Today on 17 December 2020 the Scholars Program at the University of Gondar presented a report on its past, current and future activities to University higher officials and pertinent stakeholder.
The Scholars Program at the University of Gondar begun its operations in the 2016 academic year and set out to be a trail blazer in rehabilitation sciences and cultivating transformative leaders.
Dr. Kassahun Tegene, University of Gondar’s academic vice president, along with Dr. Solomon Mekonnen, Scholars Program Director facilitated the discussions and created an atmosphere where all those in attendance could speak on and evaluate one of the University’s most successful programs.
Within 10 years the Program is set to educate 450 talented youth with disabilities and disadvantages to become Africa’s next generation of leaders. On the same note the Program is building the capacity of its own faculty (at UoG) by offering MSc and PhD educational scholarships at Queens University Canada, one of the world’s most prestigious Universities (when it comes to Rehabilitation Sciences).
These two parts of the program have been running smoothly for the past 4 years and today the Program organized a presentation to show its accomplishments and challenges thus far. Mikyas Abera (PhD), Scholars Program Part A Manager, (part which oversees the cultivation and enhancement of talented youth with disabilities and disadvantages) and Solomon Fasika, Scholars Program Part B Manager (part which oversees the UoG/Queens collaboration), came together to present their findings on how their respective subdivisions are aligning with the overall goal of the program.
A number of officials showed their appreciation for the work done thus far and thanked the Scholars Program Office for their transparency in its efforts. Moreover, in the spirit of cooperation and institutional uplifting various stakeholders also put forth suggestions and comments on how the Program could become even more successful in the years to come.
Some of the comments that were raised dealt with partnering with relevant academic units to build UoG’s own capacity, focusing on donating to those in needs, working to enhance better communication regarding transcript and admission related issues and organizing seminars on grant writing and grant management to share essential experiences with the University Community.
The academic vice president shared his wishes to continue such reports in the future to create an environment of collective sharing of thoughts and critiques. He expressed that the CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation) program was crucial for winning the Grant that brought the Scholars Program to UoG because of its overall past success. And in the same light Dr. Kassahun shared, “by working together the Scholars program could also be a model Program that will allow the University to bring forth plenty more Projects in the future that will benefit the University and the Country as a whole.”