The Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA) has taken measuresagainst 15 private collages and higher-learning institutions for failing to meet regulatory requirements, which it says undermines the quality of education being delivered to students, The Reporter has learnt.
The Agency,as of last week, issued a letter to 15 colleges, of which most are located in Oromia and Addis Ababa city administration. The measures range from ordering the closure of campuses and educational facilities to mere issuance of warning letters to take corrective measures.
In this regard, Rift Valley University was ordered to close down its four campuses located in Ayat, Holeta, AshewaMeda and Sheno towns. The University is accused of operating campuses and admitting students in the aforementioned four campuses without any certification or permission issued to it by the regulatory agency.
The University is owned by DenkuDeyassa, a well-known businessman with a range of business activities from the hospitality sector to education.
In the same token, Harambe College was also ordered to close down its campuses in Genche and Sulutatowns for similar violations. The College was also caught in the act of misinforming the public by advertising itself as a ‘university’ while it is a college, HERQA said in a letter issued to the institutions.
Furthermore, the Agency has also ordered Yardstick College to close its campuses in Genche and Sulutatowns for the same reasons of failing to acquire permission from the Agency.
Additionally, KeaMed medical college Ayer tena campus (permit), Genius Land University College (false advertisement), Jigdan College (), BST College (permit),Blue mark(false advertisement), Techo Link college (permit), Andent college (false advertisement), Rada College (permit), Gage University college (permit), Wisdom college (permit), Ethiopies (false advertisement) and Seamless college (permit) are also part of the institutions which have felt the regulatory wrath of HERQA this week.
After looking into this, a letter issued by TamratMota, deputy director of the Agency, indicate that the findings were made following a sudden inspection conducted by experts from the Agency. The letter furtherstated that the Agency will take every legal action on those institutions that violate its regulation.
It is to be recalled that the Agency which is now led byAndualemAdmassie (PhD), former CEO of Ethio-telecom, came up with findings indicating 27 campuses located in and around Addis Ababa were delivering services without having any certificate or permission from the Agency.
Andualem warned the owners and heads of those institutions to fix their problem as soon as possible and indicated that his agency will takethe necessary action. In addition, the Agency also warned that it will soon begin similar inspections across the country.
HERQA, which was established to monitor and regulate higher education institutions, is supposed to have an updated database of students across the country. It was given a mandate to follow-up on the implementation of the circular.
Established in 2003 as a regulatory body, HERQA is responsible for overseeing the education sector.
