scholarly journals African Higher Education: The Rise and Fall in the 20th Century

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goolam Mohamedbhai
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Conference ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The 1960S

After the independence of the colonies in the 1960s, African universities became autonomous and modeled on European ones. The late 1970s and 1980s became the difficult years of economic turmoil. At the same time, a demand for higher education increased. In the 1990s, most universities in sub-Saharan Africa stood in a deplorable state. The turning point in the African universities' fates came with the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education held in 1998, which provided a framework for renewed support to higher education and led to a revitalization of African universities.

The Crisis in Higher Education in Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Samuel O. Atteh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Educational Crisis ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Education In Africa

Africa is experiencing an educational crisis of unprecedented proportions in higher education. Having been hailed in the 1960s as agent of modernization, social mobilization, and economic growth, most African universities are now tumbling down under the pressures of diminishing financial resources. From all indications, Africa is lagging behind other developing regions in terms of public expenditures particularly on education, availability of educational facilities, equal access to education, adequate pools of qualified teachers, and sufficient numbers of professionals and skilled workers. Pertinent data show that most African governments in the 1960s and 1970s made comparable progressive accomplishments in higher education. However, these accomplishments steadily disappeared in the 1980s. What went wrong in the 1980s? Why is higher education now such a convenient target for African leaders/governments, when pressured to trim their overextended public sector? To what extent is the lack of multiparty democracies affecting the deteriorating state of higher education in Africa? Is the declining importance attached to education in sub-Saharan Africa a reflection of the lack of education among Africa’s tyrannical rulers, hence the low appreciation of education? What role did the foreign financial institutions play in the African educational system? How can we turn the educational crisis around? These questions not only address African educational issues but also help us to explain the scope of this crisis. In a comparative analysis, this study describes the main African higher educational problems, identifies the root causes of the problems, and finally examines the implications for the twenty-first century.

The Crisis in Higher Education in Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel O. Atteh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Educational Crisis ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Education In Africa

Africa is experiencing an educational crisis of unprecedented proportions in higher education. Having been hailed in the 1960s as agent of modernization, social mobilization, and economic growth, most African universities are now tumbling down under the pressures of diminishing financial resources. From all indications, Africa is lagging behind other developing regions in terms of public expenditures particularly on education, availability of educational facilities, equal access to education, adequate pools of qualified teachers, and sufficient numbers of professionals and skilled workers. Pertinent data show that most African governments in the 1960s and 1970s made comparable progressive accomplishments in higher education. However, these accomplishments steadily disappeared in the 1980s. What went wrong in the 1980s? Why is higher education now such a convenient target for African leaders/governments, when pressured to trim their overextended public sector? To what extent is the lack of multiparty democracies affecting the deteriorating state of higher education in Africa? Is the declining importance attached to education in sub-Saharan Africa a reflection of the lack of education among Africa’s tyrannical rulers, hence the low appreciation of education? What role did the foreign financial institutions play in the African educational system? How can we turn the educational crisis around? These questions not only address African educational issues but also help us to explain the scope of this crisis. In a comparative analysis, this study describes the main African higher educational problems, identifies the root causes of the problems, and finally examines the implications for the twenty-first century.

scholarly journals An Appraisal of the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-90
Author(s):  
Sintayehu Kassaye Alemu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Developing Regions ◽  
Internationalisation Of Higher Education ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Global North ◽  
Sub Saharan

Over the past decades, the development of the internationalisation of higher education has revised the conceptual framework of higher education, enhanced its scope, scale and importance, and transformed its world, as well as reshaping relationships between countries. More powerful universities play a central role and are suppliers of knowledge, whereas weaker institutions and systems with fewer resources and lower academic standards occupy a peripheral position and are consumers. The centre-periphery dichotomy in the internationalisation of higher education undoubtedly presents considerable challenges to the higher education institutions of the peripheries. For developing regions like Africa, higher education is an important instrument for socioeconomic development, and one of the strategies to improve and qualify higher education is internationalisation. In spite of various attempts to enhance the benefits of internationalisation, African higher education has continued to be peripheral, with relationships remaining asymmetrical, unethical and unequal. Along with some positive benefits, internationalisation has brought complicated implications and new challenges, such as the brain drain, cultural values, the commodification of higher education, the persistence of inequality between global north-south universities, and so on. The purpose of the present paper is to highlight the challenges and unintended consequences of the internationalisation of higher education, with a particular focus on Africa.

scholarly journals The World Bank's Perspective on African Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damtew Teferra
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Development ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
The World ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Sub Saharan

In it's report "Accelerating Catch-Up: Tertiary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa", the World Bank places education at the fore of African development priorities. This represents a shift in viewpoint from higher education as luxury to higher education as necessity. While this can be seen as progress, the report still contains gaps in data and may indicate a need for increased attention to this changing sector.

The International Connections of Religious Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 487-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Karram
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Private Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
The Past ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Religious Higher Education

Over the past decade, the largest growth in Sub-Saharan Africa’s private higher education has been among institutions with religious affiliations. This article examines the rise of private, religious higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa with international affiliations. Using an analysis of multiple stakeholders from the region and international community, the rationales and implications of religion higher education Africa are considered. Accreditation, quality assurance, funding, and development assistance are explored as key issues within African higher education. This article concludes with a discussion of the global divide between secular and religious ideologies and calls for more research into the impacts of religious higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Equity and Quality in the Revitalisation of African Higher Education: Trends and Challenges

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mala Singh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan

The revitalisation of African higher education has been a policy imperative on the agenda of many international and African organisations in the last decade, as well as a focus for research and debate. Revitalisation is a theme which is itself framed by a larger set of current discourses about the powerful role of knowledge in society and in the economy, and about the possibilities and conditions for knowledge-based development. Central to the success of both the revitalisation and knowledge-based development agenda is a systematic and sustained approach to a package of issues relating to access, equity and quality in African higher education. This article examines trends and developments relating to these three issues in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on their implications for a successful revitalisation strategy, as well as for knowledge-based development.

scholarly journals Unusual in Growth and Composition: Ethiopian Private Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 19-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wondwosen Tamrat ◽  
Daniel Levy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Private Higher Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sub Saharan

Ethiopia’s private higher education (PHE) sector is the largest or second largest in sub-Saharan Africa, however a mix of enabling and restrictive policies have let PHE play a limited role in key respects. This article surveys the current landscape and asks important questions regarding the future of PHE.

scholarly journals Higher Education and Economic Growth in Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Bloom ◽  
David Canning ◽  
Kevin Chan ◽  
Dara Lee Luca
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
International Development ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Développement Économique ◽  
Education And Economic Growth

Enrollment rates for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa are by far the lowest in the world at 6%. Yet because of conventional beliefs that tertiary education is less important for poverty reduction, the international development community has encouraged African governments’ relative neglect of higher education. This article challenges beliefs that tertiary education has little role in promoting economic growth and alleviating poverty. First, we review recent evidence that higher education can produce significant public and private benefits. Next, we analyze the relationship between tertiary education and economic growth. We find evidence that tertiary education improves technological catch-up and, in doing so, may help to maximize Africa’s potential to achieve more rapid economic growth given current constraints. Investing in tertiary education in Africa may accelerate technological diffusion, which would in turn decrease knowledge gaps and help reduce poverty in the region. We also review new developments and trends in the higher education scene in Africa. Le taux d’inscription dans l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique sub-saharienne est de loin le plus faible du monde, atteignant seulement 6%. Pourtant, parce que l’enseignement supérieur est perçu comme moins important que les enseignements primaire et secondaire pour lutter contre la pauvreté, la communauté internationale a encouragé les gouvernements africains à moins y prêter attention. Cet article conteste l’idée que l’enseignement supérieur joue un rôle peu important dans le développement économique et la lutte contre la pauvreté. Tout d’abord, nous nous intéressons à de récents résultats qui montrent que l’enseignement supérieur crée des bénéfices publics et privés. Ensuite, nous analysons la relation entre l’enseignement supérieur et la croissance économique. Nous montrons que l’enseignement supérieur permet de rattraper le retard technologique et, ce faisant, pourrait aider l’Afrique à maximiser sa capacité à accélérer sa croissance économique dans les conditions actuelles. Investir dans l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique pourrait permettre une diffusion plus rapide des avancées technologiques, qui pourrait à son tour réduire la disparité de savoir et participer à la réduction de la pauvreté dans la région. Nous passons aussi en revue les nouveautés et tendances dans l’enseignement supérieur africain.

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