University leadership and management in Ethiopia

On April 16, Dr Aklilu Hailemichael, Director General of the Ethiopia Education Strategy Center (ESC) visited MSM to discuss continuation of the cooperation. It was agreed to jointly work on strengthening research capacities in Ethiopia and to start-up a research program on skill mismatches, the gap between labour market needs and the skill sets of graduates.

This is a pertinent issue in Ethiopia, with a very young population (64.1% below 25 years of age with a net population growth of 2.89%); strong economic growth (7% in 2013, 8.5% in 2012) but little reliable data and massive investments in the educational system.

Since 2010, MSM and ESC are jointly implementing the University Leadership and Management Capacity Development Project which has trained more than 600 university top and middle managers. On national level, project experiences have been fed directly into the Higher Education Development Plan (currently being finalized), the policy framework for the higher education sector during the next 5 years.

The project also generated the first sound overview of challenges female faculty face in Ethiopia, resulting in developing a Female Faculty Talent Program. The special entrepreneurship awareness-training program has already been rolled-out all over the country reaching several thousands of graduates.

(Photo: Dr. Aklilu Hailemichael of the ESC and MSM Dean Prof. Wim Naudé during their meeting exploring further collaboration to strengthen higher education in Ethiopia)