With curtain coming down on 3rd Quarter, AMU on the all fronts seems to have almost achieved the stipulated target. President, Dr Damtew Darza in a brief interaction vouched for things done; informs what’s lagging behind and discloses expected tasks to be performed in the 4th quarter.
On budget utilization, he said, we have properly used 73% of total budget; remaining 27% will be earmarked in the 4th quarter. Delay in completing target in the last leg is often occurred during 4th quarter because that is the period when we all are engaged in the planning.
Citing achievements in three quarters, he said teaching-learning is faring well in a peaceful environment. We have also been successful in launching of Master and PhD programs as stipulated under Growth and Transformation Plan-II. His regret is about inadequate number of students in some Master programs.
Underscoring teaching-learning process, he said, quality is given prominence and practical aspect of teaching is emphasized. Delivery of ICT services for students and staff is as expected. To mold students’ academic fate, university has assigned a teacher from respective department to serve as a guide. Community Service is improving and research on the right track with more teachers getting involved.
Disclosing discrepancies in plan implementation, he said, it may not be specific to last three quarters; rather it should be seen vis-à-vis GTP-II. In achieving stipulated ‘Master-PhD’ ratio of teachers’ qualification, AMU’s good number of teachers are on study leave within Ethiopia and abroad and probably after 3 ½ years, university might reach near the target.
He further adds we are yet to achieve expected target of 22% managerial positions to be occupied by females, while only 14% of them are in place; proportion of female researchers is also low; intense orientation will stem the rot. And delay in completion of construction projects is being evaluated while issues of rent-seeking, good governance and purchase & procurement are being redressed.
Paltry revenue generation by AMU enterprises has been the gray areas, it must improve. This year, government has enjoined our university to generate ETB 42 Million from within, but each year we couldn’t perform accordingly. Probably, dearth of professionals and even exodus of employees prove to be negative. However, to improve the scenario, Enterprise Board is likely to offer attractive salary and introduce incentives to motivate employees to get the desired results.
Nonetheless, we have silver lining too that shows attrition rate is declining and incidence of ‘first-day-first’ class implementation has reached 85% compared to last year’s 72% and coming year it will go exceptionally well that will improve students’ performance.
Delineating priorities, he said, apart from continuous assessment of teaching-learning, preparation for next year planning is important; we will evaluate achievement under GTP-II and look for remaining tasks and accordingly plan.
It’s learnt that major task in 4th quarter will be placement of employees at appropriate positions befitting experience and professional traits until June; new construction is expected to resume two months later. Sustaining peaceful environment and delivery of quality education, improvement of good governance with regard to service delivery and discouraging rent-seeking behavior are major tasks on the table.
The President stressed that purchase and procurement process often gets murky due to both internal and external factors; inadequate planning and rent-seeking attitude of few. Issues bogging completed installations, he said, some problems related to design cropped up following inexperienced consultants; now we are scrutinizing initial design to avoid aberration in future.
(Corporate Communication Directorate)