Harmonise academic programmes for development -West African universities urged
The Association of West African Universities (AWAU) has opened its second annual conference and general meeting with a call on universities in the sub-region to harmonise their academic programmes and qualifications to enhance their development efforts.
Advertisement
The three-day conference on the theme “Harmonisation of Academic Programmes and Qualifications in Africa (with reference to the Arusha Convention)- Implication for West Africa,” is being held at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
About 150 participants, including vice chancellors from various universities in the sub-region, are attending the conference.
Delivering his keynote address, the Vice Chancellor of the Police Academy in Kaduna, Nigeria, Professor Munzeli Jibril, said the sub-region could accelerate its development efforts with harmonisation of academic programmes and qualifications.
Better communication, collaborations
He, therefore, called for better communication and collaborations between the academia and politicians in the sub-region in achieving that objective.
Prof. Jibril stated that harmonisation of academic programmes and qualification could be simpler and straightforward considering the fact that many countries in the sub-region already had similar academic systems.
He indicated that while following the Bologna Agreement, which sought to harmonise academic programmes and qualifications in Africa, which had been successful, it would be unwise to follow the European system sheepishly and abolish the Diploma system.
Conversion of polytechnics
On the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities, he said the conversion must not stop the running of diploma programmes, saying the training of middle level manpower was crucial for the development of the sub-region.
He noted that though many European academic institutions were aborting the diploma programmes, such programmes were necessary for countries in the sub-region, considering the fact that countries in the region were still developing.
He said entry qualifications and duration of programmes were critical issues that had to be looked at in efforts to convert the polytechnics into universities.
Content
He indicated that the current emphasis on teaching had moved from spending more contact hours on lecturing, to allowing students do a lot more learning on their own.
“This is to produce manpower who can do things than those who know things,” he said, adding that the sub-region needed skilled manpower to try new and innovative ideas that would transform the region into a more prosperous one.
Examinations
Prof. Jibril called on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to prepare to conduct examinations for both Francophone and Anglophone West African countries.
The Vice Chancellor of UCC, Professor D.D. Kuupole, who is the Chairman of AWAU, said the association was to give a common platform to universities in the sub-region to discuss issues affecting their educational institutions and their societies.
He said it was, however, worrying that many member states, especially Francophone West Africa, had shown little interest in the association.
He said the association was working to move beyond being a talk shop group, to provide an influential platform for the discussion of issues that would move their respective countries forward.
The Chairman for the occasion, Prof. Julius Okojie, who is the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission of Nigeria, called on politicians to involve academicians in decisions concerning education to avoid the duplication of efforts and resources.
