- University of Asmara
Infobox University
name = University of Asmara
type =Public
established = 1958
city =Asmara
country =Eritrea
president =Tadesse Mehari
website = http://www.uoa.edu.erThe University of Asmara (UoA) was
Eritrea 's first university and is located in the capital city,Asmara . It was created by the Piae Madres Nigritiae (Camboni Sisters). The school was meant to provide for the local population, though its initial enrollment was entirely Italian.cite web|title=University of Asmara: A Brief History |url=http://www.uoa.edu.er/about/uoahistory.html |accessdate=2006-09-02]History
The University was originally founded in 1958, albeit by a different name, the Catholic College of Santa Famiglia.cite book| last=Killion | first=Tom | title=Historical Dictionary of Eritrea |id= ISBN 0-8108-3437-5 | publisher=The Scarecrow Press | year=1998 ]
By 1964 the University had been renamed and began offering Associate Diploma programs in the Arts, Commerce, and the Sciences.
The school just limped along through the 1970s until 1979 when a new president pushed through a major reorganization of the curriculum and structure. The next years saw an increase in students from 300 to 2,700. New courses, staff, day and evening extension programs and campus buildings revived the University, together with a bilateral agreement to exchange students and faculty with the University of Addis Ababa, particularly focusing on graduate training in Addis to produce faculty for Eritrea.
Current programs
The University was at the core of a National Education program designed to provide many more teachers for an enlarged secondary school system and to provide the economy with many more trained professionals but unfortunately it is phased out by the president of the country, Isaias, in 2004. [cite web|title=University of Asmara graduates 1,973 Students |url=http://www.shabait.com/articles-new/publish/article_3715.html |accessdate=2006-09-02 ] To this end the University's Colleges are dispersed in various towns and villages.
References
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