Asmara University Reopens
(Asmara 21-05-2013) President Issias Afwerki, Chancellor of the University of Asmara announced today that on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of Eritrea’s independence the revamped, refurbished and re-inaugurated university of Asmara will once again be offering cutting-edge courses that will enable young Eritreans for life in the new Eritrea.
The announcement that was made this morning started slightly late as the Chancellor and many of the faculties couldn’t find the university. It later emerged that in his 22 years of tenure as a chancellor this occasion was the President’s first visit ever to the Institute that has produced four generations of Eritrean academics and intellectuals who now hold esteemed positions at prestigious universities around the globe.
The revamped university is said to be in a league of its own, when it comes to the courses that will be on offer from September 2013.
Among the courses that are o offer will be: Eritrean Language and culture Studies, a course that will be offered from the department of Eritrean studies which will be chaired by the chancellor himself. The main aim of this course is introducing the new language and culture that the pfdj Culture Section has been trying to embed over the age old traditions of Eritrea for 22 years without much success. The course inspired by the Chinese Cultural Revolution will be based on literal applications of Orwellian literature and all text books have been meticulously translated by the President, who anticipates that his graduates will hold key leadership positions in the totally transformed Eritrea.
Another course that is anticipated to attract many entrepreneurial young people is, the Creative Economics course that will be offered from the Department of Economics chaired by Mr Hagos Kisha. This course is intended to pass on the economic model that saw Eritrea’s economy in a state that has baffled the world. In his entry for the course brochure Mr Kisha says: this is an innovative course that will teach the younger generation the tricks that we have learnt as guerrilla fighters and continue to use even as a nation state, inevitably entry criteria will be more stringent and exclusively limited to those we deem able to cope with the rigors that the course demands. Not only will the course teach the youngsters our model of economic development, a successful candidate will also be expected to develop new and more enhanced techniques to build on the basic model that has served us in the past but is in need of taking to the new era of economic sanctions.
The other courses that UOA will be offering include Historical Revisionism, which will be chaired by Professor Gideon A Asmerom a visiting fellow from the United States of America. Professor Asmerom will be assisted by Ms Sophia Tesfamariam who specialises in revising biographies of notable Eritreans to fit the new Eritrea. Assisted by their student researchers Professor Asmerom and Ms Tesfamariam are expected to revise many biographies and edit them in a book entitled ‘The Eritrea You Thought You Knew’
Concluding his re-inaugural lecture President Issias told prospective students ‘I will not tell you lies and give you false promises, none of these courses will have recognition or accreditation in the world out there for atleast the next 40 years, if it is fancy accreditations you need I suggest you consult my Generals and find the quickest route to a university that offers these; here we give lessons for life and not certificates to decorate walls’ .
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