Background Information
Bahir
Dar University was established by merging two former higher education
institutions; namely the Bahir Dar Polytechnic and Bahir Dar Teachers’
College. The Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute, which has transformed
itself into Technology and Textile institutes, was established in 1963
under the technical cooperation between the Government of USSR and the
Imperial Government of Ethiopia. The institute was a premier institute
in producing technicians for the nation. The Bahir Dar Teachers’
College, by then known as the Academy of Pedagogy, was established in
1972 by the tripartite agreement of the Imperial Government of Ethiopia,
UNESCO and UNDP and started actual work in the following year under the
auspices of the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts. Its general
objective was to train multipurpose primary education professionals
capable of adopting primary education to rural life and rural
development. Its specific objectives were to train primary school
teacher trainers, supervisors, educational leaders, adult education
organizers and community development agents.
The
two institutions of higher learning were integrated to form the Bahir
Dar University following the Council of Ministers regulation no. 60/1999
GC. The University was inaugurated on May 6, 2000. Bahir Dar
University is now among the largest universities in the Federal
Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with more than 35,000 students in its
57 undergraduate and 39 graduate programs. Bahir Dar University has
four colleges, three institutes, three faculties and one school. The
academic units of the University include College of Science, College of
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, College of Medical and Health
Sciences, College of Business and Economics, Institute of Technology,
Institute of Textile, Garment and Fashion Design, Institute of Land
Administration, Blue Nile Water Institute, Faculty of Humanities,
Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Education and Behavioral Sciences
and School of Law.
