New French-Senegalese campus to help stem brain drain

The Campus Franco-Sénégalais, which will enable Senegalese students to study for French degrees at Senegalese universities, was officially launched in Dakar last Tuesday by Frédérique Vidal, French minister for higher education, research and innovation, and her Senegalese counterpart Cheikh Oumar Anne.

The campus will offer 15 courses starting in the new academic year in Senegalese universities in collaboration with French universities, reported the Agence de Presse Sénégalaise (APS).

The launch ceremony took place at the Musée des Civilisations Noires on Tuesday while Vidal was on a visit to Dakar where she also met Senegal’s President Macky Sall and talked with students.

“It’s about French and Senegalese institutions building new educational courses together, bringing new kinds of innovation, with a new angle,” said Vidal, who said the campus would provide not only knowledge, but also know-how, thanks especially to the financial contribution of companies in the private sector which would also be involved in research and innovation, reported APS.

In the medium term it would construct campuses open to innovation and set up a redistributive system in which students would pay a third of the real cost of their studies and it would provide grants for disadvantaged people, she said.

Anne said that “Senegal must be emergent within 20 years. For that, we must rely on our own strength, our natural and human resources, and so on,” reported APS.

The challenge was to educate students in their home country with European standards to help sort out the problem of brain drain, and the campus offered many prospects for the education and employability of young people, he said.

According to a French ministry statement quoted by APS , the campus “marks a new step in cooperation between the two countries in the matter of education and teaching. France is committed to up to €131 million (US$148 million) in the sectors of basic education, vocational training and higher education, including a programme of study grants at doctoral and postdoctoral level”. – Compiled by Jane Marshall

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