Digital centres in six countries to build competence

The Association of African Universities (AAU), in partnership with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne) in Switzerland, launched centres of competence in digital education (centres de compétence en éducation numérique), or C-CoDE, at the AAU’s recent general conference.

The Association of African Universities (AAU), which has a membership of about 400 universities, hosted its 15th general conference virtually from 5-8 July.

The digital competence initiative will receive funds allocated by the International Development Association of the World Bank.

Six universities will be selected through a competition to promote sustainable integration of digital education, as a means of raising the quality of education and the skills of those who qualify.

Personnel will be trained, and the project is scheduled to be set up between September 2021 and July 2022.

The selected centres will contribute to the design, production and distribution of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, for free educational resources.

The aim is also for the centres to help African institutions to use a training model for its lecturers.

In addition to this initiative, there is the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) project, still financed by the World Bank. It aims to help higher education institutions to specialise in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, agriculture and health.

The project also aims to promote regional specialisation in the participating universities in areas that would meet common challenges and that would advance quality education provisioning.

It should benefit 11 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Guinea).

The future of higher education

The conference theme this year, The Future of African Higher Education, was an opportunity for African academics to share information on science and research, to provide a platform for sharing best practices with political decision-makers and to reinforce networks of African higher education institutions.

Various speakers highlighted the important role of the higher education sector in transforming the continent – and their concerns.

Professor Etienne Ehile, secretary general of the AAU, said: “The transformation under way in Africa, based on strong economic growth, political will and favourable demography, will launch a new higher education landscape on the continent after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The present environment encourages the higher education community to position itself like a lighthouse to accelerate this transformation from promise to reality, and this 15th general conference is a key stage in this direction which eventually will support the development of a united, dynamic African higher education community as the motor of the African development agenda.”

Professor Bertrand Mbatchi, president of the Conseil Africain et Malgache de l'Enseignement Supérieur (The African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education), said: “Higher education is vital for Africa. African universities can play an important role in the development of African countries and the African continent in general.”

He recalled the African paradox: the enormous possibilities of a continent which remains the poorest in the world.

Dimitri Sanga, director of the regional office of UNESCO based in Dakar, shared this view: “The universities can help to develop African expertise. They can promote analysis of African problems, strengthen national institutions, propose models of good governance, resolve conflicts and respect human rights.”

The AAU brings together representatives of all member establishments and the principal organisations involved in higher education, including political decision-makers, academics, researchers and development partners, among others.