Teaching Methods in Agricultural Colleges and Universities in Ethiopia: The Case of Ambo College of Agriculture

Abstract

Training of students in the areas of agriculture at tertiary education
level was not a recent phenomenon in the Ethiopian education
system, rather the trend in move is as old as the age of educational
system of this country. The first agricultural institute was established
at Ambo College in 1930's.
From that time onwards, thousands of agricultural professionals in
different fields of specializations have been produced to address the
demands of technical knowledge for the betterment of the agricultural
sector of the country. The demand of this training is continued to be
felt and realized in different sectors as well as at higher level of
studies. Many universities under the federal government and colleges
in the regional states are training a huge number of professionals at
different levels of capacities. This training is targeted towards the
alleviation of shortage of manpower in the areas of agriculture so as
to reduce the level of food shortage facing this nation. The
agricultural policy of the government clearly stipulates that agricultural
led industrialization policy can only be achieved when those capable
professionals in colleges and universities are to be trained with
effective teaching methods.