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AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: OPPORTUNITIES
AND CHALLENGES*(1)
G.O.S. EKHAGUERE
Association of African Universities,
P.O. Box 5744 Accra-North, Accra, GHANA
gose@aau.org
Contents
1. Tertiary
education training capacity
Pressure for access to tertiary education in
Africa will become greatly aggravated in the new millennium. Africa has
a variety of tertiary education institutions (TEIs), comprising universities
and polytechnics, as well as diverse training centres, colleges and institutes,
which offer training opportunities and programmes of study, leading to
the award of certificates, diplomas and degrees in a wide range of fields
[1][2]. Through a process of continually expanding and refining the higher
education infrastructure which African nations inherited from their former
colonial masters, Africa has been able to increase the number of its universities,
merely six before 1960, to over 250 today. However, these TEIs, the majority
of which employ the traditional mode of teaching/learning, currently lack
the capacity to provide enough places for all qualified candidates. This
represents a severe curtailment of opportunities to tertiary education
on the continent. As a result, competition for access into TEIs in many
African countries has become increasingly fierce, especially in recent
years. For example, although the population of tertiary education students
on the continent was just over 4 million in 1996, representing some 5%
of such students throughout the globe, this figure is merely a fraction
of the number of persons who were qualified for enrolment in that year.
Paradoxically, as a result of the continuing inadequate funding of the
education sector in many African countries and the destruction of educational
facilities in recent or ongoing conflicts in several subregions of Africa,
the current enrolment levels, which are far too low to cope with the demand
for access, already represent a considerable massification of tertiary
education on the continent, as is seen by the use of standard indicators.
It has therefore become evident that tertiary
education training opportunities need to be rapidly diversified and expanded
in Africa, a continent of mostly young persons: over 75% of its population
comprises persons aged 45 years or younger. By contrast, its senior citizens,
aged 65 years or older, form merely 4%. Persons of ages between 15 and
45 years account for some 30%. This cohort, whose size will be at least
245 million by the year 2000, is critical since it significantly influences
not only the future growth rate of the African population but also the
intensity of the continually increasing pressure for access to TEIs on
the continent. By considering the need to rapidly transform Africa into
a knowledge society through lifelong learning and also taking cognizance
of the region's present illiteracy level, enrolment rates in TEIs and kindred
indicators, it is estimated that some 12 million Africans could be seeking
places in TEIs every year in the early years of the new millennium. This
is a situation with wide-ranging implications, especially for the stability
and sustainable development of the continent, that calls for the adoption
of teaching, learning and research methodologies having the potential of
accommodating large numbers of eligible tertiary education candidates.
2.
Diversifying training opportunities
A number of mechanisms for coping with the observed
continually expanding demand for access to TEIs on the continent are being
implemented by many African nations. In particular, increased attention
is being given to distance learning in its diverse forms. Although
distance learning is not new to Africa, this mode of education was regarded
by many countries in the past as merely an adjunct to the time-honoured
face-to-face mode, largely because of a range of enormous infrastructural,
communications and human resources problems. With ongoing efforts by many
African countries to harness the information and communications technology,
the gravity of these problems is reducing, with the result that the implementation
of distance learning on the continent is becoming relatively easier.
As other ways of providing more opportunities
for tertiary education on the continent, many African countries are:
· deregulating the
tertiary education sector, through various enactments allowing and encouraging
the establishment of private TEIs;
· participating in a number
of multinational higher education projects; and
· rehabilitating and expanding
existing educational infrastructure and facilities.
These trends may be summarised as follows.
2.1
Intranational distance education
In many African countries, intranational distance
education - where both the teachers and students reside in the same
country, with the students learning remotely at a distance - is pursued
as a means of making opportunities for tertiary education accessible to
certain groups in the society, mainly school teachers and other public
servants, who usually found it difficult to be absent from their places
of work for long periods to attend regular tertiary institutions.
There have been two main approaches in Africa
to the implementation of intranational distance education.
In one approach, some African countries establish
special or dedicated institutions, often called "open universities",
for the purpose. Examples of this approach are to be found in South Africa,
Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
In the other approach, special outfits are
created within existing universities to handle distance learning as an
"external studies programme", and tuition would then be provided,
in general, by correspondence. Examples of this dual- or mixed-mode approach
are to be found in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), Cote d'Ivoire,
Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia.
Each of the two approaches to intranational
distance education mentioned above aims at expanding existing opportunities
for tertiary education. As at now, tuition is provided mainly in the fields
of education, social sciences, humanities, mathematics, and the natural
sciences.
In the years ahead, many African countries
will be making an increasing use of telematics in the implementation
of distance learning. This is already happening in South Africa, where
there is an ongoing initiative by the COLISA [Confederation of Open
Learning
Institutions in South Africa], that is aimed at developing
internet-based courseware, a web-based student-teacher interaction system
and a series of local internet access points for students[3].
2.2 Transnational
education
This mode of education - where the teachers and
students reside in different countries, with instructional materials traversing
national borders to reach the students - is acquiring much significance
on the African continent, as it is becoming visible in a number of African
countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.
There are two ways in which transnational
education is being provided on the African continent.
2.2.1 Networking/partnership
The first is as a form of networking/partnership,
involving African and European or North American institutions, with the
purpose of collaborating in graduate training and research. Two examples
from this category are the:
· TELESUN [TELEteaching
System
for UNiversities] project that links six engineering schools and
faculties in Belgium, Cameroon, France, Morocco, and Tunisia, and provides
internet-based courses in the engineering sciences; and
· RESAFAD [RESeau Africain
de Formation A Distance] network, comprising universities
in Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Togo, that delivers teacher training
courses from France through the internet to the students in these countries.
For example, Djibouti, which is too small to establish and operate a university,
is taking great advantage of RESAFAD to train teachers for its schools.
2.2.2
Entrepreneurial providers
The other way by which transnational education
is provided on the African continent is through some tertiary institutions
in Australia, Europe, and North America. Many of these providers appear
to be in the enterprise principally to fulfil their mission statements,
which espouse a management strategy, having an aggressive entrepreneurial
approach at its cutting edge. Accordingly, unlike intranational distance
education, transnational education is pursued by some of the providers
as a fundamentally commercial enterprise. The providers target mainly the
rich in society. This strategy is often accompanied with a lowering of
admission requirements and the promise of the award of a degree in a specified
number of years. Those who receive tuition are invariably bankers and other
business persons, who enroll for degrees in banking, business administration,
actuarial science or management. It is therefore evident that transnational
education will, for a long time to come, be able to make only a tangential
impact on the problem of access by eligible candidates to tertiary education
in Africa.
2.3 The African Virtual University
The "African Virtual University (AVU)"
project is a distance learning mechanism that is being implemented with
the expectation that it will vastly expand training opportunities at the
university level throughout Africa. Twenty three tertiary institutions
from fifteen African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde,
Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal,
Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, have been involved in the pilot phase
of the project, with the students resident in Africa and the teachers in
the United States of America, France, Canada and Belgium. Implementation
of the project has been greatly facilitated by the provision of full satellite
communications access by INTELSAT, as well as substantial funding by the
US Trade Development Agency, African Regional Development Fund, Canadian
Trust Fund, Irish Trust Fund, European Commission, the World Bank Development
Grant Facility, and some other donors.
The courses currently being offered by the
AVU are in chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics
and statistics. For the benefit of students from francophone Africa, French
language materials are also being developed in Belgium and Canada to facilitate
the teaching of business management, environmental sciences, teacher education
subjects, and computer science, including internet literacy [3].
The expectation is that the AVU would eventually
be based in Africa, with the teaching staff drawn from African universities.
If the project proves successful and sustainable, the AVU should make a
colossal impact on the problem of access to tertiary education in Africa.
2.4
Private tertiary education institutions
In the past, the establishing and operating
of tertiary education institutions in Africa were the exclusive preserve
of African governments. The institutions were created by acts of parliament,
or their analogues, and then publicly funded. But as a result of the dire
economic straits in which many African countries have found themselves
since the 1970s, this rigid approach to the development of higher education
on the continent is being relaxed, as African governments deregulate the
tertiary education sector by promulgating laws that empower non-governmental
entities to establish and operate TEIs. Accordingly, several private TEIs
have come into existence in recent years. As full-fledged TEIs, they are
providing opportunities for study in a wide range of fields. As they develop
and expand, the private TEIs will be able to contribute significantly to
the alleviation of the problem of access to tertiary education on the continent.
2.5 Public
tertiary institutions
As noted in the foregoing subsection, many
African governments are re-assessing their previously exclusive involvement
in the funding and management of TEIs. In some countries, TEIs are undergoing
extensive rehabilitation and expansion, in order to make more opportunities
available to persons seeking access to such institutions.
3. Challenges
As has been noted earlier, the expanding
of opportunities to tertiary education is recognised by almost every African
nation as a task that must be vigorously pursued. In tackling this task,
attention must be paid to a number of questions/challenges. Some of these
are highlighted in what follows.
3.1 Peace, stability and good governance
In the past two decades or so, several African
countries have experienced disasters, total war and/or political/economic
instability. There is evidently a great need for African countries to :
· imbibe a culture of peace
and conflict resolution;
· commit themselves to the democratic
mode of governance; and
· ensure good, transparent and inclusive
governance.
These measures will lessen the probability of
insurrections and wars, which often lead to the destruction of educational
facilities and the curtailment of opportunities for any form of education.
3.2 National policies on access and equity
There appears to be no clear policies on the
issue of access to TEIs in many African countries. There is an urgent need
for such policies, which should aim at ensuring equitable access by the
members of the various groups in each African nation to available opportunities.
3.3
Certification of offshore educational providers
The process of certification of offshore providers
of transnational education by some African governments is not proceeding
as rapidly as would be expected for a number of reasons, three of which
are the following. Firstly, several countries are yet to work out any mechanisms
for accrediting such providers. This is linked with the absence of quality
assurance agencies in those countries. Secondly, some African governments
are adamantly opposed to what they regard as the limitless commercialisationof
tertiary education in the name of globalisation. Thirdly, a number
of countries are cautious about handing over, in a wholesale manner, the
process of certification of offshore providers to any foreign certification
body: they consider that to do so would undermine their sovereignty. It
is hoped that this state of affairs will change with more interaction among
offshore educational providers, foreign certification agencies and leaders
of government activities in African countries.
3.4 Quality and relevance
The courses offered, or proposed for offering,
in Africa by many providers of transnational education are sometimes inferior
versions of analogous courses offered to their home students. Moreover,
the courses invariably fail to take any account of African perspectives,
aspirations and goals in their formulation or delivery.
3.5
Cost effectiveness and affordability
Transnational education is often operated
as a commercial enterprise, with the providers charging exorbitantly. This
is therefore not a mode of education that can be within the reach of the
average African student.
3.6 Impact
on access
The impact of distance education, whether
intranational
or transnational, on alleviating the problem of access to tertiary
education on the African continent requires urgent evaluation.
3.7 Capacity
building
For the rapid development of distance education
in Africa, there is need to build capacity for developing course materials
and using modern information & communications facilities. This will
call for much funding over a long time span.
3.8 National policies and regulatory bodies
Many African countries need to urgently work
out clear policies on transnational and
intranational distance
education, and set up appropriate regulatory bodies, which will deal with
such issues as accreditation of providers, quality assurance and relevance
of courses, conflict resolution between providers and their clients, and
fee structure.
3.9 Regional cooperation
The efforts being made to improve access to
tertiary education on the continent are invariably discrete and disparate.
There is a need for regional cooperation in this area, as this will lead
to the exchange of good practices, as well as the conservation of time
and money. Through regional cooperation, it should be feasible, for example,
to produce a:
· blueprint on strategies
for expanding access to TEIs in Africa in the new millenium;
· directory of distance education
institutions on the continent and the courses that they offer; and
· directory of training materials
and courses.
It should also be possible to organise
regional workshops on such topics as the:
· use of information and communications
technology, including multimedia resources, for training and education
by distance;
· standardisation of existing formats
for producing training materials;
· rationalisation of training activities
on the continent;
· ensuring gender equity and fair
access to all disadvantaged groups;
· strategic planning in distance education;
and
· quality assurance and the equivalence
of qualifications.
Needless to say, in these diverse areas,
the Association of African Universities has important roles to play.
4.
The shape of things to come
As I had previously noted, there will be increased
pressure for access into TEIs in Africa in the coming years. The demand
will be propelled by a number of factors, such as the:
· steady progress towards
democratic governance in many African countries, which is leading to a
more conducive atmosphere for the consolidation of existing, as well as
the establishment of new, economic, social and technological activities
and partnerships on the continent;
· greater awareness, arising from democratisation,
by the citizens of many African countries of their right to education and
the central place of literacy and numeracy in the emerging knowledge societies
in the new millennium;
· ubiquity of the products of the information
and communications technology which is continually making intranational/transnational
education much more readily accessible to Africans;
· demand for a wide spectrum of competencies
by the emerging national democracies and their private sectors;
· competition for access into the African,
as well as the global, world of work; and the
· imperative of lifelong learning.
This prognosis calls for a strategic approach
to the process of expanding opportunities and access to TEIs on the continent
in order to assure sustainability. As an integral part of this approach,
there will be need for African countries to:
· put in place policies on
access and equity ensuring that every citizen and each demographic group
have fair access to the gamut of opportunities that are available at any
point in time; · develop and imbibe a culture of peace; and
· be continually assisted, both technically
and financially, by their international partners.
5. Acknowledgement
I am grateful to Dr Marjorie Peace Lenn, Executive
Director of GATE, and Professor Narciso Matos, Secretary-General of the
AAU, for financial support in connection with my participation at this
Conference.
References
1. Directory of Advanced Training Opportunities in the ACP Countries,
prepared by Institute of Social Studies Advisory Services (ISSAS), Development
Research Institute (IVO), and Netherlands Organisation for International
Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC), in collaboration with the Association
of African Universities (AAU), xxiv+622p (1998), 2nd edition.
2. Guide to Higher Education in Africa, Association of African
Universities and International Association of Universities, xix+420p (1999),
Macmillan Reference Ltd, London.
3. V. Naidoo and C. Schutte: Virtual Institutions on the African
Continent, in: The Development of Virtual Education: A Global Perspective,
Edited by G. Farrell, pp89-124, Commonwealth of Learning (1999).
1. * Paper presented
at the 1999 Conference of the Global Alliance for Transnational Education
(GATE), on "Access or Exclusion? Trade in Transnational Education Services",
held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne, Australia, 29 September - 1 October,
1999.
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