Sida – Higher Education and Research in Ethiopia

Sida - Higher Education and Research in Ethiopia

Sub-Saharan Africa

2017 - 2018

Countries

Ethiopia

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Michael Watts

Project Overview

The Federal Government of Ethiopia designated Addis Ababa University (AAU) as the national hub for post graduate studies, particularly doctoral level studies. This was intended to streamline the capacity development of the country’s higher education sector and facilitate the professional development of academic staff by increasing the level of their terminal degrees. However, it has put an incredible strain on AAU as it tries to meet the highly unrealistic demands of central government to increase the number of academic staff with M-level and doctoral degrees. Sida is a major donor to AAU and had funded an innovative but – as the evaluation showed – unsustainable international partnership programme developed by the university. NIRAS/Indevelop was contracted to evaluate the programme with Michael Watts as M&E Team Leader.

Approaches & Outputs

This impact evaluation required a mixed methods approach using: (i) quantitative research (surveys and document reviews) to examine the outcomes of the partnership programme (numbers and longevity of partnerships, numbers of international academics participating in it and numbers of staff studying for and receiving post graduate degrees); and (ii) qualitative research (interviews and focus group discussions) to explore its processes. The output was a case-based final report embedding the evaluation findings in the context of the policies and priorities of the federal government and AAU.

Impact On

The recommendations highlighted the very limited sustainability of the programme and informed Sida’s re-direction of its funding to more sustainable partnerships.

Challenges

Higher education is highly politicised in Ethiopia and AAU is under considerable pressure from the federal government to meet unrealistic targets. Previous evaluations had highlighted the innovative potential of the programme but failed to note its limited sustainability. This evaluation was therefore always going to be very sensitive and so required strong evidence, rigorous data analysis and careful reporting that balanced the needs of AAU against the need for Sida to make good use of Swedish taxpayers’ money.

Sida – Higher Education and Research in Ethiopia