Can African Universities Compete?
NO CONTEST
16th September 2010
By Phil Baty
Africa’s universities barely feature in the rankings. Some think that for them to even attempt to join the rankings race is a waste of resources that should be focused on improving lives in the communities they serve. “African universities face enormous challenges,” says Goolam Mohamedbhai. As a former secretary general of the Association of African Universities, former president of the International Association of Universities and acknowledged expert on higher education across the continent, he is well placed to make the assessment. “Africa inherited a higher education system that was a carbon copy of [that of] the powers that colonised it. Right from the beginning, Africa started on a wrong footing – well behind the starting line, so to speak. “Despite all the political and economic turmoil it has gone through since independence – often of its own making – it is now expected to compete on a completely non-level playing field. Not only is this unfair, it is also inappropriate,” says Mohamedbhai, who has also served as vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius. “One could argue that other regions that were also colonised – South Asia, Latin America – are doing reasonably well. However, none of these regions suffered from the sort of exploitation that Africa underwent and continues to experience.”
A Global Research Report on Africa produced by Thomson Reuters, Times Higher Education’s data supplier for the World University Rankings, sets the context in dramatic terms. Africa has more than 50 nations, hundreds of languages and a welter of ethnic cultural diversity, the report points out. It is a continent with abundant natural resources that is also plagued by the now-familiar litany of post-colonial woes: poverty, political instability, corruption, disease and armed conflicts frequently driven by ethnic and tribal divisions, the report says. Its educational outlook as a whole looks bleak. More than half the continent is off course to meet or is relinquishing advances made towards the goal of ensuring universal primary education by 2015, Thomson Reuters says, and Africa has “haemorrhaged talent” for too long. “Many of its best students take their higher degrees at universities in Europe, Asia and North America. Too few return. The African diaspora provides powerful intellectual input to the research achievements of other countries but returns less benefit to the countries of birth,” the report says.
“Science and technology are critical not only to the continent’s economic prosperity but also to such matters as food security, disease control, access to clean water and environmental sustainability…The volume of [research] activity remains small, much smaller than is desirable if the potential contribution of Africa’s researchers is to be realized for the benefit of its populations.” Chris Brink, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University in the UK and the former head of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, says that, with the exception of South Africa, “the trajectory of higher education in Africa, particularly sub-Sahara, is quite depressing, and the prognosis is not particularly good. Nor is the situation helped by the developed world mining Africa for human resources just as efficiently as it has been mining it for natural resources.”
Martin Hall, vice-chancellor of the UK’s University of Salford and a former deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, says it is a “bitter irony” that “large numbers of talented academics from Africa have to pursue their careers in Europe and North America, where they make a significant contribution to the ranking and recognition of universities in these continents”. Across Africa in general, he says: “Universities have been chronically under-resourced for more than half a century, and they can often no longer afford books and journal subscriptions for their libraries. “Academics working in these conditions hardly enjoy a level playing field in a game where the conventions of research and mutual recognition count for so much.” South Africa is the exception, the continent’s one higher education bright spot. It has a system that can compete with the world’s best: the University of Cape Town is ranked joint 107th among the global top 200 institutions.
“South Africa has, arguably, the continent’s strongest higher education system, and it’s not surprising that the University of Cape Town is in the top 200 again,” Hall says. “But South Africa’s universities also serve a society that is now one of the most unequal in the world, and this means that other universities in the country have missions that are vitally important for social and political mobility, and [pursuing these aims] will not result in the specific forms of recognition that are measured by world ranking systems.” As Mohamedbhai sees it, however, not even South Africa’s current strength can be taken for granted. “Why are only some universities in South Africa getting globally ranked?” he asks. “The answer lies again in the colonial attitude adopted during the apartheid years, when education was the prerogative of only the minority affluent white people. “There is no doubt that South African higher education will soon be facing the same challenges that other African countries face. There is a serious shortage of PhDs and research output in Africa, with only a few universities producing high-level research while the others have no human and physical resources to do so.” In light of the continent’s urgent problems, Mohamedbhai thinks that African universities should absent themselves from the race to rise up the rankings and focus their efforts on immediate needs.
“Do African universities need to be ranked globally? I don’t think so. Their mission should be to produce the appropriate manpower required for Africa’s development, to undertake research that is of direct relevance to Africa – which may not be acceptable for publication in the best scientific journals – and to reach out to assist the communities in the many challenges they are facing, especially poverty reduction. “None of these fits the criteria used for global ranking. African universities have a duty to serve their countries and region first before seeking global glory. The tragedy is that many African governments, blinded by the prestige of global rankings, are challenging their universities to be ranked without understanding the consequences of the grossly inappropriate use of resources that that would entail. “At the end of the day, this brings us back to the very purpose of higher education in a country. Not all universities in the world can have the same mission. Priorities are different in different countries, and universities must not be forced to conform to a single model of a world-class university.
Source: THOMSON REUTERS - TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION, London, UK
------------------------------------------
Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/
i do concur with you about your sentiments. however, i believe competition of universities is unnecessary and brings about some kind of discrimination. in this world, whenever you compare yourself with people, you will always be above or below others. aim for the best and avoid the rest. due to lack of educational resources in Africa, we cant compete with the resourced Western universities, but if we cannot do great things, we can do small things in great ways. let us concentrate on our little and abundant natural resources like agriculture and put all efforts on it to try and develop it to the maximum and may be from this we can achieve a great result.
ReplyDeleteIt is depressing scrolling down the list of world university rankings (www.topuniversities.com) and meeting the very first from Africa (University of Cape Town, South Africa), 156 places down. I don’t blame the universities in Africa especially those in the Sub-Sahara. The continent is largely plagued with political instabilities which have led to wars and various forms of chaos. This has left universities on the continent mostly under-resourced. Most universities on the continent need uplifting, maybe not to the level of universities across the globe but to some appreciable level. University education is expensive but it is made accessible in Africa with little resources.
ReplyDeleteI side with the view that, we concentrate on making Africa a better place and sideline the comparison for the time being. We cannot stop Africans from furthering their education elsewhere but as much as possible such people should exhibit some patriotism and give back to their societies.
There is hope for Africa, the continent is not beyond repairs.
In my opinion, the idea of joining the rankings is not a waste of time, because in life you need competition to keep you going. If we were not in the rankings, we would still be the dark deceiving ourselves that we have achieved a lot, however this comparison has made us realize how far we've been left behind. From the Analysis made by Thomson Reuteurs and Martin Hall, I think the question at hand should be " IS AFRICA READY TO COMPETE?", because i believe we have all the necessary skills, though not enough, to start from somewhere. But it is up to us to display that empathy and be willing to undergo exercises for the development of the nation and continent as a whole rather than oneself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mohamedbhai's views. Before seeking for global glory, we must first develop ourselves. How can we compete when we do not even understand the value of higher education because if we did, I do not believe that Africans who gain initial training from here would go to Europe and never return. We are supposed to put what we have learned to practice we are supposed to use the knowledge and understanding gained from the universities to develop our society not another man's. Africa would be ready to compete when standard of living here has improved, when the GDP is not pathetic, and when we have the right development attitude. But first, lets prioritize, let us put measures in place that eliminate poverty, disease and political conflicts then we will see that our universities would begin to move higher up the ranks. The world would begin to appreciate us if we appreciate ourselves and prove it.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, very shy to say no to the this important question. I don't just blame our leaders but every stakeholder including myself. However,Mr. Writer, is important to rank Africa universities so that some one after a deep thought will be motivated by that and start to do something better. As a matter of fact, the main reason why almost nothing good comes from African is we are too comfortable and we have not realise that things may not be like this forever. The Story of africans is like fetus in the womb which is fed with almost everything for survial; food , protection and Oxygen. Till an enabling environment is created for the child develop and start to fend for itself, any disaster can eliminate it. Let's all appreciate the course of independent.
ReplyDeleteIt is a waste of time joining ranking schemes. Africa is always noted for the worse. in fields of health, tribalism, war etc.if our universities cannot joining the ranking schemes I am never surprise.
ReplyDeleteAll is not lost if there is a change in attitude by the average Ghanaian. Love for country and for the individual is the way forward.
ReplyDeleteIndeed African universities face enormous challenges.This is due partly to the fact that,many of the best students do not come back home after their higher degrees in European universities to make the countries better.Also we cannot compete because these best African students make a contribution to the ranking of these schools.The problem is with politics and corruption.In addition lack of resources makes studying a headache.I agree that instead of competing,African universities should have the aim of producing appropriate manpower to meet Africas need and for development.
ReplyDelete