Africa-EU university boost: Commission backs plan to double size of partnership scheme
African and European universities face similar challenges: the need to modernise, provide relevant curricula and offer students more opportunities to broaden their skills to increase job prospects. These issues will be among the themes addressed by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, at a meeting with representatives of 60 African universities in Brussels tomorrow, 27 March. The 'African Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning' event, jointly organised by the European Commission and African Union Commission, focuses on student mobility, recognition of qualifications and credits, as well as the development of new and joint degree programmes. Over the next seven years, it is envisaged that the new Erasmus+ programme will provide grants for 25 000 African students and academics to study or train in Europe, and around 2 750 African researchers will receive support from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
"Education is the best investment against inequality and poverty. We need to cooperate better at all levels to help higher education institutions develop relevant curricula, enable students and staff to overcome barriers to mobility and address the recognition of qualifications," said the Commissioner. "The quality and response of higher education to society's needs is central to any reform. Employers demand that universities produce graduates with modern skills and the tuning initiative helps us work towards these objectives. Plans to extend the scheme have my full support," she added.
One of the aims of this week's meeting is to double the scope of the initiative from 60 African universities and 130 000 undergraduate students to 120 universities by 2015. First launched in 2011, the 'tuning' scheme aims to enhance the relevance and quality of university courses by involving employers and other stakeholders in curricula design. It also seeks to improve institutional evaluation and to implement a framework for quality assurance and accreditation. The targets build on themes discussed at the Africa-EU Partnership Conference at Libreville, Gabon, in May 2013.
In addition to the grants available through Erasmus+ and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, EU support for the 'Nyerere' mobility programme will also facilitate exchanges within Africa to encourage student retention and increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the institutions.
Next Steps
The next African Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning event will take place in October 2014 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and focus on joint degrees - study programmes developed by two or more international universities.
Background
The European Union's development policies in Africa emphasise good cooperation, innovation and quality in higher education, mobility of students and staff, and institutional support. As part of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, the EU contributes to the Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme (for countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific) and the African Union Nyerere programme, which offers mobility scholarships for Masters degree students and doctoral candidates within Africa in key areas for social and economic development.
The EU has provided €78 million for higher education programmes supporting students and universities in sub-Saharan Africa since 2007. Over the past seven years, 4 600 African students and 980 academic staff across the continent received grants from the Erasmus Mundus programme and more than 2 000 Africans received research fellowship grants through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
In addition to the increased opportunities available under Erasmus+, in the next four years the EU also aims to provide scholarships to around 500 students and 70 university staff within Africa under the Africa mobility programme.
The African Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning initiative, launched in January 2011, aims to improve competences, the relevance of degree courses in relation to society's needs, and to develop comparable and compatible qualifications. To date, six workshops have taken place.
The African Union Commission promotes quality assurance and the harmonisation of higher education programmes. It aims to increase cooperation between universities, quality assurance agencies, accreditation bodies, ministries of education and national governments.
The Pan-African University plays a key role in promoting mobility and harmonising programmes and degrees. The African Quality Rating Mechanism seeks to ensure that the performance of higher education institutions can be measured against criteria agreed by universities across Africa. It contributes to the implementation of the Arusha Convention, which aims to enhance comparability, transparency and the mutual recognition of university degrees and certificates in Africa.
These measures complement the European Commission's 2013 strategy on 'European Higher Education in the world' and the EU's dialogue on higher education policies with non- member countries and regions around the world.
For more information
Joint Africa- EU Strategy
Joint Africa-EU Strategy: Key Facts
African Higher Education and Harmonisation Tuning Initiative
European Commission: European Higher Education in the World strategy
European Commission: Education and training
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU.
Contacts :
Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58)
Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67).

Twelve new FET colleges will be built across South Africa because of increasing enrolments at universities and colleges, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.
“Student enrolments at universities have increased by 12 percent, while further education and training (FET) college enrolments have increased by 90 percent,” he said at the launch of a scholarship fund in Sandton.
“The National Development Plan envisages an increase in higher education enrolments from 17 percent in 2012 to 25 percent by 2030.”
The NDP is an economic policy framework aimed at eliminating poverty and inequality by 2030. More...

By the Editor. As the 20th Nigeria Economic Summit (NES) kicks off its unprecedented discourse on Education today, it is timely to harp on the urgent need of revamping Nigeria’s University system. University education is fundamental to national development, as the system is responsible for the development of high-level manpower within the context of the nation’s needs. Sadly, the story of Nigeria’s University education leaves much to be desired.
There are doubts whether with the current state of Universities they can really lay claim on being central to the national capacity of connecting with the new international knowledge system, adopt, adapt and further develop new technologies and processes required  in a dynamic society. More...

Since 1994, the headcount enrolments at the country’s universities have approximately doubled to almost one million students.
“University enrolment has almost doubled in size, increasing from 495 356 in 1994 in universities, including technikons and teacher training colleges- to 938 201 in 2011 in public universities and universities of technology,” says the 20 Year Review, realeased on Tuesday by President Jacob Zuma, which illustrates what has been achieved in the country over the past twenty years.
President Zuma said the Twenty Year Review was packed with facts and figures to support its analysis, and where the facts indicate that the country has made progress, the Review says so, and where they indicate that "we have challenges and have made mistakes, we also say so."
By 2011, women made up 54% of all students enrolled in contact university programmes, according to the Review. More...

By Kuni Tyessi. In the quest for higher education in other countries, Nigerians settle for anything including substandard universities which admit as low as six passes. KUNI TYESSI just back from Ghana takes a look at Ghanian Universities and Nigerian patronage.
That over 150,000 Nigerians are currently enrolled in Ghanaian universities may not be a surprise, but what may be is the fact that about 60 per cent of these students are some of those who for one reason or the other could not gain admission into Nigerian universities and other institutions of higher learning. More...