CAMES ministers agree to harmonise university curricula

Ministers from CAMES, the Conseil africain et malgache pour l'enseignement supérieur – African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education – which represents 19 Francophone African states, have agreed on measures to develop higher education.

The ministers were meeting in Dakar at the CAMES 33rd ordinary session this month, reported Sud Quotidien of Dakar.

At the end of the two-day meeting they announced recommendations including development of information and communication technologies and digitisation, setting up a strategy for intellectual property, and strengthening open and distance education.

The ministers agreed that it was important to harmonise university programmes between member countries, reported Agence de Presse Sénégalaise or APS.

They committed themselves to “make known the existing initiatives” so other countries could improve their capabilities, and to invite CEMAC – the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, one of the CAMES regions – to join in the action to motivate its members.

On distance education the ministers called for identification of real needs, rather than offering mediocre courses lacking in quality. They expressed the wish for “development and circulation of quality assurance tools” which the member states would monitor.

They also adopted resolutions concerning the CAMES 2017 budget, a guide to accountancy and financial procedures, and publication of notices of vacant or newly created posts, reported APS.

The ministers agreed that the 34th CAMES ordinary session would take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in May 2017. Themes already proposed include ‘violence in universities’, ‘partnership between public and private higher education institutions’ and ‘CAMES thematic research programmes: Problems, issues and national structures’.

The members of CAMES are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.

The organisation’s headquarters are in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

* This article is drawn from local media. University World News cannot vouch for the accuracy of the original reports.