Differentiating the Higher Education System of Ethiopia:

Ethiopia

Conceptual framework

Discussion Paper for Public Universities

May 2019

Addis Ababa
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I: Background ............................................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3. Common/ Worldwide Assumptions for Differentiation .................................................... 4
Part II: Strategic Aspects of Inception Report ................................................................................... 6
2.1. Implementation strategy ............................................................................................................. 6
2.2. Defining Responsibilities........................................................................................................ 6
2.3. Quality Control Strategies ................................................................................................. 8
2.4. Conceptualization of Differentiation ................................................................................. 8
2.5. Importance of differentiation ........................................................................................... 10
Part III: Practices of Differentiation ................................................................................................ 12
3.1. Ethiopian Higher Education System ..................................................................................... 12
3.2. Practices of Selected Countries............................................................................................. 14
3.3. Summary of lessons learnt from the case countries ......................................................... 16
3.4. Enabling factors ............................................................................................................... 19
3.5. Implications of Implementing Differentiation in Ethiopian Higher Education System .. 20
3.6. Proposed Differentiation Model ...................................................................................... 23
3.7. Description of the model.................................................................................................. 26
3.8. Proposed Differentiation Categories for Ethiopian.......................................................... 26
3.8.1. Research University ................................................................................................. 26
3.8.2. Comprehensive University ...................................................................................... 28
3.8.3. University of Applied Sciences ............................................................................... 28
3.8.4. Colleges ................................................................................................................... 29
3.8.4.1. TVET Colleges ................................................................................................ 29
3.8.4.2. Liberal Arts College......................................................................................... 30
3.8.4.3. College of Arts ................................................................................................. 31
Part IV: Summary and conclusion ................................................................................................... 32
4.1. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 32
4.2. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 33
Reference ..................................................................................................................................... 34

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Part I: Background

1.1.Introduction

During the last five decades, the higher education landscape around the world has changed
dramatically. The unprecedented demands for higher education have led to the greatest
expansion of enrollment in history. There is an estimated total of 22,000 universities
across the world inhabited with more than 200 million students studying various and every
specialization possible. In the state of the privilege of an elite social class, gross
enrollment ratios (age cohort between 18-24 years of age) in higher education have
mushroomed to more than 50% in many countries. For example, a number of countries
have achieved universal participation. However, the demand for higher education in many
countries is still sharply increasing. On the contrary, gross enrollment in Ethiopia is 12.3%
(MoSHE) and Ghana 14% are still in the elite phase, whereas Brazil 23%, Chile 37%,
China 37%, Egypt 30%, and India 27% are in the stage of mass higher education.

The growing demand for access to higher education has placed tremendous pressure on
governments to react. The aspiring population is much more diverse than in the past.
Nowadays, the traditional university model with a strong academic orientation meets the
needs and aspirations of only a small segment of the current enrolment. This entails the
need for a differentiated system of higher education in order to impact employment and
socio-economic status among others.

The expansion of higher education in combination with the needs of the global knowledge
economy has resulted in an increased diversification. Systems grow from historic
(German, Napoleonic, British or American influences) roots but with the influence of
social, political and economic pressures at the local, national and international levels.
Generally, higher education is passing through a period of anarchy in the world, being
diversified by a wide range of purposes and clienteles and seemingly beyond the capacity
of any government to manage these changes well. Higher education in Ethiopia is not
exceptional in this regard. It started in the 1950s. However, it has gone through several
trajectories of change. In Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular, the expansion in
enrolment is one of the highest in the world.

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The considerable expansion of higher education in the country was spurred by the
government’s interest in increasing access to and equity for education as well as producing
qualified and skilled human power for driving socio-economic development.

Even though there is a tangible higher education expansion, still a large number of eligible
candidates for higher education cannot be accommodated due to lack of access. Because
of this, the higher education participation rate remains low, averaging 18% for Africa and
only 12.3 %for Ethiopia. Thus, in spite of the increasing number of higher education
institutions, demand outstrips supply.

The downside of the expansion of higher education in Ethiopia is the fact that the newly
established universities became merely replicas of the old ones in terms of subject
diversity and content. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation universities that were established
over the last two decades merely copied the same departments, curricula, course contents,
etc. from the 1st generation universities (older ones) and promoted what is called
institutional isomorphism (uniformity or homogeneity). This imitating behavior tended to
create uniformity, decreased levels of diversity and creativity among the universities.
Thus, there have been no added values in terms of diversifying fields of study across the
universities which in other word indicates there is a poor consideration of national and
international development and changes.

A homogeneous higher education system is not responsive to the diverse needs of the
labor market; it is less client-oriented, and ineffective. Furthermore, there appears to be
lack of innovativeness and a tendency of conservatism in Ethiopian Higher Learning
Institutions in the sense that they do not open up new fields of study that address the
changing needs of society, industry, and the economy.

Therefore, the current system of higher education in Ethiopia is not viable considering the
urgency to drive the socio-economic development of the country and cope up with the
current dynamism of the global higher education. The way forward is to turn the
isomorphic system of higher education into a coherent, diverse and integrated system of
good quality higher education through differentiation.

There appears to be also an element of mimetic isomorphism in Ethiopian Higher

education system, which stems from uncertainty caused by poorly understood specific
missions and goals that induce universities to imitate the work of senior universities. There
is also an element of normative isomorphism, which results in homogeneity as a result of

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conservative professionalization, whereby some people in HLIs resist against emergence
of new academic disciplines as a result of strong interests in maintaining their own old
disciplines (Vught, 2007).

One important case stood out in the study conducted for the development of Ethiopian
Education and Training Roadmap was the issue of having differentiated HE for the sake of
ensuring relevance and quality. Following this, MoSHE has been conducting various
discussion forums since July 2018, during which the issue has been welcomed by the
stockholders. Accordingly, MoSHE has decided that a study shall be undertaken to have
a clear understanding, strategy, roadmap for differentiating public HE in Ethiopia. Thus,
this document is a segment of undergoing study prepared for workshops with the HE
community.

In relation to the aforementioned realities and with the objective of advancing the higher
education system, this document makes a quick review of national and international
contexts of differentiation in the higher education system across selected countries in the
world. The aim of the entire review is to highlight the relevance of related international
experiences in line with the initiative taken to differentiate the Ethiopian higher education
system.

1.2.Objectives

The general objective of the study is to differentiate the Ethiopian Higher Education system
both vertically and horizontally so that universities in the country are able to identify their
strengths and focus their attention of teaching and research on specific, relevant and
significant disciplines at different levels of qualification and provide client-oriented quality
education, with their own specific missions and profiles.
The specific objectives are to:
• introduce both vertical and horizontal diversification in the Ethiopian Higher
Education System whereby students could be given options to study disciplines of
their choice at levels of qualification that match their heterogeneous abilities and
talents (client orientation);
• reduce the current discipline mimicry and homogeneity in fields of study among
Ethiopian higher learning institutions and make them focus on teaching and research
efforts in disciplines in which they have historical strength and comparative
advantages for effectiveness;

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 • encourage the opening up of new disciplines that are currently in demand for the
socio-economic development of the country;
• stratify students who join HLI based on their heterogeneous abilities and talents and
place them in disciplines of their choice;
• increase specializations for the needs of the nation and mobility of students within the
country and across the globe among the HEIs, and make them more responsive to
societal needs;
• make higher learning institutions in Ethiopia develop their own specific missions and
profiles based on national priorities and create a diversified higher education system
in which different types of institutions co-exist and exploit synergies for
effectiveness;
• improve the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and quality of provision of
community services;
• promote greater institutional autonomy and accountability;
• enhance a globally competitive system; and,
• promote a financially sustainable system.

1.3.Common/ Worldwide Assumptions for Differentiation

The following are some of the key factors or assumptions that we need to consider for
differentiating higher education of a country.

1. Study the skilled human power needs of the country (which skills, which expertise,
etc. are required in the labour market) and priorities of higher education study
programs accordingly.
2. Investigate the magnitude of heterogeneity of achievements, talents, and overall
profiles of students (such as attitude, motivation, special needs etc.), who complete
secondary education.
3. Plan to have or to differentiate postsecondary education system that train students
according to the level of their academic achievements and talents to fit the various
needs of market demand required for societal development.
4. Identify the strength of each university and make them focus on those field in which
they perform best with the available resources they have at disposal.
5. Consider the increasing number of students which will increase the size of HEIs.
Moreover, the increase in access will also increase the heterogeneity of the students.

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6. Regional and demographic conditions which cannot be influenced in a short-term or
at all should be considered when differentiating higher education system of a nation.
Differentiation should consider the actual situation of the region so that the institution
that will be identified could be responsive to the needs of the society in that particular
region. It is also important to consider the demography of the region. For example,
the population of Ethiopia has been increasing dramatically and currently the age
ratio is highly dominated by the youth. Moreover, rural-urban migration or migration
to different countries has become easily visible. Thus, differentiation should consider
these and other regional and demographic paradigms.
7. Creating clear distinction among the various types of HEIs should be considered. For
example, we may come up with Research University and University of Applied
Science. However, there should be a framework for the articulation among the
different types of the institutions. Otherwise, it will create a system of hierarchy and
thus will develop a wrong perspective towards one type of a system. That means it
will bring about dead ends for students. Thus, a framework of articulation,
cooperation and networking among the various kinds of HEIs is vital.
8. Creating fertile ground for competition. HEIs which may have similar profile may
compete for the available limited resource. Awarding the resource should be based on
clear criteria which, inter alia, should focus on advancement of science and
innovation. It is also important to give due regard to the question of equity.
9. Differentiation should encourage internationalization, by doing so it should facilitate
both staff and student mobility both within the nation and across the world.

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Part II: Strategic Aspects of Inception Report

2.1. Implementation strategy

Overview
In this document, implementation strategy refers to the way the process of the study will
be managed. There are different steps to conduct the study. The study has to be properly
coordinated and systematically managed to attain the objective. Coordination begins with
the identification of clear responsibilities. Therefore, to enable participating institutions to
offer the necessary support, their responsibilities must be defined in advance. The strategy
encompasses the roles of each actor in the process of the study: quality control,
communication system, and dealing with fears and concerns of actors.

2.2. Defining Responsibilities

A. Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE)

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) is responsible for the
improvement of higher education institutions (HEIs) organizational structure to make
them responsive to the local, national and global demands. It has a dual role of facilitating
the study and finally implementing the study result by HEIs. Therefore, it has a unique
role of authorizing the study work and coordinating the involved institutions (HESC and
HEIs). The roles of MoSHE are;

 endorsing ToR, concept note and study team action plan;

 establishing technical team and sign agreement with study team;
 monitoring the progress of data collection, self-assessment;
 arranging work place for the team;
 mobilizing necessary resources (material and financial);
 arranging benchmarking visit;
 arranging consultative workshop;
 ensuring proper support is given to the study team;
 selecting and organizing external reviewers to conduct final study validation;
 implementing the findings as appropriate.

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B) Higher Education Strategy Centre (HESC )
The Higher education Strategy Centre (HESC), being a strategic advisor to MoSHE, is
responsible to coordinate the overall study. It is, therefore, responsible to lead and
coordinate the study. The following are identified as the responsibilities of HESC:

• preparing concept note and discussion paper.

• preparing ToR in collaboration with MoSHE;
• assigning coordinator to work permanently with the study team;
• recruiting data encoders;
• arranging work bench for data encoders
• conducting internal review on the quality of researchers’ work.
• managing the overall differentiation study work;
• advising the study team as needed.

C) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have unique roles in the differentiation process.
First, they participate in the study process by assigning team members; next, they are
sources of data and are ultimately implementers of the study recommendations. The
following are the major responsibilities of HEIs:

• assigning technical study team members as required and make them available
during the study;
• conducting self-assessment and facilitating data collection as per the template of
the study team;
• sharing expenses of the team members they assign as well as that of data
collectors and supervisors;
• cooperating with MoSHE & HESC as needed to successfully complete the task;
• actively engaging in FGDG, interviews, and review workshops;
• implementing differentiation in accordance with the ultimate recommendations and
guidelines.

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2.3.Quality Control Strategies
This study is demanding and evidence based recommendations are expected from it. There
must be clear and critical quality check mechanisms. Therefore, in order to ensure a high
level quality of the study, both internal and external quality check mechanisms have been
developed. As part of internal quality control, the work is subject to frequent revision and
improvement. Standard and well-developed data collection instruments are also designed
as part of the internal quality control mechanism. Externally, the study team is assisted and
advised by an international advisory team . The advisory team is formed from senior
professionals in the field of higher education. Series of consultative workshops and
discussion forums are planned to be staged for collecting periodic feedback. Plans are also
made to engage the wider public in more open and consultative discussions in order to get
feedbacks for the improvement of the study.
Four important areas of quality control are identified: data collection process, data
analysis, reporting, and policy advice. These have to be critically checked and monitored
by different bodies. Strategies to be employed for quality control are:
• Data collection tools will be evaluated by the advisory team before dispatch;
• Facilitating and backstopping the data collection activities will be the
responsibility of presidents.
• Data collectors will be recruited, trained and deployed with supervisors.
• Data encoders will be recruited and trained for the purpose.
• Outputs of the study (at different stages) will be critically evaluated by an internal
review team established by HESC, and the advisory team.
• Interim and final stakeholders’ consultative workshops will be conducted;
• Final report will be evaluated by external reviewers and comments will be
incorporated by the study team.
• Policy framework will be evaluated by the advisory team.
• Finally, the policy advice document will be evaluated by advisory team.

2.4.Conceptualization of Differentiation

Differentiation is defined as the process whereby new entities emerge in a system (Vught,
2007; 2008). It is further understood as a process whereby distinct types of tertiary
institutions progressively emerge in response to a country’s need for educational programs
that provide diverse types of skills and knowledge to a wide range of students with
divergent interests and abilities (Saint, 2000; Ne’gethe et al, 2008). Similarly, Cloete and

8
Mbate (2010) conceptualized differentiation as the process in which the diversity of a
system increases. It is also a purposeful means to achieve a desired state of diversity
through the active exercise of judgment as described by Gibbon (2011). On the same note,
Jonker and Hicks (2016), stated that differentiation is a strategy for spending existing
resources with greater impact and better outcomes.

Differentiation is the process of developing different types, profile, and forms of higher
education institutions. The term “different types” relates to the legal differentiation of
types of higher education institutions such as university, university of applied science,
college of arts, etc. and the ascribed functions connected to therewith as well as the
consequences in terms of equipment, teaching load, admission requirements, etc. (The
German Council of Science and Humanity, 2010). Differentiation could be broadly
defined as the increasingly different functions and expanding roles that higher education
plays, and the institutions, systems and organizational structures that are set up to
coordinate and govern the expanding and complex reality (Teichler, 2002).

Differentiation could lead to different missions and profiles of each institution, together
forming a diversified higher education system. When differentiated, the various forms of
institutions co-exist in a synchronized manner. Consequently, a differentiated system will
supply to the economy of a nation with multidimensional human resource vital to
capitalize productivity, efficiency, and overall competitiveness (Ng’ethe et al., 2008).

Differentiation in higher education system can be vertical and/or horizontal (Huisman,

1995). Vertical differentiation refers to the ranking of institutions by a dimension such as
research intensity or reputation that alludes to a stratified hierarchical system where
institutions differ in their value and prestige, perceived or real (ibid).The frequently used
terminology of “vertical differentiation” relates to a hierarchical differentiation of higher
education institutions in terms of their performance and quality, usually reduced to the
dimension of achievements in research (The German Council of Science and Humanity,
2010) whereas the concept of “horizontal differentiation” assumes multiple functions of
higher education institutions in different dimensions. In a horizontally differentiated
higher education system, not all higher education institutions focus on one single
dimension of performance (e.g. research) but profiles of higher education institutions
develop, according to social demands and needs and the dynamics of sciences, which
focus on their own specializations (e.g. practice-orientated training, leading-edge research,

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distance learning programs, focusing on one sector of society such as sports, the arts,
teacher education, one scientific field as technical universities do) (ibid). Horizontal
differentiation also involves the development of special organizational forms such as
university foundations under public law.

Differentiation is a concept that should be distinct from a concept of diversity. Diversity is

a term indicating the variety of entities within a system. While differentiation denotes a
dynamic process, diversity refers to a static situation. Differentiation is the process in
which new entities in a system emerge; diversity refers to the variety of the entities at a
specific point in time (Huisman, 1995). The concept of diversity is further illustrated as
“the existence of distinct forms of post-secondary education, of institutions and groups of
institutions within a state or nation that have different and distinctive missions, educate
and train for different lives and careers, have different styles of instruction, are organized
and funded and operate under different laws and relationships to government” (Trow,
1995 in Meek et al., 2000).

Another concept that relates to the concept of differentiation is articulation. It refers to the
mechanisms that enable student mobility within and among the institutions that comprise
the tertiary system, for example, academic credit accumulation and transfer, recognition
and equivalence of degrees, recognition of prior learning, and so forth (Ng’etheetal.,
2008). In addition to this, articulation relates to the horizontal and vertical linkages
between institutions, programs and levels in a sector (Harris, 1996). Differentiated HE
system assumes the putting in place of effective articulation mechanisms. These
mechanisms can have both horizontal and vertical dimensions.

2.5. Importance of differentiation

Effective implementation of a differentiation policy into a country’s post-secondary
education system has been associated with a number of statements of significance.

First, differentiation opens up innovative ideas to a system that normally suffers from
stagnation and lack of innovativeness. Nowadays, knowledge doubles globally ranging
from as short as five year (computing technology) to as long as fourteen years
(astrophysics). Knowledge growth is a challenge to higher education. Information
potential growth is another challenge. ICT building blocks (both in speed and capacity)
such as storage, network, etc. are also doubling fast these days (UN, 2004). Differentiation
helps to open up new universities with new mandates to deal with these emerging trends or

10
help already existing higher education institutions to make internal differentiation that
would help them to cope up with new developments. The trend in differentiation in most
of the higher education system was until very recently to take research and excellence in
research as a standing point for classification. This is obviously an opportunity to
strengthen the research production machinery in a higher education system

Second, increased differentiation in terms of learners has the advantages of helping them
to choose the right university for them (with broader choices in both graduate and
undergraduate levels) that would help them meet their aspirations. It creates a conducive
environment for them for easy and flexible mobility (for example, through system-wide
credit transfer) when they need. It has the advantage of transitions for them between
universities (Weingarten and Deller, 2010). It encourages a heterogonous student
population to rise by attracting different needs and interests) a case in point is the context
of the Ontario’s university sector in Canada.

Third, differentiation helps the government (Weingarten and Deller, 2010) as one of the
“powerful levers” especially when a country is concerned to deal with limited resources,
and the allocation of these resources for prioritized national agenda with the highest
possible quality, accountability, and sustainability. For the government, it is literally
“holding the podium of higher education” (Weingarten and Deller, 2010).

Fourth, differentiation has the power to increase institutions’ national and international
competitiveness and effectiveness. It helps to curb mandate creep especially as horizontal
differentiation aspires to make clear mission and function distinctions between HEIs and
thereby creating strong HEIs which can stand strong in the context of international
competitions and collaborations.

Fifth, for the wider taxpaying public, differentiation would bring HEIs into closer scrutiny
as to the proper utilization of public funds, among many others, and that would lead to an
increased transparency in terms of good governance and effective use of resources. Within
a wider context, differentiation is believed to bring higher quality in the teaching and
research activities of universities, which in turn would be instrumental in accelerating a
nation’s building process of a country. It serves as a focus strategy so that individual
universities target at a specific niche in their communities (Bordes, 2009).

Sixth, differentiation paves the way for diversity that permits the crucial combination of
elite and mass higher education. Mass systems tend to be more diversified than elite

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systems, as mass systems absorb a more heterogeneous clientele and attempt to respond to
a wider range of demands from the labour market (Trow, 1979).

Part III: Practices of Differentiation

3.1. Ethiopian Higher Education System

Even though Ethiopia possesses many years of traditional elitist education, modern
secular higher education was introduced into the country only as recently as 1950s with
the inauguration of its first higher education institution, the University College of Addis
Ababa. This was followed by the establishment of Addis Ababa College of Engineering
in 1953; Addis Ababa Building Institute in 1954; Alemaya College of Agriculture and
Mechanical Arts in 1954; Gondar College of Public Health and Training Center in 1954;
Bahar Dar Polytechnic Institute in 1963; Kotebe College of Teachers’ Education in 1969;
Bahar Dar Academy of Pedagogy in 1972; and a few other intuitions of higher learning in
the country.

Until 1995, Ethiopia had only a couple of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Addis
Ababa University had also the mandate to run Alemaya College of Agriculture and
Mechanical Arts, Awassa College of Agriculture, Jimma College of Agriculture, and
Kotebe College of Teachers’ Education. Asmara University was also part of Ethiopia’s
higher learning institutions until Eritrea seceded in May 1991. These universities and
colleges offered both degree and diploma programs.

In subsequent years, with the help of the World Bank, Ethiopia embarked on a major
program to expand access to higher education, including the expansion of graduate
programs (William, 2003). The country has been investing a huge amount of resources to
expand higher education as the main driver of the national economic development. The
expansion was multidimensional- included primary, secondary, and tertiary levels which
has continued for over 20 years. In the 1990s, there were only six universities in Ethiopia;
namely, Addis Ababa University, Alemaya University, Debub University, Jimma
University, Bahir Dar University and Mekele University (MoE, 2000). Currently, the
total number of universities has reached 49 (MoE, 2018).

Ethiopia has meaningfully benefited from expanding its higher education. The benefits of
expanding higher education in Ethiopia include, but are not limited to the following:

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 • Increased access and equity to higher education
• Increased number of graduates
• Improved student mobility across the country and enhanced socio-cultural
exchanges among students
• Community development through building various infrastructure of the country
such as construction of buildings, roads, various community support projects
(contributions to health, education and related matters) as well as resulting in
thriving of towns and cities
• Establishment of centers of excellence in universities. These centers focus on
health, medicine, agriculture, liberal arts and engineering.

The existing and newly emerged public universities have the tendency of becoming
‘comprehensive’ universities offering a bit of everything (Ashcroft and Rayner, 2011in
Tassew, et al., 2017). Comprehensiveness has led universities to lack of focus and hence,
there is a serious problem in terms of the quality of education they provide partly caused by
shortage of qualified academic staff, poor libraries, laboratories, workshops, dilapidated
class rooms and other teaching facilities, and insufficient supplies of text books and shortage
of updated research journals. The opening of new universities by itself is not a problem for
attaining quality education, but this becomes a risk to quality when the needed human power
and infrastructure are not available, the existence of poor leadership and overall inadequate
preparation for the establishment of the universities (Hamdy, 2017).

Public universities in Ethiopia have been pressed hard to operate under centralized
governance framework, limited public research fund, and overall dilapidated academic
infrastructure (Jamil, 2017). In today’s more highly competitive market economy, colleges
or universities cannot be all things to all students and are not expected to continue to serve
up a one-size-fits-all experience. This is neither financially sustainable nor competitively
viable (ibid).

Poor quality, homogenous programs across universities, curriculum irrelevance, and

inadequacy of the capacity of academic staff are the main challenges in Ethiopia’s higher
education system. These and other critical problems in the sector made it imperative for
introducing the idea of differentiation in the Ethiopian HE. Differentiation in the Ethiopian
context is designed to make universities focus on teaching and research in disciplines where
they have particular strengths rather than handling a cocktail of disciplines and

13
overstretching themselves to the extent that they become inefficient and less fruitful. Thus,
through differentiation, the universities are supposed to become more efficient and
successful than they used to be before.

As international experiences show, many colleges and universities are shaping new
strategies without a clear understanding of how to define their student market (Haven,
2014). This implies that differentiation requires careful planning, commitment,
implementation, enabling policy framework, follow up and evaluation of the implemented
strategy for further improvement. Ethiopia should learn from successes and failures of
international universities so that it can at least minimize limitations when it implements
differentiation of its higher education system.

3.2. Practices of Selected Countries

In the following sections, international practices on implementing differentiation in the

higher education sector, opportunities it brings to the educational system and potential
challenges that may inhibit the implementation of differentiation are briefly discussed.

The historical trajectories of many countries suggest that the expansion of higher
education is often increasingly connected to institutional differentiation. Those processes
of institutional differentiation have various origins and consequences. They are driven by
complementary and sometimes conflicting social, political economic, cultural rationales
which strongly influence the shape of higher education systems around key distinctive
categories such as elite/non elite, public/private, vocational/academic and more recently
face to face/online forms of provision. The analyses of the consequences of institutional
differentiation in higher education range from positive accounts of the diversity of mission
to more critical interpretations focusing on the stratification of inequalities (Vincent,
2018).

Differentiation in its best picture aspires to reduce unnecessary duplication by assigning

each higher education institution distinct strategic mandates, research profiles, and
academic programs (Weingarten &Deller, 2010). It promotes efficiency and effectiveness
through incentivizing mechanisms so that individual HEIs are able to fully exploit their
contextual strengths.

The World Bank’s task force on higher education recommends a stratified system that
marries the goals of excellence and mass education, allowing both to be achieved within a

14
single system using limited resources. A stratified system comprises one tier that is
oriented toward research and selectivity, and another tier that imparts a more general
tertiary level education to large number of students (World Bank, 2000). Differentiation
and articulation become important characteristics within tertiary education systems that
are shifting from elite to mass access, and that are seeking to provide an increasingly
sophisticated national economy with the mix of human resources needed to maximize
productivity, efficiency, and overall competitiveness (Ng’ethe et al. 2008).

In countries where attempts were made to introduce differentiation into postsecondary

education systems, certain paths of differentiation which we may call modes of
differentiation were adopted. These modes are the ways they use to classify or
differentiate their higher education institutions in general. Some countries divided their
postsecondary education (PSE) into simply teaching and non-teaching-oriented whereas
others into academic, vocational and technical universities or HEIs. In South Africa, for
example, PSE is divided into traditional universities, universities of technology, and
comprehensive universities (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2014).

The main challenge in a mass higher education boils down to the issue of diversity. It
became clear that increasing student numbers cannot be accommodated by simply
expanding the existing elite higher education system. Different countries dealt with the
situation somewhat differently. Many countries established a parallel sector in the higher
education and channeled the majority of the growth into the new, cheaper, non-university
sector. In the 1960s and 1970s binary systems emerged- such as polytechnics in the UK,
Fachhochschulen in Germany and Colleges of Advanced Education in Australia.
Sometimes the new sector obtained a higher education status only later. These schools had
a distinct characteristic in providing education with a professional orientation and the costs
per student were in general lower than in traditional universities. The binary system was
popular because it allowed handling the expansion without much effect on the traditional
university sector (Teichler, 2009).

Traditionally, universities in most European countries are perceived as equal in terms of

the qualifications they offer to students and in general performance. This egalitarianism is
however put under pressure recently, because current discussions distinguish between
horizontal diversity and vertical diversity. Horizontal diversity means that there are
different types of institutions with their own mission and profile, but they are equal on the

15
 higher education landscape (Maarja and Hans 2009). Vertical diversity refers to a
hierarchy of universities, where diversity is interpreted as one university being better than
the other. In simplified terms the distinction is between egalitarian models of the
continental Europe versus hierarchical model of America.

It has become evident that universities in an egalitarian system cannot compete for a top
position in international university rankings, which are led by more hierarchical higher
education systems (USA and UK). Several countries have now undertaken initiatives to
create an “elite” group of universities in their countries that receive more funding and
preferential treatment in order to develop a profile of a “World Class” university. The
Excellence Initiative in Germany distributes 1.6 billion of additional funding for
excellence, about half of which goes to selected institutions to build up a top-level
research profile that could compete at the world level. Similar initiatives are in place in
France and Finland, but also outside of Western Europe, such as China and Russia (Maarja
and Hans 2009).

In an attempt to gain more insights into the higher education system of other countries and
learn lessons for improving our own system, we have briefly presented below the
experiences of some selected 13 countries and potential practices to be adapted to
Ethiopian context in summarized form.

3.3.Summary of lessons learnt from the case countries

No. Country Key Experience

• Specialized institutions such as Al-Azhar Islamic University

• All types of educational institutions have their own core mission and by-laws.
Egypt
However, they are required to adhere to the global core mission specified in
1
the SDG 2030
• The system of examination and evaluation is centralized and subject to
administrative control.

• Public universities, private colleges, private religious universities, and private

career colleges
• A number of principles adopted to guide the differentiation process
aggressively
• Had also principles of funding that govern the differentiation process and the
2 Canada funding procedures
• Adopted a five dimension of horizontal differentiation called axes of
differentiation
• Have three models of vertical differentiation that govern PSE system structure
from secondary school all along university, then graduation and then to the
labour market; namely, progressive choice, exclusive choice and multiple-

16
No. Country Key Experience

choice education system model

• A good model of differentiation is the one that generates innovation in reforms
and keeps an institution dynamic

• Universities (comprehensive universities) offering many stipulated programs as

a rule at BA, MA and PhD levels
• Universities of technology with high focus on technology
3 Germany
• Single subject universities,
• Universities of applied sciences,
• Colleges of arts and/or music

• Differentiation of areas of studies critical for economic and social development

of Africa.
Pan- • The provision of joint degree programs
African • Establishing a network of universities
4
Universit • Focus on emerging technologies and innovations
y • Establishing centres of excellence
• Research priorities identified from regional and international policy framework
and conventions.

• Highly differentiated both vertically and horizontally

5 France • Special arrangement made to train the future elite of the country
• High standard achieved for technical training
• Differentiation in terms of specialization, program duration, mission, and
management
6 China
• Articulation between HEIs
• The use of different types of differentiation criteria

• National priorities identified prior to differentiation (export areas)

• Advanced institutes were created as part of vertical differentiation (MSc and
PhD)
South
7 • Establishment of foundations for Funding differentiated institutions
Korea
• Research institutes were mandated with strategic economic areas such as ship
building , electronics and automotive
• Introduced tax credits, and customs duty waivers on research equipment.

• A rigid binary divide between universities and (polytechnic-type) technikons.

• three institutional types: universities, technikons (to be called “universities of
South technology”) and “comprehensive” institutions
8
Africa • Manadate areas of HEIs clearly demarcated
• National Qualifications Framework developed and implemented
• High engagement of international, providers

• Universities management depends on what missions they hold health

universities under the ministry of health, etc.
Uzbekista • BA four years, MA two years
9
n • University, academy, and institute
• Higher education is limited to six areas and 23 branches of studies
• Areas of studies are determined based on the priorities of national economy

17
No. Country Key Experience

• Three types of PSE: universities, professional institutes and technical training

centers
• Differentiation planned jointly with key stakeholders (lateral ministries)
10 Chile
• Grants are competitive
• Benchmarking of international universities conducted
• Students loan and grants available

• Specialized professional tertiary education institutions (often at the Masters’ degree

level) in a core professional area.
• Polytechnic law was enacted
• Staff interchange between the universities and polytechnics
• Technical universities offer a logical academic and professional progression
11 Ghana pathway at the tertiary level
• The technical universities are intended to be different in orientation from the
traditional universities with a mission similar to that of the universities of applied
sciences in Germany and the Netherlands.
• Tutorial colleges, distance learning, online, and campuses of foreign-registered
institutions that prepare learners for qualifications awarded by external bodies

• The idea of open university

• Small colleges of arts and music
• Polytechnics
The • Market model of PSE (Post Secondary Education)
12 United • Consortia formation by universities to win fund
Kingdom • Assessment of research is made in terms of three factors; namely, the quality of
research outputs, the wider impact of research, and the vitality of the research
environment.
• Research fund goes to the very best research institutions

• Intensive and comprehensive re-evaluation as a start-up for differentiation at

Arizona university
• Focus of the evaluation was to achieve egalitarianism, academic excellence,
access and maximum societal impact.
• Dynamic innovation initiative at Arizona State university
• Harvardisation or isomorphism undesirable, kills innovation
• In California, each sector of university has a different mission
• The Californian system is vertically differentiated as only very few of the
13 USA
seniors graduating from high school join prestigious universities
• The Californian system known as leader in the world for its capacity to address
access and quality.
• Research-intensive and research active universities are encouraged to be open
• Only few or limited universities should run world class program.
• Each research university must focus on unique and differentiated research and
learning environments that address the needs of their particular regions or
settings.

18
No. Country Key Experience

14 Tanzania • Each HEI specializes in specific aspects of development

• The university system displays less isomorphism; both mimetic and normative
• Governance responsibilities for the tertiary sub-sector are divided among three
Ministries: (i) Education and Culture, (ii) Science, Technology and Higher
Education, and (iii) Regional Administration and Local Government and other
ministries
• Institute of Education (TIE) - responsible for curriculum development
• National Higher Education Policy in 1999.

In conclusion, it is evident from the foregoing review that different countries differentiate
and articulate their higher education system based on their specific needs and contexts.
However, it is understood that rigorous differentiation and articulation alone cannot
necessarily lead to efficiency and effectiveness in post-secondary education systems.
Based on the desk review, it can also be deduced that for effective implementation of
differentiation and articulation, the following must be met:

• political commitment
• The formulation of legal and workable policy frameworks
• The provision of differentiated governance system
• The provision of appropriate funding structure and infrastructure
• Participatory approach/the involvement of key stakeholders
• The introduction of tax credits, and customs duty waivers on research
equipment.

3.4. Enabling factors

Literature reveals that the following factors, among many others, can be considered as
enabling or facilitating factors for effective differentiation to be in place:-

• First, policy environment that show both the interest and commitments of
governments to introduce differentiation in their PSEs is of paramount importance.
• Second, the proliferation of market-driven courses and programs as major changes
taking place in many African universities make it imperative for Ethiopian
universities or HEIs to immediately address the needs. If they do not do so, their
survival will be threatened due to lack of incomes and lack of sufficient budget
from the government support.

19
 • Third, the rise of an increasing demand on behalf of the industry for skills and
abilities as pronounced in the notion of the knowledge economy and not just
theoretical knowledge is a supportive factor for universities to revise their old-
fashioned traditional missions and mandates and cope up with the demands of the
21st century in all aspects of life and science. Greater level of competition is
desired specially for industrial nations which cannot all compete with cost but
through innovation (UN, 2004).
• Fourth, the development of national, regional and international initiatives for
collective thinking globalized and harmonized human resource development and
internationalization of higher education where student and staff mobility is the crux
of the matter in terms of sharing global knowledge and skills.
• Fifth, the need for effective and efficient HEIs governance system for ensuring
transparency, academic and administrative autonomy for them could be required.
• Sixth, demand for innovation is fast-increasing at an international scale. Innovation
comprises factors such as the key people factor, knowledge factor, the capital and
investment factor, and the environment factor many of which need higher
education as a key instrument to change (UN, 2004). The rise for demand of new
21st Century skills and abilities such as critical thinking and problem solving,
collaboration and communication, creativity and imagination, citizenship, digital
literacy, student leadership and personal development (, p. 17, The British Council,
Teaching for Success, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework
for Teachers).

3.5. Implications of Implementing Differentiation in Ethiopian Higher Education

System
The Ethiopian higher education system lacks distinction across the different higher
learning institutions in terms of curriculum, mission, course delivery, management, etc.
This has led to lack of diversity, leading to production of graduates with more or less
uniform qualifications and expertise as well as level of diversity. This would leave labor
markets with few options to fill job places with the right expertise of specific
qualifications required for specific tasks in the industry.

In addition, higher learning institutions in the country often overstretch themselves and
operate inefficiently as a result of running too many programs sub-optimally with the
limited human power as well as teaching and research facilities they have at disposal.

20
Moreover, because of lack of vertically well differentiated higher learning institutions in
the country, students with heterogeneous abilities and talents are all crammed into
homogenous learning institutions (universities). The students would have little options to
choose among fields of study and levels of qualification that fit their abilities and talents.
This problem often results in low success rates of the students and wasted talents.

Therefore, differentiating the higher education system of the country needs to be

undertaken to meet contemporary national and international competitive labor market
needs. Differentiating the system is also important to meet the needs of students as clients
who want to join specific fields of study that match their heterogeneous abilities and
specific talents. This requires differentiation of the higher education system of the country
vertically (tier-system) as well as horizontally (by involving a number of stakeholders that
provide higher education in diverse fields of study in terms of distinct missions and goals).
Implementing differentiation has a number of implications for the higher education
landscape of the country.
The following are some of the implications:-
a. Need for enhanced human and material resources
Differentiation entails enhancing the profile of human resources as well as facilities of the
existing universities. New staff with appropriate qualifications and expertise will have to
be competitively employed for running the various programs efficiently and effectively.
Knowledge and skills of existing staff also need to be enhanced.
b. Need for new physical structure
Differentiation also calls for establishing new physical facilities and infrastructure as new
universities and colleges will emerge so as to increase access to higher education.
c. Need for finance
Differentiation is aimed at bringing about quality education and producing competent
graduates that meet the needs of both national and international markets. There is a need to
invest on human power, facilities, infrastructure, internationalization, etc. and these all
necessitate for huge financial investment.
d. Need to sustainably ensure alignment between graduate production and
market needs
Alignment of graduate production with demand from the market is vital, and this is
ensured through relevant curriculum and program implementation.

21
 e. Need to bring regional governments on board
When implementing differentiation, regional state and federal governments of the country
should be involved to study implications for the region’s socio-economic future and/or
related aspects.
f. Opportunities for students
Differentiation provides more opportunities in terms of programs and levels, and enhances
chances for less privileged students to participate in all institutions. All students will have
the opportunity to pursue a study depending on their preference, background, and
performance in secondary education. This means students choose to study in the higher
education institution and department of their preference from certificate to PhD levels
depending on their academic preparation and performance in secondary schools.
g. Need to continue expanding higher education in the country
Differentiation will increase diversified tertiary systems as a result of which attendance
rates will also increase. Differentiation enhances opportunities for specialization, and will
open more avenues for the need to expand higher education, thus resulting in the need to
establish more universities (higher learning institutions).
h. Need for Legal and regulatory policy frameworks
There is a need to formulate legal and regulatory policy frameworks to effectively
implement differentiation. These include a comprehensive higher education policy,
legislations, regulations, financial and procurement policies, implementation guidelines,
directives, procedures, etc.
i. Governance and Leadership
There should be a decentralized and autonomous system of governance and leadership that
advocates differentiation and enables profiling and positioning of the institution to the
required standard.
j. Focus on core business of higher learning institutions
There is a need to free the management of universities from responsibilities of feeding and
housing students (residential system) through outsourcing or other viable mechanisms in
order to enhance leaders’ engagement in strategic and academic issues.
k. Promote teacher motivation and support system
There should be a sound mechanism to enhance teacher motivation. This is important to
improve their commitment to perform their duties to their best level.
l. University-Industry Linkage

22
There is a strong requirement for establishing legally binding and sustainably functioning
links between industries and higher learning institutions. Additionally, aligning the work
of higher learning institutions with the work of core line ministries is essential. For
example, the work of health-affiliated higher learning institutions should be owned,
closely monitored, and supported by the Ministry of Health. Similarly, the work of
agriculture-affiliated higher learning institutions should be owned, closely monitored, and
supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, etc. In the same manner,
the work of other higher learning institutions should be owned, monitored, and supported
by relevant ministries and line ministries.

3.6.Proposed Differentiation Model

The Ethiopian Postsecondary Education System Differentiation Model can be described as

a viable, socio-culturally and economically grounded model that has to:

• be longitudinally and cross-sectionally viable addressing the entire PSE and

covering all regional and diversity parameters
• have the three dimensions of differentiation organically integrated: horizontal
(both mission wise and subject-wise such as generalist and specialist), vertical (in
terms of level of abilities and competencies), and regulatory characteristics (in
terms of financing, ownership, legal frameworks, etc.)
• be egalitarian model in the sense that it addresses the needs of all citizens at all
times equally and fairly irrespective of institutional egalitarianism.
• Acknowledge that both the individual students’ ability and the academic standard
of the HEIs they join affect their success or failure in higher education.
• Take the emerging trends in national and international or worldwide postsecondary
education systems into continuous consideration.
• have the capacity to powerfully and continuously generate all options,
opportunities, and path ways for citizens to enjoy access to higher education
depending on their ability and interest.
• be a cost-effective model.
• be aligned with the long-term trends of the national human resource requirement
plans, goals, and strategies.
• recognize and capitalize on the demographic attributes of students and
communities who continue to be part of the system.

23
 • recognize the deeper motivation of students and their interests as they can be
categorized into six in terms of interest variable: aspiring academics (achieving),
coming of age (transitioning), career starter (thinking practically), career
accelerator (advancing), industry switcher (changing career) and academic
wanderer (seeking degree)(the differentiated university recognizing the diverse
needs of today’s students).
• empower HEIs to enjoy academic and governance autonomy,
• ensure that all higher education providers in the country (public, private,
international, etc.) work in a systemic framework of partnership and alignment .
• reflect the educational philosophy of Ethiopia (education fundamentally geared
towards serving the society, solving societal problems by providing each citizen
opportunities).
• align funding with performance.
• recognize the need for core public funding to public HEIs

Conceptual Model for Differentiating Ethiopian HEIs

The model can be synthesized graphically as follows:

Labour Market

Affiliation with Multidisciplinary

lateral Ministries 24
Specialized
Degree/Diploma/
Certificate
awarded by ratio Open/online/
Blended
25
3.7.Description of the model
As can be seen from the Model, students can join the higher education system either after
taking secondary school leaving national exam or directly from junior TVET colleges.
This is with the assumption that students, who are interested, after completing Grade 10
have two options: (1) They continue to Grade 11 and then to Grade 12 who, after taking
school leaving national examination at Grade 12, either go to universities or join senior
TVET and liberal arts colleges. (2) They join junior TVET colleges and then either
advance to senior TVET colleges or proceed directly to the labor market.

Within the higher education system, there are colleges and universities of applied sciences,
teaching and research universities or research universities.

It can be depicted from the Model that the higher education system is represented within
the inner circle. From the Model, one can note that graduates at each level can join the
labor market, and also can upgrade their career to the next qualification level. It can also
be seen that the higher education system is differentiated using the criteria indicated in the
oval circles surrounding the inner circle within the Model.

3.8. Proposed Differentiation Categories for Ethiopian

From the reviews and desk studies conducted by the team, higher learning institutions in
Ethiopia can possibly be classified into the following categories:

3.8.1. Research University

Research University is an institution of higher education that undertakes research for
technology adaptation and development and for the incubation of business ideas. In this
connection, with the continuing expansion of higher education, an institution that offers
high quality graduate education to the top students could be a way of supplying newly
established universities with qualified staff.

In Ethiopia, research universities could mitigate the effect of brain drain: The outflow of
young talent and highly trained scholars could be partly mitigated by offering them a local
institutional base that can provide the opportunity to participate in the global scientific
community while addressing local challenges.

Brain drain in Ethiopia could be attributed to, among other things, absence of strong
research-oriented institutions that can offer a comparable working environment for

26
returnees while allowing them to remain connected with the global community of experts
in their respective fields.

Establishing research universities could also result in more partnerships and more research
funding: One of the requirements for possible partnerships with foreign institutions is the
existence of a capable institution on the Ethiopian side to conduct research. This is more
important for research partnerships with potentially considerable funding opportunities
from foreign sources.
By developing a research university with a clearly articulated research agenda and
capable staff, it would be much easier to access research funding and to further enhance
the country’s research capacity through engagement with international partners.
Although there are such compelling reasons for establishing a research university for
Ethiopia, there are also challenges that deserve serious attention. For example, the current
higher education landscape is far from ideal for the development of research universities
and there is also a perceptible lack of commitment to the idea.

These universities (presumably already existing institutions) will need to have at least 20%
of students enrolled on graduate programs and 50% of their academic staff will have to
have PhDs or equivalent qualifications. The current state of affairs in Ethiopian higher
education does not appear to support such research-intensive universities. As of 2012 the
average expenditure on research was about 1% of the total budget of all universities. This
is targeted to reach 5% by 2020. The national average of academics with a third degree is
15% and the percentage of graduate students is about 5.2%, both of which fall far behind
the 50% and 20% targets respectively (Gebregiyorgis, 2018).

Transforming established universities into proper research universities will definitely

require a great deal of government support. Research universities typically require
institutional autonomy over the development and management of their programs, the
direction of research, the generation of resources and the management of their internal
affairs.

Research universities must be doctoral-granting universities and typically offer a wide

range of first degree programs, and they are committed to graduate education through the
doctorate. (The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2010) p.
1).Altbach (2011b, p. 11) indicates that research universities “are elite, complex

27
institutions with multiple academic and societal roles. They provide the key link between
global science and scholarship and a nation’s scientific and knowledge system”.

3.8.2. Comprehensive University

A comprehensive university is an institution of higher learning mandated for doing
teaching, research and community engagement. It engages in teaching as well a research
with equal magnitude, involving PhD, Master’s, and Bachelor programs. The distinction
between Comprehensive University on one hand and Research University on the other
hand lies in the proportion of teaching and research whereby the former engages in
teaching and research in equal proportion whereas the latter engages more in research than
teaching by providing a higher proportion of PhD and Master Education. It is expected
that Comprehensive Universities will further evolve to research universities when they
accumulate enough experiences in terms of human power as well as infrastructure and
research facilities.

3.8.3. University of Applied Sciences

Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) are higher education institutions with profession-
oriented study programmes. Students at these institutions focus on learning how to apply
their theoretical knowledge in practice. Various projects, work placements, and internships
in national and international companies are part of the degree program offered at these
universities. Enrolling on a Master’s degree in Applied Science gives students the chance
to gain an insight into the industry they would eventually like to work in.
A university of applied sciences mostly focuses on providing professional degrees at
Bachelor’s and Master’s level; a university of applied sciences rarely awards PhD degrees,
but may occasionally give this degree in collaboration with other universities. Thus, a
university of applied sciences is typically teaching-oriented. Fields of study such as
Engineering, Technology, Law, Economics, Social Sciences, teacher education,
Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Health Sciences, Agro-food Sciences, Business, etc.
are often given by universities of applied sciences since they are meant to produce skilled
graduates in the professional areas needed by industries (The German Council of Science
and Humanity, 2010).

Universities of applied sciences are different from the classical universities. They give
vocational degrees geared at preparing students to enter the workforce directly. These

28
degrees are typically valued in industry and government or healthcare settings, not so
much in academic ones.

The majority of courses in UAS have a vocational program of learning, offering practical
experience to trainees in the field and a range of essential skills. For example, on Applied
Marine Science courses, universities will have links with local maritime organisations as
well as commercial companies, offering the chance to support their students learning with
work experience. Clothing and textiles applied science qualifications may provide
candidates with opportunities to work with fashion designers or washing machine
manufacturers, learning more about the real world applications of their subject.

Universities of Applied Sciences are institutions of higher education. They are also called
Vocational Universities, Professional Universities, Institutes of Technology, Polytechnic
Schools, etc. They have the mission to train professionals with emphasis on labour market
needs and conduct research and development which supports instruction and promotes
regional development in particular. The education in UAS emphasises co-operation with
the business, industry and service sectors at the regional level in particular.

3.8.4. Colleges
The term “College” here refers to the three categories of colleges each with its own
peculiar characteristics and course compositions as described below: TVET Colleges,
Liberal Arts College, and College of Fine Arts.

3.8.4.1.TVET Colleges
TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) is education and training that
provides the necessary competence (knowledge skills, and attitude) for employment. It
uses many forms of education including formal, non-formal and informal learning, and is
said to be important for social equity and inclusion, as well as for the sustainability of
development. Technical Vocational Education and Training courses are vocational or
occupational by nature meaning that the student receives education and training with a
view towards a specific range of jobs, employment or entrepreneurial possibilities. Under
certain conditions, some students may qualify for admission to Universities of Applied
Sciences to continue their studies at a higher level in the same field of study as they were
studying at the TVET College.

29
TVET colleges have a high focus on the employability of students and are most effective
at preparing students for employment in a very wide range of fields. They prepare
individuals for the workplace as well as further and higher education opportunities. The
education and training is vocational and occupational, and offers a route that can be
followed towards becoming a worker in a skilled trade. While universities specialize in
theoretical training, TVET Colleges are a good choice for students who want practical
training.

TVET colleges offer an extremely wide range of vocational courses, preparing students for
a number of careers. They offer courses in industry fields such as agriculture, business,
hospitality, commerce and management, education, training and development,
engineering, manufacturing and technology, services, building construction and security.

As part of the Higher Education system, TVET Colleges accept students who have
completed high school education. In some countries such as South Africa, University post-
graduates can also enrol for courses at TVET Colleges for more practical exposure.
Admission to a technical or vocational school usually requires a high school diploma or
simply completion of high school.
Students enjoy TVET Colleges because they are able to concentrate on subjects they
enjoy. Instead of sitting in little desks all day, vocational students learn in labs, studios,
automotive garages, airport hangars, salons, retail and other work sites. The days will be
spent learning and practicing the actual skills used in the selected occupations in these
environments

3.8.4.2.Liberal Arts College

A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an
emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to
impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capacities, in contrast
to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum. Students in a liberal arts college
generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of
academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional humanities subjects taught
as liberal arts.
By definition, liberal arts colleges provide students an overview of the arts, humanities,
mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences. Liberal arts colleges give both a 2-year
diploma program and also a four-year degree program. The Diploma of Liberal Arts offers

30
students an opportunity to acquire a breadth of knowledge in the Liberal Arts. Upon
graduating, the graduates may also continue on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree. The
Liberal Arts program covers a range of subjects in the humanities and social sciences, as
well as communications and research methods.
Liberal arts colleges focus on broad skills in critical thinking and writing, not narrow pre-
professional skills. Rather than emphasizing a specific course of study or professional
training. Liberal arts colleges aim to expose students to a wide breadth of courses in the
humanities and both physical and social sciences. Although the curriculum varies from
college to college, a student's coursework at a liberal arts colleges would include many or
all of the following subjects: history, philosophy, religion, literature, physical sciences
(e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics), social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology,
economics, and politics), the arts (e.g., theatre, music, art), languages, and mathematics.
Liberal arts colleges tend to stress the importance of teaching by faculty and usually have
smaller enrolments.
The number of graduate students at a liberal arts college is low or zero. This means
professors are dedicated exclusively to undergraduates. Liberal arts colleges exist to teach
undergraduates and only undergrads. That's far different from universities that are
designed to focus chiefly on faculty research and graduate students. Admissions standards
for liberal arts colleges vary widely from schools that have open admissions to some of
the most selective colleges.

3.8.4.3.College of Arts

The College of Fine Arts consists of professional schools such as Art, Dance, Music and
Theatre, Film and Television. The mission of the college is to prepare students to create, to
teach, to participate in, to understand and to value the arts. Put simply, a fine arts college is
a school that educates students in the visual or performing arts.
Fine Arts faculty members sustain excellence in teaching, creative expression, and
research in the arts and are a source of creation, knowledge, and inspiration about the arts.
Many fields of study fall under fine arts, including graphic design, drawing, film, theatre,
photography, music, creative writing and sculpture, among others.
Students pursue a rigorous program designed to develop the technical and analytical skills
necessary to create art disciplines such as drawing, painting, printmaking, photography,
or sculpture. Students in the Bachelor of fine arts (BFA) program engage in a wide range
of coursework and studio courses, exploring mediums like photography, painting,

31
sculpture and graphic design. The program focuses on developing students’ skills as
artists, creative thinkers, designers and problem solvers. The primary degrees available
under the fine arts umbrella are: Painting, Sculpture, Animation, Photography,
Printmaking, Dance, Film and television, Music, and Theatre.
The program is appropriate for students who are artistically inclined. Most colleges will
require that the student already must have already established skills in the area of the arts
in which he/she hopes to study. A portfolio is a collection of the students’ best work to
showcase their current skills. Some colleges of fine arts will need applicants to submit a
portfolio with their application to the college/school.

Part IV: Summary and conclusion

4.1. Summary
This review has set out to capture national and international experiences to date in relation
to the concept and implementation of differentiation in higher education. This was made
with the intention to inform readers of the overall background of the notion of
differentiation at a time when Ethiopia is planning to introduce differentiation into its
higher education system in order to rescue the sector from its current status of
isomorphism, a status characterized by minimal differentiation but stagnated with
homogeneity, curriculum irrelevance, duplication of resources and skilled human power,
and little or no adequacy to address the needs of the national and international labor
market. It is indicated in the national review made in this paper that though the country
had more or less experienced some sort of differentiation in the 1970’s, this attempt could
not continue for long and instead, higher education expansion continued with an
unprecedented pace without due regard to the concept of differentiation.

Needless to say, even though enrolment ascended to a considerable height in the sector
and diversity was somehow addressed, the sector continued with an alarming rate of
duplication of disciplines and programs of studies across the various universities.

The international experience, however, highlighted that differentiation was put in place in
many higher education systems as they found it relevant and appropriate to address the
critical problems of un-employability, curriculum redundancy, and stagnation in creativity,
and lack of specializations as per the demands of growing international market, and
unnecessary strain of national resources and infrastructural provisions. Much of the
argument in the literature supports the advantages of differentiation if it is implemented

32
properly and effectively with a critical appreciation of local and contextual factors. The
international experience illustrates that for a country to develop economically and increase
the quality of life of its citizens both elite and mass education should be addressed
properly. In fact, an optimal balance is suggested to be made in the literature between
mass and elite education for a country with an emerging economy such as that of
Ethiopia.

4.2. Conclusion
From the foregoing literature review the following key conclusions could be drawn:

• There is no one and an all-time feasible higher education system; systems vary
according to the level of socio-economic development of a country.
• Identification of national development priorities as key preconditions for
determining the types of PSE differentiation is instrumental.
• Balance between mass and elite education should be maintained
• Consultation and participation of key stakeholders in the development of PSE
differentiation policy framework (inception-implementation-evaluation) is
important
• Critical observance to regional and global development agenda cannot be ignored
• PSE provision should be divided between a federal government, regional states,
private institutions and international providers. The federal government however
should assume the regulatory responsibilities including the provision of enabling
policy environment..
• Centre responsible for national curriculum development is assumed to mitigate
problems associated to curriculum.

33
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Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2009). Trends in global higher education:
Tracking an academic revolution.

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