Transforming Humanities and Social Sciences in the East African Community Universities: From Endangerment to Sustainability

Abstract

This study was conducted in eight universities within the East African Community (EAC). Its objective was to investigate the endangerment situation of the Humanities in order to suggest some lessons for Rwanda in transforming the teaching of these subjects. The endangerment was measured in terms of stakeholder salience, declining student enrolment, government budget-cuts as well as the devalorisation of these disciplines and negative society perceptions towards them. The study investigates the causes and consequences of this endangerment and shows how the embattled disciplines can be helped to survive. It draws on the stakeholders’ theory of salience to argue that less salient stakeholders in universities can have their saliency strengthened through policy. Humanities are disciplines holding the key towards solving a set of complex social problems in the current globalised world because they offer a sure channel of imparting analytical and critical thinking skills, effective argumentation and negotiation skills. It is argued that if left unchecked, the current devalorisation of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) in favour of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will eventually lead to a non-holistic education with inadequate skills for all categories of students, including science ones. Graduates need these skills to cope with challenging social demands in their workplace.