ABOUT

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Background

The current School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (SBBT) has evolved from a unit level in the then Alemaya (now called Haramaya) College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (CAMA). The Biology unit, as part of Science Teachers Training Program (STTP) of the college, trained students at a diploma level from 1954 through 1984 for teaching Biological science at Junior Secondary School level. After that it became a section under the Division of Natural and Social Sciences (DNSS) with its role limited to offering introductory courses to agriculture students until 1996. Later, it grew from a unit/section level to a Department level when the CAMA and DNSS were upgraded to University and Faculty levels, respectively in 1996. Since 1996, the Department of Biology was training students for Bachelor degree through regular and summer in-service programs, and contributed a lot to fulfill country’s need for trained manpower. This undergraduate curriculum passed through revisions that involved modifications of contents, study duration and degree nomenclature at different times based on the changes made in educational policies of the country. Currently, in Ethiopia, industries, research, health and educational institutions are steadily growing. These sectors are assumed to demand biologists that are trained at higher degree levels. To verify this, the Department conducted needs assessment through questionnaires and proved the same. As a result, the Department of Biology opened its first postgraduate (at Masters Level) training, Master of Education degree (M.Ed. degree) in Biology and M.Sc. in Biology in 2004 and 2006, respectively. This was followed by opening of Masters of Science in Biotechnology, Genetics and Microbiology in 2007-2010, and Master of Science in Botany in 2014 both through regular and summer in-service programs. In 2014, the Department also launched a PhD program in Microbiology and currently training students. With the aim of diversifying programs, the Department launched other demand-driven undergraduate program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBBT) specific to Haramaya University in 2017 that promoted the Department to School level. The current undergraduate programs were recently revised and harmonized nationally. Currently, therefore, the SBBT has two undergraduate programs, five M.Sc. programs and one PhD program with planned opening of PhD in Botany and Ecosystem Management.

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