AAU to revitalise higher education in Africa

Accra, Dec. 10, GNA - The Association of African Universities (AAU) will on Thursday December 13, launch its latest project dubbed "Mobilising Regional Capacity Initiative (MRCI)" to revitalise higher education in Africa.

Under the initiative, grants would be awarded to educational institutions on a competitive basis under a "Challenge Fund" for projects that would enhance capacity of African higher education institutions and networks to support sustainable development. The Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom is providing 3.5 million pounds sterling to support the project over a three-year period.

A statement in Accra on Monday from the AAU said this came about through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the AAU and the DFID to enhance partnerships with sub-regional networks of higher education institutions to foster long term and collective action to help the institutions attain their millennium development. It said the AAU would manage the resources and facilitate interaction among its members and partner organisations. Expected outcomes included enhanced information sharing on innovation and reform, policy-oriented research and briefs on new ways for higher education to contribute to national development programmes and policy frameworks that addressed key issues confronting African higher education.

Representatives from DFID and AAU's regional and sub-regional partners including the African Union Commission, Association of Arab Universities and the Southern African Regional Universities Association will attend the launch.

A brief seminar would follow the launching to build networks and seek synergies among current and planned programmes of work of the higher institutions within and across linguistic boundaries. 10 Dec. 07