Governance reforms in higher education: a study of selected countries in Africa

Languages
English
Series
IIEP research papers
Year
2016
Pages
42 p.
Level
Tertiary education

Online version

About the publication

Following a decline in the 1980s, and reforms in the 1990s aiming to find alternative forms of financing and increasing managerial efficiency, higher education in developing countries, and notably in Africa, has experienced rapid growth in this century. Though enrolment in higher education remains low, African countries currently have the highest rates of growth globally. The revival of the sector is the result of reforms which reduced dependence on state funding, as well as state control of institutional governance and management. Based on IIEP-sponsored studies carried out in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, this paper explores how these reforms have changed the way that the higher education system is governed and how institutions are managed on the continent.