Working Group on Higher Education in Africa |
|
|
 |
|
Strategic Plan (2003-2005) |
The WGHE Strategic Plan is the outcome of a process of continuous review of the Purpose, Mission, Vision, Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Program Activities of the Group. When the WGHE was first established, formal goals, objectives, and scope were never explicitly agreed and adopted by its members.
For much of its existence, the Group has focussed its activities to a large extent on the analysis of specific problems of higher education in Africa, commissioned studies, organized discussions, and disseminated results through reports and publications, working mainly through consensus building on the issues it sought to address.
Previous reviews of the WGHE have confirmed that there is widespread support it’s existence among all the stakeholders that participate in it. Recent orientation visits the new Coordinator has undertaken also shown growing appreciation among stakeholders for the WGHE’s objectives and activities, particularly the funding of pilot activities.
While the WGHE has been credited with a number of achievements, the Group does not always enjoy consensus among its members regarding its role and activities. The Steering Committee therefore is continuing its efforts to strengthen the process of consensus building within the Group. One of such efforts was to develop a Strategic Plan.
The 2003-2005 WGHE Strategic Plan (in french) examined global trends in higher education and affirms that tertiary education’s role in development and in the construction of knowledge economies and democratic societies is more recognized now than it used to be. It signals that the emergence of new types of tertiary institutions and new forms of competition have forced traditional tertiary systems and institutions within it to re-examine their role. The challenges facing Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa have been analyzed and opportunities listed.
As regards the internal context, after critically reviewing the WGHE’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values, participants at the Strategic Planning workshop which was held in September 2002 analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the WGHE’s past Work Programs and their impact on higher education policy and development in Africa. They reviewed the WGHE’s structure, organization and financing, with the view to determining the best way forward.
The Strategy that the WGHE has proposed for the next three years is comprised of three streams of activities: analysis, advocacy, and capacity building on commonly identified key issues.
In implementing the Strategic Plan, the WGHE Coordinator prepares annual DRAFT Work Programs, with Financing Plans, which the WGHE Steering Committee reviews and endorses before it is reviewed and approved by the ADEA Steering Committee. The Coordinator reports on the Strategic Plan through Annual Activity Reports using a format prescribed by the ADEA Secretariat. |
|
|
Working Group on Higher Education in Africa
