Will Africa
have a world-class university in the foreseeable future?
The blunt
answer is no, if the consensus arrived at by a recent international gathering
in Chicago of university presidents is to be believed. In a review of
higher education projected to 2025, the presidents foresaw the following,
globally:
- A first layer of highly prestigious, highly resourced and very productive universities, 35 to 60 in number.
- A second layer of 200 to 250 universities in consortia, sharing resources, offering joint and mutually accredited programmes, and therefore able to compete internationally.
- A third tier of about 200 institutions comprising a range of niche players, strictly focused on three or four fields at most.
- A large fourth tier of mainly regional institutions, about 24,200 in number.
- A group of high-tech MOOCS.
According
to this scenario, if Africa garners a handful of second and third tier places
it will be doing very well indeed. Is this all doom and gloom for
Africa?
Read the
full article by Prof Joe Muller here:
