1. BACKGROUND OF THE PROGRAM

The Bachelor of Arts in Civics and Ethical Studies was first commenced in Mekele University and Jimma University in September 2003 and later in Bahir Dar University in September 2005. Of in April 2006 and started actual operation in. The program was launched with the intention to produce professionals who will be an agent for the formation of democratic society, building good governance and assuring sustainable development in Ethiopia based on the vision, mission and values of Ministry of Education that clamored for enhancing the quality, equity, effectiveness and excellence of the educational system to produce competent citizens by the year 2020. This program marks the new area of study in Ethiopian higher education. Up until the foundation of this program there are no higher educational institutions in Ethiopia which provide the academic program under consideration.

The Bachelor of Arts in Civics and Ethical Studies is purposively designed as a multidisciplinary academic program. This measure was taken based on the fact that the two important issues which constitute the heart of the program, governance and development, are the concerns of different academic disciplines. Hence, the academic discipline of Civics and Ethical Studies strongly correlates with and draws contents and ideas from different academic disciplines such as political science, Moral philosophy International relations, development studies, economics, public administration, management, environmental science, sociology, and law.

Generally the program deals with the art and science of managing and administering the functions of the government; leading and administrating non- governmental organizations; managing and coordinating development activities; initiating, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development projects; community mobilization and problem solving etc.

To achieve the intended objectives of the program, a newly designed, modularized curriculum, is prepared. The main purpose of this modularized curriculum is to enable students acquire necessary communication and analytical skills that enhance their capacities to benefit from their specialized training. Moreover, it will equip students to develop sound awareness of the physical and social environment in which they will live and work.

2. RATIONALE OF THE PROGRAM

The major rationales for launching Bachelor of Arts (BA) program in Civics and Ethical Studies are the following.

  1. Global Level

Now a day there is a need to have citizens with the knowledge of the present highly globalized world, so as to withstand with the challenges and the fast changing developments on global level.

These trends strongly call particularly for citizens of the developing world to cautiously adapt themselves and build their capacity to critically study the unfolding effects thereof. These attitudinal changes in the behaviors of citizens in the developing world should finally help them to cultivate global understanding and remarkable competitive skills, they will equipped with these changes and develop the highest sense of civics responsibilities and ethical standards.

  1. Regional Level

We, Ethiopians, as part of the East African region and the citizenry of the entire Africa continent, are also witnessing drastically new continental and regional developments of remarkable complexity and intensity directly affecting on country in particular and all countries, there in, in general, one can overtone the following major trends as vivid examples.

  • Co-operation

Provides one major trend where Ethiopia and its citizens are extremely required to work out and adapt on a large scale, new, suitable and timely approaches. Our country’s role in the newly arrange African Union are so crucial that they require its government and its citizens to redefine their contributions as a regional and global citizen of Africa. Ethiopia is also an active member with an ever expanding influence to regional organs like common market for central and South African states, as well as inter-governmental association for development.

Ethiopia furnishes the seat for the head quarter of AU, ECA and several other regional organizations. In the immediate future, on country will search for new regional and continental venues as destination for its citizens to be aware of this unfolding trending of high political, socio-economic and cultural significance.

Co-operation, both on functional strategies and structural visions, is therefore the emerging national project requiring a large degree of consensus among Ethiopian citizens guided by a remarkable sense of civics and ethical responsibiliti

Students of the present and future generation are to be molded as peace-loving, cooperation opting and conflict managing citizens so that our country glows to be a beneficiary of an established regional peace culture.

  • Interdependence

Interdependence is one of the major hallmarks characterizing interest relations at present. Ethiopia is not an exemption to this current are of international relations. Ethiopia, however, as all other developing countries enters the era of this global interdependence with extremely weakened bargaining power, poor selecting and sifting mechanisms and poor national capacity of reversing undesired influences.

So having the program of Civics and Ethical Studies in high education system is quite important for systematic socializing program that could train and nurture its citizens to guarantee themselves against the dangerous effects of cultural imperialism.

  1. National Level

Ethiopia has now been experiencing since 1991 a profound socio – cultural, economic and political transformations, across the country, drastically new patterns of social relations and values systems are rapidly taking shape. Entirely new ways of viewing the overall environment is introduced into the Ethiopian tradition by various controlled and uncontrolled means of communication.

Among others, the rapid expansion in education is beginning to affect the whole citizens of the country, by introducing and expanding secular, rational and scientific thinking.

One can list, form among the vast rubrics, the following values transformations:

  • Anti-poverty, diligence, group – work, self – employment, micro – enterprise development, free competition, saving, investment, entrepreneurship and other values.
  • Values of civics participation like elections, self – administration, decentralization, peaceful competition, multiparty, representative democracy, conflict management, depoliticized civil service, etc.
  • Socio – cultural values like unity in diversity, linguistic, religious, ethno – cultural and gender equalities, anti- corruptions ethical standards, the right to self – determination up to succession, agriculture industrialization, rural life, urban quality of life information and communications.
  • Common values like an independent age old Ethiopian state, national symbols, i.e., flag, emblem and anthem, constitutionalism etc.

3. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

General Objective

To provide the widest needs of the national market with graduates who have a good knowledge and competence in the vast area of Civic and Ethical Studies; who have developed a remarkable degree of civic capacity and moral standards so that they could play an exemplary role in the society;

Specific Objectives

  • To provide competent professionals for different stakeholders and sectors at the national, regional, and international level in influencing the process of democratization, securing national interests and economic development
  • To produce graduates with the knowledge of industriousness, self-reliance, the pursuit of knowledge, saving, and community participation
  • To produce graduates who dare to fight against social evils in the community like corruption, harmful cultural practices, social discrimination, and human rights violations.

4. PROFILES

4.1 PROFESSIONALS PROFILE

The program aspires to produce graduates who can give professional services to governmental and non-governmental organizations, private companies and different institutions, and at national, regional and international levels. More specifically:

  1. Professionals, researchers;
  2. Public service rendering, personal and resource administration professionals;
  3. Public relations, external relations, and publicity professionals & planners of in public, private, and NGO associations;
  4. Private sector and public service sector professional organizers of cooperative and associations, business process and staff organization professionals;
  5. Professionals in ethical and civic duties of public sectors like anti-corruption, Women’s Affair Offices, offices of labor and social Affairs,
  6. microenterprise associations, co-operatives and self-help, and self-employment organization;
  7. Advisors, managers, and heads at civics issues and undertakings like general and regional public elections, civic education organizers and educators, etc.
  8. Professional in civil service reforms, particularly developers of ethical principles and standards, civics duties, citizens’ manuals, etc.
  9. Trainers, educators, and promoters of human rights, environmental protection, indigenous culture, historical and natural heritage, etc.
  10. Professional inspectors and supervisors on issues of human, civil, political as well as socio-cultural rights like those of children, women, the disabled, minorities, etc.
  11. Social–work professionals on national and international levels, managing humanitarian crises, like mass refugee problems, resettlement, rehabilitation, etc.
  12. Professional experts in conflict management and resolution at individual, group, national, regional, and international levels with expertise knowledge of causes of conflicts.
  13. Futures think–thanks, advisors, grievance analysts idea providers, etc, at national, regional, district, and city-level law-making councils; executive bodies, and the judiciary.

4.2 GRADUATE PROFILE

The graduates of Civics and Ethical Studies in BA program from Ethiopian Universities are supposed to acquire wide-ranging theoretical, pragmatic and methodological competencies that shall prepare them to undertake the following tasks:

  1. Play active and exemplary roles in citizens’ participation for peace,  constitutionalism, rule of law, democracy & human rights;
  2. Promoters of good governance and development
  3. Developers of mechanisms of combating corruption, rent-seeking, and other malpractices and immoralities
  4. Appreciate and uphold moral values and principles as they interact with fellow citizens and the environment at large;
  5. Strive to promote gender and minority equalities in the economic, social, and political issues;
  6. Portray commitment to ethical values and principles of professionalism and leadership as they engage in service delivering institutions;
  7. Carryout consultancy and training services in various areas of Civics and Ethics;
  8. Diligent, work–loving and purpose-oriented organizer, developer, and educator of ethical values and principles among the people with whom he/she works and societal change analysts at all public organs, municipalities, and training centers;
  9. Skillful, far-sighted, democratically-principled with the highest interpersonal qualities; an effective expert in Civics and Ethics issues

10.       Demonstrate entrepreneurial and diligent work-loving behavior in a way that generates positive externality on the business behavior of others.

4.3 Program Profile

To successfully accomplish the program, students are required to attend duration of four years where each year is divided in to two semesters for regular programs and for summer in-service, evening and week end programs arrangements will be made as per the respective University.

4.4 Staff Profile

The availability of human resources both in terms of quantity and quality are important so as to have quality teaching-learning process. Therefore, qualified staffs with lecturer & above academic ranks in various course specializations are required. The staff composition needs to be fitting into the main modules included in the program. Accordingly, the staff composition includes professionals from the areas of Governance & Developmental studies, Political science and International Relations, Peace & Security Studies, Philosophy, and Federalism

The Department of Civic and Ethical studies is one of the strongest programs in the university in its academic staff composition and profile. This is because the Department has academic staffs with attractive and strong profiles. The Department is equipped with youth as well as very experienced academic staffs and researchers renowned at institutional and national level. Currently, the Department is composed of 15 academic staff: 1 associate professor, 14 lecturers as full time staff members.

This puts the program to be one of the strongest and high profile programs based on the profile of its academic staffs. In general, therefore, the Department consists of staff members who are engaged in quality teaching and research activities in its fundamental knowledge domains as well as in many other related and multidisciplinary fields.

4.5 Resources

 It depends upon the intake capacity of the university. Existing physical resources here refer to human resources, teaching-learning facilities, ICT center, libraries, workshops, and so on. Together with the very attractive human resource, the department, under its home base college, is very well equipped with essential facilities. In this regard, the department can be considered one of those very few programs having abundant and very recent reference books and supplementary materials. Our Staff also have access to various resources that help them facilitate their activities.

 4.6 Partnership and Cooperation

Together with the OROMO RESEARCH, the department of Civic and Ethical Studies has a plan to open Good Governance center and Indigenous Conflict Resolution and Peace building center in the long run, that enhances the development and the entire change of the society. In so doing, the department, in collaboration with its College, is planning to widen the scope of its education support to all nearby primary and secondary schools and other key stakeholders. In general, therefore, we shall establish strong and mutual partnership and cooperation with:

  • Ministry of Foreign affairs
  • Human Right Commission
  • Ethics and anti-corruption commission
  • African Union
  • House of Peoples Representatives
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Ministry of Workers and Social Affairs
  • They will also attend different indigenous conflict resolution hearings/proceedings.

5. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

  • The program is composite of descriptive, theoretical, and positivist as well as  normative, knowledge and capacity building courses;
  • The program is composite of both endogenous and  exogenous sources and realities of specialized knowledge all gravitating to the main subject – matter civics and ethics;
  • A program composite of systematic comparison and contrast between theory and practice with field trips and practical observations;
  • A program largely based on student-centered and active learning methods;
  • The entire program to be guided by a reflex evaluation approach, with, final examinations, which are exclusively designed to assess steady behavioral changes per course;
  • A program systematically categorized into 4 phases. These phases are the following:
  • Knowledge broadening Phase (familiarizing with academic civic and ethics)
  • Knowledge–Building (Describing) Phase;
  • Inquiry Provoking Phase; and
  • Analysis conducting and criticizing Phase.
  • A program composite of self–confidence building, self–expression qualities, dialogue provoking and consensus-building techniques facilitated by group discussion sessions, multimedia lectures and students’ reactions, etc particularly through descriptive courses.
    • Admission Requirements

Entry to the Bachelor of Arts in Civics and Ethical Studies is allowed to students who completed their preparatory education in the field of social sciences and also successfully passed first-year freshman courses, are generally eligible to be admitted to the department’s or program’s regular and continuing education programs. The University shall set different entry requirements for enrollment in the continuing education programs.

  1. Regular Degree

1. Directly from freshman program who completed and passed 1st-year freshman courses according to the MOSHE criteria with a social science background.

2. Social science background is preferred but not mandatory

II. Summer, Extension, and Distance Degree

  1. Students who have a diploma (12+2) with social science field, students who successfully passed the minimum requirement in that specific year, with a social science background, and who meet the specific criteria set by the department of the respective institutions;
  2. Students who have a diploma (12+2) in non-social science disciplines but who have taught Civic and Ethical Education at different levels for more than 2 years;
  3. Students who have a diploma with the new program (10+3) as determined by the decision of the MOSHE and,
  4. Readmission as per university legislation.
  • Duration of the Study

The program is three years long study, excluding the first-year freshman program.

  • Mode of Delivery

The mode of delivery of this program is parallel for all modules and courses. Since it is a Degree program and as it is obvious as a study delivered in a higher institution and a lot is required from students. So that, the following are the main modes of delivery of the courses.

  • Partial lecturing
  • preparation and presentation of term papers
  • Class discussion and debate (in and between groups, individual students…)
  • Field trips and practical observations (higher government institutions, traditional institutions, …)
  • Guest lecturing from different institutions; universities, higher governmental officials, etc.
  • project work
    • Assignment of Course Code

The Civics and Ethical Studies program’s courses are coded as ‘CESt’ followed by four digits. ‘C’ stands for Civics, ‘E’ refers to Ethical and ‘St’ stands for STUDIES.

The four digits are meant the following:

  • The first digit indicates the level of the course in terms of year, i.e., ‘2’ for second year courses, ‘3’ for third year, and ‘4’ for fourth year courses.
  • The middle digits indicates the courses in semester; 
  • 01 –Semester one,
  • 02 – Semester two,
  • 03 – Semester three,
  • 04 – Semester four,
  • 05 – Semester five,
  • 06 – Semester six,
  • The last digit stands for order of the courses
    • Method of Teaching

The teaching-learning process is expected to be administered in way that students are more actively engaged in the teaching-learning process. This means that Student-centered approach shall be applied in all courses of the program. Accordingly, 60% of the tasks will be accomplished by students and the remaining 40 % will be covered by effective lecture.

  • Assessment and Evaluation

Both Summative and Formative assessments shall be applied in this program. Summative assessment, on the other hand, shall be used for evaluating students’ knowledge, understanding and skills, and acquiring evidence on their performance. The Summative assessment is used for grading purpose, and is a way of monitoring performance.

Continuous assessment will be the general guiding policy. The assessment and evaluation of this program will include, but not limited to:

  • Standardized tests,
  • Standardized quizzes,
  • Assignment and presentation,
  • Exam
  • Final exam (50%)

In addition to the Summative assessment, different Formative assessment methods, such as Observations, Clicker questions or Question and answer (this could be formal/planed and Informal/spontaneous), Low-stakes group work, In-class discussions, and 1-minute reflection writing assignment are also expected to be utilized in almost all courses. The Formative assessment is aimed to actively involve students in learning, tracktheir learning progress, identify areas for improvement, and facilitate learning. In general, it is used as a way of monitoring learning, but used not for grading purpose.