommended in this study must be
prioritised with some rigour and some criteria developed to inform this prioritisation. The
consultancy team put forward the following criteria for priority setting:
- leverage – that is the ability of a particular focus to create real change that influences
many other institutional processes and practices. We consider this the most important
criterion
- external drives – priorities derived from the stakeholder analysis and government
policies. We consider this the second most important criterion
- quick wins – interventions that may not meet the criteria above, but which have the
potential to be dealt with in a relatively cost effective and speedy way and that meet
needs identified by the NPUs themselves
In making our recommendations we draw a distinction between the issues we believe can be
dealt with without large amounts of donor support, either through the agency of in-country
organisations such as HERQA, ADRCs in the established universities, and HESC or through the
NPUs‟ own resources and additional government support and those issues that need additional
27
donor support to be improved. We also feel that making a clear distinction between the roles
and activities will encourage synergy and reduce wastage.
4b. Philosophical underpinnings for the recommendations
In making our recommendations, the study team takes seriously the idea recommended by the
NPUs (and reported above) that any interventions should be focused on solving real problems.
This leads us to an intervention strategy that is built on a philosophy about human capacity
building with the following features:
- A focus on institutional and team learning; both increasing the knowledge and skills of
the individual, the team that he or she is part of, as well as the institutional procedures
and structures that are conditional for change.
- A focus on daily practice: working together on a problem to foster peer learning.
- The need for deep learning and support for changes in behaviour over time to ensure
sustainability.
- A focus on relatively few higher order and important aspects – rather than spreading
time, resources and effort too thinly over too wide a range of topics.
- Deep involvement of the intervention teams in existing structures, mechanisms and
people, drawing upon local expertise and knowledge for the whole or the part of the
intervention.
- Programmes that combine interventions at university level with activities at national
level (e.g. for all 12 NPUs; or for the public universities as a whole; or for the HE-
sector as a whole), preferably using a bottom-up approach, starting at university level.
If this philosophy is carried through, we are confident that results will be more sustainable and
effective. It implies an alignment with, or making use of, existing structures like the Council
meetings, the regular meetings between schools and departments within the same discipline, the
BPR projects etc. It also implies cooperation and synergy with existing projects, for example:
- EQUIP has already developed support and manuals for ADRCs. These can now be used
in providing capacity building in the NPUs for curriculum design and review,
assessment and pedagogical skills.
- The two masters programmes in university management being developed within EQUIP
and the forthcoming LMCD project funded by the Netherlands through Nuffic
- Learning from LMDP and the follow-up project, LMCD
- BPR approaches and procedures being used within the country
- HESC is preparing activities for workshops on curriculum development and research
methodology
- HERQA provides workshops on setting-up quality management systems and
disseminates lessons learnt from the first round of quality audits
- The in-country programmes for increasing the amount of masters and PhD‟s (including
cooperation with UNISA in South-Africa and AAU and other Ethiopian universities)
Next to this: it should be noted that all public universities are constantly trying to find ways –
and have (to a certain extent) found them– to deal with the issues and challenges at hand. These
good practices should be made available for peer learning and thereby preventing the need to
reinvent the wheel. During the interim workshop that took place as part of this study, an initial
attempt was made to identify and discuss good practices. This exercise proved to be very
valuable and this type of sharing approach needs to be fostered and continued. The public
universities in Ethiopia do not only face a wide range of problems but also need to develop
ways to cope with these challenges. HESC and HERQA should be useful conduits for the
identification and dissemination of good practices identified in the established universities as
well as in the new universities.
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Our recommendations are formulated in a generic way: at this level of abstraction issues and
capacity building needs are very similar across the different universities. By the time any
proposed interventions may start, the situation on the ground, and the ideas and thinking
surrounding them are likely to have developed and thus the situation in some cases may have
changed. In this regard, based on the initial fact finding conducted by this study, a more detailed
exploration/analysis should be carried out, together with the NPUs, on the situation at the time,
not only to assess the developments but also to engage the NPUs optimally in the design process
of the interventions.
Among the criteria that the donor(s) use in assessing bids, the study team recommends that they
include a commitment to the philosophy outlined above, i.e. proposals that will achieve:
- Higher order problem/leverage: a focus on aspects that if they are got right, will enable
people to tackle other issues themselves;
- Learning that will enable teams to tackle knowledge, behaviour, attitudes and
organizational consequences/systems;
- Sustainability of results;
- A relatively few things being done well rather than more being covered superficially;
- A focus on some (important) smaller scale specific improvements with clear
indicators/outcomes.
The following specific recommendations have been categorised according to the headings
identified in the „Reflections‟ section above.
4c. Leadership and management
According to the criteria described in 4b, we will make a distinction between higher order
problems, external requirements and so-called quick wins.
The study team has identified management teams working effectively on the right issues as a
higher order problem that if it is solved will impact on a number of areas within the university
in a positive way. We are not suggesting interventions that present models of management style
and operation, after which institutional teams are expected to work within them. Rather we are
proposing an approach in which experts work together with the NPU teams in terms of
identifying problems in operations and relationships; identifying changes that will improve
these; looking at ways to sustain the changes; and so on.
Team working can be best developed when working together on real issues. Below we have
identified some potential issues that are important to solve in their own right, but that can also
provide vehicles for developing the operation of the teams and the skills of everyone within
them. It is important that the interventions consciously look at and discuss the ways that the
teams operate in order that the higher order objectives of „effective management team working‟
is not overtaken by more immediate (thought still important) pressing issues. We recommend an
approach that combines working on real problems in such a way that team working will be
addressed and strengthened. An example might be strategy development and implementation.
On the whole NPUs are struggling with strategic planning. When strategic planning is used as
one of the problems to be solved as a team operation, the interventions should be geared to
supporting them in involving the institution more fully in setting directions and identifying
priorities and then helping them to identify potential problems of implementation and
monitoring and devising ways of dealing with these.
We also suggest that the development of human resources policy and practice be taken as
another issue in interventions designed to improve team operation and development. This area
should prove a particularly fertile ground for dealing with cross cutting issues and encouraging
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mainstreaming of (for example, gender and HIV/AIDS, into all management and staff
processes.
The above interventions will need to be supported by donors. In addition, central government
can add its support in the following ways
- Providing more clarity regarding the level of autonomy institutions have so as to enable
them to go along the path of exercising that autonomy and finding their own appropriate
solutions for their problems.
- The provision of basic communication tools like a local area campus network (LAN)
and ICT systems to provide basic management information as well as for monitoring
performance.
- The resources to pay for better secretarial and better qualified administrative support to
free up managers for higher level working.
Interventions might take the form of a kind of short training course on higher education
management based on improving current practices in the universities themselves. This could be
in the form of a tailor-made training that will lead to a postgraduate certificate or diploma. It
would not replace a masters degree in educational management and leadership, but would serve
as a kind of introductory course and also a possible bridge into a higher level programme for
those whose first degree was not in education or management as well as those who who wish to
develop a much stronger foundation in these fields. Such a course could focus on working as a
team with shared responsibilities, helping each other, dividing tasks and working on a limited
set of real problems. It might start with some basic theoretical knowledge on leadership and
management, include some casework, and then provide support for practical implementation in
the separate universities. Such an approach – focused on the top management – would give an
important signal: the top management is prepared to be the first to start the change process.
These interventions might take a sequential approach with the middle level of management
(Deans, Directors, HoDs and Heads of Service Departments) being trained in a second wave.
The MoE should be involved in such interventions to an appropriate extent, as the changes in
team operation and style within the NPUs will also have consequences for the MoE‟s own
functioning. In addition, the Boards of the NPUs will need specific training on their
responsibilities and changing role.
Support should be given to leadership and management projects for establishing and
maintaining networks and developing ways for university staff members to work together across
universities in the country. This should include exploratory visits chosen because they have
particular strengths and can provide useful insights. These might include exposure visits to other
universities (Ethiopia, Africa or other continents), provided that these have some features or
activities that are functioning very well and which can serve as a useful model. Wherever
possible, local solutions should be used as much as possible. In this regard, it is clear that there
are many examples of good practice in Ethiopia itself, sometimes in specific parts of the
functioning of a higher education institute but also both in the public and private colleges – and
n the business environment. With respect to the latter, it is interesting to note that several
external stakeholders have already expressed their willingness during the interviews to facilitate
work -shadowing for university managers.
HERQA has a key role to play in ensuring that academic managers at all levels have a clear
understanding of what the national expectations are for the development of quality systems and
what their own role is in maintaining quality within their institution. Amongst others, HERQA
has a responsibility to monitor the outcomes of the transformation agenda: including, for
example, the implementation of the new national curricula. It will need to participate fully in the
leadership and management process and to supplement it with its own quality management
training, again focused on building teams within the NPUs that are committed to quality
assurance and enhancement.
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HESC also has a role to play in helping to facilitate the process of change and improvement in
the HEIs, including the NPUs, through the development of policy and strategy options and in
the facilitation of the National Council for Institutional Transformation. HESC should be a
conduit for information, development and thinking with respect to the process of change and
improvement in higher education.
As already outlined earlier in this report, we recommend that any proposed interventions to
strengthen leadership and management should include – amongst others – (pre-) benchmarking;
information gathering; peer learning; and participatory decision-making processes. Any
proposed intervention should also incorporate the lessons learned from the LMDP project – and
from other interventions as may prove relevant and appropriate. They should also integrate cross
cutting issues such as HIV/AIDs and equity (including, but not restricted to, gender).
The members of the Boards of the NPUs come from a range of different government offices
(e.g. State Minister, Head of Zonal Administration, Mayor and so on) and many have high
levels of experience and their training needs are likely to focus on the changing nature of their
role. The mission reports indicate that a minority of members of the Boards are not clear about
their duties and responsibilities. The Boards of the NPUs would thus benefit from a programme
designed for all them to share experiences from other universities, both established and NPUs,
and at national level such as HESC and HERQA. All would stand to benefit from some
international exposure to enable them to learn how Boards in the universities of different
countries approach their role in leading the university and how they influence the direction that
it should take.
4d. Academic processes
The interviews have established teaching and learning as a priority (in addition to management)
and also identify the desirability of support to help the NPUs develop research and community
services.
Using the criteria set out earlier, there is a need to establish capacity building programmes that
meet the expressed needs of the individual institutions and, at the same time, also have systemic
influences so that there are wide ranging and sustainable effects on the teaching system as a
whole.
Academic staff qualifications
It is clear that the upgrading of academic qualifications is a priority for all of the institutions.
This has emerged from the various discussions and meetings as a clear concern and we have
identified this as a higher order problem which – if properly addressed – will impact positively
on many aspects of the NPUs – including management, teaching, research and community
service capacity.
The programme already established at AAU (and also several other established universities) will
go a long way to meeting this need, but the research culture will benefit more if, in addition,
other research communities and faculties are involved in educating academic staff. Greater
involvement in this scheme would also help to strengthen and build their research capacity.
Where possible, individual degree programmes should be combined with the existing (and
possibly new) linkage projects in which the curriculum for a masters degree is developed, and
implemented in the faculties by co-teaching facilities. At the same time, other members of staff
of the same department could be sent abroad to study for their own higher degree. On their
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successful return, they are then able to contribute additional international knowledge and
experience to the local masters degree.
It is essential that the donor community and others support the government upgrading
programme led by AAU and the other established universities that have graduate programmes
by supplying expertise and supporting additional specialist mentors to come from outside of
these institutions so that it can truly be the catalyst in solving a variety of quality challenges that
the NPUs face. This help will need to be in the form of supplying missing subject expertise,
helping to develop the best learning processes and helping the research elements to focus on the
needs of the academic staff localities and the needs of the country. Providing assistance to the
NPUs, by way of supporting replacement specialist staff to fill the spaces left by those young
NPU academics that are away on study leave would be especially valuable.
In addition to the above, support will be needed for executing linkage projects in those
disciplines that are particularly relevant for the further development of the country. Where the
Ethiopian universities do not have expertise in a subject to run higher degrees, donor support
will be needed to support masters and PhD programmes out of country. It is also an advantage
that there will be some opportunities to study at a foreign university so that the knowledge from
Ethiopian universities does not create a „mono-culture‟. Wherever it proves possible, such
support should be for training that allows the participants to study at a distance, i.e. alongside of
their regular work, rather than spending several years away from their place of work.
Alternatively, the introductory phase of such a study programme could take place abroad, with
the staff member then returning to Ethiopia and his or her home university to complete the
study. To make these approaches work, management will need to develop an acceptance from
their staff that part-time study alongside of their regular work has a value and is rewarded.
Teaching and learning
Teaching and learning is about providing a useful, active and problem-based education to
students at standards as high as possible in the specific context. Learning implies that the
heading not only refers to classroom activities but includes a wide range of activities that
support the students in achieving his or her degree(s), such as assessment and support for
independent learning.
During the study it became clear that the majority of staff in the new NPUs have very limited
pedagogic knowledge and very limited experience. Most of them are young and recently
graduated so their frame of reference is either the teaching that they have experienced
themselves and/or the lecture notes from their bachelors programmes. They are keen to learn
more, but they want such learning to be relevant for the challenging circumstances in which
they find themselves. The study team has therefore identified pedagogical skills development as
a higher order need which, if met, will impact on a key function of the university in a very
positive way.
Interventions to improve pedagogic skills will need to take place at various stages in the careers
of the new academics, some short interventions before they start teaching, some problem-based
interventions and on-the-job and more advanced skills for a few who will be able to act as
leaders of teaching and learning and as local resource persons within their institutions. Much
has been learned from the EQUIP project and from the Higher Diploma programme for teacher
training. These lessons need to be incorporated into the interventions with the NPUs and the
expertise developed in the established universities, which can be shared with neighbouring
NPUs.
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The development of local knowledge and expertise into of centres of excellence for teaching
and learning is already an aspiration for the higher education sector in Ethiopia, but
incorporating this knowledge into daily practice of the universities is another matter. Funding is
needed so that local trainers become capable and are available to the universities. The existing
Schools of Education and the existing ADRCs at the established universities are resources that
can be used. This implies that financial and practical support will need to be provided to the
established universities (where their ADRC has proven to function adequately) to allow them to
become mentors and trainers for the NPUs and for new ADRCs to be established in the NPUs.
Our recommendation would be that every new teacher will follow a basic course on pedagogical
skills before he or she starts teaching. With the foreseen expansion of the HE sector, support
from the existing ADRCs will not be able to address all the training that is required. Additional
expertise will be necessary to support to set up ARDC-type institutions within the NPUs. Such
support will establish and sustain continuous professional development for all academic staff.
Interventions should include the development of materials so that there will be a measure of
sustainability at times of high staff turnover.
Again, we recommend that the focus should be on the problems and issues identified by the
instructors themselves. Some of these can be anticipated: practical and problem-based
approaches in sub-ideal situations, class management, developing teaching materials,
assessments that are manageable and facilitate learning, and laboratory teaching, but others may
emerge from discussions. The approach should enable teams to identify their own problems and
share (and practice) ways of solving them, with some (but not all) input and ideas from expert
facilitators.
There is also a need for some „quick win‟ interventions in the early stages for new lecturers on
the immediate problems they face at the start of their career (such as teaching larger classes,
assessment methods for large classes that encourage deeper learning and varying the pace and
activities within taught sessions).
In summary, it is suggested that donor support be given for interventions to improve pedagogic
skills for instructors at various stages of their career with priority for young and just starting
teachers and to help to establish centres within the institutions to enable this development to
continue after the completion of the project.
Next to the pedagogic skills development, a second foci has been identified as an important
priority by the NPUs is curriculum review and development. The study team has identified this
as another higher order problem area which – if dealt with well – will impact positively on the
delivery of the academic programmes of the universities.
Any intervention that focuses on curriculum development should take full account of the
national context, where task groups have been set up in each subject to design a core curriculum
that may then be adapted in each individual NPU. It is important that, if the capacity of the
NPUs are to be developed in this regard, HESC continues to manage the process and that the
donors support this centralised curriculum development process through funding short-term
interventions by subject experts who also have a deep knowledge of curriculum development
processes and the skills to contextualise these within a developing country.
Both the pedagogic learning and curriculum implementation, adaptation and review will require
support within the NPUs over a long period of time (at least three years). This help might be
supplemented by pedagogic experts being employed on the VSO model to support whole
universities to think about, develop and share their innovations and successes within and
between the NPUs. The donors might provide funding for such volunteer experts and to enable
them to establish support networks and other interventions.
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Research
As we mentioned in the previous chapter research is an important strand to a mature university‟s

work and its beginnings should be supported even at this stage. The NPUs themselves prioritize
leadership and management and the quality and quantity of academic staff and research follows
at fourth or fifth place, but always with the remark that donor support is needed to improve (or
in some cases start developing) a research practice.
Much of the support for research will come through the support for the higher degree
programmes mentioned earlier, however, there is a need to develop and support a growing
research culture within each NPU and between them. The study team has identified this as a
higher order problem that will impact positively on research capacity as the NPUs develop.
Developing a research culture relates to:
- Individual skills and knowledge of academic staff members.
- The identification of research topics and research programmes.
- The availability of research funds, either local and/or abroad.
- The establishment of and cooperation within research teams.
- The possibility to reward successes either by publishing the results, attending
conferences and so forth.
- Job descriptions of academic staff that incorporates teaching, research and community
services.
- Possibilities to develop a distinctive human resources policy in which high potentials in
research (or in teaching for that matter) are rewarded in stimulated.
A starting point for further development may be the team application of research processes to
local problems, from the specific situation of the NPU. Since research must be a self-generating
activity that stems from the enthusiasm of individual staff, one approach is for funds to be
supplied after the consideration of various proposals from research groupings themselves. This
process should make clear to the universities a defined limit to the number of proposals to put
forward. The criteria should be much simpler than the World Bank DIF project: for example,
feasibility, viability and usefulness. These teams may be mono or inter-disciplinary, and within
or between university groupings. The important thing is that some funding is supplied to enable
them to discuss project proposals and provide support for proposal writing. Our experience has
learned that there is no such thing as a lack of ideas for research projects within the academic
community, but certainly a lack of skills to translate these ideas into well funded proposals that
will attract foreign attention as well and may result in publications in some important journals.
The approach taken should be suitable for the situation of the NPUs. This means that
quantitative research, especially scientific research models, cannot be viewed as the gold
standard and others that rely on different forms of validity from statistical significance to be
sub-standard. Whilst these scientific methodologies have their place, they tend to describe
aspects of „what is‟ and are often inappropriate for solving problems (i.e. suggesting „what
might be‟). One of the key tasks of these NPUs must be to solve problems: they are open to
more modern and nuanced approaches to research such as small scale, participatory, local and
applied research. Training for such methods will require that a wide range of options are
explored. Solutions can be found more easily to social and economic problems if universal
generalisability, for example, is not the principal consideration, but a „better way of doing things
here‟ is. This requires more thinking about ethics, practices, participation, and validity and
moves away from a formulaic idea of scientific respectability whilst being honest about
limitations of results.
The donors might therefore support interventions that would not be solely take the form of a
research methodology course, but go much deeper into the nature of problems and the nature of
the kinds of knowledge and research processes that may be used to solve different kinds of
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problem and different situations. A project might start with an extended workshop that looks at
these issues in some depth and spends some time helping groups to identify potential research
groupings. It would not be possible to send all or most NPU instructors to such a workshop, so
university managers will need to be selective in choosing the most suitable participants from
their institutions and make clear their expectations that participants would work with their
colleagues to disseminate their learning and establish a research culture, maybe linked to
research groups working on local problems or to dissertation element of the AAU higher degree
programme.
Once research groupings are up and running some will be more successful and productive than
others. The most productive might receive funding to develop proposals and establish skills to
enable them to develop into real centres of excellence.
In a later stage projects should support proposal development: first to identify opportunities that
include (commercial) clients and then (jointly) develop feasible proposals. Good practice
inventories and impact studies may be an example of this.
Leaders of research projects could also be supported in gaining knowledge and in supporting
their colleagues by exchange programmes with academics from foreign universities. For
example, the VU University in Amsterdam and the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff has
shown interest in a kind of exchange programmes where academic from the South can learn
new skills and acquire knowledge and academics from the North can learn from experiences in
other contexts.
Donor funding will be needed to supply resources to each university in the form of books and
journals on approaches to research, some equipment to access research on-line (and some
training on how to research online) and to undertake analysis, to administer the process
described above and to support some on-going outside expertise in developing the researchers‟
understanding of methodologies, approaches and ethics in researching real-life problems.
Community service
In order to discuss the subject of community service, it is necessary to define what is meant by
that term in the context of this study. We take the term to mean knowledge transfer and
knowledge creation that serves the interests of, and is paid for in whole or in part, from the local
community and/or by regional support. In general universities who engage in such activities do
so in close partnership with their local community. They try to build strong linkages with
representatives from local interest groups.
Community service will spring from areas of expertise within teaching and learning and the
research activity of universities, so takes time to develop and is unlikely to be a major focus in
the near future. Once it becomes more than a small „cottage industry‟, it will raise challenges
and opportunities for the NPUs.
At this stage of NPU development, community service is not a systemic activity and therefore
we have not identified any higher order problems that, if fixed, will influence the NPU as
whole, but rather, the study team recommends a series of „quick wins‟ that, with a small amount
of resource, will enable activity to get underway beyond the provision of any extension
programmes already planned.
Capacity building will be needed business planning (marketing, costing and pricing, approval
and control) and ethical and progress monitoring before services can be successfully „sold‟ to
the local community. Some of these will impact on other areas and be influenced by other
35
trainings: for example, marketing requires customer focus and accessible and responsive
systems which should be a result of and lead to improved administrative capability. Others are
more self contained, but are quick and relatively cheap to deliver, while making a real
difference to sustainability of activity, such as costing and pricing knowledge and processes. We
therefore recommend that funding be provided to support forums for sharing and developing
participants‟ knowledge and experiences.
This could be a minor intervention starting with a national or regional workshop that will inform
participants of the different forms that such activities can take, generate ideas and learn about
some of the technical processes.
Next, support might be given for experts to facilitate university task forces with NPUs‟ local
stakeholders to be set up to identify opportunities and problems that they might then help to
solve.
A third stage could be a short introductory training on developing the systems and practices to
support a customer oriented and entrepreneurial university such as customer care, marketing,
costing and pricing, approval and control and ethical and progress monitoring.
4e. Administrative processes
The NPUs are likely to face a future where changes are the norm. It is possible to anticipate that
these will include the full implementation of the funding formula and the block grant,
devolution of financial management and decision making to individual NPUs and then to
faculties. There will also be other administrative changes that are not presently anticipated. In
addition, the challenges of HIV/AIDS and gender will have an impact on administrative
services in a variety of ways: the need to collect data for planning purposes; the need to change
HRM practices and so on.
Administrative staff capacity is very low at present, but their willingness to learn is very high. A
programme that focuses especially on the administrative support services would be particularly
useful, resulting in better- organised secondary processes and less burden for academic staff
members and managers. Such an intervention preferably has the Administrative Vice-Presidents
as problem owners. Whatever interventions will be selected, the basic principle should be the
customer-orientation focus mentioned in the previous chapter.
The study team has identified establishing efficient and transparent systems and processes as a
second higher order problem that, if solved, will lead to better operation across the board.
Tackling this problem implies that there is a need for common understanding, common
language and conceptual base as well as the opportunity to establish networks so that problems
can be discussed and solutions shared. One way of establishing this is through a series of
national workshops for administrative management to conduct review/audit of structures and
systems currently used within NPUs and to identify how they might be improved. These
workshops could establish a common interest group of administrators across the country and
agree ToR, etc.
An intervention could also fund support by technical experts (from Ethiopia and/or abroad) to
help the NPUs solve their own problems as well as international exposure visits for
administrative managers on particular systems including registry, libraries, finance, procurement
and human resources. Such a programme of capacity and systems development for
administrative staff, visits and experience sharing with established universities could focus on
concepts as customer orientation.
36
Customer orientation implies that both sides will be involved: the customers and the suppliers.
Often both „sides‟ are not always aware of the implications of their performance for the other
parties or for the university as a whole. Awareness can be raised in several ways such as
periodic meetings between these different groups. In between the main interventions within the
project, specific assignments may be given to investigate perspectives of the „customers‟ of the
administrative service.
Funding will be needed for the all above activities, but we also suggest that the assistance of
long-term ex-patriate support (possibly through VSO) working with consortia of NPUs will be
useful. Such a person could support a group of universities develop their own transparent ways
of working, streamline potentially complex administrative systems and provide on-going help to
prioritise, develop and pilot systems, review, modify and implement the Management
Information Systems and associated changes.
It may be that such long term support could focus on one or two universities as a kind of „pilot‟,
modelling improvements in selected systems in one university and other systems in another
university. Because problems are urgent, dissemination to other NPUs would need to be
systematic and quick. In this sense the notion of a „pilot‟ needs to be nuanced: a pilot usually
involves all the processes being tried, tested and evaluated and clear conclusions learned before
any dissemination occurs. What is suggested here is more participation in the „work in progress‟
and the learning from it as it goes along. NPUs not directly part of the pilot would not have to
wait for a conclusion and so they can make suggestions and learn from the process itself. This
could be an effective mechanism for developing university expertise, provided that the
volunteer has it as part of their brief to ensure that peer learning across the NPUs takes place.
Mechanisms could be that the volunteer has access to funds for periodic meetings of functional
specialists and managers and to organise exposure visits to other universities or commercial
organisations and to gather information and discuss issues and plans.
Mechanisms like yahoo groups and video conferencing might be used in the long run, but
during the project period face-to-face meetings will be the norm. The NPUs will need to enable
the participants to spend days to attend meetings and explorative/benchmarking/exposure visits
to better organised Ethiopian organisations and companies.
Another higher order problem that, if solved, will lead to better operation across the board is
setting up and running a MIS system. This is a highly complex and potentially one of the most
difficult areas of development identified in this report. Never-the-less we see it as crucial to the
future functioning of all parts of the NPU. For this reason the support that we suggest below is
many faceted and complex.
The study team found that administrative managers in the NPUs do not have a clear concept of
what such a system might look like, what it might do and how to specify the requirements of
any supporting ICT. We therefore suggest that a project starts with a national workshop for
NPU senior managers with training on what MIS is, how to select appropriate MIS systems,
costs, steps involved in establishing a MIS in individual NPUs, and redeployment/training of
NPU staff. The workshop could tackle the issue of whether all the NPUs should have the same
system(s) or whether they should be developed independently. It is important that other
interested bodies such as the MoE and MoFED also be involved in this workshop.
The administrative managers will need long term assistance in the purchase and setting up of
MIS in individual NPUs including training of key staff by external experts. These trained staff
could then become the trainers for others in their departments. There might be a second
workshop after a period of time to review the MIS that have been established and to discuss the
next stage in their implementation.
37
Interventions may tackle setting up and implementing a funding formula and block grant as a
specific issue within the setting up and running a MIS system project. As part of this, HESC
may be supplied with funds to organize a national workshop on the block grant; what it is,
implications, management, implementation, etc. the outcome of which would include a draft
systems plan and outline project proposal for any necessary external/additional funding. Again
it would be necessary that other interested bodies such as the MoE and MoFED be involved in
this discussion/training.
Training will be needed for top and senior academic management, Presidents and Vice-
Presidents, Faculty Deans, MoE, and MoFED on the management implications and
responsibilities of the block gran.t In individual NPUs, the financial administrators (head of
finance, registrars) will need training on what block grant means and training on skills required
(how to set up accountability systems and how to manage these processes).
As part of the development of the administrative capability the study team has also identified
some relatively inexpensive but effective „quick win‟ activities:
1. Awareness of possibilities of different ways of doing things: Programme of visits of key
staff to local, regional and national commercial and non-commercial organizations to
look at „customer focus‟ practices and attitudes: a kind of pre-benchmarking exercise.
2. An audit of functional requirements and training of low qualified administrative staff
from certificate to diploma level either in-house or using other educational providers in
the community (both public and private, where their expertise is greater than the NPUs).
This includes business studies, basic ICT, English language, secretarial skills, office
management, etc.
3. MoE funding for a highly selective programme of upgrading to bachelors degree level,
again provided either in house or in sister universities (public or private) in Ethiopia
where best expertise/value for money exists.
4. Capacity and systems development for administrative staff through a programme of
visits and experience sharing with established universities, funded by the NPUs
themselves.
4f. Cross cutting issues
Among the real problems that the country faces are those represented by cross cutting issues,
principally HIV/AIDS and gender, but also including others such as ethnic tolerance and
environmental topics.
It is important therefore that all the interventions suggested above deal with these as
mainstreaming issues. On the other hand, this mainstreaming is stated in almost all project
outlines. However, this has not resulted in impressive results in these areas. The question is
whether it is enough to deal with these subjects solely as mainstreaming issues in other projects.
Moving beyond facilitating awareness and knowledge in these areas to designing learning
processes that really change attitudes and behaviour requires very particular and highly
specialised skills. Someone who is the best person to provide support in (say) strategic planning
may not be able to do much more than to point to these issues as important ones to be taken into
account. For this reason the report recommends a separate project as well as including
HIV/AIDS within the other project areas
If achieving objectives in these areas requires more than awareness, and if it implies changing
behaviour and this will not be achieved by providing knowledge alone, attitude and behaviour
change in relation to cross cutting issues is the higher order problem that, if tackled effectively,
will lead to real improvements in learning, management and the development of the country.
This is why we strongly recommend, based on our extensive experience in executing and
38
observing projects, and on our observations of the situation in the NPUs, that a separate project
is defined for these cross cutting issues.
The study team suggest that it is important that methodologies are not purely knowledge-based.
We have found that in general, knowledge and awareness are relatively high across the NPU
staff and students. To build on this, work will be needed to create experiences that confront and
change attitudes and behaviour, such as role playing, empathy inducing tasks, deep and personal
discussion and discovery learning. Such „deep‟ work is not well suited to national workshops in
the initial stage, but is better placed in the NPUs themselves, with teams of managers,
instructors and specialist staff engaged in local or regional workshops facilitated by outside
experts.
Since it is not possible to train all instructors in the first phase, as well as training the specialist
staff at the centre, two or three instructors should be identified in each faculty to attend the
interventions and to champion these issues within their faculties and in the university as a
whole. These staff, whose time could be funded by the NPUs themselves, could be assigned
tasks between the sessions and supported by external experts in their role as champions through
specialist coaching and resources.
Once the institutions are taking responsibility and some are innovating with respect to teaching,
management, research, outreach and so on, funding will be needed to support systems to share
best practices with respect to students, stakeholders and staff, such as national workshops and
experience sharing forums facilitated by external experts.
Funding will be needed for a project to manage and to provide expert support and resources for
all of these interventions.
39
5. Costed funding scenarios
We cannot provide definitive and specified costing for a programme that has not been designed
yet and in our opinion it is not our task to do so: the MoE and NPUs themselves are the owners
of these kind of activities and could be supported by the donors in taking up this responsibility.
We however provided an overview of recommended interventions including indicative figures
based on the extensive CIS /VU experience (and our network) in similar projects and the
publically available knowledge of projects managed by other institutions. The feedback from
the HETF however, requested us to produce a more specific plan before the report can be finally
approved. We therefore incorporated in the final version of this chapter more specifically
described, possible, projects.
Since any donor-funded project includes activities such as determining the outlines, procedures
for tendering and assessment, it will take some time before these projects can be implemented.
In the meantime the NPUs, assisted by the MoE, HESC, HERQA and the ADRC‟s in the
established universities, may consider initiating activities that do (not yet) require external
funding. Therefore some recommendations are formulated regarding activities that do not
require immediate additional funding from donors and that can contribute to the further
development of the NPUs.
5a. Shorter term interventions
Inventory and exchange of good practices

All public universities try to find ways – and have found them to a certain extent – to deal with
the issues at hand in each of the separate domains (leadership and management, academic and
administrative processes and cross cutting issues). These good practices should be made
available for peer learning. HERQA has published reports on quality which identify good
practice that might be shared. We suggest that HESC and HERQA might be able to develop
mechanisms to identify good practice in the established universities and should be the conduit
for its dissemination to the NPUs.
Change agenda in higher education, including BPR

Since all established public universities are in the process of defining desirable situations at
their universities and implementing BPR in order to move towards better ways of managing
their work, the dissemination of this experience will prove to be worthwhile for the NPUs.
HESC is responsible for facilitating these processes and so could play an important role in this
dissemination.
Learning from the Academic Development Resource Centres in the established

universities
As part of the current EQUIP project, materials and manuals have been produced to enhance
and support the teaching and learning process. Assigned staff within the NPUs might review the
manuals that have been already developed and try to contextualize them to their specific
situation. Initial short courses may be developed for the new instructors with the support of the
existing ADRCs. The masters degrees that is being developed together with Bahir Dar
University and AAU can be a vehicle to train the staff that will be leading the developments
within the NPUs.
40
5b. Longer term interventions
Below we identify interventions that will need longer term funding and estimate the costs of
suitable support.
The following table summarizes the recommendations resulting from the study on the human
capacity building needs analysis of the new public universities in Ethiopia.
Project Area Focus Possible content foci Possible interventions Proposed Lead
Funder(s)/Implementers
General issues ICT Access to the internet Improvement of the Donors and MoE
connectivity and LAN or WAN, E- infrastructure and
Granary connectivity
Philosophical Institutional and team Exchanging good All
underpinnings learning; daily practice: practice a key process;
working together on a priorities for action
problem, to foster peer based on leverage,
learning and deep external drives and
learning; support for quick wins.
changes in behaviour Linkages with existing
over time to ensure structures and projects
sustainability. Interventions at
Fewer higher order and university level with
important aspects. activities at national
level.
Leadership and Management Strategic planning and Mentoring by Donors
Management teams implementation; experienced HEI
working HRM;management managers.
effectively on styles;decentralisation; Workshops and
the right maintaining quality; certificated training
issues roles and responsibilities Support for networking
and team working. and exposure visits.
Work shadowing of
managers in business
and other universities.
All of the above for top
and middle managers
and key MoE staff.
Training for Board
members on their
changing role.
Quality assurance Quality management HERQA, NPUs and
mechanisms for training for academic established universities
academic processes; managers.
quality enhancement,
monitoring and
evaluation.
Change agenda in higher Dissemination of HESC
education. information, facilitating
development.
Academic Pedagogic Problem oriented EQUIP/HDP/CPD-type Donors
processes skills learning; practical programme, setting up Established universities
development teaching and assessment ADRC-like structures. (in terms of time)
in large classes; Mentoring by
laboratory teaching; established universities.
advanced skills for Short courses for new
pedagogic mentors; and instructors.
basic skills for new
instructors
Curriculum Principles and practice Support for central Donors
review and of curriculum curriculum development HESC (in supporting the
development development; subject by external subject central curriculum
specific content for a experts. development process)
modern curriculum; VSO-type placements.
transferable skills;
attitudes; and ethics.
41
Developing a Research epistemology Funding for competitive Donors
research and methodologies; bidding process and its
culture bidding; and writing administration; seed
research proposals, corn funding for a few
papers for publication centres of excellence
and bids and proposal
development;
Short courses.
Provision of resources
and publications.
Exchange and linkages
programmes with
Community Good practice inventory; Short skills and Donors
service possible foci for awareness training and
community service; workshops.
working with the Expert facilitation of
community; ethics, university task forces.
costing, pricing and
marketing services;
quality control.
Academic Subject and supervision Expert support for MoE, Donors
staff support for higher AAU‟s higher degree
qualifications degrees and for their programme.
design and development. Additional part-time
higher degree
programme validated by
Administrative Establishing Supporting academic National workshops. Donors, with practical
processes efficient and processes and Training key staff in help from HESC and
transparent management functions. individual NPUs. MoE
systems and Service cultures and Top and administrative
processes their implications. How management training in
to specify, run and block grant
develop a good system management
of support, including National workshop. Donors
Setting up and MIS and HRM. Changes Establishing networks
running a MIS in practices to maximise and common interest
the efficiencies. groups and facilitating
their operation.
Exposure visits.
VSO-type placements Donors
in consortia of NPUs.
Visits to commercial NPUs
enterprises etc.
Visits to established NPUs
universities. Established
universities(in terms of
time)
Various content TVET training and MoE
depending on the role. selective upgrading of
staff to bachelors.
Cross cutting Attitude and Mainstreaming cross Local or regional Donors
issues behaviour cutting issues in: workshops; specialist NPUs (in terms of time)
change curriculum; research; coaching; experience
community service; sharing networks; all
student services; facilitated by outside
management; and HRM experts.
Resources and
publications.
All of the above to be supported by manuals, guidelines and good practice guides.
All of the above taking HIV/AIDS and gender as cross cutting issues.
42
The estimated costs for (donor-funded) projects to address the issues from the table are as
follows:

Focus: Management teams working effectively on the right issues
Content: Strategic planning and implementation (including benchmark activities), human
resources management, decentralisation and devolution, management styles, maintaining
quality, roles and responsibilities, support of changes in the administrative processes.
Interventions primarily focussed on solving day-to-day problems at university level.
Intervention Estimated For whom How many Where Priority9

costs (in
Euros)8
Certificated Consultants‟ Top 2 workshops In Ethiopia, Priority
training. costs are (2 management; for 4 top facilitated by 1
Content: international Presidents and managers international
Strategic and 1 local) VPs teams per NPU consultants
planning and 44,000
transformation,
human
resources
management,
decentralisation
and devolution
Maintaining Consultants‟ Deans, 2 In Ethiopia, Priority
quality, roles costs are (2 Directors and workshops facilitated by 2
and international Heads of for 16 international
responsibilities, and 1 local) Administrative middle consultants
support of 88,000 for 2 departments managers
changes in the groups each of per NPU
administrative 8 middle
processes. management
per NPU
Workshops, 200,000 per According to 50 Local to the Priority
training-on-the NPU local projects international university 1
job, coaching Total: designed by consultancy
and training in 2,400,000 universities days
each NPU themselves 50 local
Up to 10 times consultancy
1 week days
consultancy including
over 2 years consultancy
per NPU and training
Workshops and 900,000 total Top and middle 240 In Ethiopia Priority
training at 12 workshops management participants, 2
national level 2 consultants twice
on the issues per workshop
above, based on 20 participants
the NPUs‟ from each
practical university. 2
8
The unit costs are based both on existing proposals funded by Nuffic and the Worldbank
9
Suggested priorities are based on the criteria as described in the final report
43
experience in NPUs per
setting up the workshop (40
university and participants per
management of workshop) 3
the change and days, 1 per
implementation year
of
transformation
Exposure visits Outside Africa Transformation 26 1 outside Priority
in and outside 70,000 per leaders participants Africa 3
Africa visit for 26 for each
participants visit
Looking at and in Africa
BPR, 50,000 Functional In Africa Priority
transformation, leaders 3
customer focus, Total of 4
new financial exposure
systems visits: 240,000
Training for Three trainings Board members 4 from each In Ethiopia Priority
Board of three days in NPU x 12 3
members: total.
In strategic One training
planning, the for 4 NPUs:
developing role 11,000
of the Board,
oversight issues Total: 33,000
and autonomy
Support for 30,000 for Top 4 In Ethiopia Priority
networking and reimbursement management, participants (e.g. 3
work of travel costs Deans and per NPU Ethiopian
shadowing of and the like functional twice = 96 Airlines,
managers in leaders events Dashen
business and Brewery,
other Floriculture
universities establishment)
Total for all
activities:
3,735,000
Euro
Academic processes
Focus: academic staff qualifications, pedagogic skills development, curriculum review and
development, developing a research culture and community services.
Focus: academic staff qualifications, pedagogic skills development, curriculum review and
development, developing a research culture and community services.
Intervention Estimated costs For whom How many Where Priority

(in Euros)
Expert support AAU Higher 25 weeks of AAU Priority 2
for AAU‟s Total: 250,000 degree international
higher degree programme academic
programs in implementers support
relation with
UNISA and IT
44
Delphi
Subject and
supervision
support for
higher degrees
design and
development
Curriculum Developing Curriculum 1 linkage per Internationa Priority 2

linkage and managers in NPU. Costs l University
programme implementing NPUs based on and NPU
new existing
curriculum per linkage
university: programme
750,000
900,000 in
total
Pedagogic Development Training of 40 2 training At NPUs Priority 1
skills and training: trainers per programmes
development: 24 times 5 NPU (at least per NPU
Certificate days per 1 from each
based course training department),
for new trainers One focused on
of instructors international support for
and one local shift to70: 30
consultant policy
11.000 per
training
Total 264,000
Setting-up One workshop Pedagogic 3 staff At NPU and Priority 1
ADRC like for all NPUs materials members per national
structures to develop development NPU for level
HDP and CPD format and equipment format
types of (11,000) purchase to development
programmes Support from support the Further
local shift to 70:30 support at
consultants to policy NPU level
each NPU
4 days
(70.000)
Total 81,000
Review, 20,000 per To support 1 VSO type of At NPU Priority 2
contextualisatio VSO per year curriculum placement at
n and Total: 240,000 and quality each NPU
implementation managers
of curriculum to
focus on
support for the
70:30 policy
Developing a 40,000 per Researchers in 12 NPUs each At NPU Priority 1
research research each NPU 4 projects, for
culture: project for two two years
Funding for years, 12
45
competitive NPUs each 4
bidding process projects
and its =1,920,000 (to
administration be funded by
Seed corn donors and
funding for a MoE)
few centres of
excellence
Provision of Installation of Researchers in All staff In NPU Priority 2
web-based (sort of) E- each NPU members to
journals and Granary at benefit
books each NPU and ICT staff
training by members to be
local trained
consultants
20,000 per
NPU
Total 240,000
Community 11,000 per About 16 Local and In NPU Priority 3
service workshop active international
Short skills and (each NPU) academic staff experts, total
awareness Total: 132,000 involved in of 20 days per
training and community NPU plus
workshops 31,250 per service per preparation
NPU NPU
Expert
facilitation of Total: 507,000
university task
forces
Total for all
activities:
7,570,000
Euro
Focus: From administrative to support staff, establishing efficient, transparent systems and
processes, setting up and running of adequate MIS.

(in Euros)
National One national Heads and 1 local and In Ethiopia, Priority
workshops, workshop costs deputies of 1 national and 2
training key 15,000 for 5 administrative international at NPU
personnel in days and two departments expert
each NPU, top international
and consultants.
administrative Training at
management in NPU: 8,500.
block grant 2 training
implementation workshops per
NPU(24 in total)
and 12 national
46
workshops:
Total: 384,000
National Two workshops: Admin VP and 5 per NPU In Ethiopia Priority
workshops about one on format heads of (60 1
MIS and design and admin participants)
one on 1
implementation, international
each 3 days and
Total 40,000 2 local
consultants
Establishing Total 60,000 Heads of Local At NPU Priority

networks and Admin experts, total 1
common interest of 20 days
groups and per NPU
facilitating their
operation
Exposure visits Outside Africa Heads of 26 International Priority

70,000 per visit Admin participants and Africa 3
and in Africa
50,000
4 exposure
visits: 240,000
Implementing 1 VSO-type of Admin VP and 1 VSO per At NPU Priority
efficient placement in head of admin university 1
procedures, MIS each NPU
and customer (20,000 per VSO
oriented per year)
approaches 240,000
Total for all
activities:
964,000 Euro
Cross cutting issues

Focus: Attitude and behaviour change
Content: Mainstreaming issues in curriculum, research, community service, management and
HRM.

(in Euros)
National Three day Local cross Depends on NPU and Priority

workshop to workshop one cutting local plans: occasional 1
develop and write international initiative plan regional or
local development and one local leaders in development, national
plans for each consultant: the NPUs materials, workshops
NPU in cross 13.000 workshops and
cutting issues consultancies
as specified by
Local and regional 80,000 per NPU each NPU
workshops, for support within their
47
specialist share of the
coaching, Total: 973,000 budget
experience sharing Euro
networks,
resources and
publications
48
Annexes:
1. Activities undertaken including schedule of visits and workshops
a. Schedule of activities
b. Job descriptions of Research Assistants and research associate
c. Assignment for interviews external stakeholders
d. Programme for the visits to the NPU’s
e. Programme and participants of the three workshops
2. Reports
a. Inception report
b. Interim report
c. Report on the final workshop
3. Sources of information:
a. Reports of university visits
b. Reports of the interviews conducted by the Research Assistants
c. List of stakeholders interviewed by the study team including four
established universities (AAU, Hawassa, Jimma and Mekelle)
d. Documents
4. A summary of other needs identified by the study (infrastructure, equipment)
5. Additional data:
a. Statistical information NPU’s
b. Map of locations and distances
6. The Request for proposals
7. The proposal of CIS/VU
49
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NPU Capacity Building Needs Analysis - Final report - October 2008

Human capacity building needs analysis of Ethiopian

The Centre for International Cooperation of the VU University Amsterdam is pleased to

We would like to acknowledge the Development Assistance Group (DAG) that

Drs Tineke Melis, Team Leader,

on behalf of CIS/VU and the study team

Prof. Kate Ashcroft

Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 4

The key questions that this report addresses are:

The methodology included:

Leadership and management

1a. The purpose of the study

The key questions that this study has addressed are:

1b. Methodology and activities

 Workshop with top management Reflection

2a. The context of the NPUs

2b. Capacity problems and needs as identified by the NPUs

Leadership and management

Human resources management

Cross cutting issues

Needs per individual NPU

3b. Leadership and management

Once relationships of trust and responsibility are established, an organisational structure

3c. Academic processes

3d. Administrative processes

3e. Cross cutting issues

3f. General concluding remarks on the principles and philosophy

4b. Philosophical underpinnings for the recommendations

4c. Leadership and management

4d. Academic processes

Academic staff qualifications

Teaching and learning

As we mentioned in the previous chapter research is an important strand to a mature university‟s

4e. Administrative processes

4f. Cross cutting issues

5a. Shorter term interventions

Inventory and exchange of good practices

Change agenda in higher education, including BPR

Learning from the Academic Development Resource Centres in the established

Leadership and management

Intervention Estimated For whom How many Where Priority9

Intervention Estimated costs For whom How many Where Priority

Curriculum Developing Curriculum 1 linkage per Internationa Priority 2

Intervention Estimated costs For whom How many Where Priority

Establishing Total 60,000 Heads of Local At NPU Priority

Exposure visits Outside Africa Heads of 26 International Priority

Cross cutting issues

Intervention Estimated costs For whom How many Where Priority

National Three day Local cross Depends on NPU and Priority

1. Activities undertaken including schedule of visits and workshops

b. Job descriptions of Research Assistants and research associate

c. Assignment for interviews external stakeholders

d. Programme for the visits to the NPU’s

e. Programme and participants of the three workshops

c. Report on the final workshop

a. Reports of university visits

b. Reports of the interviews conducted by the Research Assistants

c. List of stakeholders interviewed by the study team including four

established universities (AAU, Hawassa, Jimma and Mekelle)

4. A summary of other needs identified by the study (infrastructure, equipment)

a. Statistical information NPU’s

b. Map of locations and distances