You know what Haramaya University does to ensure quality education?

Haramaya University, in collaboration with Academic Assessment and Quality Assurance, Academic Program, and Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation directorates, organized a capacity-building training for higher and middle-level educational and administrative leaders on July 7, 2022, on “a SMART strategic planning as a means to enhance the quality of education.”

In his welcoming speech, Dr. Garkabo Basha, director of the Academic Assessment and Quality Assurance Directorate at Haramaya University, said, “The training will give us an opportunity to see where we are now, where and how to go, and what to achieve in terms of quality education.”

In his opening remarks, Professor Mengistu Urge, vice president for academic affairs, said that preparing a SMART strategic plan is crucial for a leader and, in fact, knowing how to plan is vital because every activity should depend on preplanning and aligning the plan with the university’s plan. This training is timely as this is the time of preparation for the next academic year’s activities, stressed Professor Mengistu.

Professor Mengistu added that quality education is the sum of many participants’ and stakeholders’ efforts, just as the university accomplished its role successfully in the past academic year (2014 EC). Last year, to ensure quality education, Haramaya University made many improvements like curriculum review, allocating appropriate time for courses, educational infrastructure, and others which enable us to advance more quality education for the upcoming academic year, said Professor Mengistu.

Mr. Esubalew Tsehay, director of the Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Directorate of the University and one of the trainers, said, “SMART strategic planning is a management process that helps facilities stay on track toward goal achievement.” “Similarly, a SMART implementation plan involves setting objectives for workers, systems, and production lines that would lead to benefits such as efficiency or waste reduction.” “Therefore,” says Mr. Esubalew, “in an educational establishment, preparing SMART strategic planning is basic for attaining quality education goal achievement.”

Thanking the organizers, the participants, in the discussion and way forward session, said such a timely and supportive training is crucial to make SMART strategic plans.

By: Aweke Ayalneh

Camera: Fuad Ahmed