Costs And Financing Of Higher Education In Francophone Africa

Despite a low enrollment rate in higher education of 3 percent on average, in comparison with 8 percent in countries with comparable levels of development, Francophone African countries are currently facing an immense challenge in terms of numbers. The increased social demand associated with the progress made in universal primary enrollment and the increase in secondary enrollment could cause the student population to grow from 800,000 in 2004 to approximately 2 million in 2015, and to double the coverage. This increase exacerbates the financial problems of higher education institutions and mi.

The training and development of human capital in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will help countries in the region diversify their economies, carry out economic transformation, and support sustainable growth. Higher education plays a key role in training qualified individuals who will be able to implement new technologies and use innovative methods to establish cost-efficient and effective enterprises and institutions. However, in order for SSA to reap the benefits of this investment in human capital, higher education institutions must secure financing to provide quality training and sound professional prospects to their students. Currently, tertiary education development is unsustainable resources per student are declining and the quality of education is affected. These issues are particularly pressing in times of financial global crisis, when available resources for tertiary education tend to diminish. The impact of the crisis that started in 2008 provides a clear illustration of the need to explore innovative ways to diversify and secure financing for higher education in SSA. 'Financing Higher Education in Africa' provides a comprehensive overview of higher education financing in SSA. The book begins with an explanation of the fundamental problems faced by higher education institutions and students in SSA, namely the combined pressure of a rapid growth in demand and a growing scarcity of public resources, and it presents the dramatic consequences of these trends on quality. The book then turns to analyzing and comparing the current funding policies in SSA countries and it provides recommendations for improvement. Finally, the book examines the alternatives to the status quo and the policy tools needed to both diversify resources and allocate them based on performance. It will be of great interest to governments, universities, research institutions, and international organizations throughout the region.

Virtually all countries in the world are struggling to provide the necessary resources to Higher Education. The challenges are particularly complex for economically poor countries in Africa, which have recorded massive expansion in the past decade. This book analyzes the state of funding and financing higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This nine-country study of higher education financing in Africa includes three East African states (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), five countries in southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa), and an Indian Ocean island state (Mauritius). Higher Education Financing in East and Southern Africa explores trends in financing policies, paying particular attention to the nature and extent of public sector funding of higher education, the growth of private financing (including both household financing and the growth of private higher education institutions) and the changing mix of financing instruments that these countries are developing in response to public sector financial constraints. 'This unique collection of African-country case studies draws attention to the remaining challenges around the financing of higher education in Africa, but also identifies good practices, lessons and common themes.

For more than a decade, higher education and research in the French-speaking countries of Africa has been in a state of severe crisis, stemming from an increasing disparity between available resources and the requirements vital to providing high-quality education. 'Higher Education in Francophone Africa' seeks to: 1) highlight the factors which have led to the development of this situation in most countries; 2) identify the conditions for creating a framework for regulating financially-sustainable higher education and research systems; and 3) identify ways of increasing funding for this sector as well as maintaining its quality.

Despite a low enrollment rate in higher education of 3 percent on average, in comparison with 8 percent in countries with comparable levels of development, Francophone African countries are currently facing an immense challenge in terms of numbers. The increased social demand associated with the progress made in universal primary enrollment and the increase in secondary enrollment could cause the student population to grow from 800,000 in 2004 to approximately 2 million in 2015, and to double the coverage. This increase exacerbates the financial problems of higher education institutions and might result in a decline in the quality of training offered. The problem of the relevance of training to labor market requirements has already become quite obvious. The difficulties faced by graduates of tertiary institutions in respect to entry into the modern labor market, which often provides less capacity of systems and, possibly, the revamping of programs to better respond to countries' development needs. In order to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing higher education systems in Francophone Africa, this book takes stock of their situations, highlights the similarities and difference in strategies between countries, and indicates the potential for greater flexibility in order to improve financing as well as the internal and external efficiency of higher education systems. It then uses scenarios of future possible education systems to highlight realistic and sustainable hypotheses for countries. Finally, it proposes policy tools that would enable policy makers and heads of higher education institutions to improve the quality and performance of systems while planning their development.