Why higher education harmonisation is taking so long

Since 2010 the East African Community has been pursuing higher education harmonisation in an effort to boost the movement of people across the region. Professor Nkunya Mayunga, executive secretary of the Inter-University Council for East Africa,or IUCEA, spoke to University World News about challenges and achievements so far and the state of the sector in the region.

Harmonisation is aiming, among other things, to establish a fully-fledged credit transfer system that would allow students to move between universities in different countries without losing credits they have already accumulated.

But this plan has been riddled with delays and controversy arising from nationalistic interests, with partner countries unwilling to relinquish sovereignty for the sake of a regional system. There are also large variations in quality and curricula, length of degrees and inadequate financing of universities.

While the region has taken several steps forward, there is still a long way to go.

IUCEA is banking on the goodwill of the five member states – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – which have already adopted a crucial report on implementing its harmonisation plan.

UWN: Plans to harmonise higher education in the East African Community (EAC) have been around for three years. How has the road to harmonisation been and how much would you say has been achieved so far?

Mayunga: Education is one of the bases of integration in the EAC region. We see it at two levels: basic and technical education. Discussions to harmonise higher education have gone on since the signing of the Common Market Protocol in 2010.

Discussions were very difficult because the concept of harmonisation was not known. Most people across the partner states thought harmonisation meant that we must have the same education system across the entire bloc. Nobody can accept that. Education is a constitutional issue in each country.

As a compromise, the negotiators agreed to take stock of the education system in each state. Based on that, they came up with an arrangement called mutual recognition. Partner states would agree that they recognise each other’s education systems.

In higher education, the systems are universal. Although countries may differ, the framework is more or less the same. As such, it’s easier to harmonise.

Higher education regulators – especially in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – have borrowed heavily from each other since they were established, especially in their operations. At the regulatory level, systems have also been similar as they borrowed from each other.

This meant that it was easier to harmonise the systems especially in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania…long before Rwanda and Burundi joined in.

UWN: What is the main idea behind harmonisation of higher education in the EAC?

Mayunga: Initially, the idea of harmonisation was not because of the formation of the EAC but rather the mushrooming of private universities.

There was concern that if we didn’t harmonise education systems we would end up having universities in the region that would be so different from one another and therefore hard to know the extent of quality of education across the bloc.

In 2005, universities across the region through IUCEA decided they should come up with a common quality assurance system. We had progressed quite well until 2010 when the EAC common market came into place.

The protocol called for harmonisation of systems through the implementation of Article 11, which provided among other things for free mobility of students. We had to reorient our thinking from looking at only quality of education to the broader question of higher education systems.

We started thinking of having a credit transfer system and a qualification framework. Quality assurance became the tool for harmonisation.

UWN: What have you achieved since 2010?

Mayunga: The EAC quality assurance system is currently operating under a regionally harmonised platform in all the partner states. We also have a loose framework of credit transfer, which we are still in discussions about.

As it is, you still cannot transfer credits from one university to another across borders. Universities and countries need to agree on the definition of a credit and what it means. Students can still move across the region but under bilateral arrangements between the governments.

UWN: When do you expect the EAC to have the credit transfer system fully in place and what do you see the countries achieving in the next year in terms of harmonisation?

Mayunga: By 2015, we expect to have a credit transfer system where a student can start studies at Makerere University for example and graduate at the University of Dar es Salaam. At that time, we hope to be operating in the same higher education space.

By the end of 2014, we should have developed a regional qualifications framework. While most of the courses are similar across countries in terms of names and content, in most cases the qualifications considered and duration of study vary.

We are already working on [the framework] and will have the credit system, and exit and entry pathways to higher education across the region. There will also be a description of the different qualifications offered in the region.

UWN: There have been obvious delays in the negotiations and implementation process in the harmonisation agenda. What are the main bottlenecks?

Mayunga: The problem has been people not understanding exactly what we want. Some have been thinking that harmonisation means making everything the same. There is still that misconception even now. But this is not the whole concept.

If harmonisation means that we have exactly the same system of education, then we are killing the quality of learning. We will be killing creativity and competitiveness in universities. Harmonisation means we have a benchmark upon which we can measure similar things. For example, when you talk of business studies in Kenya, it should be exactly the same in Uganda and the other countries. The basic requirements for admission to a certain course should be the same. The peculiarity of each university must however remain.

UWN: What is the role of the IUCEA in this whole project, given that East African countries have autonomous higher education regulators?

Mayunga: Our role is to coordinate and establish the benchmarks, systems and guidelines at regional level. We also oversee the extent to which universities adhere to the guidelines. National regulators deal with issues in their countries.

UWN: What role have nationalistic biases and interests played in the search for a harmonised education system?

Mayunga: That has been the biggest problem for harmonisation. That is why sensitisation is important – to make sure that everyone understands what it is that we want.

Nationalism comes in when some people want to protect their current systems. Some people have always thought that the goal is to kill the individual national systems and that is where the resistance comes from. Harmonisation has to be gradual.

UWN: There have been concerns over the quality of learning in East Africa. Are you worried about that, especially given the shortage of lecturers and infrastructure constraints?

Mayunga: The quality of education is a big problem. This is because the demand for higher education has grown so rapidly.

We were not prepared to ensure that the rapid expansion could be easily absorbed. We are expanding in the absence of basic requirements like enough lecturers, books and infrastructure.

We have to live with it. Higher education in the EAC has been seriously neglected over the years. However, this is changing. We have to admit as many students as we can but must guarantee quality. The situation is bad.

UWN: Given this sorry state of affairs, should funding for universities be pegged to quality?

Mayunga: No. Each university is needed. If this university that has poor quality is not funded, you will condemn it to continue to be mediocre. It is better to support the entire system.

UWN: Knowing that quality of learning is an issue, do you think the EAC region has the right checks in place to ensure higher education quality?

Mayunga: Yes. This is a continuous process. The system we have has an element of continuity. If what we have today is not good enough, we must work harder to improve.

UWN: Governments in the EAC are continually financially constrained and universities are taking in more students. Where do you think funds for financing higher education in EAC will come from in the coming years?

Mayunga: Forget about money coming from government. If we increase fees, students will not be able to afford university.

Governments must come up with funding strategies by coming up with a more enhanced cost-sharing and loan mechanism. Governments must ensure the economic conditions are such that the student is empowered to cost-share.

Public universities should be allowed to go big on commercial activities as long as they are able to and they stick to their core business, which is offering quality education. The problem is that graduates are taking too long to get jobs, meaning they are unable to pay back loans.

UWN: On research and innovation, do you think EAC universities are doing as much as they can in coming up with solutions and innovations that could drive economic growth?

Mayunga: They are not doing enough research. One of the reasons why this is not happening is historical.

A university by conception was supposed to be an ivory tower where people could go, research, discover things and stop there. In universities, what mattered as a student was to be intelligent, do research, write papers and stop there. The innovation part is not emphasised. Innovation is not about intelligence, it’s about initiative.

The second problem is that universities want to work in isolation. Students don’t work in teams to come up with innovations. Universities don’t want to work with the private sector and industry. They are shy to link up with industry because they think they are much better than industry. Industry also doesn’t come forth to seek partnerships. This is killing innovation.

UWN: What worries you most about the higher education sector in the EAC?

Mayunga: What worries me most is expansion that has been too rapid. Despite this rapid expansion, the level of enrolment is still below the Africa average. The EAC has around 4% [participation] compared to an Africa average of 5%.

The second problem is financing. For an economy to grow, the lowest minimum enrolment should be 10%.

UWN: Africa is becoming very competitive, especially in the search for human capital to drive economic expansion. Do you think the EAC higher education system has a competitive edge over its continental counterparts?

Mayunga: Yes it does. Our competitive edge is that we already have systems in place, for example quality assurance systems, and the systems are harmonised. The advantage is that we are still discussing improving these systems. In other parts of Africa, they are not.

Other blocs are looking at EAC as a model.