Group Lyceum

TERTIARY EDUCATION IN AFRICA

BRIEFING BY LE GROUPE LYCEUM

Background:

Over the last six months, Le Groupe Lyceum, located in Conakry, Guinea and Fredericton, New Brunswick, has been analyzing issues and opportunities in Africa concerning tertiary education. This has involved interaction with local jurisdictions, and careful analysis of individual country education strategies.

The work team at Le Groupe Lyceum has consisted of:

·   Mr. Dietrich Bödecker, Economist (ex-Namibian)
·   Ms. Fatoumata Dabo, Business graduate, Conakry
·   Dr. Kenneth E. Keirstead, Director, Le Groupe Lyceum
·   Dr. Nianga Malo, Rector of UDECOM in Guinea

Vast amounts of information and data have been collected from Country Assistance Strategies, publications of The World Bank, and contact with over 40 African jurisdictions. Findings were also calibrated from individual meetings with tertiary education experts from Africa that attended the Education and Economic Development in Africa conference and workshop held April 25-27, 2006 in Montreal by the Canadian Council on Africa.

Quoting the Canadian Council on Africa: The investment in education and the achievement of Africa’s educational development goals require everyone’s participation, coupled with the implementation of strong partnerships between Africans and Canadians involved in the education field.

General Findings:

·   There is a direct correlation between economic development and tertiary education. Countries in Africa with robust tertiary education programs benefit from more sustainable economic development.
·   There is little to no co-ordination of tertiary education programs “offered” to African countries by donor countries, resulting in poor adoption, and a lack of sustainability. There are inadequate “adoption and selection” criteria in the targeted countries.
·   “Offerings” and “Expressions of Interest” by donor countries, provinces, and educational institutions for tertiary education are often very competitive, with the result that they gain little “traction.”
·   African universities and colleges have a confusing inventory of inactive Expressions of Interest and Memorandums of Understanding.
·   African universities and colleges are characterized by crumbling infrastructures, and are plagued by an inability to adequately balance didactic and practicum curricula.
·   State-run institutions are generally politicized and burdened by ponderous bureaucracy.
·   Private tertiary education institutions often face diminishing support after formation, inadequate planning to become self-sufficient, and they face overt attempts to include them into the national education systems.
·   In most cases, the quality of professors and teachers is eroded by an exodus to the West where salaries, teaching conditions, and life-style is more favorable.
·   Student quality and their educational standards are characterized by feelings of being disenfranchised and disillusioned by the above circumstances.
·   There is an eager quest for African students to study in the West, but this process is hindered by mechanisms to select appropriate venues, navigate funding through complex and competing agencies and institutions, and complex travel visa issues.

The above scenario offers meaningful opportunity to Canadian and international tertiary education institutions to develop well-planned programs and collaboration with African institutions, and to become a favored destination for students to attend Western centers of advanced, technical, and higher learning.

Recommendations:

1.   Canadian and international institutions wishing to provide meaningful services to African countries would benefit from clearly defining their key objective and strategies, and focusing less on individual actions.
2.   Estimates of financial investment and time required for meaningful projects indicate the need to pre-qualify, and target efforts with reasonable expectations.
3.   Offering institutions need user-friendly marketing plans to highlight their true capabilities.
4.   Projects need to be demand driven (country plan and program) and well coordinated with national and education plans. This would benefit from strong association with in-country partner(s).
5.   There is a paucity of input from Canadian education institutions to the development of IFI (International Financial Institution) working plans for tertiary education plans for Africa. Willingness to assist The World Bank, the African Development Bank, etc is recommended as a function of objectives and strategies.
6.   Tertiary education in Africa begs a seamless approach to address primary, secondary, and tertiary education. These needs are not mutually exclusive. This includes both facility and capacity planning, and the resultant teacher deficit created.
7.   Rationalize the target audience with an “outcomes” measurement approach.

May 11, 2006