East Africa: Novel EAC Scholarship Scheme in the Pipeline

By Deus Ngowi in Arusha

AS the East African Community (EAC) marks its 20th anniversary, a nascent scholarship exchange programme is afoot.

o, explained that to be involved are students for Master's degree scholarships tenable at universities in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

The scholarship process is organized by the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) that is an institution of the EAC responsible for the coordination of the development of higher education and research within the Community.

It is charged with the duty of advising the EAC and partner states on matters pertaining to higher education, especially those related to the operationalization of EAC Common Higher Education Area.

The programme is designed to support EAC students with academic talent and leadership qualities. In addition to the provision of scholarships, the EAC scholars will be actively facilitated through programme activities such as regional leadership seminars and mentoring schemes.

"It is further anticipated that the beneficiaries of the scholarship programme will become highly skilled 'change agents' for their home communities as qualified professionals with a strong understanding of regional challenges, approaches and expertise in their subject fields," said Mr Othieno.

The EAC region has a long history of cooperation in education, particularly between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which are the founders of the Community.

The EAC is cognizant of the fact that most of its aspirations can only be achieved through high quality and relevant education and training.

The EAC Scholarship Programme is the product of a financing agreement of €5m signed between the EAC and the Federal Republic of Germany on 9th April, 2018 .

The scholarship programme is being implemented in cooperation with IUCEA and KfW, the German Development Bank.

The goal of the programme is to promote the integration agenda in East Africa by supporting higher education students. Scholarship beneficiaries will foster awareness about the integration and spur social change and economic growth.

Under Article 103(a) of the EAC Treaty, partner states undertook to promote cooperation in the development of science and technology that are viewed as the prime movers of regional integration and development.

The Community's objective then is to develop a completely harmonized East African education system for the enhancement of a productive human resource base.

Mr Othieno noted that inherent in a harmonized education system are the establishment of a common reference to facilitate comparability, compatibility, equation and mutual recognition of education/training systems and qualifications among partner states

. "There is also the shared view among partner states on quality, criteria, standards and learning outcomes; promoting mobility of students and labour to foster integration and promotion of the region as a Common Higher Education Area," he said.

The harmonization of education systems and curricula dates way back to the first Community. The EAC had a single examination system and same curricula.

The University of East Africa (UEA) had its main campus in Makerere, Kampala, Uganda with affiliate colleges in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

In the early1970s, UEA split into three independent universities: the University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University and the University of Nairobi.