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[AfricaWatch] Reshaping African PhDs for development

 

Reshaping African PhDs for development

With the growing recognition that knowledge and innovation are critical contributors to national wealth and welfare, postgraduate education — specifically doctoral training —has become a priority for African higher education. South Africa's National Research Foundation launched its PhD project some years ago with the specific intention of ramping up the number of doctoral graduates produced annually by the South African higher education system. This is one of the policy objectives of the National Development Plan and of the newly published White Paper for Post-School Education and Training.
Initiatives for change

Many universities have responded with keenness and enthusiasm to the call to increase doctoral education. They have been introducing new structures, such as graduate schools, and have launched initiatives to provide academic support for doctoral students in the form of mentorships, guidelines on selecting supervisors, and writing groups. Incentives including fee waivers for doctoral students and increased numbers of bursaries and scholarships have also been provided. 

So the call for increased investment in doctoral education in Africa is gaining momentum. But in a context of limited resources and with rising pressure on public finances, should more funds be channelled to support doctoral students? After all, African countries are faced with a dire need to put more resources into the provision of basic services, social welfare and infrastructure.

Is doctoral training relevant to development in Africa? Making the case for increased investments in doctoral training is likely to depend on demonstrable linkages between doctoral degrees and African socio-economic development.

Doctoral education in African universities has, by and large, followed a traditional model, which views the main purpose of the doctorate as being a pathway to an academic career. But academic job opportunities are not expanding rapidly — at least not at the same pace as student enrolment growth — and academic careers are not regarded as a career of choice by the majority of young, talented African students. Rather, many see the doctorate as a desirable qualification for obtaining a high level position in the public and private sectors.
Linking PhDs and growth

In fact, the recent emphasis on the expansion of doctoral training in Africa is not driven by the need to grow academic careers and institutions for this purpose alone. While there is recognition of the need to fast track the production of the next generation of academics, the very recent drive for expansion is linked to a desire to accelerate high level skills development and also to shift African economies towards greater levels of knowledge and innovation as essential ingredients for economic growth in the twenty-first century.

Although there has been rapid growth in university enrolments, this growth has mostly been in professional fields such as business management, health sciences and education rather than the formative disciplines such as basic sciences and humanities
http://www.scidev.net/global/education/opinion/african-phds-development.html
 

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