Bringing NUFU into the future

INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES: Goolam Mohammedbhai from the Association of African Universities (AAU) explains that the capacity, capability and opportunities of highly qualified young academics and researchers in Africa must be enhanced in the attempt to stem the ongoing brain drain.

Together with the University of Malawi, the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) organised the conference titled Increasing the impact of higher education institutions in development processes.

Professor Goolam Mohammedbhai, secretary-general of the Associaton of African Universities (AAU) was one of the key note speakers. He presented some African perpectives in regards to international development trends in higher education and research. He emphasized the continent's critically high demand for human capital and resources.

- Most African universities have dramatically inrecreased their enolments for years. But as the physical and human resource capacities of the universities are not there, the shoe seriously pinches, he said.

According to Mohammedbhai, the huge demand for higher education in Africa is not being met by public funding. This, along with globalisation and the emergence of cross-border higher education, has opened up for numerous private actors in the region’s education sector.

- We have to be realistic and accept that private higher education is a reality in Africa. There must, however, be a proper regulatory framework to ensure quality and prevent these institutions from weakening the existing public ones. There, perhaps, assistance could be useful from the North, Mohammedbhai noted.

The issue of brain drain - the flow of highly qualified academics and researchers from the South to the North - continues to be a big problem for Africa.

- The shortage of trained people is dramatic; we don’t have enough doctors or nurses, and the lack of teachers is massive. We need the assistance of the countries in the North, where a lot of the brain drain takes place, he declared.

Main resolutions
This year’s NUFU conference seemed to have been perceived by the participants as a fruitful gathering. The following set of resolutions will input the further development of the NUFU Programme:

• Increase access and enrolment at doctoral levels
• Increase access to and use of ICT in higher education and research
• Stem the brain drain by increasing opportunities for young researchers
• Close the gender gap in academia

Read the Conference Resolutions Document, see the official presentations from the speakers as well as photos from the conference at the official NUFU site.

Text and Photo: Kjersti Brown/SIU