Tigray's university students get temporary places elsewhere

Professor Berhanu Nega met the students in the Ministry's compound. He said that students who left Tigray because of war and conflict have the right to live and to learn in peace, and that it is right that their studies continue without interruption. The decision, he said, follows the request the students themselves made. The photographs published with the report show a large crowd filling the forecourt while he spoke from the steps.

The application opened on Meskerem 5 (15 September 2026) and closed on Meskerem 8 (18 September 2026). It was at student.ethernet.edu.et/university-transfer. Students signed in with their own Fayda number and filled in the university they had been studying at, their academic year, their programme and the other details the form asked for, from wherever they were. Paper applications handed in earlier did not count; the Ministry asked those students to apply again online.

• More than 5,000 returning students applied for a transfer.
• Students newly placed at Tigray's universities by the 16 September placement are covered as well as returning students, and will also be given a university elsewhere for now.
• The Ministry will announce each student's temporary university soon, so that nobody has to come to the Ministry in person to complain.
• When conditions allow, students return to the university they were first placed at and continue there.
• The Ministry is talking to the universities in Tigray about returning and new students who want to stay there, and asks them to wait. It said the same again on Meskerem 9 (19 September), asking them to wait patiently for its decision.
• Teachers at Tigray's universities who leave the region for security reasons will teach at other public universities, the Minister, Professor Berhanu Nega, confirmed on 18 September.

• Which universities will take the students, and whether a student can choose one. The Ministry says only that it will announce them soon.
• How long the temporary placement lasts. Students go back once conditions allow, but no date or test for that has been given.
• Whether a student who wants to stay at a university in Tigray will be allowed to. The Ministry says it is discussing it with the universities.
• Whether private colleges are included: every statement so far speaks of public universities.