In both the global North and South, economics tends to be taught with micro- and macroeconomic models that are disconnected from sociopolitical realities. We suggest new ways of teaching economics.
Students in South Africa are tired of Western, Eurocentric university curricula.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
More than two decades after apartheid ended, South African universities still tend to offer a view of the country and continent that is rooted in colonial and apartheid thinking.
University “transformation” has a unique meaning in South Africa.
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The politicisation of academia definitely contributes to a decline in academic standards. This is a situation South Africa must work hard to avoid. It can learn from others on the continent.
Kenyan students don’t get the best teaching from hurried, stretched part-time lecturers.
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Global economic realities shouldn’t deter African universities from continuing to push for massification. But they must do so armed with knowledge, lessons from elsewhere and strong funding models.
Ancient fermentation techniques are an example of African chemistry in action.
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Knowledge is power. If you own it, you can control those without it. Since so much knowledge about Africa doesn’t sit on the continent, it’s apparent that Africa lacks power in this regard.
Decolonising the curriculum is far more nuanced than replacing theorists and authors. Universities first need to define how they approach the development and dissemination of curricula.
When online and offline learning experiences meet, magic can happen.
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MOOCs are an opportunity for African universities to bring the continent’s thinkers and theories to the world. They also have great benefits for full-time students to experience a flipped classroom.
It is arrogant and hypocritical for ranking institutions to declare that they’re building Africa’s legacy or its global partnerships on the continent’s behalf.
Of course Africa’s universities need collaboration – but not if it’s merely an imposition of ideas from elsewhere.
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Africa’s universities must avoid collaborative programmes with the North that become mere tick-box exercises that only benefit Northern researchers and organisations.
Students cheer as a statue of Cecil John Rhodes is removed from the University of Cape Town in April 2015.
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There is a risk that because of fatigue, frustration and silencing the important moment created by South Africa’s student movements will pass by with no proper, long-term structural change.
Transforming the curriculum isn’t as simple as replacing some books with others.
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Calls for the decolonisation of countries, institutions, the mind and of knowledge are not new. In South Africa, these changes are crucial and long overdue. But they must be carefully thought through.
When politics interferes in universities – overtly or discreetly – it makes higher education less autonomous.
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Ibrahim Oanda, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
Africa’s universities supposedly became more independent after the early 1990s. But it appears they haven’t achieved much more than cosmetic autonomy from political interference.
There’s a big gap what between universities teach and what industries need.
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Quality assurance programmes tend to ignore context - which means important elements of teaching and learning are overlooked and universities miss out on a real chance to improve their practices.
Small classes like these are sadly uncommon in Kenya’s often overcrowded, oversubscribed universities.
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Kenya’s authorities are trying to deal with declining standards at the country’s public and private universities. This will require a strengthened regulatory framework and hard work from institutions.