USA Africa Dialogue Series - Conference on the Impact of Private Universities on Public Universities in Africa

                                                                                      

The University of Texas at Austin supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York

Conference Announcement

The Impact of Private Universities on Public Universities in Africa: Regional Convening in Lagos, Nigeria, January 6 and 7, 2022

The University of Texas at Austin supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York are organizing a regional convening on higher education in Africa, to be held in Lagos, Nigeria, on January 6 and 7, 2022. The regional convening is part of a larger project to study the impact of private universities on public universities in Africa. Through commissioned research and two regional stakeholder convenings in Nigeria and Kenya, the project seeks to explore the effects of private universities on public academic institutions in Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana.

Against the backdrop of the increasing wave of private universities, public universities are affected by the poaching of faculty members, competition for bright students, and changing public perception about the role of private universities. In some instances, the increasing relevance of private universities is underscored by the problems associated with public institutions, such as frequent strikes, reduced capacity to admit students, and limited technological infrastructures and facilities. At the same time, there are skepticisms around private universities, based on the perception that many of them lack faculty members of the requisite quality and quantity. This, in turn, affects research outputs as well as the competence or knowledge base of graduates, also resulting in low academic standards, limited programmes focused on expensive fields of study, and poor infrastructure. Policy approaches and theoretical perspectives on private universities vary, especially in Africa. Although some consider private education to be beneficial, complementing public universities, there are concerns that many institutions are profit-oriented, abandoning quality or ignoring the state's social obligation to provide affordable education.

           Despite these concerns, private universities have made immense contributions to different African countries. They have alleviated the burden of access placed on public universities, contributed to innovations in curricula, led to increased employability of graduates, and provided new models of educational delivery and funding. Some have outpaced and out-performed public universities. Although the importance of private universities is growing, there is a paucity of research on the governance models of these universities and the additional burdens they place on public universities. This project seeks to fill the gap in research and enlighten higher education policymakers through two regional stakeholder convenings and publications.

The regional convening will afford key stakeholders a unique opportunity to share perspectives and provide insights that may inform new policies and foster international support for managing the relationship between private and public universities. The overall objective is to improve in the quality of research and teaching in the higher education sector in Africa. Topics to be discussed include the following:

• The factors responsible for the proliferation of private universities in Africa
• Typologies of private universities in Africa
• Mission of private universities and public good
• The past and present relationship between private and public universities
• Gap between demand and availability of spaces in both private and public universities 
• Governance models in private universities and implications for public universities
• Regulatory frameworks of private universities and implications on public universities
• Quality assessment issues in private and public universities

For further information, please contact the Principal Investigator, Toyin Falola via his email: toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu.