An Overview of African Higher Education and Development
IThe Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges
ISBN: 978-1-78190-698-9, eISBN: 978-1-78190-699-6
Publication date: 4 October 2013
Abstract
The African continent is filled with a textured history, vast resources, and immense opportunity. The landscape of higher education on such a diverse continent is extensive and complex. In this review of the landscape, four primary topics are evaluated. The historical context is the foundational heading, which briefly covers the evolution from colonization to independence and the knowledge economy. The second main heading builds upon the historical context to provide an overview of the numerous components of higher education, including language diversity, institutional type, and access to education. A third section outlines key challenges and opportunities including finance, governance, organizational effectiveness, and the academic core. Each of these challenges and opportunities is interconnected and moves from external influences (e.g., fiscal and political climate) to internal influences (e.g., administrative leadership and faculty roles). The last layer of the landscape focuses on leveraging higher education in Africa for social and economic progress and development. Shaping a higher education system around principles of the public good and generating social benefits is important for including postsecondary institutions in a development strategy.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
This chapter was developed with support from the Association for Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) in a project to support higher education partnerships between U.S. and African universities directed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Higher Education for Development (HED).
Citation
Collins, C.S. (2013), "An Overview of African Higher Education and Development", IThe Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 21-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000021005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited