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A Consultation On Higher Education in Africa
The AAU also
runs, these days on a small scale, a graduate fellowship program
and an academic staff exchange program. It publishes the
Directory of African
Universities,
AAU
Newsletter and
occasional reports and papers from its own press.
The
association occupies offices and staff housing provided by the
Government of Ghana in Accra, which also accords the AAU diplomatic
status. The Government of Nigeria has provided an annual grant.
Subscriptions from member universities denominated in US dollars
comprise the regular funds of the association. The annual
subscription is modest and has not been increased for several
years, yet (because of devaluation or for other reasons) many
universities do not pay. Consequently the AAU secretariat has not
filled two vital posts and the very few staff in post are grossly
overworked.
Proposals on the AAU
The
establishment of a permanent donor support group for the AAU could
be considered in discussion with the association and interested
donors. The second DAE Working Group on Higher Education meeting in
Accra responded warmly to the idea. The most pressing need is to
enable the association to overcome its chronic deficit and achieve
a stable framework for its core funding. To this end a management
review by African consultants (such as GIMPA) could be considered,
which among other things could examine the association's financial
base and in particular the subscription policy and administration,
and any other potential source of core funding, local or
external.
Meanwhile,
donors might consider an early grant to enable the vacant posts of
Program Officer (Documentation) and Administrative Officer to be
filled. The justification for a post of Director of Research could
be established. Such an officer could exert quality control over
the AAU's already wide-ranging research portfolio, and in future
might have an important part to play in the coordination of a
program of research on African higher education which is discussed
below.
Other
representative university bodies
There are
other representative associations of universities in Africa whose
activities are highly regarded in the sub-regions they serve and by
the AAU and the ACU. They are the Inter-University Council of East
Africa (IUC), a descendant of the disbanded University of East
Africa, which is supported by the governments of Uganda, Kenya and
Tanzania, and has a permanent office and staff in Kampala; the
Association of Eastern and Southern African Universities (AESAU),
which does not have a permanent office but whose current chairman
is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zambia; and the
Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of
Universities in West Africa (COREVP), which is serviced by the AAU
secretariat.