EAST AFRICA: Moving towards harmonised education

08 March 2009

Until the late 1960s education in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya served as a unifying force across the three states of the East African Community, or EAC, reports The Independent. Curricula and examinations were the same at almost all levels of education, as determined by the examination council of East Africa. In 1970, after the collapse of the EAC, the University of East Africa was split into the three national universities of Makerere, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. Today, the revival of the EAC means there is a greater need for academic cooperation between the three universities.

Exchange programmes between EAC universities are one way to foster education cooperation in the region. According to Aggrey Kibenge, the public relations officer of Uganda's ministry of education and sports, Rwanda and Uganda are already cooperating in many areas, including exchanges of French and English teachers to reinforce the learning of these languages. Similar exchanges are taking place with Kiswahili teachers from Tanzania. Visa fees for students on exchange programmes have been scrapped.

Education ministries across the EAC are brought together under a body called the Education, Science, Technology and Cultural Commission, which is mandated to promote cooperation among the ministries of partner states. This body and the Inter-University Council of East Africa are pushing for single curricula across all education levels as well as a uniform academic calendar for all member states.
Full report on The Independent site

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