46th Annual Report - Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in ...

Scholarships and development:the case of the African universityDevelopment issues had an unusually high profile in political debate during 2005. Our CommonInterest: the Report of the Commission for Africa, published in advance of the G8 summit in July,focused international attention on the problems facing Africa in particular. Emphasis was placed on theneed for both long and short term solutions to poverty.Too often, the roleof scholarshipproviders has beenconfined tohelping individualrecipients –leading to thegeneration ofskilled manpower,but having littleregard for thecircumstances orextent to whichthese skills areapplied in practice.KERVYN TOBIASgained his MSc in InformationSystems (Universityof Southampton) in 2000.He has since been workingfor the Inland Revenue asa Systems Developer. Morerecently, he has been anIT manager for theMinistry of Finance,St. Lucia. He also workswith the University of WestIndies as both a local tutorand an E-tutor. He serveson the Board of ComputerCentre Ltd.THE NEXT GENERATIONThe Commission for Africa, in particular, recognisedthat higher education has an important roleto play in this process. This finding should not beseen in isolation. In fact, it represents the latest stagein a process which, in recent years, has seen asignificant shift in policy by a range of governmentand development bodies, most notably the WorldBank and several national donor agencies.The Commonwealth Scholarship Commissionwelcomes this shift. Although the beneficiaries of ourawards come from a wide range of sectors, alumnistudies suggest that higher education represents thelargest single destination on completion of theirawards. The impact of our alumni will be greater inthe context of a vibrant, well-resourced sector inwhich they are able to apply their skills effectively.Sadly, this has not always been the case. In manyAfrican countries, resources for higher educationdeclined rapidly in the 1990s.Too often, the role of scholarship providers hasbeen confined to helping individual recipients –leading to the generation of skilled manpower, buthaving little regard for the circumstances or extent towhich these skills are applied in practice. The Commissionhas been keen to develop a broader understandingof the issues that will face our awardholders on their return.In July, the Commission joined with the Economicand Social Research Council and the Centre forAfrican Studies at the University of Edinburgh toprovide a platform for our African award holders toair their own views. The seminars were attendedprimarily by African doctoral students who hadalready embarked on academic careers in their homecountries. These scholars are committed to return totheir employing universities, who have nominatedthem for Commonwealth Scholarships, upon completionof their studies. It is fair to assume that participantswere amongst the brightest African academicsof their generation – a group whose thoughts (andactions) will be critical to the future of their sector.The Academics’ ResponseThe voice of younger academics is rarely heard in thedebate over African higher education, yet often highlightsdifferent issues to those of institutional leaders.Not surprisingly, the meeting confirmed that theproblems faced were serious and embedded. Delegateswere clear that improvements in workingconditions were vital to easing brain drain. Interestingly,however, they also stressed that much could bedone to improve the position within existingresources.One example of this was university governance.Many argued that existing systems were frustratingtheir efforts, damaging both staff motivation and theconfidence of donors. Issues raised included a perceivedlack of autonomy and accountability, the needfor improved training of administrative staff, strongerappointment structures and more effective communicationbetween staff. Whilst former CommonwealthScholars have a good record of career advancement,it was felt that promotion procedures generally werenot always clear or transparent.Interestingly, measures to ease these issues neednot necessarily be that costly. A more holistic approachto staff development was cited by many, pointingout that this was often concentrated at entrylevel only. Mid career and administrative staff shouldalso be allowed to benefit from professional developmentopportunities. The introduction of mentoringschemes to help younger academic staff and publicationopportunities for those seeking to developresearch careers, would also be welcome. In relationto the latter, there were calls for a greater range ofhigh quality African journals, which should be givenincreased recognition in promotion procedures.Not surprisingly, problems were reported withregard to infrastructure. Obvious examples were poorinternet access, books and other research equipment,but also basic communication tools, such as copyingfacilities and space.These were particularly importantin accommodating rapidly increasing student numbers.10 Commonwealth Scholarship Commission