Policy Issues for African Universities

Abstract

The first universities were established in ancient Africa in places such as Timbuctoo, Goa and Ethiopia. In contemporary Africa, the Islamic Al-Azar University is the oldest academy.

JHEA, Volume 1, n°1, 2003 - Full Issue

“…As resources once meant for teaching and research were frittered away in the conspicuous consumption of the university administrative elite, with their chauffeur-driven cars and special allowances, or filtered through a maze of patron-client networks that rewarded sycophants and marginalized independent-minded scholars, buildings decayed, libraries and laboratory facilities deteriorated, and the culture of learning and knowledge production degenerated. In the worst cases, the patronage system determined the allocation of positions and appointments, departmental budgets and individual salaries, promotions and rewards, teaching loads and research facilities, sabbaticals and conference travel, housing and allowances, and routine services including conflict-free scheduling, computerized class rosters, grade sheets, and transcript compilation (Nelson, 1996;Domatob, 1996;Peil, 1996;Kirkaldy, 1996). Numerous studies have pointed out that many universities were remiss even in areas that constitute their core mission of teaching, research, and public service.…”

7 - Academic Freedom in the Neo-Liberal Order: Governments, Globalization, Governance, and Gender

“…As resources once meant for teaching and research were frittered away in the conspicuous consumption of the university administrative elite, with their chauffeur-driven cars and special allowances, or filtered through a maze of patron-client networks that rewarded sycophants and marginalized independent-minded scholars, buildings decayed, libraries and laboratory facilities deteriorated, and the culture of learning and knowledge production degenerated. In the worst cases, the patronage system determined the allocation of positions and appointments, departmental budgets and individual salaries, promotions and rewards, teaching loads and research facilities, sabbaticals and conference travel, housing and allowances, and routine services including conflict-free scheduling, computerized class rosters, grade sheets, and transcript compilation (Nelson, 1996;Domatob, 1996;Peil, 1996;Kirkaldy, 1996). Numerous studies have pointed out that many universities were remiss even in areas that constitute their core mission of teaching, research, and public service.…”

“…The state responded to student and faculty protests with both the sticks of repression and the carrots of reform or cooptation. In 1991, for example, rioting students were shot and killed at the universities of Yaounde in Cameroon and Lubumbashi in the former Zaire, while in Gabon, Togo, Swaziland, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire many students were beaten, arrested, and detained (Domatob, 1996, p. 32). In Nigeria, between 1985, more than 100 students were killed, 1,000 were imprisoned, and hundreds more suspended.…”