training. In the selected disciplines in which universities have
the capacity for postgraduate work of acceptable quality, it is
essential that the workloads of qualified postgraduate teachers be
protected, insofar as they can be, by regulation and
organization.
Government
officers responsible for higher education policy and funding need
to be engaged by the universities in a serious analysis of the role
of postgraduate studies in development, as well as the current cost
structure and the objectives, scale and distribution of official
support through student finance for postgraduate training at home
and abroad. Other employers of postgraduate manpower need to be
brought into the discussion, to consider the scope for direct
non-governmental investment in postgraduate training capacity in
universities, as well as their responsibility for the sponsorship
of employees for postgraduate degrees.
Clearly, such
discussions would be better informed by the availability of
up-to-date country studies on postgraduate demand, capacity and
supply, in which the regional dimension would necessarily be
important. Donors could assist, as they have in at least one
discipline (Economics, through AERC), by enabling such studies to
be commissioned.
In this area,
as well as the other governance and management areas,
well-considered proposals for study visits within Africa, in other
LDCs or elsewhere should be supported.
Research
management
The
management of research is closely linked with the organization of
postgraduate work in universities, and the two activities are
frequently discussed in the same breath. This is a critical but
underdeveloped field where two donors dedicated to research
promotion, SAREC and IDRC, have been providing some training
opportunities. IDRC has made it possible for 25 African graduate
students in Agriculture, studying in North America, to attend an
annual research management program at the University of Manitoba
Summer School. As a spinoff, two lecturers from the University of
Zimbabwe attended this year's program and returned with University
of Manitoba staff members to inaugurate a regional program based in
Harare. IDRC supports Sokoine University of Agriculture's Institute
of Research Management in Tanzania, and CISAG's research management
center for all disciplines in Dakar. In January 1991, the Eduardo
Mondlane University of Mozambique (whose own research
administration system is highly regarded) will host a conference on
university research management for the SADCC region, funded by
SAREC.
It is not
clear whether African universities have given sufficient attention
to the condition of research management in their institutions. No
doubt, as in everything else, performance varies considerably.
However, they would do well to take as a warning signal the fact
that the reputation of African university research management in
the donor community is very low. Several