East Africa Heads of State and Government during the EAC Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 2016. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- The harmonisation of higher education and training systems in the region, under the Common Higher Education Area, was agreed upon by EAC Heads of States during their summit in Dar es Salaam last month.
- Operationalisation
of the EA Higher Education Area would give a common framework under
which curricula, examinations and certification as well as academic and
professional qualifications would be shared by all the countries in the
bloc.
Education experts from the East African
Community (EAC) partner states are meeting in Zanzibar to discuss how
to implement a common higher education system in the region.
The
harmonisation of higher education and training systems in the region,
under the Common Higher Education Area, was agreed upon by EAC Heads of
States during their summit in Dar es Salaam last month.
The
meeting, which started on Thursday, brings together vice-chancellors
and principals of member universities, representatives from the
ministries responsible for higher education from each partner states and
the private sector.
Heads of commissions/councils for
higher/university education, science and technology institutions as well
as other education stakeholders, including students, are also
attending.
Top agenda
“Mobility
of both academic staff and students, which is an important avenue for
brain circulation, research and innovation will be top on the agenda,”
said Prof Alexandre Lyambabaje, the executive secretary of
Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA).
“As a
strategic institution of the EAC responsible for coordinating the
development of higher education and research in the region, IUCEA is
behind the Declaration of the EAC as a Common Higher Education Area,” he
said.
Prof Lyambabaje noted that regional quality assurance
standards are among implementation tools that have been set in motion to
ensure higher education meets the desired results
The
East African Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (EAQFHE) is
one such tool, which is both a human resources development tool and a
platform for rationalisation and mutual recognition of qualifications.
Besides,
IUCEA -- one of the dozen institutions under the community-- is
currently steering a number of initiatives on the development of centres
of excellence in various fields which will serve serve as hubs for the
development of highly skilled human resources for the region.
Common framework
Operationalisation
of the EA Higher Education Area would give a common framework under
which curricula, examinations and certification as well as academic and
professional qualifications would be shared by all the countries in the
bloc.
But Prof Lyambabaje said implementation of the
programme would need concerted efforts by the partner states - jointly
or individually - to address the shortage of the teaching staff and
funding.
In a recent interview with Tanzania's The Citizen
newspaper, the don decried shortage of the academic staff members in
the universities within the region, saying East Africa has one of the
worst lecturer-student ratios in Africa.
Currently, IUCEA has 115 active members, being universities and other degree-awarding higher learning institutions.
In future, it would be obliged to serve all 200 plus universities in EA under a proposed amendment of its Act.
“Funding
of the universities has to fall in line with the acceptable ratio.
There also has to be enough teaching facilities, laboratories and
lecturer rooms,” he added.
During their summit in Dar
es Salaam last month, the EAC leaders emphasised that the Common Higher
Education Area's main goal was to enhance the quality of education in
the region.
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