Universities urge AU to get behind Africa strategy

The Association of African Universities (AAU) has asked the African Union (AU) to show the necessary support for the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) in order to make it work, arguing that, three years into the launch of the strategy, the AU is yet to back it with the “appropriate level of funding”.

CESA is a 10-year strategy developed by the African Union Commission covering the period 2016-25 with the aim of setting up a qualitative system of education and training to provide the African continent with efficient human resources adapted to African core values and therefore capable of achieving the vision and ambitions of the union.

In a communiqué issued at the close of the Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities, hosted by the AAU in Cairo from 8-11 July, it was stated that conference participants “observe that, from the reports by the sub-clusters, the AU needs to double its efforts if the objectives of CESA are to be achieved by 2025; and that areas not covered by the existing sub-clusters should be taken as cross-cutting issues for all the sub-clusters to address”.

Acceleration of activities

The AAU also asked the AU to “resolve to accelerate activities at the higher education institutional level that can promote CESA’s contributions to the African Union’s vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”.

It welcomed the continued support of sponsors and development partners, including the European Union, TVET Egypt, National Bank of Egypt, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, for AAU conferences.

The communiqué urged higher education institutions to take “critical” steps in the thematic areas discussed at the conference, which include raising the number and proficiency of teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, reforming curricula to remove misalignment and inconsistencies with neighbouring or user disciplines, innovating delivery mechanisms, improving student engagement and promoting industry relevance.

It also called for the reform of the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system to enhance an integrated competency-based model, which promotes good governance and management, effective professional development and quality assurance, which the AAU said, will transition to employment, aimed at enhancing relevant skills and addressing skills gaps in various areas of the economy.

1% of GDP for research

In the areas of “revitalisation, research, innovation and conflict management” the communiqué urged institutions to insist that host governments “implement [ie release] the CESA-agreed 1% of GDP [gross domestic product] to research and innovation; and promote intra-Africa R&D cooperation as well as publication review mechanisms”.

The communiqué also called for the leveraging of the AAU African Research and Education Network project to facilitate improved teaching, learning and research collaboration, as well as use network economies of scale to reduce the cost of high-speed internet access and promote linkages of academics to industry, government and other international research and educational networks.

It also called for the integration and scale-up of management information and ICT systems to enhance access and quality, as well as reduce the cost, of data management. “This involves, for instance, research management and administration modules that are comprehensive and robust enough to handle such elements as opportunity scanning, grant management, research dissemination, research ethics, student research and professional development,” the communiqué added.

On mobility and quality assurance, the AAU said African governments must cultivate as well as deepen mutual trust at governmental level, understanding and respect for educational systems and mobility opportunities within Africa and other countries.

African Passport

It called on institutions to encourage African governments to "give priority" to academics in the issuing of an African Passport to overcome the challenges presented by visa applications.

The AAU added that host governments should ratify the Addis Ababa Convention, “in the spirit of the recent ratification of the African [Continental] Free Trade Area, well as leverage international mobility mechanisms such as the European Union initiatives and inter-institutional joint degree programmes, in a manner that strategically benefits Africa.”