Conference on private partnership with Universities opens

Accra (Greater Accra), 10th June 99, -

African Universities should redefine their focus to meet the development aspirations of the continent.

The call was made at a conference to seek a new relationship between civil society and African universities, which opened in Accra on Wednesday.

Speakers at the three-day conference said the focus of the Universities should help resolve problems such as poverty, environmental degradation, unemployment, conflicts and wars.

The African Regional Council of the International Association of University Presidents organised the conference, which is aimed at bringing the stakeholders together to discuss the prospects for collaboration for sustainable development of the continent.

More than 80 foreign and local officials from the academia, private sector and civil society are attending the conference.

In an opening address, Mr Harry Sawyerr, a member of the Council of State, said the need for African Universities to forge partnerships with the private sector and civil society has become imperative.

He said as most Universities in Africa were established as public institutions and continue to rely on the state for support which has now become very difficult to continue because of the economic hardships facing the continent.

The contraction of state funding, Mr Sawyerr said, has resulted in a mismatch between growing enrollment and provision of infrastructure for higher education.

"It has become clear that the legacy of free University attendance that was possible three decades ago, when numbers were small, cannot be maintained under present circumstances."

For instance, he said, Ghana allocates an average of 30 to 35 per cent of its national recurrent budget to education out of which 12 to 13 per cent goes to the tertiary sector.

"This is about the limit of feasible public spending on education and is far higher than in the industrialised nations," Mr Sawyerr, a former Minister of Education, said.

Stakeholders should not only have the responsibility for sharing costs of tertiary education, but should also have the right to participate in crucial decisions affecting quality, relevance, access and funding of higher education, he said.

"Forging closer partnerships with stakeholders in education should expand Africa's capacity to identify and address the many challenges ahead."

Dr Kofi Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, expressed concern about the depth of poverty in Africa.

He said poverty has been on a rising trend with about two-fifths of the continent's population living under one dollar per day.

Even though many countries in Africa are progressing and benefiting from structural reforms, "the progress is fragile and also still loaded with many outstanding development challenges," Dr Amoako said.

"We also know that growth alone will not be sufficient. We must couple growth with deliberate policies attacking poverty and promoting education, health and social safety nets."

Professor George Benneh, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, said though the contribution of African Universities to society could not be discounted, they still have a lot to do to fit into the rapid changes in the socio-economic environment of the global economy.

This, he said, could be done through forging strong partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders to generate more resources to meet high enrolment into the Universities.

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