The following information is taken from our VSO placement description. For more information about the University of Asmara please go to its website at www.uoa.edu.er

Asmara University started out as a private institution, the Catholic University of the Holy Family, in the 1950s. Eritrea was then federated with Ethiopia, and as history evolved the Ethiopian state took over both Eritrea and the University in the 60s and 70s. A 30-year long armed Eritrean independence struggle followed. Asmara University closed towards the end of the struggle and many of its resources and students were moved to Southern Ethiopia in the late 1980s. The university reopened in Asmara after independence in the early 1990s, and it has grown steadily and rapidly thereafter. There are now more than 6,000 full time students at the university, and as part of it, a new science and technology college has been opened to provide students with different fields of study. There are also plans for considerable further expansion across the board. Thus student numbers are set to rise and the number of departments will increase. There are also specific and explicit plans for graduate studies with masters degree programs in several departments in the short to medium term.

The students are accepted by academic merit alone and by passing the national secondary school leaving exam (matriculation) where competition is fierce.

The university is located on one campus some fifteen minutes walk from the city centre. The university by and large has what facilities and equipment it needs and there are staff members eagerly working with the resources available and trying to improve them. Also the IT or computer science department is well equipped with up to date computers. There are classrooms and auditoria and other basic teaching facilities.

There is of course a budget constraint at the university. The university has no income beyond state allocated budget, as students do not pay tuition or other significant fees.