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Challenges Facing African Universities: Selected Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Akilagpa Sawyerr
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Abstract:

With notable exceptions, modern university education in Africa is a phenomenon of the last half century. Universities were established either immediately before or within a decade after political independence in most African countries. Since then, both the number of institutions and enrollment have expanded rapidly and continuously across the continent. The coverage of university education, nevertheless, remains inadequate for the needs of the knowledge society. With the relative decline of state support during the severe economic crisis of the 1980s, Africa's universities suffered substantial deterioration: overcrowding, infrastructure deficiencies, and inadequate access to international knowledge resources. These deficiencies led to problems of access, equity, quality, and relevance, and to an aging faculty. At the same time, higher education systems were complicated by the diversification of categories of student, types of institutions, and the kinds of knowledge demanded. In the resulting situation of institutional complexity and policy dynamism, Africa's universities were compelled to develop strategies for coping and innovation. The result has been a halt in the decline in many instances, and revival and growth in several others. Accompanying these positive results, however, have been new forms of social exclusion as well as a loss of focus on the public purpose of universities as institutions concentrate mainly on increasing institutional incomes and producing graduates for the labor market. To address these and other problems, it is necessary to insist on the irreducible responsibility of the state for the maintenance of the higher education system and the need for a proper focus on the public purposes of higher education. Systems-level policy frameworks need to be negotiated and established to guide the strategic choices that have to be made by all players in the education sector.

Résumé:

Résumé:

A l'exception de quelques exemples notables, l'éducation universitaire moderne en Afrique est un phénomène qui date des cinquante dernières années. Les universités ont été fondées soit juste avant, soit dans les dix années qui ont suivi l'indépendance politique dans la plupart des pays africains. Depuis lors, le nombre des institutions tout comme celui des inscriptions a augmenté rapidement et de manière continue sur tout le continent. Toutefois, la prise en charge de l'éducation universitaire, reste inadéquate pour subvenir aux besoins de la société savante. Le déclin relatif du soutien de l'état pendant la sévère crise économique des années 1980 a eu pour conséquence une détérioration significative des universités africaines: classes surchargées, manque d'infrastructures et accès inadéquat aux ressources internationales du savoir. Ces insuffisances ont causé des problèmes d'accès, d'égalité, de qualité et de pertinence, ainsi que des problèmes liés au vieillissement des professeurs d'université. Parallèlement, les systèmes de l'enseignement supérieur se sont trouvés compliqués par la diversification des catégories d'étudiants, des types d'institutions, et des styles de connaissances demandées. La situation de complexité institutionnelle et de dynamisme des lignes d'action politiques qui en résulte a obligé les universités africaines à développer des stratégies pour gérer cette situation et innover. Le résultat a été une interruption du déclin dans grand nombre de cas, et la reprise et la croissance dans plusieurs autres. Cependant, parallèlement à ces résultats positifs, de nouvelles formes d'exclusion sociale se sont développées, et comme ces institutions se concentrent principalement sur l'augmentation des revenus institutionnels et la production de diplômés destinés au marché du travail, l'objectif public des universités a été perdu de vue. Pour traiter ces problèmes ainsi que d'autres, on doit insister sur la responsabilité irréductible de l'état de maintenir le système de l'enseignement supérieur, et sur la nécessité d'une convergence adéquate sur les objectifs de l'enseignement supérieur. Les cadres politiques au niveau des systèmes doivent être négociés et établis afin de guider les choix stratégiques qui devront être faits par tous les participants du secteur de l'éducation.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , April 2004 , pp. 1 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2004

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