Books published by Forum for Social Studies (FSS)

Araqe is a traditional home-distilled beverage that is made from an assortment of cereals such as wheat, sorghum and maize, and has a high level of ethanol. A ubiquitous feature of present day Ethiopian society, with the exception of the predominantly Muslim communities, Araqe is more than the alcoholic drink of choice for people living in rural and small towns. Thanks to its qualities of divisibility, long shelf-life, portability, and high unit value, it is also an important commodity that is produced by, traded between, and consumed in most rural and urban areas of the country. Its negative effects notwithstanding, it is a major object of exchange that ties cities to their rural hinterlands and with one another, thus becoming an important component of the social fabric of the society. It is an important social fact that cannot be dismissed as a fringe phenomenon. But in spite of the substantial amount of araqe that is distilled, traded, and consumed within the informal sector, and the important place it holds in the socioeconomic fabric of the society, no comprehensive study has to date been undertaken on its interrelated aspects at a national level. The general objective of this study is to assess and document the processes (origin, introduction and spread), patterns (arenas, manners), trends (currently evolving forms and future directions), as well as impacts (on environment, economy, social, health and security) of the production, marketing, and consumption of the homemade liquor, araqe, with the ultimate aim of indicating how and to what extent these factors contribute to economic development/stagnation and social cohesion/disruption in rural Ethiopia in particular as well as the country at large.

The last two decades have seen dramatic changes in Ethiopian higher education. System diversification, enrollment explosion, expansion in physical infrastructure, curricular overhaul and establishment of new types of institution - these are the areas of the most significant development in the sector. Nevertheless, it is the sharp decline in the quality of higher education that has been the subject of most concern for the academic community. Yet, very little public debate or research was conducted on this thorny issue, until the Forum for Social Studies (FSS), an independent think-tank in Ethiopia, took the initiative to organize a series of public discussion forums based on the outcome of its own studies on the subject. This bilingual volume (Amharic and English) presents six of the essays which are the results of the FSS initiative. They examine different aspects of quality such as pre-university academic competence of students, higher education quality assurance and accreditation system, curricular relevance, pedagogical training and workload of academic staff, and quality indicators of science education.

Following the removal of the Derg regime from power in 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) swept to power with the promise of restoring peace, tackling the country's chronic poverty, and democratizing the political system. Among the social sectors, Education received the highest attention. The recognition of knowledge as a driving force of economic growth and social development has been evident in the Federal Government's subscription to the EFA and MDG initiatives and in its concerted efforts to reform the educational system. In March 2004, the Ministry set up a Higher Education Systems Overhaul Committee of Inquiry (referred to as the HESO Team) "to examine and analyze the leadership, governance and management of the higher education sector and to suggest ways that the higher education system should be overhauled to enable it to better meet the development needs of Ethiopia" (HESO 2004). The HESO Team's inquiry focused on issues of governance, management and leadership, but not much on academic freedom, nor did it indicate to what extent it is enjoyed by members of the academic community, or what specific reforms are needed to facilitate the full exercise of this fundamental right. Cognizant of this situation, the Forum for Social Studies (FSS) launched, in mid-2006, a research project titled "The Status of Governance, Academic Freedom, and Teaching Personnel in Ethiopian Higher Education". FSS took UNESCO's "Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel" as an international standard-making instrument that could serve as a benchmark for reviewing the situation prevailing in Ethiopian higher education institutions. Within this parameter, the main objective of the FSS research project was to identify the regulatory framework, institutional arrangements and established practices pertaining to governance, academic freedom and conditions of service of higher-education teaching personnel and assess these in terms of their compliance with the relevant principles and norms enshrined in the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation. Based on case studies of major higher education institutions, the project also sought to generate reliable and timely information that would enhance public awareness and facilitate informed policy intervention to improve the situation. A total of seven major public universities and four private colleges were selected for the institutional case studies. Altogether, over 555 teaching personnel and 2,110 students participated in the case studies and this publication presents the findings of all the case studies and three of the conference papers. The investigation in the case studies has sought to generate data on the perceptions of students regarding the exercise of academic freedom and the teaching-learning process, but this was mainly to provide a comparative perspective. The primary focus of the study has been on the status and perceptions of the teaching personnel.