Democratic Republic of Congo

Technology University Opens

A new technology-focused university has opened in the suburbs of the Congolese capital Kinshasa. The Université de Technologie du Congo was officially opened September 1 offering engineering programs in science and technology, together with studies in human and social sciences.

The university has received a license to operate (‘accreditation au niveau national’). Its programs currently focus on computing, mechanical engineering, urban planning, biological engineering and processes. The university aims to adopt a flexible approach to the programs it offers so as to be able to react to the changing needs of society and the economy. In an interview with Le Potential newspaper, Dr Ignace Kasiama, who established the new university, said that the university would be able to keep costs down and make higher education more affordable while building a national workforce of Congolese engineers.

– Le Potentiel
September 3, 2008

Malawi

Scottish University Pilots Initiative Aimed at Reducing Medical Brain Drain

The University of Dundee has announced an initiative that it hopes will help build a model of academic mobility that might help reduce Africa’s medical brain drain, rather than the well-worn South-North model that has seen hundreds of thousands of well-qualified workers head to greener pastures abroad. The Scottish university will work in collaboration with the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine. Through the initiative, selected final year students from Scotland will travel to Malawi for four-month placements.

The main aim of the project is the transfer of manpower and resources to Malawi as well as discouraging the medical brain drain. Students from Dundee will be based at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, where the college of medicine intends to establish a new satellite campus. In an interview with University World News, Dr Jon Dowell, Dundee University’s director of undergraduate education in the division of Community Health Sciences, said that “funds tied to the students will be used to assist the [Malawi] college and hospital in providing enhanced learning opportunities and facilities,” adding that “this will help Dundee students but, of crucial importance, also their Malawian colleagues and the hospital as a whole.”

The project will result in student and staff exchanges, selected staff development and improvements to Malawi’s educational infrastructure and resources. Dundee University developed the project after realizing that while many medical students in the UK were keen to visit developing countries during their electives, in most cases they failed to make a meaningful contribution to health care provision – and in some cases unplanned visits proved to be a drain on scarce local resources.

“It is hoped that the partnership between the University of Malawi College of Medicine and Kamuzu Central Hospital will act as a catalyst for other hospital and university links,” Dowell added. “If the pilot project is successful, it is anticipated that this could provide a model for an ongoing sustainable program.”

– University World News
August 3, 3008

Mali

USAID Awards Major Funding for Broad-Based Education Reform

The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) a US$30 million contract to undertake major education reforms in Mali, reaching 80 percent of primary schools and over 1.5 million children over the next five years.

Under the contract, EDC, a global nonprofit organization working to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development, will work with Mali ‘s Ministry of Education to provide high-quality basic education and improve literacy and numeracy in schools.

– EDC News Release
September 17, 2008

Nigeria

New Nine-Year School Curriculum Operational

Nigeria’s new nine-year school curriculum has officially come into effect with the new academic year (September). The curriculum encompasses basic, compulsory schooling: primary through junior secondary, and introduces new classes in information technology, French and civic education. It is hoped the new curriculum will better prepare students for secondary school, and for those that choose to leave school after their junior secondary year, the job market. As such, vocational training in at least one discipline has been incorporated into the curriculum.

– Vanguard
September 3, 2008

NUC Regulator Names 33 ‘Illegal’ Universities

The National Universities Commission (NUC) recently named 33 institutions it says are operating without licenses:

• National University of Nigeria
• Nasarawa State or any of its other campuses
• North Central University
• Otukpo, Benue State or any of its other campuses
• Christians of Charity American University of Science and Technology
• Nkpor, Anambra State
• Saint Clements University, Iyin-Ekiti
• Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu
• Atlantic Intercontinental University, Okija, Anambra State
• Metro University, Dutse/Bwari
• Southern, Ngwuro Egberu
• University of Industry, Yaba, Lagos
• University of Applied Science and Management, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin or any of its other campuses in Nigeria
• Reverend D.O Ochikiya College of Theology and Management Science, Emeyali, Ogbia, Bayelsa State [the degree awarding part of their programs] or any of its other campus
• Blacksmith University, Awka
• Volta University College, Volta region, Ghana
• Royal University, Izha, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State
• Houdegbe North American University, Atlanta University, Ayingba, Kogi State
• Sunday Adokpela University, Otada, Otukpo, Benue State
• United Christian University, Macotis Campus, Imo State
• United Nigeria University College, Okija, Anambra State
• Richmond Open University, Arochukwu, Anambra State
• Samuel Ahmadu University, Makurdi, Benue State
• UNESCO University, Ndoni, Rivers State;
• Strategic Business School, Lagos
• Saint Augustine University of Technology, Jos
• Open International University, Akure
• Lobi Business School, Benue State
• The International University, Missouri, USA operating anywhere in Nigeria
• Columbus University, U.K. operating anywhere in Nigeria
• Tiu International University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
• Pebbles University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
• Aston University operating anywhere in Nigeria and London External Studies, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria.

– Daily Champion
August 28, 2008

Polytechnics and Colleges to Award Degrees

In a country were demand for university places far outstrips supply by hundreds of thousands, a recent announcement by education officials that selected polytechnics and colleges of education will soon be allowed to award university degrees has largely been welcomed. Nigerian Minister of State for Education Hajiya Aishatu Dukku announced in September that public funds would be made available to employ university-level teachers and upgrade infrastructure at those institutions.

The National Board for Technical Education, state regulator of polytechnics, and the National Board for Colleges of Education have been given a mandate to restructure curricula at selected institutions so that they will be able to offer degree programs. Diplomas will be phased out at the selected institutions to be replaced with bachelor of technology degrees. Colleges of education will be upgraded to offer bachelor of education degrees in addition to the Nigeria Certificate of Education.

This year, 300,000 qualified school-leavers failed to gain entry to one of Nigeria’s 93 public and private universities.

– University World News
September 14, 2008

First Campus of Continent-Wide University of Technology Begins Classes in Abuja

Classes began at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Abuja in September with an initial enrollment of 50 graduate students. Half of the freshman class is from Nigeria, 30 percent from Ghana and the rest from other parts of Africa. Programs are being offered in petroleum engineering, applied mathematics, computer sciences, and materials sciences.

AUST is an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Institute, a pan-African response to the various socio-economic and technological challenges facing Africa. The Abuja campus is the first of a planned four regional campuses. The vision of the institution was inspired by the dream of former South African President, Nelson Mandela for an African to win a Nobel Prize in one of the core sciences. The Abuja campus is supported by multilateral institutions, led by the World Bank, as well as the Nigerian government and other African governments. The institution will play host to a cadre of more than 50 visiting faculty, drawn from different parts of the world.

– This Day
September 9, 2008

Rwanda

Accreditation Uncertainty

Reports have been circulating in the Rwandan media that universities employed fraudulent measures to pass recent site visits by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), the government body responsible for making accreditation decisions. The reports state that unaccredited universities recruited non-existent lecturers during the vetting exercises, citing university whistleblowers.

Last year, the NCHE started vetting seven unaccredited universities. Sources from some of the universities in question say lecturers, computers and books were hired on a temporary basis to dupe the NCHE into believing that they met the various infrastructure and human resources requirements needed for a positive accreditation decision. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Justin Nsengiyunva, said in September that the ministry would launch an investigation into the matter. “Whoever is found to be culpable will be punished,” Nsengiyunva warned. He said among other measures, universities would be closed if it could be proved beyond doubt that they had tried to defraud the accreditation process.

The universities that underwent the accreditation process were:

• Universite Laique Adventiste de Kigali (Unilak)
• Umutara Polytechnic
• Kigali Institute of Management (KIM)
• Institute Polytechnique de Byumba
• Institute d’Agriculture Technologie et Education
• Universite Catholique de Kabgayi
• Institute Superieur de Ruhengeri.

According to a September article in the New Times, Unilak is likely to receive a positive accreditation decision by the end of the year.

– The New Times
August 31, 2008
– The New Times
September 7, 2008

Tanzania

Degree Mill Crackdown Planned

The Government of Tanzania has announced plans for a crackdown on fake universities and “degree mills” in an attempt to curb the widespread use of false academic credentials in the country. The plan was revealed by Jumanne Maghembe, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, during an announcement of the department’s budget estimates for 2008-09.

– Times Higher Education Supplement
July 31, 2008

Uganda

Schooling in Troubled North in Crisis

After two decades of war, the northern region of Uganda is struggling to rebuild a school system that is facing complex problems. The government has been fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) for the last 20 years. With warrants from the International Criminal Court now hanging over the head of Joseph Kony, the LRA leader, the rebel army has moved to a remote corner of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, resulting in relative peace for the northern region of Uganda.

During the civil war, schools across the northern region were abandoned and suffered extensive damage. School representatives are working with the Ugandan government to provide free primary education for all children as part of the country’s Universal Primary Education program (UPE). After the introduction of UPE in January 1997 an estimated 7.6 million children are currently enrolled in state schools nationwide.

However, because of the war, at least 30 percent of school-age children in the north are not in education, according to Dan Okello, a spokesman for the Uganda Peoples Congress Party. Okello says average test scores in the north are well below those of the rest of the country. The majority of children in the north leave school without basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Those who can afford it enroll their children in private schools. Teachers complain that the UPE program aims merely to boost the numbers in education without addressing the quality of teaching. It does not, for example, ensure that school curricula are in line with the requirements for examinations.

As peace has settled across the north in recent years, enrollment numbers have surged, putting pressure on classrooms and teachers. The mandated pupil-to-classroom ratio in Uganda, under the UPE program, was set at 55:1. Many schools have a ratio approaching 300:1. Despite the growth in enrollments, less than 40 percent of those who take the primary school final examination go on to secondary school, even though the Ugandan government introduced free secondary schooling in 2007.

– The Institute for War and Peace Reporting
September 1, 2008

Zambia

Third State University Opens

The Zambian government opened a third university earlier this year, and in September it began admitting its first class of students. Mulungushi University was created through the upgrade of the National College for Management and Development Studies in Kabwe. The new degree-granting university should help ease overcrowding at the country’s other public universities: University of Zambia and Copperbelt University.

The upgrade was facilitated in part by private-sector involvement from Konkola Copper Mines, Zambia’s largest mining and metals company. The government of Zambia amended the country’s University Act to facilitate the establishment of a public-private partnership that is the basis of the structure of the new university. Unlike at the other two public universities, where government provides most of the funding and awards student grants, students at the new university will cover a majority of their costs through tuition fees.

– University World News
September 14, 2008

Zimbabwe

Universities Fail to Open, Exam Results from Last Year Still Unknown

Universities and colleges in Zimbabwe had still not opened at the beginning of September, nearly 2 weeks after classes were scheduled to commence, causing fears that the government is so indebted that it cannot afford to operate the institutions. No official explanation has yet to be given.

With the exception of Bindura University, all institutions of higher education remain closed amid rumors the Ministry of Education has already exhausted its 2008 budget. Examination results from last semester for the University of Zimbabwe, Midlands State University, Masvingo and other colleges have still not been released, presumably remaining unmarked. The National University of Science and Technology has only released partial results.

– SW Radio Africa
September 3, 2008

New Power-Sharing Government to Prioritize Education

The Zimbabwean education system has essentially collapsed under the current economic crisis. Leader of the opposition and new prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, appointed in September as part of a new power-sharing government, has promised to tackle education (and health) as matters of immediate priority.

Under the agreement, the new government will comprise 13 ministers from the Tsvangirai-led opposition group the MDC, 15 from the ruling ZANU-PF and three from Arthur Mutambara’s MDC splinter group. Many hope that Mugabe will hand control of the two vital ministries to Tsvangirai’s party, since ZANU-PF seems to have run out of ideas about how to resuscitate the sectors, which were once Africa’s finest. However, the final make-up of the cabinet is still unsure as the two parties have failed to reach agreement over control of key ministries, while the future of the power-sharing agreement is still far from certain.

Zimbabwe, which once boasted the highest literacy rate on the continent, is now experiencing an unprecedented dropout and failure rate as the country’s education system has gone into freefall. As recently as 2000, according to United Nations figures, 90 percent of young Zimbabweans attended primary schools. By 2003, that figure had plummeted to just 65 percent and has continued to drop. Parents, crippled by runaway inflation, can no longer afford to send their children to school while teachers no longer receive a wage sufficient to cover work-related travel expenses, let alone to feed their families. The inevitable result has been an exodus of teachers. According to the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, PTUZ, a total of 25,000 teachers left the country in 2007. In the first two months of this year, 8,000 teachers quit and a massive 150,000 teaching vacancies cannot be filled.

– Institute for War and Peace Reporting
September 16, 2008