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Programa Africa Subsahariana 
 
                                                
Challenges for Higher Education in Eritrea In The Post-
Independent Period to the Present– A Case of Asmara 
University1
 
By Ravinder Rena 
 
 
Abstract:  
Eritrean higher education faced numerous challenges over many years. It was 
particularly suffered during the colonial peri ods.  Eritrea exerted its efforts to develop 
its dilapidated educational system with the advent of its independence. Eritrea 
celebrated its sixteenth birthday recently . However, the educational challenges in 
higher education still remain high. The gove rnment of Eritrea established different 
colleges in different administ rative regions. The University of Asmara is the only 
university in the country that had to be revi talized after its devastation by the 30-year 
war of independence. Since independence, the University has been able to contribute 
to the nation’s skill manpower considerably. This paper examines higher education of 
Eritrea for about 60 years period. It delves  the University of Asmara and its birth, 
development and apogee. The paper also give s some insights on recent educational 
development in Eritrea.    
 
Keywords: Higher education, Eritrea, Asmara University, Colonial period, Educational 
development, etc. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
Eritrea is a new nation in the Horn of Af rica with a population of approximately 
4.3 million. The modern history of Eritrea dates back to the period of colonization, by 
Italy during more than 50 years (1890-1941) and later for about ten years under the 
administration of the Great Britain. Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia in 1952 by 
United Nations’ resolution. During th e period 1952-1962, the Ethiopian regime 
undermined the federation and ultimately a nnexed Eritrea as one of the provinces of 
 
1 Ph.D. from Dept. of Economics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, as well as a University 
Gold Medal  (for the Best Ph.D. candidates/ thesis in the field of Economics/ Commerce/ 
Business Management). 

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Ethiopia without the United Nations taking action to defend its own resolution or the 
people of Eritrea. In 1961, an  armed struggle for liberation began and lasted for thirty 
years. On 24 May 1991 the thirty-year war co ncluded with a victory of the Eritrean 
people. In May 1993, Eritrea declared its independence following an internationally 
supervised referendum (Pankhurst, 1972; Pool, 2000; Wrong, 2005; Rena, 2006e). 
 
Under the colonial administ rations, educational opportunities for Eritreans were 
very limited and focused on colonial cult ures and social experiences. Policymakers 
generally agree that the most important factor in the process of socioeconomic 
development is the training of all-round skilled manpower which involves appropriate 
skills, knowledge, attitudes, motivations and resourcefulness to bring about 
improvements in quality of production, services, technology and management 
(Thompson and Fogel, 1976; World Bank, 2002; Rena, 2006d). Accordingly, since 
independence, Eritrea has focused on the education of its people, which is a vital 
element in the process of rebuilding its shattered social and economic infrastructure 
(World Bank, 2003; David, 2004; Rena, 2006a). 
 
During  the  1970s  and  '80s  the  principal opposition movement,  the  
Eritrean People's  Liberation  Front  (EPLF) developed an alternative educational 
system in the "liberated areas. "  Schools had to be held under cover for fear of aerial 
bombardment by the Ethiopian air force.   Many schoolchildren and teachers were 
killed or injured in such attacks (Pool, 1997; Rena, 2005b).  
 
On 24 May 1991, the EPLF defeated th e Ethiopian army in Eritrea and 
succeeded its independence.  For the last 16 years of independence, Eritrea has been 
facing many challenges in rebuilding and re constructing its educational system, from 
scratch.  In  the  field of higher education,  the Government of  Eritrea  is attempting  
to  fuse  the  shadow  that  remained of Asmara University  with  the  Research  and  
Information  Center  on  Eritrea  (RICE),  a  loose  association  of  Eritrean  academics 
throughout  the world  and  in  the  EP LF-administered areas  themselves. Creative 
approaches are required to tap the skills of Eritrean academics to create a new 
university that fulfills the government's stated aim of respecting academic freedom.  
 
The University of Asmara is a young and very small institution that had to be 
revitalized after its devastation by the 30-year war of independence. Since 

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independence, the University has been able to contribute to the nation’s skill 
manpower pool 2,821 baccalaureate degree, di ploma, certificate holders out of which 
491 were girls and over 1200 civil servants who have undergone intensive 8 weeks of 
training at the management institute. The performance of University with respect to 
achieving high functional standards is yet to be rigorously evaluated.  
 
Method and Material  
The main method employed in this study was an analysis of relevant literature 
and a critical reflection on the author’s research work re lated to the subject matter. 
The literature search included  two main steps: Internet  search of accessible and 
available material on higher education in Eritrea, manual search of existing literature, 
and communication with some officers and subject experts to locate published and 
unpublished works and to understand the higher education situation before 
independence. 
 
The university has relatively more capaci ty as compared to its local partners 
therefore the local linkage is some what skewed. On the other hand the centres of 
excellence with which the university is linke d have much more re sources and capacity 
as compared to the University of Asmara. 1 For example, Eritrean Center for 
Organizational Excellence was establis hed in October 2006 with the following 
objectives: i] To render different administ rative training; ii] To give advice to 
institutions which helps them to give efficient services to their customers; and iii] To 
introduce necessary techniques to increase production. I strongly believe that this 
working paper offers some valuable alternatives for enabling institutions of higher 
learning in contributing to national develo pment especially in developing countries and 
in due course we hope to be able to prove its validity. 
 
HIGHER EDUCATION IN ERITREA UNDER HAILE SELASSIE  
Asmara University originated from the efforts of the Comboni Sisters in Asmara.  
During the 1950s, the sisters were running the Santa Familia Secondary School and 
planned to upgrade it to university status . In 1958, following co nsultations with the 
University of Bologna, Italy, they founded the Santa Familia University on a small site 
adjacent to their school.  Italian was the me dium of instruction.  The university was 
recognized by the then-gover nment of Eritrea.  The university was small and poorly-
equipped but the Comboni Sisters notably two dynamic members of the order, Sister 

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Maria-Nora and Sister Fosca were determined to build a substantial institution.  In 
1960, the Superior Council of the Institute of Italian Un iversities recognized the 
university. The university  was  created  and maintained  in  the  face  of determined 
o p p o s i t i o n   f r o m  s e c t i o n s  o f   t h e   E t h i o p i a n  g o v e r n m e n t ,  a n d  d u r i n g   t h e   r u l e  o f  
Mengistu Haile Mariam was turned into another instrument to subvert Eritrean 
nationalist claims(Tekie, 2004; Rena, 2007).  
  
Following the abrogation of the Fede ration in 1962, the Comboni Sisters 
approached the Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa in an attempt to obtain 
recognition from the Ethiopian government.  The then Vice-Minister of Education, Dr. 
Mengesha Gebrehiwot, who was  a  Roman Catholic,  supported  them.2  Dr. Mengesha  
proposed  that  the name be changed  to Asmara University,  and  that Haile  Selassie  
be  approached with  the  request  that  he  be Chancellor.   The Sisters agreed to both 
proposals.  Haile Selassie accepted the Chan cellorship, but when he was asked to visit 
Asmara and confer degrees on the graduating students, the Ministry of Education 
objected. The Minister, Akelework Habte Wold, did not want the university or its 
degrees to be recognized.  He sent a cl andestine mission to the University and 
reported that standards were inadequate.  The mission had neither examined students 
nor interviewed staff.  Meeting with  the  Empe ror  and  officials  from  the  University,  
Akelework  insisted  that  a  second  asse ssment mission  be  sent before any degrees 
be conferred by the Emperor.  Haile Selassi e finally overruled his minister, and visited 
Asmara to award the degrees (Africa Watch, 1993).  
  
Akelework  still  sent  his  delegation,  which  recommended  that  the  
University  be  downgraded  to  a  "junior college".    After  a  struggle,  in which  the  
University  defended  its  standards  by  reference  to  Italian  Universities,  this 
recommendation was also abandoned (Africa Watch, 1993; Rena, 2005b).  
  
The university then faced a struggle to expand from its small premises.  A large 
plot of land had been acquired and a four-s tory building, built around a courtyard, had 
been designed. The Sisters had obtained the fi nance.  However, it  emerged  that  a  
conspiracy  existed,  including  the  Ethiopian  Ministry  of  Education  and  members  
of  the  Italian community in Asmara3, to prevent further construction of the building.  
The Italian contractor had undertaken to bu ild the full four stories, but had stopped 
after completing only one, claiming his contract was now fulfilled. Despite intimidation, 

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the University lawyer, Kenazmach Gila Mikael  Bahta, took the case to court and after 
having his initial case rejected by a corrupt judge won on appeal.  The University was 
awarded Ethiopian Birr 900,000 for breach of contract, plus expenses, and the building 
was completed as planned (Africa Watch, 1993; Rena, 2005c).  
  
However, at the point of victory, internal politics in the Comboni order caused 
the election of a new Mother-General, a li ttle-educated Sister who was averse to 
confrontation.  She refused to accept the damages, save the small sum of Ethiopian 
Birr 30,000, and removed Sister Maria-Nora (s ent back to Italy and confined to her 
home) and Sister Fosca (sent to Bahrain). Ther eafter,  the  Comboni  Sisters  proved  
c o n t e n t   t o   p u r s u e   f a r   m o r e   m o d e s t   educational  aims. The teaching staff was 
reduced and the curriculum restricted.  An ambitious plan for the construction of a 
nine-story tower was cancelled.  Sisters Maria-Nora and Fosca had already obtained 
the money and building materials, and arrang ed for students and lecturers from the 
civil engineering faculty to build the tower as part of their practical education.  A crane 
was erected which still stands two decades later.  The new leadership sold the building 
materials and abandoned the project.  Following the revolution, the Order was happy 
to hand the university over to the government (Africa Watch, 1993; Rena, 2007).  
  
Perhaps the most successful measure by the Haile Selassie government to deny 
higher education to Eritreans was the intr oduction of a quota system for access to 
University.  The system was not exactly a quota, but a calibrati on of examination 
scores according to province of origin.  Stud ents from provinces with poor educational 
endowment such as Gemo Gofa and Sidamo Chad to achieve lower marks to gain 
entrance to University compared to those with better schools such as Eritrea. What 
made this otherwise-acceptable scheme into a form of discrimination was that the 
threshold score for Eritrea was set higher than for other Et hiopian provinces, such as 
Shewa, which were given better educational resources (Rena, 2006b).  
 
It observed that Eritrea had better educational facilities than Ethiopia before the 
Federation. The education was indeed developed during the period of British Military 
Administration (1941-52).  The educatio nal system was under the Eritrean 
government, and thus independent of Addis Ab aba. It used Arabic and Tigrinya (the 
language of the highlands, which is written in the indigenous Ge'ez script) up to grade 
four, and English thereafter.  A Publicat ions Committee within the Department of 

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Education, founded in 1953, developed its own Tigrinya textbooks and imported Arabic 
textbooks from Egypt (Rena, 2005b).  
  
During the period of the federation  (1952-62), the Emperor Haile Selassie 
worked to undermine all Eritrean institutions that included the educational system.  In 
1957, the Ethiopian Educational Attache in Asmara began to import Amharic textbooks 
and teachers from Ethiopia, under instructions from the Ministry of Education in Addis 
Ababa.  Amharic is the language of government in Ethiopia, though it is not spoken as 
a first language in Eritrea.  Amharic was taught  as  a  foreign  language  in  Eritrean  
schools,  and  the  Ethiopian  teachers  received  30 per cent  higher  pay  than  their 
Eritrean counterparts, as a “hardship allowance”( Africa Watch, 1993; Rena, 2005c).  
  
Following  Haile  Selassie's  abrogation  of  the  federation  and  annexation  of  
Eritrea  in  1962,  the  policy  of Ethiop ianization  intensified and all decisions 
pertaining to Eritrea were made in Addi s Ababa. In 1963, the Publications Committee 
was abolished, and the Arabic and Tigrigna textbooks it had earlier commissioned or 
imported were destroyed by burning. Amharic  became  the  medium  of  instruction  
throughout  the  educational  system  from   first  grade. The Amharic language also 
became a compulsory subject for admission  to university in Eritrea (Teshome, 1974; 
Rena, 2005b).  
  
Keeping the oppression in mind, teache rs and students started the Eritrean 
nationalist movement during period from 1957 to 1967.  The first strike occurred in 
1957 at the Haile Selassie Secondary School  (now the Red Sea Secondary School-
Asmara). This school, run by the Federal Go vernment and was the first place in which 
Amharic was made compulsory.  In response to the strike, 300 students were detained 
at Adi Quala prison for one month.  No sooner was this st rike settled than discontent 
spread to the Prince Mekonnen Secondary School; frequent strikes occurred for a 
decade (Teshome, 1974; Rena, 2005b).  
  
In 1963, the teachers went on strike . The important reason was the pay 
differential between Eritrean and Ethiop ian teachers, working under the same 
conditions since all teachers were employed by the same Ministry, in Addis Ababa, no 
administrative reasons coul d be adduced for maintain ing the discrepancy.  The 
underlying reason was, however, unhappiness at  the  Ethiopian government's policies, 

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and sympathies  for  the  Eritrean  Liberation  Front (ELF),  which  had  just  started  a  
guerrilla  war. The government threatened to dismiss the teachers, and brought 
replacement trainee teachers to take their place, but backed down when the strike 
spread to the student population. Althou gh, it was very late, the pay issue was 
resolved in 1966 (Africa Watch, 1993; Teshome, 1974; Rena, 2006d).  
   
Throughout this period, many teachers were active in the “Committee of Seven” 
(Mahber Showate)  movement, a clandestine nation alist organization, structured 
around seven-member cells. Many teachers we re arrested and detained on account of 
alleged involvement in this movement; emergency powers assumed by the governor to 
combat banditry  allowed  him  to  detain  suspected  political  opponents  for  three 
months  without  trial. A larger number of teachers were transferred to the interior 
part of Ethiopia, and replaced by Ethiopian teachers.  
  
In 1967, large-scale military confrontatio ns began between the Ethiopian army 
and the forces of the ELF.  The expression  of civil dissent through trade unions and 
schools effectively ceased.  Young nationalists directly joined the guerrillas; and 
especially after the declaration of a State of Emergency in 1970Cany sign of dissent in 
the schools was immediately iden tified with subversion and dealt with accordingly.   
The new governor, Ras Asrate Kassa, also took a more conciliatory line to teachers and 
students who showed no overt dissent.   Teachers and students thus became more 
cautious, and the beginning of a long period of 24 years of enforced self-censorship 
began. In contrast to Addis Ababa, students in Eritrea played little part in the events of 
the revolution of 1974.  
 
EDUCATION IN ERITREA AFTER THE REVOLUTION  
In September and October 1974, there we re hopes of a negotiated settlement 
to the Eritrean war.  Following the assassination  of  General  Aman  Andoum,  and  
the  killing  of  60  senior  officials  from  the  Emperor's  government  in November 
1974, a committee of 38 respected Eritrean citizens was chosen by elders of the 
community in the hope of  helping  the ne w government settle the problem of Eritrea 
by negotiation.  However, the army also launched a severe crackdown in Eritrea.  Many 
youths were killed by the security services, often by strangling with piano wire.  
Reprisals were taken against most of the committee of 38, including several prominent 
educationalists.  During the following three years, there was a steadily increasing level 

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of harassment and violence against educated Eritreans. This peaked in the Red Terror 
of 1977-78.  As elsewhere in Ethiopia, teache rs and students were a particular target. 
Thousands were detained and many were executed (Adane, 1992; Rena, 2006c). 
 
At the outbreak of the revolution in 1974, there had been 3,000 Eritrean 
teachers in Eritrean schools.   By the end of the decade, this number had fallen to 
about 1,200.   As well as  those killed or  forc ed  from  the profession,  the policy  of  
transferring  Eritreans  to  Ethiopia  and  vice  versa  continued.  By 1980, more than 
2,000 non-Eritrean teachers including Indians were teaching in Eritrea (Rena, 2006e).  
  
It is found that the liberal reforms of the revolutionary government in some 
areas had little impact on education in Eritrea.  The literacy campaign, which used nine 
languages, including Tigrinya , might appear to have been intended to reverse the 
dominance of Amharic.  However, only adul ts benefited from the campaign, which was 
largely confined to the main towns.  Am haric remained compulsory in schools.  
(Incidentally, the literacy campaign neither recognized nor taught literacy in Arabic, 
one of the major languages used in Eritrea, and indeed in parts of Ethiopia, especially 
in centers of Moslem learning.)  
  
In the mid 1970s, private non-mission sch ools were nationalized throughout 
Ethiopia.  Mission schools rema ined unaffected except in Eritrea, where these schools 
were also nationalized, in 1982.  Standards plummeted, as the state did not have the 
resources to maintain the schools.  Class si zes doubled.  By 1988, of 832 students in 
the twelfth grade of the Comb oni School (currently, the Barka School -Asmara), only 
three reached the required standard to progress to University. Thus, by the 1980s, the 
Eritrean educational system was totally under the heel of an Ethiopian administration 
committed to the forcible Ethiopianization of Eritrea.  Relatively little pressure was 
needed to maintain this state of affairs; those who opposed it fled to the hills to join 
the EPLF(Tekie, 2004; Rena, 2006b).  
  
Surveillance was constant in the educational system.  All teachers were obliged 
to attend weekly classes in Marxism-Leninism,  in which  their  adherence  to  the  
official  philosophy  could  be   scrutinized  and  assessed.  Official publications were 
read and funds were raised for political or military activities.  Teachers who wanted 

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promotion, or who wanted civil rights such  as easy access to travel permits, were 
usually obliged to join the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE), the single state party.  
  
EPLF Educational Policy  
The EPLF began its own educational pr ograms in the mid 1970s, and expanded 
them during the 1980s.  Inside Eritrea, the physical conditions were extremely difficult.    
Along with all other aspects of life, the schools had to be concealed from the danger of 
air attack.    Schools were thus held  underground or beneath camouflage, and 
evacuations to air raid shelters were frequent.  Basic equipment was also in very short 
supply, and there was a chronic problem of lack of qualified teachers.  
  
Following on from the policies of the ELF and the British Military Administration, 
Tigrinya and Arabic are the two national languages of Eritrea used by the EPLF.  These 
two languages are taught compulsorily.  For the most part, however, primary 
education is in the native language of the community.   To date, primary curricula have 
also been developed  in  Tigre  (Ge'ez  script) ,  and  Kunama,  Saho  and  Afar  (Latin  
script).    Bilen,  and  Nara  curricula  ar e  developed. Hedareb speakers prefer to use 
Tigre or Arabic language(Rena, 2005b).  
  
Academic Freedom under the Dergue  
During  the Dergue regime (1974-91)  ther e  were  a  number  of  egregious  
abuses  against  academic freedom at Asma ra University.  An early incident was the 
killing of Dr. Petros Habtemikael, an economist, in 1975.  Dr. Petros  taught  extension  
courses  in  the  evening,  and  some  of  his  students  were  Ethiopian  military  
officers,  who objected to his use of Eritre an rather than Ethiopian examples in his 
coursework, and to the low grades they were  given.  It believed that the officers 
caused Dr. Petros to be detained and executed (Africa Watch, 1993).  
  
For the most part, the Dergue's polic y was to undermine the autonomy of 
Asmara University and make it an instrument of its rule.  After coming under 
government control in 1977, Asmara University was placed directly under the 
s u p e r v i s i o n   o f   t h e   c o m m i s s i o n   f o r   H i g h e r   E d u c a t i o n  u n l i k e   A d d i s   A b a b a   
University,  which  retained  a  degree  of  autonomy.   Amharic became the language 
of administration.   The University was starved of resources, which were preferentially 
targeted to Addis Ababa University.  For example, a grant from the United Nations 

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Development Program (UNDP)  for  the  Faculty  of  Science  was  held  up  while  the  
C o m m i s s i o n   f o r   H i g h e r   E d u c a t i o n   t r i e d ,   ultimately unsuccessfully,  to  have  it  
diverted  to  Addis  Ababa.    In  1982,  after  the  question  of  the  nine-story  
building  for  the University had been re vived, the government directed that the 
university should instead take over existing secondary school premises in Asmara.  
Mission schools were then confiscated.  This was an example of ostensibly assisting the 
University, but denying Eritrean students the opportunity to obtain the necessary 
education to attend it.  In the event, mo st of the confiscated schools were merely 
nationalized and only two became university premises. 
  
It is important to note during the 1980s, a consistent policy was followed of 
preferring non-Eritrean teachers and students.  By 1990, 62 per cent of the staff were 
non-Eritreans, and 91 per cent of the students were from the interior part of Ethiopia.  
The University was known as "Asmara University for the Northern Regions of Ethiopia."  
  
Asmara University was in effect controlled, not by the Senate and the academic 
staff, but by the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE) and the security.  All the restrictions 
present in Addis Ababa University were amplified in Asmara.  The WPE  required  that  
a  member  be  present  at  all  discussions,  whether  they  be  academic  or  staff-
related;  it  also demanded  a  transcript  of  all  proceedings.  The  Students'  Union  
was  part  of  the  Revolutionary  Ethiopian  Youth Association, and  thus a branch of 
the government/party apparatus.  Cadres sat in on all classes and reported on the 
ideological correctness of both staff and students.   An absurd extreme was reported in 
which a biology student was criticized by a cadre for giving a presentation to her 
classmates on the subject of photosynth esis in plants, in which she failed to 
demonstrate the relevance of the dialectical materialist approach to the subject. This 
led to a claustrophobic atmosphere that effectively precluded all free debate, and 
forced all students and staff to exercise st rict self-censorship. It also allowed the 
University President and other influential people to exercise blatant favoritism and 
nepotism in the award of scholarships and promotions.  
  
Open dissent was almost unknown at th e University.  A rare example occurred 
in 1985, when the staff demanded extra paym ent for teaching extension classes in the 
evening in line with their colleagues in Addis Ababa.  Two staff members were briefly 
detained and many others given a formal warning. It was necessary to read Asmara 

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University publications and debates with a care and attention to have an independent 
thinking.     
  
The culmination of the assault on the University occurred in July 1990, when 
the decision was announced to transfer it to  the internal part of Ethiopia. Ostensibly 
because of the intensification of the war fo llowing EPLF advances, there are indications 
that the decision to relocate the University was in fact taken some months earlier.  The 
Minister of Education  and  other  officials  fr om  Addis  Ababa  flew  to  Asmara  to  
discuss  the  proposed move with  the  sta ff. It was obvious that the Eritrean staff 
opposed the move almost unanimously, the Et hiopian staff remained silent. Only two 
voices were raised in support of the proposal. Nevertheless, the university was moved. 
All the textbooks, laboratory equipment, co mputers  and  office  equipment  were  
m o v e d ,   a p a r t   f r o m   s o m e   i t e m s   h i d d e n   b y   E r i t r e a n   s t a f f  m e m b e r s .  S o c i a l  
sciences, agriculture and languages were moved to a former peasant training center at 
Agarfa, in Bale in the far south of Ethiopia.   Conditions there, for both living and 
teaching, were very poor.   The other fa culties were moved to Addis Ababa, where 
facilities were shared with Addis Ababa University.  Teaching took place in the 
afternoon and evening.  The staff of Addis Ababa Univer sity resented the additional 
burden on their resources and granted little cooperation. This state of affairs lasted for 
just over one semester, after which the students were required for military service, 
and the university was closed (Rena, 2007).  
  
RICE, HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE EPLF  
Eritrean academics and other professi onals were unable to practice their 
profession at home, thus most of them opted for exile.  While many worked and 
published purely as individuals, some contributed their skills to the Research and 
Information Center on Eritrea (RICE). RICE was set up in Rome in 1979 and quickly 
grew to have chapters in five European co untries, plus Canada and the USA.  Though 
formally independent, it was closely linked with the aims of the EPLF. It published the 
journal Eritrea Information as well as research bulletins, and held conferences and 
seminars. Besides, the RICE operated as a loose federation of self-governing chapters, 
held together by a common commitment to  the cause of the EPLF.  In 1988, the 
headquarters of RICE, including its principal Documentation Center, was transferred to 
the EPLF-held areas of Eritrea.  However, the European and American chapters of RICE 
continued to function in their accustomed heterogeneous style.  At its re- founding 

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congress, RICE included an article on academic freedom in its constitution 
(Government of Eritrea, 2003).  
   
Following the defeat of the Ethiopia n army in May 1991, the Provisional 
Government of Eritrea, run by the EPLF, for the first time confronted with the need for 
a systematic policy on higher education.   The results have been generally 
encouraging, though some worries persist.    Asmara University is to be reestablished 
as an Eritrean institution.  It is to be given a charter which will make it independent 
and self-governing.  Its major problem is lack of resources not all the resources 
transferred to Ethiopia in 1990 have been re covered, and even these would be grossly 
incommensurate with the needs.  
  
The shadow that remained of Asmara Un iversity has been reorganized under a 
new President, Andeberhan Wolde Giorgis.  Staff has been brought from the EPLF and 
from abroad, including Sudan.  A social and political distance exists between staff who 
remained in Asmara during the Dergue's rule and those who were "in the field" or 
abroad, and this has led to some instances of  mutual distrust.  While there is no overt 
manipulation of appointments, still less an attack on Eritrean academics, it is likely that 
the new academic order will see rewards going to those who served the EPLF  loyally 
during "the struggle," and that academics who are overtly critical of  the EPLF's record 
or  its policies will find themselves marginalized (Africa watch,1993; Rena,2006e).  
 
Asmara  University,  as  the  only prominent  institution  of  higher  education  
in  Eritrea,  has  shown  a  tendency  fo r centralization.  RICE  has  been  brought  
u n d e r   t h e   I n s t i t u t e   f o r   R e s e a r c h   a n d   Development  Studies,  an  autonomous 
institute within the   University.  No facility has been made for any form of association 
with the institute, so that the RICE Chapte rs abroad have been disbanded. Whether  
from  over-zealous administrative  tidiness  or  from  a  desire  to establish centralized 
control over higher education,  this move woul d appear  to  threaten one of  the most  
important Eritrean academic institutions.  Many Eritrean academics will be unable or 
unwilling to abandon their careers abroad to  return  home  permanently,  and  this 
m o v e   d e n i e s   t h e m   t h e   o p p o r t u n i t y   f o r   a   l o o s e r   a s s o c i a t i o n   w i t h   a c a d e m i c  
pursuits  at  home.    As well  as  denying  Eritrea  the  services  of many  of  its  
academics,  this move  also  threatens  the  

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academic freedom of the Eritrean diaspora.  The internationalism of Eritrean 
studies is not redundant.  
 
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND CURRENT CHALLENGES OF 
UNIVERSITY OF ASMARA 
Eritrea faces a serious shortage of skilled manpower in many fields of society. 
As the only university-level institute of higher education in the country, the importance 
and the  role of the University of Asmara in supplying the needed skilled manpower is 
noteworthy for about 15 years. When Erit rea reopened the university in 1991, new 
plans were drawn up for the future. Three   guiding principles are being implemented 
in this rebuilding process: 
• relevance to society’s needs 
• the quality of the educational system, and 
• sustainability 
Aspirations and perspectives of the UoA ar e to develop into a regional centre of 
excellence but first and foremost to be an institute that serves ‘national needs’. To this 
end the “internal linkages” – within Eritrea with relevant societal partners – have been 
established to ensure the relevance of the curricula provided by the university. The 
external linkages (with international donor organisations and well reputed universities) 
are created to safeguard the high quality and international standards of the various 
programmes. The third guiding principle for rebuilding the UoA, as described above, is 
sustainability. 
 
The University of Asmara has developed its own strategy for cooperation with 
international donors. According to their 'linkage model', the UoA prefers to limit the 
number of donors which support a faculty or unit, to a minimum. This focused 
approach does not mean that donors will be operating in isolation, because the general 
parameters of institutional development have been clearly defi ned and have been 
incorporated in the priorities of the individual faculties or service units. Coordination at 
institutional level is present to ensure that donor support contributes to the overall 
institutional development of UoA. To this end, an International Projects Coordinator 
was appointed at the central level of the university. In addition, a number of review 
meetings have been organised since 1997 to  assess the achievements of individual 
projects (supported by several different do nors) within the framework of the overall 
institution building process of the UoA. These Project Coordination Committee (PCC) 

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meetings have been held in Asmara and all donors and implementing institutes of the 
specific projects are invited to attend. Durin g more recent years, however, they have 
tended to fall away (Rena, 2007). 
 
The focus of the University of Asmara (UoA) till recently was on undergraduate 
studies. Through funds abstained from th e government and bilateral cooperation 
agreements, the University consolidated and expanded its undergraduate programmes. 
The UoA has about 260 faculty members with about 120 PhD holders, over 50 of whom 
are nationals teaching in 43  departments. The qualitative and quantitative changes in 
the UoA have resulted in a noticeable upgrading of the trained workforce in the 
country. Since 1992, the UoA   has supplied a workforce about 9000 graduates, of 
whom more than half are graduates at the Bachelor’s level. The University remains 
committed to producing medium and high-level manpower  that share the supreme 
ideal of working in a spirit of commitment, understanding, and cooperation towards the 
common purpose of better serving the nation.  
 
Having built its capacity thus, the UoA established the School of Graduate Studies in 
July 2004, after two years of preparation, to administer the graduate programmes 
within various Colleges. This was done  after preliminary needs assessment for 
graduate programmes made in 1995 (had indica ted that there was a need for  up to 
1,000 persons trained at the Master’s level. The need for highly qu alified workforce at 
the Master’s level at present is believed to  be much higher: The School of Graduate 
Studies is headed  by a Dean, who is a ssisted by the Board of Graduate Studies 
constituted of 10 senior faculty.In September 2004, the School  took its first intake of 
35 students in six fields of study: Agronomy. Horticulture,. Applied Soil Science, 
Sustainable Livestock Production, Development Economics, and Organic Chemistry. Of 
these. 27 are graduated at the end  of 2005/06  academic year. In September 2005, 
was added to the existing fields. Their number is  10 in  the academic year 2006/2007. 
 
The considerable growth of UoA is howeve r expected to continue over the next 
decade with the Masters and research prog rammes. With enrolment having more than 
quadrupled since the reopen ing, space has become a major constraint. The Asmara 
Multi-Campus Programme, one of the two co mponents of the Cooperation for Asmara 
Multi-Campus and University System (CAMPUS) programme, will help to provide new 

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teaching facilities. It envisages the creation of six colleges located at different regions 
of the country, they are:  
 
• Mendefera (College of Natural and Paramedical Sciences); 
• Asmara (Orotta School of Medicine); 
•  Asmara (College of Nursing and Health Technology); 
• Hamalmalo(Keren) (College of Agriculture Sciences); 
• Mai Nefhi (Eritrean Institute of Technology and Teacher Education); 
• Adi Queiyh  (College of Arts and Social Sciences); 
• Halhale (College of Business and Economics) and at 
• Hirgigo(Massawa) (College of Marine and Maritime Sciences). 
 
The construction of the Mendeferra Colle ge has already been started during the 
year 2005-2006. This college is expected to have an intake capacity of around 2,500 
students. Construction is almost completed. Besides this physical expansion, the UoA is 
realigning its mission to in clude institutional research activities (Rena, 2006a). To 
further its new aspirations, UoA held an International Research Symposium in summer 
2002 to evaluate the effectiveness of the research conducted so far, and to outline its 
strategy to become a research centre in th e future. Cooperation with partners in the 
South is also being emphasised. Strong ties are currently being developed with 
universities in South Africa, through th e Human Resources Development Project 
(HRDP). Plans are also underway to develo p joint MSc programmes, covering various 
fields like Economics, Chemistry with some of these South African partner universities. 
For the first time in the year 2006, the University of Asmara has produced 49 Master 
Degree holders. However, the uncertainty resulting from the border war with Ethiopia 
has had a negative, or certainly a constrai ning, effect on many of the university’s 
development aims. 
 
Conclusion 
Lack trained manpower is one of the majo r hindrances  to rapid socio-economic 
transformation of Eritrea. Th e Government of the State of Eritrea exerted efforts to 
develop the human resources through  hinger  education  and thus thus improve the 
backward economy of the country into an adva nced one. As stated earlier, the higher 
education has suffered many folds during diffe rent periods. Even after sixteen years of 
its independence, the country could not achi eve its desired goals in developing the 

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quality higher education. Yet it is mostly depending on Indian expatriate teaching 
faculty at higher level of learning.  
 
Notes 
 
1 Asmara University has been closed by  September 2006. All the existing staff 
and students are assimilated with that of  newly established Eritrea Institute of 
Technology and other related colleges. It assumed that the university will start again 
with post-graduate and research programmes in the country.  
 
2 As stated in Africa Watch (1993) Vol. 5, No. 1; (12 January) that Dr. 
Mengesha was imprisoned by the Dergue in 1985 on suspicion of anti-government 
activities.  He was tortured and had his le g amputated, after which he "disappeared" 
from prison.  
   
3 Some members of the Italian community  in Asmara have historically been 
hostile to Eritreans obtaining an education, fearing that Italians would lose their 
privileged position in the city.  
 
 
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