EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2022, based on the Bahir Dar University Senate’s approval of the reorganization of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, the college is renamed as the College of Education and divided into two distinct schools: School of Educational Sciences and School of Teacher Education. Following the decision, the college’s new leadership called for the development of a strategic plan and appointed a five-members team. The team members began the task by identifying the key activities to do to prepare the plan. They conducted review of global and regional trends as well as national policies and strategies and derived important implications for guiding educational practices. To get lessons from the prevailing situation, SWOT analysis is carried out. The analysis was carried out by conducting two workshops with 20 academic and 20 administrative staff. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with graduate and undergraduate students were also conducted. In addition, interviews with MOE officials were conducted. From observation of global and regional trends, and national policies and strategies, as well as analyzing data from SWOT analysis, FGDs, and interviews, the team identified the following seven strategic focus areas. 

Teaching and learning: Excellence in teaching and learning is the primary strategic area. The College of Education places greater emphasis on expanding postgraduate programs and increasing student enrollment in teacher education programs. The college is also committed to enhancing the quality and relevance of the programs to the educational needs of students, the labor market, and the demands of the 21^st century. The college sets out to revise the existing programs and design new programs taking into account indigenous knowledge, SDGs, and 21^st century skills. The key strategies include extensive marketing of the programs to the wider public, setting up a learning management system (LMS), creating access to laboratories and ICTs, increasing the involvement of students in community affairs, and providing timely support services to students. Besides, hands-on, problem-based, and experiential approaches to teaching and learning will be central components of the strategy period. Under this focus area five objectives, 26 strategies, and 68 specific activities are included. 

Research and development: One of the pillars of the mission of higher education institutions is to contribute to society through various practices of community engagement. In the coming years, the College of Education aims to make community engagement a culture among staff and students. Given that issues of educational quality have been at the forefront in the last decade, the college needs to work closely with stakeholders working to support and alleviate problems the education sector is facing. To this end, the college needs to increase its community engagement and establish a system to monitor, support, and evaluate its engagement practices. Rather than doing it sporadically, the college plans to focus on comprehensive and multidisciplinary themes after conducting an extensive community engagement needs assessment in collaboration with stakeholders. This focus area contains six objectives, 21 strategies, and 64 activities. 

Community engagement: One of the pillars of the mission of higher education institutions is to contribute to society through various practices of community engagement. In the coming years, the College of Education aims to make community engagement a culture among staff and students. Given that issues of educational quality have been at the forefront in the last decade, the college needs to work closely with stakeholders working to support and alleviate problems the education sector is facing. To this end, the college needs to increase its community engagement and establish a system to monitor, support, and evaluate its engagement practices. Rather than doing it sporadically, the college plans to focus on comprehensive and multidisciplinary themes after conducting an extensive community engagement needs assessment in collaboration with stakeholders. The focus area contains two objectives, six strategies, and 16 specific activities. 

Governance and leadership: The College recognizes governance and leadership as critical strategic priorities. Four strategic objectives and nine key strategies are set out to achieve the overarching goal of promoting a governance and leadership system that promotes a safe, responsive and transparent learning and working environment. In so doing, the college has charted the objectives of creating a supportive environment for staff and students, fostering transparency and efficiency, and encouraging participatory decision-making. Moreover, it is committed to engaging staff and students in decision-making, recognizing their valuable insights and contributions. This approach not only fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility but also ensures that decisions are made with a comprehensive understanding of the needs and perspectives of the college community. To achieve these goals, the college also aims to reorganize office spaces, promote work discipline, and enhance the aesthetics of classrooms and offices. Additionally, the college is committed to establishing transparent communication through sharing meeting minutes and decisions, implementing leader evaluation systems, and strengthening e-governance. Moreover, the college places a strong emphasis on leadership development through induction programs and targeted training for acting and potential leaders. In this focus area four objectives, nine strategies, and 24 activities are included. 

Human resource development: the college needs to work on development of its human resource in order to realize its vision at the end of the strategic plan’s life time. To this end arranging professional development schemes the College’s staff after conducting needs assessment is essential. Beyond what the needs assessment entails, as the college’s staff need to have technological competence, special emphasis is given to digital skills. Staff recruitment needs to be high standard as new employees should fit to expectations of a research-oriented university. To retain staff and enhance work motivation, the college has planned to work on establishing a system of incentive system. Furthermore, as staff cohesiveness contributes for institutional effectiveness, the college has also planned to strengthen social cohesion through arrangement of formal and informal socializing events. Under this focus area are found four objectives, 11 strategies, and 30 specific activities. 

Infrastructure and resource mobilization: Improved infrastructure and resource mobilization are important factors for effective undertaking of the college’s teaching, community engagement, and research missions. As a result, the college has planned to invest on infrastructure and facilities, renovate and rearrange existing infrastructure and facilities, and improve resource mobilization. Most notably, strengthening the ICT system of the College, building a model school, and establishing laboratories and a disability center will be priorities in the life time of the strategic plan. Engaging in activities which help to generate revenue is expected from the college as BDU is heading to become an autonomous university. Hence, revitalizing education programs in different modalities, production of commercial educational materials and books, preparing training packages and marketing them to stakeholders are set as strategies for mobilizing financial resource. This focus area contains, three objectives, 14 strategies, and 40 activities. 

Partnership & collaboration: BDU highly values national, regional and international partnerships and collaborations. The college of education shares these values and assumes that partnership and networking bring together different perspectives, expertise, and insights, adding value to our education, research and outreach service. Moreover, addressing the current quality crises in Ethiopia cannot be achieved in isolation rather it needs collective actions and engagements. Accordingly, in its strategy, the college of education envisions establishing reliable, practical and long-term partnerships and collaborations with national and international stakeholders so as to achieve its missions. As key strategy, the college plans to improve staff and student international engagement and work on program accreditation. Attracting visiting scholars from different parts of the world is set as an essential strategy to rich to global standards in the colleges’ practices. The college will also focus on initiating new partnerships and reactivating existing ones as well as institutionalizing partnerships and collaborations initiated by individuals. It is also considered vital to promote and improve the college’s visibility and accessible through strengthening its internal and external communications of the college.  Two objectives, five strategies, and 16 activities are included in this focus area. 

Care is taken to ensure that the time frame for the implementation of the activities is even across the years. However, since 2024/25 is a preparatory period for the full implementation of the strategic plan, activities focused on preparatory tasks were mainly taken up in the first year.