Navigating the Artificial Intelligence Frontier: A Multi-Level Policy Enactment Study of Ethiopian Higher Education

Abstract

In the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Higher Education is facing new challenges and opportunities
for sustainable quality education. What mechanisms can Ethiopia Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) employ to tap the opportunities and address the challenges of AI in Education without
compromising the quality of Education? This research investigates on AI policy enactment by
analyzing the tension between policy level official documents and current practice. Based on Stephen
Ball’s Policy Enactment Framework, the study focuses on Situated, Material, Professional, and
External contexts of AI policy and practice. First, a PRISMA-guided systematic document analysis
was conducted on official policy documents at continental, country, sectoral and institutional levels.
Then, by selecting key informants from applied and research universities, semi-structured interviews
were employed. To appraise the direct and indirect relevance of AI mentioned in the body of the policy
documents, the official documents were analyzed based on a Red-Amber-Green (RAG) analysis
method. One of the findings of the study was, the Material infrastructure and Professional capabilities
of instructors are not at the required level to meet the objectives of external policies. Rather than
making argument on embracing or banning AI, this research provides ways for developing policies
sensitive to the contexts of HEIs. The results offer a planned roadmap for policy enactment which is
culturally sensitive, ethically rooted, and pedagogically sound in the reality of Ethiopian HEIs.