Realities and Challenges of Private Higher Education Institutions to promote Quality education for sustainable development in Ethiopia: The case of St. Mary’s University

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore and understand Realities and Challenges of Private Higher Education Institutions to promote Quality education for sustainable development in Ethiopia: The case of St. Mary’s University (hereafter referred as SMU). Exploratory qualitative case study research strategy was employed and data were collected from purposively selected twenty students that were enrolled at SMU in 2014 academic year, who were selected by using snowball sampling technique., four instructors in each undergraduate departments of SMU, parents and data regarding realities and challenges of private higher education institutions particularly in the case of SMU was collected by using semi-structured in-depth interview and from documents published in the area of higher education in general and SMU in particular in areas of quality education. The data were then inductively analyzed by creating themes from the raw data collected through in-depth interview and documents. The findings of the present study revealed that the value SMU strives to deliver quality service in teaching learning, research and focusing on community outreach areas than the public universities. Even though, there were benefits that Ethiopian students got in pursuing their education in the public universities with no immediate educational pay but the major input i.e. students highly affected by drug and substance abuse, hopelessness, and identity shock. Besides, the sectoral policies devised the demand for higher education in the country challenges the private higher educational institutions to admit those who were dropout of public universities with different educational , social, and psychological problem and these problems were not properly managed due to the tension between the instructors, parents, and the policy makers. Thus, since those who dropped out of campus joined the private higher education institutions, it is then recommended that SMU should create deep collaboration with parents, policy makers, industries, and schools at each level in order to assure both the quality and productivity of the human resource and realize the full aspirations of the private higher education institutions in their endeavor to maintain sound sustainable development and to protect the nation, the country’s productive force from misuse if the areas of focus and government intervention to protect these core educational quality; the youth; not to expose to drug, substance abuse, westernization in a negative context by devising life skill education, strong regulatory policies for drug dealers particularly in the regional universities. And close collaboration with parents and caregivers, so as to get more out of these youngsters to the Ethiopia developmental policy and address contemporary issues in the country. Underpinned by a model adapted to the research purpose, the study complemented not only to the existing knowledge in the area, but it also contributed to the fact that there was no research made in non-western countries like Ethiopia over this interesting and potential rich area.