The role and
views of students must be central in any reforms that attempt to revitalise
African universities, new British Council research concludes.
A clear
finding from the survey is that for universities to be able to play a
significant role in the continent’s social and economic progress, African
institutions should not view students just as consumers, providing
‘value-for-money’ products that will be attractive to the market, but should
include them as primary stakeholders in the collective task of ensuring a rich
and relevant learning environment.
The findings
represent the second published report of a three year research project ‘Universities, Employability and Inclusive
Development’ (2013-2016), commissioned by the British Council and being led
by a research team at the UK’s University College London Institute of
Education. Focusing on Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and the UK for
comparative purposes, the project explores the role of higher education in
fostering employability and developing just and prosperous societies.
The report
will be launched and discussed
by a panel of students from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK at ‘Going Global’, the British
Council’s annual conference for leaders of international education, in London
on June 1.
Tony Reilly, the British Council’s Director in Kenya, said:“Higher
education is becoming increasingly important in the context of the knowledge
society, and governments and development agencies alike are showing greater
recognition of higher education’s critical contribution to development in the
post-2015 agenda. However, if Africa is to harness the enormous potential of
its burgeoning next generation and reap a demographic dividend out of its youth
populations, the issue of graduate employability needs to be first understood
and then tackled head on.
“Given the significant lack of rigorous research in the four countries
in question, it was essential to develop a strong evidence base on the subject
as a means of informing national policies, institutional reform and programme
interventions. We hope the findings of our research will help UK universities
to build sustainable partnerships with their Higher Education counterparts in
sub-Saharan Africa, and that these partnerships will act as a significant nexus
of positive change”Mr. Reilly added.
A major
challenge for the region is that higher education systems have been allowed to
expand without corresponding resources, leading to questions being asked around
the quality of graduates exiting universities into an already congested job
market.
The report
argues that as has been the case in primary education in the past two decades,
a shift of conception is needed from access to quality, or access with
quality& relevance.
“For many the
great promise of the university has not been fulfilled. Diplomas have not
provided automatic white-collar employment as may have been the case in
previous decades, and in some contexts such as Nigeria, employment rates are no
better for graduates than for those with primary or secondary level
qualifications” the report states.
Dr Tristan
McCowan, author of the report, commented “A revealing aspect of the research is
that students in the survey werefor the most part positive about their
universities, despite the serious concerns over quality expressed by other
stakeholders. It seems they either lack a benchmark by which to evaluate their
institutions, or are aware of their shortcomings, but do not feel at liberty to
criticise them. Informally, students express their concerns, but they lack
channels through which to influence their institutions. Universities need to
reconsider how to engage students as partners in the task of enhancing the
learning environment. Empowered students, able to provide constructive feedback
on the provision they are receiving, are a vital piece in the puzzle of
ensuring higher education quality in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Graduate unemployment rates are high in many sub-Saharan African
countries, and the report shows a rising focus on self-employment instead of salaried employment– seen most
obviously in Kenya, with a staggering 64 per cent of students aspiring to be
self-employed[1].
In the UK, the proportion of students who are in self-employment or starting
their own business six months after graduation is only four per cent.
The research,
drawing on extensive focus groups with students in all four African countries
and a survey completed bymore than 6000 final-year students, makes six key
conclusions:
·
Students
no longer see their future in conventional salaried employment
·
Giving
back to their communities is an important goal for students
·
Careers
services and skills development programmes are underutilised
·
Students
from disadvantaged backgrounds face an uphill struggle
·
Universities
are still characterised by rote learning
·
Despite
the critical problems, students are unwilling to speak out about the problems
their universities face.
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