(By Roha)
If there is “Herculean” progress made by Addis Ababa University, it is in the number of institutes, positions and students. The university’s website gloats over the fact that the university’s graduate intake capacity has grown four fold in the last two years. The university has expanded its graduate programs, adding important institutes as the school of journalism in the same years. The university administration talks up such achievements, accusing critics as reactionaries.
Look closer and most of it is hot air. New schools are being opened with no capacity to sustain them, and under trained, overstretched teachers fill them. Most of the graduate programs are extremely poor in quality. And the interference in the institutes exacerbates the problem. Take two new institutes as examples. This year the university has established the Institute of Federalism, and Institute of Peace and Conflict resolution. Both institutes have virtually no staff. Yet they are supposed to start graduate programs in September. The President made the situation even worse by appointing his accountant friend, Gebrehiwot, as the director of Institute of Federalism. The institute is supposed to offer a hybrid (political science and law) program. The director has no knowledge of both subjects, or has no training and qualification outside the field of accounting. He was a finance officer of the university.
Other institutes are created for solely political purposes. The Institute of Human Rights, the President’s pet project, will kick off its work soon. Andreas Eshete has unabashedly stated that the objective of the institute is to counter the “false Propaganda” of international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and show that democracy and human rights protection has shown immense progress in Ethiopia. This institute is supposed to conduct researches and studies. Yet the findings of its potential researches have already been generally set. Community members who know about the project dubbed the institute as “A Human Rights Center for Human Wrongs”. Now there is a plan to merge this confusing center with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution
Even the university’s showcase graduate program, the School of Journalism, has deteriorated rapidly. Opened with the funding of the Norwegian Aid Agency, NORAD, it started with a relatively high note under its ex-dean, the late Dr. Assefa Medhane. Dr. Assefa’s death was a big loss for the school. Immediately, Andreas stretched the university administration's tentacles to the school. He appointed the lame duck, Professor Abiy Ford, and interfered in all aspects of the school’s administration, including the enrollment of students. Several students who couldn’t pass the school’s exam joined the graduate program regardless of their results. The school is now run de facto by government cadre Dr. Gebremedhin Simon whose formal position is Research Coordinator. The Norwegians are said to be so unhappy with the way the school is shoddily managed that they are thinking of ceasing to fund it once the first five years funding period expires.
Proliferation is not limited to schools and institutes. Community members say that new positions in the university crop up so often that people have now stopped to be surprised about it. When he wants to bring on board of his friends, Andreas Eshete opens up new posts and assigns them. Addis Ababa University now has three vice presidents and four associate vice-presidents with sometimes overlapping duties. And the president has a coterie of advisers. Most of the posts are occupied by government sympathizers. “The EPRDF used to control the university almost subtly during pre-Andreas days. Now it is open. He appoints government cadres to posts he creates at will. There is no institutional check and balance. It is him, him, him and government people,” one instructor told me.
The University community member learns about these appointees from rumors. The president doesn’t care to announce the new posts and appointees formally. The fact that the university’s website still states that AAU has two vice-presidents and three associate vice-presidents is a testimony to that.
(My next article will focus on incredibly declining quality of education, students and instructors)
Friday, April 20, 2007
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31 comments:
Creation of new unnecessary positions is a whole mark of corrupt and incompetent leadership. By surrounding themselves with loyal individuals, they will squeeze the institution’s resource to the last drop... As the ultimate goal is to gain personal benefits, such a system has no regard for genuine qualifications.
PS. Thanks for taking off the unnecessary diatribe from one of the readers in the previous post.
Dear Roha,
Some more points about graduate programs, which are dying and producing equivalent to old high school graduates. A case in point is SISA (school of Information Studies for Africa). It is setup to produce high caliber african information system experts. It was funded by IDRC and the maximum number of students were around 13 or 15, where half of them from other African countries. Most of its staff were expateriates, who have rich experience in the field and known in the world of ICTs. Since Endrias took over the school can't afford to bring external lecturers and at the same time lack even ethiopian professionals in the field. But it still accept more than 50 or so students who will graduate one way or the other with out even getting the basics of ICT that is required at under grdauate level. More can be said from students graduated from the school recently and others concerned
Thanks
Roha lives in a fantasy land who never learns from history.Best quality programs and universities have never been built overnight. He is a hater of the current government and can't be a reasonable person. If he is really sincer, he can do a little research how the Indians and Chineese reached the stage where they are now. They didn't reach where ther are now overnight.
the anon @ 4:01 PM
...But great institutions can be destroyed in a very short time. I don't know why 'a hater of the current regime' can not be a reasonable person in his assessment of Andreas's performance unless Andreas is intimately associated with the government and religiously promoting the agenda of the ruling party at the expense of the Ethiopian people...
Every comment are all trash and just hatrate, that is typical us. A president intervene on students grade or bla..bla...bla... that is trash. Are you all kids, don't distroy the credibility of AAU just because you hate Andreas. Andreas is one, AAU is a community and have standard as every institution in the world. You think you distroy the name of Andreas; no... you are wrong... you are distroying the diginity of our campus... our institution. So please stop be kids... think wisely. But if your target is our AAU you face us first!!!
Sir:
There is only one trash comment in this column. That is the one that all the comments are trash.It is an open fact that AAU is no more an academic institution. It costs you to think for a while nothing more.No need to compare AAU with Indian and Chinse higher institutions unless you want to spend your time. AAu was better than those institutions in the old days. In order to make it best, it is pretty foolish to destry it first.We had been students in AAU both in undergraduate and graduate levels. Some of us are also employees. IT IS NO MORE ON ITS TRACK. IT HAS BEEN LONG TIME SINCE IT LOSTS TO PRIMARY TARGET. Today AAU is not better than the so called Sivil service College or Dengaye mamrechaaaaaaaa. God save Ethiopia and then AAU from these mad dogs!!
Good work Roha. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of problems that are crippling the university all down to the university's managing cadres and well designed killing implicit policies of the ..... I have a lot to say. Just to start, you may closely examine what has happened to one of the departments in the faculty of business and economics. I was shocked when I heard about the issue. Some three cadre students did graduate without meeting the requirement of the department and university standard. All down to the president's interference. By the way, Roha, don't bother about the comments of some blind cadres. They are preoccupied by their self interest. No body is here promoting his/her self interest.
Graduate admission with a GPA of 2.0?
It is unheard of in any internationally recognized higher institution of learning, like AAU. What kind of M.Sc's and Ph.D.'s is our country going to have from such very low standard graduate programs? It is a shame! What most hearts me is to know that some of well respected and bright professors I had are part of this corrupt system.
Okay lets assume that all the above comments are “trash” and try to see the so called AAU shift from “elite higher education” to “mass higher education” in the graduate school. In the new system created
Having a good GPA in undergraduate study has been discredited
The value of entrance exams /selection criteria at entry to graduate school has been tramped
The quality has been lost (compromised will no more describe it). Imagine departments who are giving lab based training are forced to accept numbers not compatible even with the intake capacity of big universities in abroad. Again lets say that we need a trained manpower and need it fast..okay then where is the investment in staff …the only thing they tried is to get bunch of second rate …I am too generous Indian professors through their corrupt recruitment mechanism.Well still one can claim that there is investment on infrastructure …what about the running cost. It is not uncommon to find a lab which has turned into a store for broken down equipments. Academic institutes need a flexible and yet corruption free purchase and procurement structure. The system so obsolete that funding agencies are pulling out or trying to manage their finance take SIDA/SAREC funding mess as an example. I am sure graduate students in Arat Kilo , Amist Kilo , Black Lion and ALRI (south campus) can say a lot. Just numbers ..xxx amount MSc ..xxx amount PhD and so on and so on
I will come back with more details !
I am a 2004 graduate in Chemical Engineering (amist kilo). I am currently on my final year to finish my MS with GPA of 3.87. I owe my success to the quality education I got from my dedicated AAU professors.
Sidist kilo is always full of drama. Don't tarnish the name of a reputable university in the social science departments.
How do we measure the quality of education?
I guess one measure could be the admission criteria. If the graduate school allows any one to attend, then the level of each course should be adjusted to the average student. Lowering the standard makes the education poor in quality--isn't it?
Someone said he gonna graduate with 3.87 GPA. Does that supposed to mean you are a product of good university that offers quality education? Why don't you ask those who graduated from UNITY college. To your surprise I havenot heard anybody graduated below 3.oGPA. Friend your GPA doesnot have any relation with what Roha is talking about. Got it?
Quality VS Quantity:
A case in point is AAU. Currently it is a government policy to “produce” a large number of graduates from colleges and universities. This policy is transferred to universities and the university officials implement them accordingly. To accomplish the government policy the government assigns individuals( who are pro-their politics) who will accomplish their policy or order with out any challenge. If I remember correctly Professor Andria’s was not elected by the faculty staff rather appointed by the gov’t. Why him? I will leave the answer for the reader.
Even if our country needs a large number of educated people (quantity), still the quality of education they get should be given at least equal attention if not more. One of the measures of quality of education is the ratio of teacher to students. The higher the ratio, the poorer the quality of education. Any body has the statistics please inform us. But I think it is getting higher and higher now. To be continued------
Hi Roha:
Many thanks for your excellent contributions to the awful state of higher education in Ethiopia.
I'm looking forward to reading your next post. I'm planning to teach at AAU some day in the future and I'll then do my share to contribute something good to add to the quality of AAU education and hearing what others think seems to be a good thing right now.
Your contributions are so timely.
Thanks again.
Hi Roha:
I've been visiting this blog several times a day to see if you've posted the next in your installment and hope that will be done soon.
Cheers,
Gebru from Awassa:
It makes me sad to hear all this very very sorry comments about our AAU. I was a student there and I know how hard myself and my friends worked to get there. Thanks to Woyane it is a joke not only joining AAU and graduate from there but even high school. I have heard the best high school student that passed the current 10 grade can not spell any word correctly other than his name. The education system is completly destroyed and requires massive make-over starting from the top, that is regime change. That is the only way Ethiopia can be saved and I hope GOD will look after our people. GOD bless Ethiopia.
Rubish, Trush, rubish-
All ye people who seem to care about the AAU let me tell u some thing about you which you didn't know that I know.
1- you don't care about the AAU
I repeat- u don't care about AAU. your problem is one and one- you don't want the same people running the affairs to run it.
2- you are crying wolf becouse you were not the ones running the university affairs
3- you wished that you were the only elites to get to the university and get graduated. (to be called the "muhuran" no more my freinds.
4.you have no proof that quantity doesn't quarantee quality
5-you are always negative minded and you don't want to see or hear anything good. That threatens you. You are scared
6- if you are educated as you claim- the main objective of education is to find truth far away from your emotions, wishes, and biases- here you fail and fail miserably
7-Yes, the university has somethings to imporove on it as any institue has but AAU is AAU
8-If you claim that the university in the past produced great intelecuals, doctors, scientsts then where are you? aren't you to be blamed?
9- a lot to tell about you people but then I must suggest that if our country is to grow and reach where she belongs then we must leave hate aside and work hard.
Let's not assume we know everything. we are no body. Infact you are no body.
Hi
Yes, it's true that the post immediately preceding this is Rubbish, Trash, Rubbish.
Many thanks for your illuminating post!
Thank you Roha for exposing what is being done in AAU. Something that you didn’t mention so far is that the vice presidents and the deans are directly assigned by Andreas himself with an order from the government and its cadres. For example, the director of IDR, Dr. Mulugeta, was appointed by Andreas with an influence from the prime minister office. The guy is a geologist and has very little to do with IDR. He joined the institute because Andreas thought that he gets a credit from the government by bringing people from the same region as the prime minister. Andreas ordered the science faculty to employ Mulugeta, but the dean or the head of the corresponding department refused because the guy has no good academic records. One of the associate vice presidents, Dr. Asfawosen Asrat, is also a cadre who has a direct contact with the government. This guy claims that he knows everything (all subjects), law, medicine, agriculture, science, engineering, etc. Mind you, the man is still in his 30s, and he his among the top individuals at AAU without acquiring enough experiences. Almost all staffs in Science Faculty could be his teachers, but he is among the few individuals who always oppose suggestions from them, department heads and deans. He has no friend in the faculty, not even an Indian. Usually, he is on top of his bosses (Dr. Butte and Andreas himself). You can witness this in meetings. If you say anything against or if he doesn’t like you, then he blocks everything (sabbatical or research leave, salary, overload payment, etc). Anyhow, god saves AAU; we will fight these people for the sake of our university.
I do not wonder if a sex grade student run the university this time. AAU is a political organization inside ethiopia. The country is ruled by a grade 1+.333 poleticians.why do you expect some one great to administer the university??
Who is Andreas Eshete?
The launching of saveaau.blogspot.com is timely and commendable - to save this endangered academic institution, Addis Ababa University before it reaches the critical mass of irreversible crime against the youth of Ethiopia. The blogsot hopefully brings the needed attentionby all who have a stake in the well being of AAU. Needless to say that the blog has already elevated the level of the dialogue and in so doing exposed the shady character of our day who seize the headlines for opportunism and political expediency at any cost - ultimately expose those responsible for the destruction of the AAU. Most of all you are enlightening many of us and shade light to the many complex issues of our beloved AAU.
As a one time student at AAU I feel obliged to help expose the truth behind the
current AAU leadership, more particularly the President of the Addis Ababa University, Andreas Eshete - beyond the lies and hypocrisy - that help understand this individual for what he is - opportunist and addict. Along this line, I wish the blog moderator publicly forward the following questions in its entirety to Andreas:
1) Do you have any peer reviewed papers that are published on a reputable Academic Journal? If so name the Journal. Please do not include the speech or contributions to news papers that are given on the AAU web site!!!
2) As far as those who knew you closely for the last 40+ years, you never had any Tenure Track position while residing in the US, that allow the academic rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. So Who or which institution bestowed the rank of a Professor on you? Self appointed for convenience? Please note that I do not dignify your lies here!!
3) Ever since you returned to Ethiopia, if you have any dignity left in you, Did you even try to write a paper or manuscript? I know the answer but for the record and to give you the benefit of the doubt (You are busy drinking and soliciting sex on the night spots of Addis)
4) Did you contribute anything to promote Democracy in our beloved Ethiopia? Sucking up to the Woyane doesn't have any semblance of an Educator OR love of a country!
5) Your phoney title with UNESCO a position customized to pay you money for Whiskey OR the patronage appointment of the Presidency of the Addis Abeba University that you are not qualified to lead - How dare you expel Oromo students to please your masters?
Last but not least, the list of his fabricated employment history in the US is a lie!
The truth is Andreas never had a tenure track teaching position anywhere in the US - he only had a Part-time or Adjunct Faculty position at community colleges in New Jersey and Philadelphia, which one close friend of his told me an average of one semester every two years or so - so his Title of Professor is bogus. As far as his former friends are concerned he was unemployed most of the time. Infact the person who helped him even secure the part time job at a college was Professor Efraim Yishak (Professor of ancient linguistics and Hebrew at Princeton) for whom Andreas arranged an honorary Doctorate from Addis Ababa University - to pay his gratitude. Whatever Andreas also claims at best is illusion - no papers and no books - what he does best is to drink alcohol and try to mask his guilt ridden life!.
Another dimension to Andreas and his cohorts is that the control of all foreign research money and other project funds, good example is a sixteen million birr Norweigan fund given to AAU to establish a structured program to train people who can end up building Democratic Institutions - like professionals who conduct local, regional and national elections; people who can help create press freedom with the strict responsibilities that come with it; people who can narrow the gaps in the use of the information technology to name a few - but the money was misappropriated mainly for Andreas's trip and excesses to the US and Europe mainly - the leftover money was used by the establishment of the school of Journalism - and most of the money was squandered by Andreas.
I am extremely happy that this good-for-nothing drunkard is exposed from his top to bottom. I am thankful for the enlightenment by many knowledgeable individuals about the person. I wonder how lng we tolerate such rotten personalities? Until they pronounce AAU finished and dead? Don\'t you think a well-studied plan is being implemented to ruin our prominent academic institution in particular and the foundation of education of the nation in general?
Dear all,
A few more institutes will be openen soon on pastoral devt studies to make sure that camel herder's from Afar and Somali kilil will get their MA. You still are in the old world!!
To All Members of Addis Ababa University,
I can confirm with absolute confidence and beyond any reasonable doubt that Ato Abebaw Ayalew, of the History Education Department at Addis Ababa University, is a member of the Amhara People's Democratic Movement (APDM) cell within Addis Ababa University.
Ato Abebaw Ayalew is an Agew who comes from Kosso Ber in Gojjam.
He has been acting as a double agent for the TPLF cadres within the University since his student days in the second half of the 1990s.
Many members of Addis Ababa University's community know this to be a fact pretty well, that Ato Abebaw Ayalew is indeed a double agent.
I do recall reading through a piece in April 2005 in Genanaw, one of the then private newspapers, an interview in which Ato Abebaw Ayalew pretended to be a member of the CUDP.
I am pretty certain that Ato Abebaw Ayalew infiltrated the group organising the ceremony and that he acted as the TPLF insider informat in the arrest of the organisers of the ceremony.
Ato Abebaw Ayalew played a crucial role as a TPLF spy in the quashing of the student movement at Addis Ababa University in 1996/7 University students led by those from Gojjam staged a revolt against the Government's exclusion of opposition elements in the land distribution of Eastern Gojjam.
I am very shocked to learn that the Woyane have infiltrated the organisers for the vehicle award ceremony to W/t Birtukan Mideksa, the Vice Chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party.
That Ato Abebaw Ayalew was arrested together with the other organisers is of course to dupe the others.
That they have all been released so soon is also perhaps an indication that TPLF had one of its spies arrested and he needed to be freed at the earliest possible time.
Thank you very much indeed for the post regarding Ato Abebaw\\\'s double-agent role. This is another ugly work of the so-called Professor Andreas - a weakling, who spies for the worst liar and cheat of the world. It is high time that our prominent university is cleansed from such filth.
I think we need to be careful. yes, we need quality professionals but quality is not measured only based on AAU grading. I am a graduate from Amist killo doing my PhD abroad, but when I think about the number of students who got above 3.0 GPA from my batch, it really makes me sad.
I tell you guys, My friends with GPA of 2.5 from AAU would have performed very well if they got the chance to come here. where as students from the newly opend universities with GPA of 3.5 to 4.0 are flooding unversities abroad and struggling to cope in here.
All in all, I think grade is not the thing which matters. It is the real knowledge that u got it matters in AAU. Do we get that nice? that is questionable.do we get reasonable exams? I doubt.. I think that is what needs to be tackeld first.
Michael
Warning to all members of Addis Ababa University,
Dear All,
This is to forewarn you that a dangerous shark is working day and night amongst you as a TPLF spy.
His name is Ato Abebaw Ayalew. He is an academic staff member of the Department of History Education within the Faculty of Education in Addis Ababa University.
Ato Abebaw has established a great deal of notoreity for beating up a blind student of the Department over registration issues in February of 2007. He had earlier on forbidden this blind student to tape record his lectures in class.
More recently, Ato Abebaw Ayalew is known to have infiltrated, as the TPLF insider informat, a group of well-meaning Ethiopians in the French Legation area of Addis Ababa who were trying to organise fund raising activities for a vehicle award ceremony for the Vice President of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP).
Ato Abebaw Ayalew is an Agew (Libu-Zetegn) who comes from Kosso Ber in Gojjam.
It should be recalled that Ato Abebaw Ayalew has been serving the TPLF Governmnet as a spy from his student days at Addis Ababa University. Ato Abebaw Ayalew played a crucial role as a TPLF spy in the quashing of the student movement at Addis Ababa University in 1996/7 University students led by those from Gojjam staged a revolt against the Government's exclusion of opposition elements in the land redistribution of Eastern Gojjam.
I can confirm with absolute confidence and beyond any reasonable doubt that Ato Abebaw Ayalew has all along been, and still, is a member of the Woyane wing of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) cell within Addis Ababa University. He has been acting as a double agent for the TPLF cadres within the University.
Many members of Addis Ababa University's community know this to be a fact pretty well, that Ato Abebaw Ayalew is indeed a double agent.
Many people would recall reading through a piece in April 2005 in Genanaw, one of the then private newspapers, an interview in which Ato Abebaw pretended to be a member of the CUDP.
The Woyane have infiltrated the organisers for the vehicle award ceremony to W/t Birtukan Mideksa, the Vice Chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party. That Ato Abebaw was arrested together with the other organisers is of course to dupe the others. That they have all been released so soon is also perhaps an indication that TPLF had one of its spies arrested and he needed to be freed at the earliest possible time.
some one in the middle wrote that graduates of other universities who are joining universities in the west had a problem of coping with the education. are u series old man????
I am one of them and i am scoring plenty of A's and B's. many of my friends are doing exactly the same. Why are u trying to lie just for the sake of making sense in ur comment, small comment????
quality of education in general is at its lowest point but that doesnt include students who are making it to the best universities in the west!!!!!!
Let me start by saying this-We have never heard that Good academic institutions, wherever in the world, are enemy of any government.No one can protect AAU from being best of the best if Andreas/Government has really true concerns for future generations of not only Ethiopia-Africa but also the rest of the world.I had never seen and I will never see person like Andreas-son of devil- a person of extraordinary energy, ingenuity and self-will devoted to selfish and mischievous ends- in the rest of my life.
very good blog congratulations
regard from Catalonia Spain
thank you
Keep up the good work.
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