The relevance of HE for societies in Africa questioned

Africa’s development depends on the higher education sector embracing change and producing leaders capable of addressing the complex governance and technological issues that will determine the continent’s future, says Patrick Awuah, the founder of Ghana’s first private university.

“There is a growing cry and a questioning about whether universities are relevant and are doing things that are relevant for society in Africa,” he said.

Awuah, who established Ashesi University with the aim of educating a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders for the continent, argues that, at present, the teaching and knowledge-production at higher education institutions are failing to foster sufficient progress across Africa.

“There is this general feeling that the universities are not engaging with society as strongly as previously under particular historical expectations in terms of preparing the workforce and future leadership; producing scientific advances; and conducting policy-based research for government,” he said.

A need for value-driven, problem-solving graduates

In particular, Awuah argues that African universities are not producing the kind of value-driven, problem-solving graduates required to drive economic growth.

In this regard, he notes a rising scepticism among firms about the quality of the graduates who are being produced.

“A big part of the questioning comes from the private sector, which is questioning why the graduates whom they hire are often unprepared for the world of work,” he said.

“They are not prepared as flexible thinkers who are able to deal with ambiguity; and they don’t have the work ethic and character that businesses need and expect from university graduates.”

More broadly, Awuah advises that higher education is failing to place sufficient emphasis on its role in developing “society’s leadership” in the private and public sectors.

“Most universities need to acknowledge their crucial role in preparing ethical leaders – that is, leaders who are, first and foremost, good citizens,” he said.

“These leaders have to be people who care about society and the common good; who have empathy and compassion; and who expect that Africa’s problems will be solved and that they, themselves, will be part of solving those problems.

Responsive research

In addition, Awuah argues that African universities should be playing a stronger role in producing research that is “focused on solving Africa’s problems and on envisioning a future of accomplishment on the continent”.

He says that this research should be undertaken in two broad areas: science, with a particular emphasis on digital technologies, which “can have a profound impact on the [continent’s] trajectory; and economic policy and governance, “with the goal of creating great societies in Africa”.

At the same time, Awuah notes that, under austerity, underfunded universities have become both over-reliant on foreign funding and fearful of offending national governments holding the purse-strings.

This has led to a “paucity of research” and a “culture of silence” that can fatally damage higher education’s capacity for free-thinking engagement with the issues of the day.

“Dependence on government funding may lead the public universities to becoming increasingly reluctant to criticise government policies with which they might disagree,” he said.

How to change the system

Acknowledging the barriers that can impede reform of higher education to make it more relevant, Awuah has identified a number of factors that can enhance the prospects of changing the system.

Referencing his own experience of establishing Ashesi University, he notes the importance of garnering the support of national governments and accrediting authorities in order to establish new institutions and curricula.

“A key moment [in founding Ashesi] was when the government of Ghana opened the system to the involvement of private universities,” he said.

In relation to the curriculum proposed by the new university, Awuah describes how he had to engage significant resistance from influential academics to implement change.

“Accreditation was a major challenge. The proposed curriculum was quite different from the norm in Ghana and was questioned strongly,” he said.

“It took months of discussion to convince the existing professorship in the country to allow Ashesi to do something different from the national norm.”

Overcoming institutional inertia

Reflecting on his role in “exploring and demonstrating new ways of teaching, learning and knowing”, Awuah advises that institutional inertia, which can inhibit efforts to reform curricula and adopt more student-centred teaching practices, may be overcome through decentralisation, especially at large universities.

“The larger an organisation is, the more difficult it is for it to change direction. For example, it is easier for a speedboat to change direction than an aircraft carrier.

“So, an effective way for a large organisation to be agile is to adopt a decentralised approach. Under this, it can establish an ecosystem of many different organisms, which may be departments or institutes, each of which can make shifts more quickly that the larger whole.”

Awuah has also identified a number of social and structural factors that can be leveraged to promote the value-driven ethos among students that he considers fundamental to the production of Africa’s future leaders.

Building a culture of ethics

“When I talk to other universities about building a culture of ethics on the campus, they tend to talk about ‘pushback’ and emphasise the difficulties of changing the culture of their institutions,” he said.

“But what they seem to have failed to understand is that changing the culture among students is a lot easier than people think. First of all, because students are not so cemented in their ways and are more likely to be idealistic – so, there can be an appeal to that idealism.

“Second, the student body changes every four years, which offers a significant opportunity.”

In this context, he says that a campus culture of ethics may be fostered by establishing a code of conduct for the university; and including conversations about ethics and ethical challenges in the curriculum, including at leadership seminars.

Looking beyond the gates of individual universities, Awuah would like to see more collaboration between universities and stakeholders in the sector.

“This collaboration should take the form of joint research projects, and student and faculty exchanges, all of which would produce a beneficial cross-pollination of ideas.”

The African higher education systems should also become articulated so that students can transfer their credits from one university to another.

A metrics framework for universities in Africa

Awuah would also like to see a more contextually relevant way of assessing the diversity among African universities by means of appropriate continent-wide standards.

“The performance of higher education institutions in North America, South America, Europe and Asia are all measured against regional standards, such as gender balance and how successful they may be in placing students in jobs, as well as the nature of graduate career trajectories,” he said.

“So, there is a need for African higher education institutions to collaborate to produce a framework of metrics for the continent – and, in this way, manage and improve their own performance according to relevant standards that they, themselves, have set.”

This article is based on an interview conducted by Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers for ‘The Imprint of Education’ project, which is being implemented by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South Africa, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. This project, which includes a series of critical engagements with experienced scholars and thought leaders on their reimaginings of higher education in Africa, investigates current and future challenges facing the sector, including best practices and innovations. Thierry M Luescher and Mark Paterson edited the transcript for focus and length. A full transcript of the interview can be downloaded from the HSRC’s website.