Ethiopia: Jimma University suffers with rising staff turnover
Jimma Times
Jimma University, one of the biggest public universities in Ethiopia, has a worsening problem of employee departures, an official told Jimma Times speaking on condition of anonymity.
Initially established as Ethiopia’s first agricultural technical school with research programs over five decades ago, Jimma University is a product of several institutes merging, before it gained university status in 1999. It is Ethiopia’s first and a pioneer higher institution in Community Based Education (CBE). Despite recent infrastructure growth and department expansion in various programs, JU is losing a growing number of teaching manpower. This grave problem has kept many new departments understaffed and the crisis is common to all its campuses around Oromia.
According to a JU report, some departments are failing to fulfill over two thirds of their staff requirements, particularly the necessary amount of PhDs for Masters Programs. Over a quarter of its listed academic staff is often on a study leave and attempts to train staff abroad for advanced degrees often lead to even more departure.
Many are lured by higher paying jobs found outside Ethiopia and, in some cases, in Addis Ababa University (AAU) and outside Oromia at the Mekelle University (MU) of the Tigray regional state. “We always consider it fortunate to see over half a department staff returning subsequent semesters,” the JU official told Jimma Times, with concern about the future of the university.
The Belgian Institutional University Cooperation Project IUC-JU has attempted to improve the capacity of JU. But many state that such projects often give better qualification for JU employees who want opportunities outside Ethiopia or seek scholarships in the West.
Self-perpetuating
The staff turnover crisis in JU is hard to resolve due to its self-perpetuating nature. Lacking incentives to stay, proportionally more personal often depart JU each year and it has become an expected norm.
More Ethiopia-educated professionals are always found in Western countries than they are found inside Ethiopia, resulting in substantial direct and indirect losses for Ethiopian economy. The ensuing staff recruitment, training and replacement costs add further to the expenses of universities. Therefore, some believe raising financial incentives drastically will cost Ethiopia less than its current losses from not taking the vital step. However, even such steps can fail if they are done without cautious federal management and without targeted injections into programs that contribute to the country’s most imperative sectors.
Other solutions suggested include improving employee morale since the rising turnover affects the morale of those who stay. Though such problems are common in many third world countries, advancing and pushing organizational objectives parallel to regional and national objectives help to create a sense of common purpose.
Some Ethiopians in the Diaspora often want to give back also, but there are no effective federal level initiatives that facilitate such desires to serve the Diaspora. And there are also no compulsory federal steps that obligate prospective Diaspora to give back in both targetted and wholesale techniques.
Concerns of equal opportunity issues corresponding to Ethiopia’s politics, particularly decades old ethnic politics, also compound the pre-existing problems. However, the most prevailing issues remain the lack of financial incentive and opportunities.
Phone calls by Jimma Times to the IUC-JU were not answered.
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