THE STATUS OF AUTONOMY WILL ENABLE ETHIOPIA’S OLDEST UNIVERSITY TO FULLY FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The Interim President of Addis Ababa University, Dr. Samuel Kifle has said the milestone pronouncement by the Council of Ministers which granted the status of autonomy to Addis Ababa University will make Ethiopia’s oldest University free from political pressure with full focus on education and research.

The academic and administrative staffs of the College of Natural and Computational Sciences have held discussions with interim leadership of the University on the agenda of finalizing the process of the University’s Autonomy.

The interim President, who mentioned the fact that lack of academic freedom has been a problem that many intellectuals in the country have complained about, asserted AAU is projected to serve as an example for other publicly owned Higher Education Institutions.

The University’s Administration and Student Service Vice President Dr. Abdurezak Mohammed on his part stated the preparation of 12 reform documents are among the key transitional works being undertaken on the way to the University’s full autonomy.

On the discussions held at Arat Kilo Campus, top Management of the College which include Prof.Tileye Feyissa, the Dean of College of Natural and Computational Sciences and Prof. Feleke Zewge, The Director of Africa Center of Excellence for Water Management have presented the overall performance and future directions of their work areas mentioning their adherence to collaborate with the interim leadership.

The College’s staff members had expressed their pleasure on the Autonomous honor conferred to the University; forwarded different suggestions on the meeting and discussions were made with the interim Leadership.

Dr. Samuel has said the interim leadership is working to finalize the process of autonomy with ultimate vigilance not to make any fault in the journey but also with appreciable speed not be late.

The interim leadership of the AAU headed by the President Dr Samuel Kifle, has also paid a brief visit to ACEWM’s facility, an Internationally Accredited Regional Center of Excellence.

The Autonomous status of Addis Ababa University was declared by the law passed on 4 August by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers.