Message from the Director
 | Seid Hussen, Director, Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University, Box 79, BAHIR DAR, Ethiopia. Tel: +251 (0)58 226 48 98 Fax: +251(0) 58 220 20 25 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
The Institute of Land Administration (ILA) is part of Bahir Dar University, located in the capital of the Amhara National Regional State, Bahir Dar, at the southern shore of Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia. The institute is the first of its kind in East Africa.
The B.Sc. education programme in Land Administration started at Bahir Dar University (BDU) in September 2006 under the Faculty of Law. The programme was initiated by the Environmental Protection, Land Administration and Use Authority (EPLAUA) because of a serious lack of trained manpower in the area of land administration.
Land Administration is a new undertaking in Ethiopia and in order to get international experience collaboration with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden started in 2004 when staff from BDU was sent to KTH for Master studies in Land Administration. KTH has also assisted in the development of the curriculum and is currently partner in the ongoing “Establishment of the Institute of Land Administration Bahir Dar University” project. The collaboration is supported by the Swedish government through Sida. The Institute of Land Administration was established by the Senate of Bahir Dar University on 25 January 2008.
There is a growing demand for professionals in Land Administration, including in the urban sector. The Board of Study, which is an advisory body to the institute, has members from potential employers of the graduates in order to ensure that the education continues to be demand-driven.
Currently, the Institute offers a 4 year B.Sc. education programme in Land Administration for regular students. It is also possible to attain the BSc in Land Administration through the distance, evening and summer programmes. In total ILA is currently educating more than 1,100 students.
The programme has a very holistic approach including several different disciplines which give the students a wide knowledge of the technical, economical, legal and management aspects of land administration. The objective is to produce adequately trained land administration professionals who can serve their community as generalists rather than specialists, with various skills such as cadastral surveying, digital mapping, GIS, land law, land registration, property valuation and dispute resolution. The land administration programme is composed of four tracks, Surveying track, Economics track, Law track and Land Administration track and all the students take courses from all the tracks. A student is required to write a thesis during the last year. The programme has an internship, where the 3rd and 4th year students work within the different organisations that are in need of their services once they graduate.
Curricula for B.Sc. education programmes in Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Urban and Rural Planning as well as in Real Estate Management are being prepared. Master programme in Land Administration will also be launched in the near future.
The Institute's staff profile is high including 8 M.Sc. in Land Administration, 2 M.Sc. in GIS, 2 M.Sc. in Geodesy and Geoinformatics, 1 M.Sc. in Urban management, 2 B.Sc. in Surveying Technology, 2 Diplomas in Surveying and 1 Diploma in IT. Currently 5 staffs are studying Land Administration and 1 staff Geodesy and Geoinformatics at Master level. Four staffs are also studying at PhD level.
A new campus, which the Institute of Administration will share with the School of Law, is under construction.
Seid Hussen,
Director.