4 Foundations Start $100-Million Effort to Help Higher Education in Africa By BURTON BOLLAG
The presidents of four American foundations were scheduled to announce today a $100-million, five year program to support higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. The effort will be a loose collaboration among the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Rockefeller, Ford, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations.
The four foundations will share information and seek to develop a common approach as they expand support that each already provides to universities in different countries on the continent. Several projects have been started, in which African educators at individual institutions are trying to determine what kinds of assistance would be of most help.
"We are working with universities to help them identify opportunities that can make a difference," says Narciso Matos, a former rector of Eduardo Mondlane University, in Mozambique, who is now with the Carnegie Corporation. The foundations want to help institutions in areas like strategic planning, curricula development, and financial autonomy -- ending their almost complete dependence on state funds. They also want to develop regional academic networks.
Aid will be given in countries where the introduction of democracy and economic reforms has created a stable environment, according to foundation officials. Six universities will receive initial grants this year, and more will be added next year.
The institutions that will participate this year are Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, and probably one or two in South Africa and one in Nigeria.
Africa's persistent economic problems and an explosion of enrollment have left universities in a lamentable state. Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, says strengthening them will do more than bolster economic development, "Strong African universities can play a role in protecting basic freedoms, enhancing intellectual life, and informing policy making," she says.
The program comes at a time when major supporters of developing nations, like the World Bank, have been reassessing their support for higher education in the poorest countries. A previous bias in favor of helping mainly primary and secondary education has been giving way, as donors come to see higher education as a necessary component in the development of poor countries.
The four foundations say they decided to move now because a wave of democratization and economic reform in a number of African countries has created conditions conducive to university reform. They say several institutions have been moving in that direction: creating study programs to meet the needs of the economy, starting shorter degree programs, and charging tuition and providing training and research for companies.