Quality Assurance Practices in Ethiopian Higher Education: The Case of Addis Ababa University

Abstract

At the beginning of the millennium, despite voiced concerns by other
stakeholders and in the absence of favorable policy environment and virtual
ignorance of the sector throughout the 1990s, higher education establishments in
Ethiopia experienced hegemonic attack by government. This position was
subsequently used by government and the ministry to introduce a series of
reforms in higher education and teacher education termed as Higher Education
System Overhaul (HESO) and Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO)
respectively. Using available policy and research documents, this article explores
quality notion in higher education, important international and domestic pressure
attributed for the need to establish quality and relevance assuring mechanisms.
Finally, attempt was made to see existing mechanisms within Addis Ababa
University and challenge to establish system of quality assurance mechanism to
the expanding sector.