A high-level delegation from the Ethiopia Education and Training Authority (ETA) recently visited Unisa to share in the institution’s expertise on issues relating to quality assurance during an intensive programme.

Formerly known as the Ethiopia Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA), the main purpose of ETA, through its accreditation, reaccreditation, institutional and programme-level quality audit reports and the dissemination of good practice, is to help to enhance the provision of higher education in Ethiopia and the confidence of all stakeholders in the quality of that provision.

Front row (from left to right): Prof O. Kole (Acting ED:CLAW), Prof P. Ngulube (Acting ED:CGS), Ms M. Hadish (Second Secretary & Head of Public Diplomacy Ethiopia Embassy), Mr M. Tefera (Deputy Director Unisa Learning Centre in Ethiopia), Dr M. Hlongoane (Acting ED:CAS) Back row (from left to right): Prof K. Masemola (ED:CHS), Mr T. Bakallo (Deputy Director General Ethiopia HERQA/ETA), Mr A. Babanto (Head of Political and Public Diplomacy, Ethiopia Embassy), Prof Z. Nkosi (DED:CHS), Mr D. Grebremedhin (Director Accreditation HERQA/ETA), Prof M. Mogale (ED:CEMS)

Following discussions between Professor Puleng LenkaBula, Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, and Dr Samuel Urkato, Ethiopia’s former Minister of Science and Higher Education, Unisa, through its Ethiopia Regional Centre, assisted ETA in reviewing Ethiopian higher education systems and processes. As an extension of this process, ETA requested an onsite visit to Unisa to gain first-hand knowledge of how the institution operates, especially concerning quality assurance processes. By the same token Unisa, the largest open and e-learning distance learning institution on the continent and one of the largest globally, regularly benchmarks its processes and programmes against those of its peers, thus the visit is of mutual benefit.

The Ethiopian delegation comprised team leader, ETA Deputy Director-General, Ato Tamrat Motal Bakallo, ETA Director: Accreditation, Ato Debay Grebremedhin and Meseret Melese Fefera of Unisa’s Ethiopia Regional Centre.

Extending from 30 January to 4 February 2022, the programme featured visits to Unisa facilities and campuses, and extensive discussions with executive management as well as quality assurance units and colleges at the institution.   

The delegation also met with the chief executive officers and management of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to share experiences, but also with a view to discussing possible future collaborations.

Unisa’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor hosted a dinner for the Ethiopian Training Authority delegation. In attendance was the Chief Operating Officer of the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), Ms Charlotte Lobe, and DIRCO’s Horn of Africa Chief Director, Ambassador Tselane Mokuena.

From left: DIRCO’s Horn of Africa Chief Director, Ambassador Tselane Mokuena, Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, and DIRCO’s Chief Operating Officer, Ms Charlotte Lobe

The Unisa Ethiopia Regional Learning Centre in Addis Ababa was established in 2007 as a practical manifestation of Unisa’s continental vision outside the borders of South Africa. It provides academic support to students based in Ethiopia.

As of June 2020, 861 Ethiopian graduates have passed through the portals of Unisa’s campus in Ethiopia. Since 2006, Unisa has produced 367 doctoral, 353 master’s and 57 honours graduates hailing from Ethiopia. A remarkable 226 of these graduates lecture at Ethiopian universities, serve in the country’s cabinet, work for international institutions such as the African Union, the United Nations agencies and the International Labour Organization, and hold senior positions in key private business sectors in the country.

Unisa currently plans to co-operate with the Addis Ababa University of Science and Technology, Jigjiga University, and the Ethiopian Aviation Academy. These academic arrangements are within the Unisa Memorandum of Understanding with the Ethiopian Government and the African Union.

This ETA visit and the fruits it will undoubtedly bear constitute yet another instance of Unisa making concrete its vision of being the African university shaping futures in the service of humanity – not only in South Africa, but also on the continent and further abroad.

* By Philip van der Merwe, Editor, Department of Institutional Advancement