Proposals on centers of specialization
and postgraduate studies
The upshot of
the discussion in this section is that the way ahead for the
development of research and postgraduate capacity in African
universities is through a selective concentration of resources
within the university system, and the achievement of collaborative
links among African universities, between African universities and
top research institutes, and between African universities and
universities abroad.
The efforts
of the AAU, the sub-regional university associations, and the
discipline-based scholarly associations deserve donor support as
they continue to work with their member universities, both in
identifying centers of specialization, and in designing procedures
for implementing inter-university collaboration. This is a highly
complex planning exercise. As was mentioned before, the AAU and the
sub-regional associations need an assured organizational base in
order to undertake sustained technical and liaison work of this
kind. The chosen centers (faculties, departments and institutes)
will need strengthening in order to equip themselves for their
expanded roles.
The financing
of student mobility within Africa at the postgraduate level is
likely to be a practical issue deserving special study, taking into
account the variety of currency areas and free trade agreements in
place. There are clear advantages in limiting the hard currency
requirements of postgraduate student exchange, but where these are
unavoidable, donor finance would be helpful.
There was, in
fact, an overwhelming demand from the African universities for
donor support for postgraduate scholarships. The variety of
patterns of postgraduate study and research, particularly at the
doctoral level, including several types of split-site degree
programs, indicate the need for flexible funding on the DAAD model.
Fellowships like the Rockefeller Foundation's, which enable
candidates to undertake well-supervised fieldwork in Africa, are
particularly welcome. In fact, the advice specifically aimed at the
foundations was that they should do what they've always done
well--' train people'.
The
foundations may be particularly well placed to help develop
institutional links between African universities and Africa's
international research institutes, an under-developed aspect of the
twinning relationship which African universities continue to regard
as particularly productive.