text: African Universities: Strategies for Revitalization, William S. Saint
  
  =============African Universities: The Way Forward===========
  
  Though relatively young, universities in Sub-Saharan Africa
  have accomplished much. They have grown from just six
  institutions in 1960 to more than 100 in 1993, with a
  corresponding rise in enrollments. In some cases, they have
  developed relevant curricula and revised their content to
  reflect African priorities, legitimized research and
  established specialized university research units. They have
  also largely replaced expatriate faculty with indigenous
  staff, and fostered intellectual communities. A major
  achievement has been to produce the skilled human resources
  required to staff and manage public and private institutions
  in the newly independent states.
  
  In the course of their brief history, thinking about the role
  of universities has also evolved. In Francophone Africa, the
  early classical academic approach is giving way to a more
  utilitarian orientation. As regards Anglophone universities,
  governments have tended to encourage a technocratic definition
  of their role, which has been reinforced by the current
  economic crisis on the continent. Also, a growing number of
  African observers see a potential for universities to build
  upon the strengths of traditional culture so as to modernize
  in a positive,indigenous fashion.
  
  There is much to suggest that African universities are nearing
  the end of their initial phase of development. Their mandates
  at the time of independence now require reassessment as a
  result of changes in the world, in Africa, and in the
  universities themselves. Internationally, the emergence of
  global markets has created a competitive world economic system
  characterized by rapid knowledge generation and technological
  innovation. These changes affect local labor markets and the
  types of skills they require. Within Africa, high population
  growth rates and increased access to education have boosted
  the social demand for higher education, leading to rising
  university enrollments and a proliferation of tertiary
  institutions. Universities have also changed, becoming mass-
  based and diversified institutions operating under severe
  financial constraints. In many countries, conditions which
  engender these second generation issues have deteriorated to
  the point where the need for action is now urgent.
  
  This study, Universities in Africa: Strategies for
  Stabilization and Revitalization, seeks to provide guidance to
  persons committed to renewing and expanding the capacity for
  human resource development within Africa's institutions of
  higher learning.
  
  The Scope of the Problem
  
  To varying degrees, the universities of Sub-Saharan Africa
  face the following problems.
  
  * Enrollments are often increasing faster than the
  capacity to plan for and finance this growth. The
  university student population on the continent grew by
  61 percent between 1980 and 1990, rising from 337,000 to
  an estimated 542,700.
  
  * Current patterns of higher education expenditure are
  unsustainable in many cases. The model of publicly
  supported residential universities is inequitable and
  financially inefficient. During the 1980s, the capacity
  of African governments to finance public services fell
  sharply. Higher education suffered in consequence, with
  its share of overall education sector budgets sliding
  from 19.1 percent ( 1980-84 ) to 17.6 percent ( 1985-
  88). Recurrent budget expenditures per student,
  measured in constant terms, also fell by about two-
  thirds during this period. This was not due to
  efficiency gains through improved management, but was
  the negative result of cutbacks in research, staff
  development, library acquisitions, and maintenance
  prompted by rising enrollments.
  
  * There is general agreement that educational quality is
  declining as the result of increased enrollments and/or
  reduced funding. This decline is manifested in falling
  student examination scores, reduced rigor in staff
  recruitment and promotion criteria, diminished research
  output, and complaints by employers regarding the
  ability of university graduates to perform.
  
  * Rising graduate unemployment, inadequate performance on
  the job, and weak research production combine to bring
  the relevance of universities to national needs under
  growing public scrutiny. Relevance is understood to
  include educational choices within the university that
  are in tune with the national economy and responsive to
  the prevailing labor market; appropriate curricula;
  capacity for critical and innovative thinking on issues
  of national importance; the transmission of essential
  professional and cultural values; institutional
  processes and behavior that equip graduates for
  leadership in society; and adequate regional, gender,
  and ethnic representation in the composition of staff
  and students.
  
  * The costs of university training are high and often
  unsustainable.
  
  * University management is weak and needs considerable
  strengthening.
  
  * The working relationship between government and
  university is ineffective.
  
  * Access to university raises a number of equity issues.
  
  Initiating Reform
  
  To address these concerns, African nations must first answer
  three questions.
  
  * What kind of university do we have?
  
  * What kind of university do we need?
  
  * What kind of university can we afford?
  
  The answers will differ from country to country in accordance
  with national circumstances, culture, and priorities. With
  varying emphases, a general consensus in Africa holds that its
  principal higher education issues are quality, relevance,
  finances, efficiency, equity, and governance. What is not
  clear is how these issues should be addressed and where one
  should start. This study offers alternatives, tested and
  untested, for policy makers and institutional managers to
  consider as they tackle the complex challenges of higher
  education reform. It is based on the experiences of Africans
  who are committed to this undertaking, and who are beginning
  to generate innovative responses to the extraordinary
  difficulties they confront.
  
  Efforts at higher education reform stand little chance of
  being sustainable unless they are grounded in broad public
  consensus. Failure to invest in public education and
  consensus-building prior to the institution of policy changes
  can have high costs in terms of public reaction, student
  protest, and damaged working relationships amongst key actors.
  The benefit of doing so is a more stable and effective reform
  process.
  
  Several alternative approaches to consensus building have
  emerged on the African continent. The self-study is one of
  these. It is an institutional review, initiated by management,
  that uses a process of internal consultation to evaluate the
  existing mission statement, organizational structure, key
  policies and installed capacity for consistency and
  responsiveness to the external environment. The resulting
  institutional development proposals can then be shared with
  government, donor, and private sector representatives in the
  effort to build agreement regarding the university's future
  role and objectives.
  
  An inter-institutional steering committee is a sub-sector
  review undertaken by government to appraise higher education
  policy and its financial and organizational implications.
  Representation often includes key government ministries,
  university leaders, and relevant professional associations,
  and a final report is normally presented to government for
  executive decision.
  
  An intermediary coordinating agency with oversight
  responsibility for the higher education sector would play a
  mediating role between government and the university system in
  the effort to establish common ground for policy initiative.
  
  An external visiting committee would be comprised of outside
  experts who periodically review all aspects of a higher
  education system or institution at the invitation of
  government.
  
  If Africa's universities are to be stabilized and revitalized,
  universities themselves must seize the initiative. One way to
  do this is through the development of an updated university
  mission statement. This mission statement should focus
  integrated attention on educational quality, finances, access,
  curriculum, distribution of students among the various
  disciplines, staff development, research, governance, and
  management. A second, less direct path lies through the
  promotion of higher education research. At present,
  relatively little analysis of Africa's higher education needs
  is carried out by Africans. Consequently, much of the current
  policy discussion in this field is framed and promoted by
  donor agencies. If needed reforms are to be appropriate and
  lasting, the talents and experience of African scholars must
  be brought to bear. More important, the process must begin
  immediately as the African higher education crisis is already
  well advanced.
  
  Conclusions
  
  The study's principal messages are as follows.
  
  * Universities must seize the initiative in order to
  achieve their own stabilization and revitalization; this
  can be done by undertaking an institutional self-study
  that updates the university's mission statement and can
  be used to build the internal and external consensus
  needed to undertake reform.
  
  * In order to increase access, maintain standards of
  educational quality, and ensure institutional stability,
  universities must diversify their financial bases,
  particularly through cost-recovery for non-academic
  services, the introduction of targeted fees, and a
  calculated expansion of income-generating activities.
  
  * Greater autonomy from government, particularly in
  financial administration, is required by universities if
  they are to become more entrepreneurial, and if they are
  to provide the incentives necessary to encourage quality
  performance and management efficiency.
  
  * More professional management at all levels -- through
  staff training, strategic hiring, and computerized
  management information systems -- is the best short-term
  strategy for freeing resources (through improved
  efficiency) to meet university needs.
  
  * Universities must invest in themselves if they are to
  remain viable centers of higher learning; this means
  that they must provide yearly budget allocations for
  education materials, library acquisitions, research,
  staff development, and the maintenance of buildings and
  equipment.
  
  * Managing the social demand for higher education is best
  achieved by expanding access through a differentiated
  higher education system, composed of public and private
  institutions with diverse missions, that offers students
  a range of choices and study regimes, and by controlling
  access to this system through the use of competitive
  entrance examinations.
  
  * The most useful role for donors is to support the
  development of long term institution-building
  strategies. Activities consistent with this approach
  include the preparation of updated university mission
  statements, efforts to strengthen and professionalize
  management, institutional linkage arrangements to
  bolster particular departments, and research on higher
  education policy and performance. In settings of acute
  institutional deterioration, donors should consider
  contributions towards recurrent costs, particularly for
  educational inputs, library acquisitions, equipment and
  building maintenance, and efficiency-enhancing operating
  expenses.
  
  If appropriate economic models and fresh directions for
  development are to be crafted by Africans, and if tradition
  and modernity are to be effectively fused, then academically
  and financially sound universities are an imperative for Sub-
  Saharan Africa.