FAITH – Ethiopian Universities of Applied Sciences are F(it), A(djusted), I(nnovative), T(rendy) & H(olistic) to meet Industries and the Labour Market

In 2022, the Ethiopian government differentiated the higher education sector and converted 15 of the country’s 44 universities into universities of applied sciences (UAS). The universities are to contribute to social and economic regional development and increase the employability of their graduates. The universities are to be supported in this process by an international consortium in order to utilise European experience with HAW for Ethiopia.

Procedure

Initially, studies and reports will be prepared on the success and practices of the HAW model in Germany and Europe, on transfer to other countries and on the status quo in Ethiopia.

In a second step, the promising concepts will be transferred to three Ethiopian universities as examples and adapted to local conditions. Tandems of German and Ethiopian professors are working on various topics such as practice-orientated teaching, entrepreneurship and partnerships with industry.

In the final step, these adapted concepts will be ‘rolled out’ to the other 12 Ethiopian universities and quality assurance measures will be established.

The project is funded by the EU as part of the Erasmus+ programme. Kotebe University in Ethiopia is the overall lead partner, while CHE is responsible for a sub-project.

Parallel to this project, a project with a similar focus is being funded by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in which CHE is also involved.