Regional
Tunisia and Egypt Sign Research Agreements with France
The Egyptian Science and Technological Development Fund [1] and the French Institut de Recherche pour le Développement [2] have signed a four-year scientific cooperation agreement focused on environmental concerns; agriculture and fisheries; health and life sciences; space; and social and human sciences.
According to a joint statement from Valérie Pécresse, French Minister for Higher Education and Research, and her Egyptian counterpart, Dr Hany Helal, the cooperative agreement will be conducted on a “basis of strict parity” in launching joint bids, forming French-Egyptian research teams and co-funding a total sum of EUR1.8 million (US$2.3 million) a year for four years.
According to reports from Tunisia Online News, the French also recently signed agreements with Tunisian education authorities. The agreements between various French and Tunisian universities and research institutes are aimed at improving employment prospects for young Tunisian graduates in the transport and energy sectors. Under another agreement between Aix-Marseille Pôle de Recherche et d’Enseignement [3] and the University of El Manar [4] in Tunis, University of 7 Novembre [5] in Carthage and the University of Sfax [6], training of young researchers from both countries will be the focus, particularly in environmental sciences, through the creation of a Mediterranean Centre of Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
– University World News [7]
May 3, 2009
Algeria
Government Restricts Study Abroad Awards to Stem Brain Drain
Job prospects for Algerian university graduates have been poor for years, and not surprisingly students have increasingly sought study and work opportunities abroad. Now, in an effort to slow this trend, the Algerian government has said it will restrict the study-abroad scholarships it awards to high-achievers in baccalaureate examinations, Algeria’s school-leaving assessment. Officials are also acting to improve working conditions for researchers and will double grant funds for university students starting next September.
Restrictions on study abroad scholarships were being imposed, said Education Minister Boubakeur Benbouzid, because “the majority of top baccalaureate students who previously received scholarships did not return to Algeria after completing their university studies”.
Like many developing countries, Algeria suffers a crippling brain drain. It has been estimated that 40,000 researchers and specialists have emigrated – mostly to France – at a cost of US$40 billion to Algeria.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was re-elected last month for a third term in office, has a five-year development plan (2009 -2014) that includes higher education reform. Reforms in higher education will reportedly be focused on increasing university capacity and quality, and improving the working conditions of researchers within the framework of a five-year development and modernization program.
– University World News [8]
May 3, 2009
Nigeria
University Admissions Examinations to be Unified by Next Year
There are currently two national university entrance examinations in Nigeria, but according to a recent announcement from Registrar of the Joint Examination Matriculation Board [9], Professor Dibu Ojerinde, they will be replaced by a single competitive examination.
The two qualifying entrance examinations for Nigerian tertiary institutions are the University Matriculation Examination (UME) for universities, and the Monotechnics, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Examination (MPCE) for other tertiary institutions.
According to Ojerinde, the UME and the MPCE may be abolished next year and replaced by one examination known as the Unified Tertiary Institutions Matriculation Examination (UTIME).
– University World News [10]
May 3, 2009
New Institutional Accreditation Measures in the Works
Recognizing the need to improve standards within the higher education sector, Nigerian university leaders have agreed to establish an institutional quality-assurance system.
At a workshop organized by the National Universities Commission [11] (NUC), the sector’s regulator, in late April, university vice-chancellors agreed to introduce a national system of institutional accreditation, in addition to the 20-year-old system of accrediting individual programs. The delegates also set a target for Nigeria to have at least two institutions among the top 200 universities in world university rankings by 2020 – the so-called 2/200/2020 vision.
The education ministry [12] confirmed at the meeting a plan to fund a new N42 billion (US$270 million) Special Intervention Fund, under which six universities, three polytechnics, three colleges of education and the Nigerian Defense Academy [13] will receive funding to improve their infrastructure. The initiative will benefit one university in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical “zones”: the universities of Ilorin [14] (North Central); Maiduguri [15] (North East); Ahmadu Bello [16] (North West); Benin [17] (South); Nigeria Nsukka [18] (South East); and Ibadan [19] (South West).
Ministry officials said the fund would be the first phase of a wider intervention program designed to “meet the best global standards”. The second phase will be launched next year.
Nigeria’s higher education sector has seen explosive growth, from one university in 1960 to 93 in 2008. Its annual public funding has increased from about N12 billion in 1999 to N62 billion in 2006. However, according to numerous reports, much of the growth has come at the expense of quality.
The delegates agreed to pilot an accreditation system during 2010 with volunteers from the federal, state and private sectors. Institutional accreditation would run separately from ongoing course accreditation. The audits are likely to consider information on institutions’ “vision, mission and goals”, governance and administration, resources, effectiveness and efficiency, including student dropout rates, financial management and stability, and relations with external constituencies.
– The Times Higher Education Supplement [20]
May 7, 2009
Zimbabwe
A Plan to Get Children Back to School
Authorities in Zimbabwe announced a package of measures in early May to bring life back to Zimbabwe’s collapsing education system and get teachers and children back into classrooms, with schools reopening in May.
Among the measures is an initiative to substantially reduce tuition fees — making it so that parents only having to pay admission fees to keep their children in schools. Teachers will not be required to pay fees for their children, a measure designed to get teachers back to work. Several donor organizations have reportedly promised to help capitalize the education sector. Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown, with around 90 percent unemployment and crippling shortages of basic commodities, has made survival a priority.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), school attendance rates dropped from 80 percent to 20 percent in 2008. Unaffordable school fees and absentee teachers meant more than 90 percent of Zimbabwe’s rural schools, which most children attend, could not reopen at the beginning of the 2009 school year. At present, school fees will cost the parents of primary school children in affluent low-density suburbs US$150 per child, while those in high-density townships will pay US$20. Civil servants earn about US$100 a month, making education unaffordable for most children.
According to available statistics, more than 20,000 teachers left the profession between 2007 and 2008 in search of greener pastures, mainly in neighboring southern African countries.
– UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) [21]
May 4, 2009
On the Brink of Collapse, Student Leaders Call for Reforms to Save Education
Leaders from academic and student bodies have called on the government of Zimbabwe to introduce reforms that would attract funding from donors, which might save the education system from collapse. And collapse is very much a reality, as evidenced by the indefinite closure of the country’s flagship institution of higher education, the University of Zimbabwe [22], because of crumbling infrastructures and non-existent teaching resources.
The university tried to alleviate its financial problems by charging student tuition fees in foreign currency, but very few parents or students could afford to do so amid the country’s economic crisis. This resulted in just 68 students out of an enrollment of 12,000 paying their fees.
The country’s new unity government, formed by rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, estimate that the country needs US$8.3 billion to rebuild the economy and restore services such as education. According to the Zimbabwe National Students Union, much of that funding would have to come from international donors, but is unlikely to unless there is serious political reform.
– University World News [23]
May 17, 2009