On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the University and on my own behalf, it is with great sense of pleasure and pride that I extend to all of our guests a warm welcome to the 36th Commencement ceremony of the University of Asmara, which is the 14th after independence. I would also wish to express our profound gratitude and appreciation to all our guests for accepting our invitation to celebrate this colourful day with us and make it truly memorable.

We are gathered today to honour the young bright men and women who after many difficult and challenging years at the University have successfully completed their studies and have been declared ready and fit to commence a new, productive and exciting but challenging life in the real world of work. Dear graduates you should be ready to use the knowledge and skills you have gained at the University in the services of your country and society. Thus, the journey ahead is longer and more challenging than the one you have just completed.

Your Excellencies, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s graduation ceremony is truly unique and is a historic moment for us at the University because we are graduating the first cohort of Eritreans at Masters level in the history of the University of Asmara. This was made possible by the relentless efforts of the university staff, both academic and administrative, our internal linkage partners who assisted us in designing the curricula for the various programmes and in sponsoring the graduate students and our external linkage partners who played an important role in developing curricula, in assisting us in teaching certain courses and in serving as external examiners to our graduate students.

The opening of the graduate programme at the University of Asmara in September 2004 was not spontaneous but rather the outcome of the natural growth and maturity of the university. The SGS was started with three strategic, guiding principles: relevance, quality and sustainability. Relevance refers to the appropriateness of the training programmes; whether they were designed to tackle issues and answer questions that interest the nation. This issue was addressed by involving our local partners and stakeholders in the design and evaluation of the curricula. Quality has been addressed by involving our external linkage partners from Universities in the North, in the whole process of planning and drafting curricula, in teaching certain courses and in involving professors from partner institutions to serve as external examiners. The issue of Sustainability of the programme was addressed by introducing student fees and the proposed generation of at least 20% of the budget through consultancy and contract research. Moreover, the requirement that a department must at least have 3 nationals with a PhD level of qualification to start a master’s programme was put in place to ensure the sustainability of the programme in terms of its teaching staff.

Your Excellencies, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Currently, 6 departments are offering training at Masters level at the UOA, but many more have finalised their preparations to start training. The graduate programme is a two-year research-based programme, where students are required to finish a one-year programme of course work and another year of research work leading to a Master’s Thesis. This Master’s thesis has to be presented and defended in front of an audience and a panel of internal and external examiners. And in order to maintain the standards of our graduate programme and ensure its quality, this year, we invited external examiners from many different countries including, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sudan, etc. Besides, many distinguished Eritrean scholars working in the various ministries and government offices and expatriates working in Eritrea have also served as external examiners to our graduate students. And the feedback and recommendations we received from the external examiners were encouraging.

In September 2004, the SGS admitted its first intake of 35 students in six fields of study: Agronomy, Horticulture, Applied Soil Sciences, Sustainable Livestock Production, Development Economics, and Organic Chemistry. Out of these, 27 have successfully completed all the requirements for the Masters Degree and will be graduating today. In addition, 18 students who have been pursuing their Masters studies through distance learning from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Stony Brook University (USA), have successfully completed their studies and will be graduating today. These include 8 students who have completed their studies in Master of Business Leadership from UNISA. The 10 students who have completed their studies at Masters level from Stony Brook include: 2 in Adult Health Nursing, 3 in Child Health Nursing (Paediatrics), 2 in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, 2 in Midwifery Nursing and 1 Post Masters Diploma in the same field (Midwifery Nursing).

Your Excellencies, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It will be worthwhile to highlight the important reasons why the graduate programme was opened at the UOA. The specific objectives of the SGS are:

To provide the nation with high-level trained manpower: The needs assessment survey that was conducted in 1995 indicated that close to 1000 personnel at master’s level were required. By now this need must have increased considerably in the government and non-government institutions and especially with the opening of the new colleges and institutes of higher learning.

To solve problems of national importance through applied research and the generation of new knowledge: Eritrea at the moment lacks appropriately trained manpower capable of doing research at higher levels who can solve problems related to food security, management of natural resources, economic, social and cultural development, health and gender issues, etc. Thus, the research-based graduate programmes have been designed to enable graduate students to independently undertake research in areas of national priority. The graduate programme will also contribute to improving the quality and relevance of education at all levels in the university and the newly established institutes of higher learning.

To save foreign currency spent on graduate level training in foreign universities: to date over 17 million USD have been spent on training of over 1,100 Eritreans in foreign universities. Although most of this money came from our linkage partners, we could have used part of this money in developing our home-grown graduate programme and in training students at home.

To curb brain drain: Brain drain is depleting the qualified manpower of all developing nations rendering the huge sum of foreign currency spent on them a total waste; and Eritrea cannot be an exception to this. Out of the total of 1,100 Eritreans sent for higher education after independence, 35 – 40% decided to remain in the developed countries after completing their studies. Thus, the graduate programme that we have started at the UOA will not only save a substantial amount of foreign currency spent on graduate training, but will also help retain trained workforce in the country. 

Your Excellencies, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The University of Asmara is not only engaged in training regular students but is also upgrading the skills of civil servants through tailor-made programmes. The university has already been giving summer training programmes for the last 5 summers to upgrade the teaching skills of about 200 Junior High School teachers to a diploma level. The necessary preparations have also been completed with the Ministry of Education to upgrade Junior High School Teachers to a diploma level through an Open Distance Learning Programme (ODLP). To realize this, a home-grown Distance Learning programme, has been designed and successfully launched in March this year with a pilot phase of close to 600 students in all 6 Zobas. The programme will expand to include additional 1500 students as of early next year. The first phase of the programme has been completed in all zobas between March and June and the 600 students are now here at the UOA for a residential face-to-face learning.

A specially designed, one-year certificate programme is also being offered to employees of the Ministry of Information in Journalism and Mass Communication to upgrade their skills. The Consultancy, Training and Testing Center (CTTC) of the UOA has also been offering short term trainings in Secretarial Sciences and CISCO Academy trainings which include IT Essentials I and II and CISCO Certified Network Associates (CCNA). The evening programme of the UOA is also offering degree courses to over 450 students in 5 departments.

Your Excellencies, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the advent of the new colleges, the process of restructuring of the whole system of tertiary education in the country was underway and the UOA did not receive fresh intake of students for the last three years. During this period of transition the UOA, in addition to fulfilling its regular functions, has been mutually cooperating with its sister institutions of higher learning through sharing of experiences and exchange of instructors and teaching materials. Now that the restructuring process is hopefully in its final stage, the UOA is eagerly awaiting a decision as to what the mandate of the university should be in taking its share of responsibility in providing tertiary education in the country. Such a decision will definitely enable the university to revise its strategic plan as per the mandate given to it.

It is, therefore, our sincere hope that the expertise and the accumulated experience at the University of Asmara be appropriately utilised so that the university would be able to play an important role in shouldering its responsibility of producing the requisite human resource for the country.

Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today I am pleased and proud to announce that the UOA, in its 36th commencement, is conferring a total of 1151 degrees and diplomas to its graduates. These include 45 Masters degrees, 944 Bachelors degrees, 183 Advanced Diplomas (of 3 years) and 24 regular 2-year Diplomas.

The University of Asmara, during the last 14 years after independence, has provided the nation with a total number of 10,224 graduates (including today’s graduates) in more than 42 different areas of specialisations, and over 70% of these are degree graduates. This is a relatively sizable human resource for a small country like Eritrea; however, we have to be able to utilise this work force appropriately in the various development programmes of the country.

Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the University I wish to offer my heart felt congratulations to this year’s graduating class. I would also like to urge all the graduants to show the highest possible commitment to the development of the nation and its people and function as the University’s good ambassadors in the society. Once again accept my heartfelt congratulations on your achievements and I wish you continued success in your future life. I would also like to congratulate the parents of the graduants for having seen the fruits of their hard work in upbringing and educating their children.

Finally I would like to convey special tribute to all our internal and external linkage partners, our development partners and to all those who have assisted the university in one way or another. I would also like to commend and thank the faculty and staff of the University for the dedication and commitment that they have shown, during these difficult times, to enable the university accomplish its objectives.

Last but not least my special thanks and appreciation go to the University Graduation Committee for all their dedicated work and meticulous planning to make this colourful occasion possible today.

Thank you very much all,

Eternal Glory to our Martyrs!

Awet Nhafash!

Tadesse Mehari (PhD)

A/President, UOA