We are pleased to send you the fourth newsletter of the FEF project « Supporting the reform of university governance in Ethiopia, 2024 – 2026 », financed by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Over the period of November to December 2025, the following activities have been implemented in the project: - Activity 1.2: a workshop conducted by the Hcéres (High Council for the Evaluation of Higher Education and Research, France) which took place on November 4-6, 2025; it was followed by a seminar on “The role of quality assurance to support university autonomy” (November 7th, 2025).
- Activities 1.1.2: a study visit of 10 representatives from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, the Education Training Authority and the University of Addis-Abeba to France on December 8-12, 2025.
The project team would like to thank the French Embassy in Ethiopia (Mr. Marc Mion, University Projects Coordinator, and Mrs. Sabria Boudinar, Cooperation Attachée for Education) for supporting the activities preparation and coordination. The activities below are currently under preparation: - Activity 2.1.2: a study visit of 13 representatives from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, Education Training Authority and the 11 pilot universities (Adama Science and Technology University, Gondar University, Hawassa University, Haramaya University, University Bahir Dar, Jimma University, University of Arba Minch, University of Addis-Abeba, Mekelle University, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Samara University) to France on March 9-13, 2026.
| | The objective of the project is to support the transition of Ethiopian universities toward their institutional autonomy. The project activities include the experience sharing between French and Ethiopian university managers on different aspects of university autonomy (organizational and financial matters, academic autonomy, human resources management) and is structured around 3 components: - Component 1 aims to support the Ministry of Education in defining its policy and tools to further steer the reform.
- Component 2 targets the reinforcement of the experience of pilot universities in operational management of autonomy.
- Component 3 focuses on the common discussion of the reform results by different local stakeholders, on both central level (ministry and national agencies) and university level (pilot and other universities).
The project partners include: - From Ethiopia: Ministry of Education of Ethiopia and 9 public universities (Addis Abeba University, Arba Minch University, Adama Science and Technology University, Bahar Dar University, Jimma University, Harayama University, Hawassa University, Gondar University, Mekelle University).
- From France: French Embassy, France Education International, France Universités (French University Presidents association), HCERES (High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education), MESR (French Ministry of Higher Education and Research).
| | Highlights on past Activities | | 1. Workshop in Addis-Abeba on Quality Assurance in university On November 4-6, 2025, 21 participants from 11 Ethiopian universities (Addis Abeba University, Arba Minch University, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Jimma University, Harayama University, Hawassa University, Gondar University, University Bahir Dar, Samera University, Mekelle University) and representatives from the Ministry of Education and the Education Training Authority took part in the workshop. The main topic was Quality Assurance in universities policies, with a general presentation on quality assurance models and university profiles, then addressing three main subjects of QA within the HE: a) Student’s employability, b) Doctoral education, c) Internationalization.
The presentations from the Hcéres (High Council for evaluation of research and higher education) highlighted the methodology, processes and tools of the French model for the external evaluation and assessment of HEIs. The presentations were followed by fruitful discussions and exchange between all participants. On the French side, participated in the workshop: Pr. Jean-Pierre Gesson, former President of University of Poitiers and currently external expert at Hcéres, Pr. Amaël Broustet, currently Science Advisor at Hcéres – Department of Europe and International, Mrs Amélie Bensimon, currently project manager for international cooperation at Hcéres – department of Europe and International, and finally Mrs. Fatou Esteoule, head of the higher education unit at France Education International.
2. Final seminar on the Role of Quality Assurance to support university autonomy 
Following the workshop, a final seminar was held on November 7th, 2025, at the Hyatt Hotel and organized around four roundtables: - Roundtable #1: Research & Evaluation
- Roundtable #2: Community service & external partnerships
- Roundtable #3: Teaching & Learning
- Roundtable #4: Internal Quality Management
Ethiopian and French stakeholders were given the opportunity to present the state-of-the-art of the QA processes and tools in their institutions aligned with the issues and challenges faced by the HE in Ethiopia, followed by discussions and exchanges among participants. 3. Study visit to France 
10 representatives from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, the Education Training Authority and the University of Addis-Abeba came to France on December 8-12, 2025. The overarching objective of the study visit was to share French experience with Ethiopian partners on the implementation of university governance, research and innovation reforms. The delegation was hosted in the premises of France Education International (FEI).
The scope of the study visit encompassed a comprehensive examination of the French higher education and research landscape, ranging from the role and missions of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space in defining and steering the national research policy to allocating funds through the National Research Agency (ANR) for research organizations such as the National Scientific Research Center (CNRS) and the national research Institute for agriculture, food and environmental (INRAé). Besides the participants were given an insight into the structure of the doctoral studies at Université Paris Cité: the French model combines Doctoral school (Ph.D. level) and Graduate school (Master’s-Ph.D. level). The Hcéres (High Council for evaluation of research and higher education) plays a key role as the independent public agency for the external evaluation of both HEIs (doctoral studies, research laboratories) and research organizations.
Finally, the visit at University Paris8 focused on innovation policies dedicated to curriculum development, social and community engagement on the university side.
| | Learn more on University Quality Assurance | | To enrich the knowledge of all project partners on the university autonomy, covering both theoretical perspective and bringing evidence on practical implementation of it in different regions and countries worldwide, we created a special rubric indicating bibliographical references on relevant topics. For this fourth information letter, the focus is on quality assurance related to university autonomy. We would like to thank the LIRE department of FEI for compiling those references to our request for the project. You can access the document here. | | Follow us on social media | | Publisher: France Éducation international FEI Team:
Fatou Esteoule, Head of Higher Education Unit at Department for Cooperation in Education (HEU DCE);
Milly Zongo, Project Administration and Management Officer at HEU DCE. esteoule@france-education-inernational.fr
Photos: France Éducation international, Adobe stock
January 2026
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