HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROSPECTSIN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGION Juma SHABANI, Editor PROCEEDINGS OF A CONSULTATIVE MEETING, NAIROBI, KENYA 12 - 14 FEBRUARY 1997 PREFACE Juma SHABANI FINAL REPORT OF THE MEETING Juma SHABANI KEY NOTE ADDRESS Elizabeth MASIGA PAPERS CONTRIBUTED 1. Quality of training and research Herme MOSHA 13 2. Relevanceo f higher education JosephM . MUNGAI 29 3. IncreasingA ccessa nd Equity in Higher Education: Gender Issues PeninaM . MLAMA 45 4. IncreasingA ccessa nd Equity in Higher Education- The Role of Open universities and DistanceE ducation: The Experienceo f the Open university of Tanzania Geoffrey MMARI 53 4. Financing Higher Education in Africa Robert D.D. BLAIR 68 6.0 Regional Cooperationi n Africa - Achievementsa nd Prospects 6.1 The caseo f the African Network of Scientific and Technological Institutions (ANSTI). JosephG .M. MASSAQUOI 95 6.2 The caseo f the African Regional PostgraduateP rogrammei n Insect Science( ARPPIS) 105 Vitalis 0. MUSEWE 6.3 The caseo f the African Economic ResearchC onsortium (AERC) 124 William LYAKURWA 128 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS The views expressedb y the authors are not necessarily those of UNESCO and so do not commit the organisation. 0 UNESCO 1997 PREFACE Since the 1980s’ , higher educationi n Africa has undergonea deepa nd complex crisis causedm ainly by the rapid increase of students enrollments and the inadequacy of financial resources provided by the Government. This crisis has led to a decline of academic quality and social relevance of training provided in higher educationi nstitutions in Africa. It has also had a negativei mpact on researcha ctivities. The rapid expansiono f studentse nrollmentsh as not helpedA frican countriest o responda dequatelyt o the issue of equity in accesst o higher education for under-representedc ategoriess uch as women, students from low-income families and rural areas. The current trends and new challengesf acing higher educationi nstitutions in Africa on the threshold of the twenty-first century compel them to review their role and missions and redefine their functions and programmesi n order to respondm ore effectively to the current and future needsa nd expectationso f the society. In order to address these challenges in a rapidly changing world, UNESCO will organize a world conferenceo n higher educationi n 1998i n Paris on the theme“ Higher Educationi n the 2 1s t Century”. The world conferencew ill approve a world-wide action plan aiming at reinforcing the contribution of higher educationt o the economic and social developmenta nd the promotion of peacea nd democracy.T his plan should also help member states to undertake appropriate reforms of national systems of higher education. As envisagedi n other regions of the world, an African Regional Consultation will be organized on l-4 April 1997 in Dakar in the preparationf or the World Conference. The Easterna nd SouthernA frican consultativem eetingo n higher educationi n the 21st century held on 12- 14 February 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya was organizedi n the preparationf or the Dakar consultation. The meeting was most successfuli n terms of attendancea s well as the quality of the presentationsa nd discussionsa nd the important conclusionst hat emerged.T here was a general consensusth at the time had come to move from the formulation of recommendationsa nd action plans to clear and effective strategies for implementationo f theser ecommendationsa nd action plans UNESCO is grateful to all the participantsf or their contribution to the successo f the meeting Prof. Juma SHABANI Senior Specialist in Higher Education UNESCO Nairobi Office. Nairobi 18th March I997 FINAL REPORTO F THE CONSULTATION J. SHABANI The consultationw as organizedb y UNESCO Nairobi Offtce and was attendedb y 32 participants including 8 Vice Chancellors.T he themesa nd the speakerss electedf or the consultationi ncluded the following (0 Quality of training and researchi n higher education Prof. H. MOSHA, Former Dean,F aculty of Education,U niversity of Dar=es-Salaam (ii) Relevanceo f higher educationi n Africa Prof. J. MUNGAI, Secretary,C ommissionf or Higher Education,K enya (iii) - Increasinga ccessa nd equity in higher education:G enderI ssues Prof. P. MLAMA, Chief Academic Officer, University of Dar-es-Salaam - Increasing accessa nd equity in higher education- The role of Open Universities and distance education:T he experienceo f the Open University of Tanzania. Prof. G. MMARI, Vice Chancellor,T he Open University of Tanzania. (iv) Higher educationr eforms in SouthA frica. Dr. N. CLOETE, Director, Centre for higher education transformations(CHET) Pretoria, South Africa. (VI Financingh igher educationi n Africa. R.D.D. BLAIR, Managing Director, SpecissC ollege, Harare,Z imbabwe 64 RegionalC ooperation:A chievementsa nd prospects. - The caseo f the African Scientific and TechnologicalI nstitutions(ANST1) Prof. J.G.M. MASSAQUOI, Coordinator,A nsti Project. - The caseo f the African RegionalP ostgraduateP rogrammei n Insect Sciences( ARPPIS) Dr. V.O. MUSEWE Head,C apacity Building, ICIPE - The caseo f the African Economic ResearchC onsortium( AERC) Prof. W. LYAKURWA, Coordinatoro f training programmes. I OPENING The consultationw as openedo n 12th February 1997 by Prof. P.B. VITTA, Director of UNESCO, Nairobi Office. In his remarks, after extending a warm welcome to all the participants, Prof. Vitta explained that this consultation is organized in the process of the preparation of the African Conference on Higher education to be held on l-4 April in Dakar, Senegal and the UNESCO World Conference on higher educations cheduledf or the year 1998 in Paris, France.P rof. Vitta also emphasizedt he importancea nd the relevanceo f the themesp roposedf or this consultationa nd indicatedt hat the outcomeso f this meeting will be communicatedt o the organizing committeeso f both the Dakar and Paris conferences. II KEY The key note addressw as delivered by Mrs. Elizabeth MASIGA, PermanentS ecretary in the Ministry of education, Kenya. Mrs. Masiga highlighted the themes of the consultation using the experience and the perspectiveso f higher educationi n Kenya. 2 III PAPERS CONTRIBUTED 3.1 Dualitv of training and research in higher education. H . MOSHA. The paper addressesb oth the issueso f quality enhancementa nd quality assuranceo f training, researcha nd servicest o the community. It discussest he concept of quality, identifies the various factors that influence the quality of training and research,a nalysest he impact of internal and external inputs on the quality and discussest he quality of the main university outcomes/outputsn amely students, research and servicest o the community. The paper also emphasizest he role of effective managementa nd mobilization of resources in enhancingq uality of training and research.T he paperc ontains,t he following recommendations: Evaluation of teaching/trainingp rocess,n amely studentse valuation, peer evaluation and evaluation of systemso f internal and external audit of units, faculties, and universities should be institutionalized. Furthermoret he evaluation should be carried out on a regular basis and the feed back usedi n order to implementt he desiredc hanges. Universities should develop and effectively market comprehensiver esearchp lans. They should also mobilize adequater esourcesf or the implementationo f thesep lans. Researchers/Academisct aff should be given opportunities for internal training or short visits abroadt o enablet hem improve their teaching/trainings kills and capacities. In order to reinforce researchc apacity building, block sum of funds should be given to senior faculty to enablet hem provide leadershipi n researchb y teaming up with junior colleagues to conduct original pure and applied research and advance, refine and disseminatek nowledge. 3.2 Relevanceo f higher education in Africa J. MUNGAI After introducing the concept of relevance,t he paper suggestst hat relevances hould be discussed in relation to the requirementso f both the worlds of work and no work. It also emphasizest he role of researchi n promoting social relevancea nd academicq uality and elaborateso n the relationship between research outcomes/outputsa nd postgraduatep rogrammes. The paper suggests that relevance of higher education should also be measured through its direct services to the community and its contribution to the developmento f the other educations ectors. Finally the paper recommendst o promote interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approachest o research,t eaching and servicest o the community in order to respond adequatelyt o the rapidly changing needs,t o utilize the available resourcesi n the most cost-effective and cost-beneficial mannera nd to contribute more effectively to the solution of pressingp roblems. 3.3 Increasiw accessa nd equity in higher education ta) Gender issues P. MLAMA The paper mainly reviews researchs tudiesa nd activities carried out recently in the area of gender issues and strategiesi mplemented in order to promote gender sensitization activities, to raise gender awarenessa nd to improve accesso f girls to higher education especially in the sciences ubjects. The paperm akest he following recommendation: 3 The recommendationsa nd actions plans adoptedi n various fora on gender issuess hould be implemented.N everthelesst,h e implementations trategiess hould take into accountt he existing socio-economicc ontext. tb) The role of onen universities and distance education: The exnerience of the onen universitv of Tanzania. G. MMARI The paperr ecalls the role of distancee ducationa s one of the strategieso f implementation of the concepto f life long education.I t presentst he advantageso f distancee ducationa nd the experience,a chievementsa nd prospectso f the open university of Tanzania. In order to increasea ccessa nd equity in higher education, the paper recommendst hat African universities should explore the possibility of developing distance education, using the experienceo f Makerere university and the universities of Nairobi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 3.4 Higher education reforms in South Africa N. CLOETE The paper presentsa summary report of the work of the South African national commission on higher education on a new policy framework for higher education transformations in South Africa. The paper mainly focuseso n the need for transformationsa nd the principles and featureso f the new framework. 3.5 Financiw higher education in Africa. R.D.D. BLAIR The paper reviews the role of universities in Africa and analyzest he environment in which they are operating.O n the basis of the current financial constraintsf acing the universities and in order to reduce their dependenceo n the state funding, the paper recommendst o the higher education institutions and to the policy makerst o undertaket he following reforms: To develop variety amongsti nstitutions within the higher educations ector, including the establishmento f private institutions. To encouragep ublic institutions to diversify their sources of funding, including cost recovery or sharingw ith students, To redefine the role of government in higher education, and link state expenditure to performancem easures. To establishp olicies that give priority to the creation of quality and greatere quity. 3.6 Regional cooneration: achievementsa nd prospects. The caseo f ANSTI: J.G.M MASSAQUOI The caseo f ARPPIS: V.O. MUSEWE The caseo f AERC: W. LYAKURWA The three papers presented under this theme give account of the origin, the objectives, the structuresa nd the programmeso f ANSTI, ARPPIS and AERC. The papersp resenta rgumentsf or networking and other forms of regional cooperationsa s USdid and cost-effective strategiesf or human resourced evelopment.T hey also analyze the problems associatedw ith thesen etworks and discusst heir future prospects 4 IV DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS In addition to a general discussionw hich was organized following the presentationo f papers in plenary sessions,t he issuesw ere further discussedi n two parallel groups. The discussionsl ed to the following generalr ecommendations: For the 2 1s t century Africa should give priority to quality, accessa nd equity There is need to go beyond formulation of recommendationsa nd drafting of action plans. It is necessaryt o set up adequates trategiesf or implementationo f the recommendations/actionp lans. One of the strategiesp roposed is to set up a framework enabling a regular dialogue between universities and policy makers in order to ensure a smooth and effective implementation and monitoring of recommendations/actiopnl ans. (iii) The process of planning and implementation of various activities in higher education should involve all the stakeholdersa s well as the end users of university graduates.F urthermore the implementation strategies should take into account the current context of rapidly changing political and socio-economice nvironment. The quality of training and research The following recommendationsw ere adopted: Universities should develop a culture of maintenancei n order to ensurea nd sustaint he quality of equipment. Universities should introduce in service staff developmentt raining programmesa nd/or establish teaching improvementc entresi norder to help the staff improve their teaching skills. These programmess hould take advantageo f the facilities provided by the new information and communicationt echnologies. Universities should set up effective quality evaluation systems in order to promote quahty enhancemenat nd quality assuranceo f training and research. There is need for national bodies responsiblef or coordination and regulation of higher education activities. Its function should also include quality assessmenat nd quality control of training and research. Relevancep _fh igher education There is need to review the missions and to redefine the functions of the universities in order to address effectively the new challengesa nd the rapidly changing needso f African countries. This should also lead to a redefinition of the curricula in order to designa nd implement demandd riven academicp rogrammes. Universities should also set up adequatea cademics taff developmentp rogrammesi n order to help the staff to reorient their knowledgea nd skills towards new challengesa nd to becomem ore innovative. It was recognizedt hat researchc an play an important role in improving the relevanceo f higher education and that the bulk of researchr esults producedi n the universitiesi n mainly achievedt hankst o postgraduate students. Although fundamental research is important in order to advance the knowledge frontiers, it was recommendedt hat universities in Africa should primarily focus on researchw hich is relevant to the socio- economicd evelopment. Universities should also set up adequatem echanismst o market their researchc apacity and results and to protect their inventions. In order to respond more effectively to the challengeso f the 21st century, universities should promote transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. 5 Gender issues There should be a clear and effective code of conduct to govern social relations in higher education institutions. Furthermoret here is needt o inculcate a value systemi n studentsa nd to determinet he role of parentsa nd the community in promoting gendere quity. Girls and women should show more interesta nd aggressionin facing both academica nd social challenges, in fighting gendero ppressiona nd in eliminating various forms of genderd iscrimination and intimidation. Institutions of higher educations hould addresss eriouslyt he issueo f sexualh arassmennt ot only to improve the performanceo f girls but also the institutions’ own image locally and internationally. Access Universities should make a greater use of new information and communicationt echnologies in order to increasea ccesst o higher educationt hrough open universitiesa nd distancee ducation. Higher education reforms in South Africa It was observedt hat in South Africa, the expertise is owned by a small group and the higher education community is still isolated. It is therefore necessaryt o set up adequatem echanismsf or sharing expertisea nd promoting cooperation with other African countries. It was also recommendedt hat South Africa should learn from the successa nd failure of higher education institutions in the rest of Africa. Financine higher education Higher education institutions needt o explore the possibilities of generatingf unds. Neverthelessi n order to ensure a greater effectivenesso f these activities, the institutions should learn from successfula nd tested fund raising experienceso f African universities. Fund raising needst o take into accounta broad range of factors such as legal requirements,c apacity to run commercial enterprises,m arketability of the activities, etc... Cost sharing is inevitable. Nevertheless,i t needst o be addressedc arefully in order to ensure accdssa nd equity and to avoid disruption of academicp rogrammes. The loan systemss hould be reviewed in order to ensuret hat they take into accountt he studentsa nd parents financial ability to reimburset he loansa nd provide an effective machineryf or loan recovery. African governments should establish endowment funds in the universities but the funds should be managedb y personsw ith adequatem anageriala nd financial skills. Regional cooperation There is need to redefine the role of networks and centreso f excellencea nd to review their programmes, structures.m anagementa nd administrativep roceduresa nd mechanismsin order to help them to design and implement demandd riven programmesa nd to improve their relevance,e ffectivenessa nd efficiency. In addition to the resourcesp rovided by Donors, the networks and centres of excellence should attract more funds for example through consultancy. research contracts and publications. They should also identify adequates trategiest o ensuret he sustainabilityo f their programmes. 6 Networks and centreso f excellences hould make a greateru se of the new information and communication technologies. For example they should conduct some of their meetings through the electronic media. Government should allocate resourcest o the developmento f postgraduatet raining programs. This should include provisions for loans. V CLOSING The closing sessionw as presidedb y Prof. P.B. VITTA, Director of UNESCO Nairobi Office. After a brief assessmenot f the meeting, he thanked all the participantsf or their contribution to the discussions. The participants expressedg ratitude to UNESCO for its warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for the meeting. 7