Armed with a Sh500 million war chest in funds, partly raised through a private placement, the Kenya School of Professional Studies is set to expand its facilities after getting the green light to operate as a private university.
PRESS statements by higher education minister Blade Nzimande confirm his eagerness to address issues in the public higher education arena. But what about the private education sector?
There are strong indications that demand for higher education is outstripping supply. In January, Gloria Sekwena died and at least 20 other people were seriously injured when about 5,000 people stampeded in a desperate attempt to register at the last minute with the University of Johannesburg. The university received more than 85,000 applications for fewer than 12,000 places last year.
The draft bill also implies that private universities could benefit from public funding should the government deem this to be necessary and allocate money to them through parliament. “A private university shall account for any funds received from the government,” says section 50 of the legislation.
The article discusses Covenant University in a town outside Lagos, Nigeria. As a privately run, Christian university, it breaks with a Nigerian tradition of free public higher education. The demand among Nigerian youth for higher education is beyond what the state can provide, leaving an opening for private institutions.
Uganda's National Council for Higher Education has adopted stricter regulations for the registration of private institutions in an effort to ensure higher standards. It has warned that some private universities might be forced to close.
Concerned that a growing number of students are enrolling in poor-quality private universities and diploma mills, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are working together to develop more stringent oversight of their higher-education systems.
Algerian universities will need to accommodate over 2 million students by 2015. To address this rise in class sizes, the Algerian authorities may permit the establishment of private universities for the first time.
Most private institutions are in major cities and are rather small. They offer two-year courses in industrial, business and secretarial fields and some are affiliated with foreign higher education institutions, mainly in France, and provide joint higher level courses.
Qualified lecturers rarely do the teaching in the Congo's private universities. Instead, unqualified assistants take courses that are often obsolete, theoretical and useless for finding a job, says Le Potentiel of Kinshasa.
Patrick Awuah, Ashesi University's president, celebrated the fifth anniversary of Ghana's first liberal arts college this week in Seattle. After an eight-year career at Microsoft, Awuah, a native Ghanaian, founded Ashesi in 2002 with this vision: "Imagine if every Sub-Saharan African country had several small liberal-arts colleges, educating students at a level equivalent to liberal-arts colleges in the United States -- colleges dedicated to nurturing critical thinking, effective communication skills, practical experience, and a true concern for society in their students."
Private universities have sprung up like mushrooms in Ghana. In 1999, there were just two but since then 11 new private universities and 19 private polytechnics or colleges have opened their doors.
Nearly 600 colleges are registered to operate in Kenya, but only 10 have been accredited to offer programmes on behalf of foreign universities, higher education regulators have said.
Thousands of Malawian graduates may soon be stripped of their qualifications as the government moves ahead with a plan to crack down on unregistered learning centres.
Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, following the significant rise in the number of universities in the country, has given the National Universities Commission (NUC) a two weeks ultimatum to submit its agenda for improved quality assurance of the Nigerian University system.
The emergence of Nigerian private universities is seen as an attempt for marketization. There are concerns over the quality of such universities, their lecturers and students. Rarely producing research, private university owners are charged with being interested only in profit, targeting admissions with high tuition and fees.
One doesn't know whether to rejoice or be aghast at the news that the National Universities Commission (NUC), is to license three more private universities before the end of this year, bringing the total number of private universities to 26.
Chairman, Governing Council of the Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja, Mr. Babatunde Odufuwa has called on government at all levels to put necessary administrative structures in place to grant aids to students in private tertiary institutions in the country.
The National Council for Higher Education has published a list of universities and other tertiary institutions and warned the public against enrolling in illegal institutions of learning.
The Prime Minister, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, has cautioned private institutions of higher learning against charging students exaggerated amounts of money.
Revenue Authority has asked Uganda Christian University to pay corporation tax, which the university has appealed against. John Eremu and Bob Kisiki examine the impact of the demand on private higher education provision.
All students enrolling at private tertiary colleges and sitting for examinations set by the Zimbabwean Higher Education Examinations Council (Hexco) must have at least five "O" levels in terms of a new Government directive.
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday in Abuja approved the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of seven new private universities in the country. Nigeria currently has 96 universities, comprising 27 federal, 35 state and 34 private universities.
National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 89 universities in the last 13 years. Among those approved between 1999 and 2012 by the agency are 50 private universities, 27states universities and 12 federal universities. This puts the total number of universities in Nigeria at 125.
We believe that the future of this nation lies with the private universities. When we say some of them are fledgling, it is because they will suffer from the pain of just beginning a programme, which forms the fulcrum of the issue.
Politicians have over the years been accused of not walking the talk in policy implementation especially when it comes to addressing the challenges facing the education sector.
The University of Buckingham in the UK last week announced that it had stopped accreditation of courses for a private university in Uganda over freedom of speech issues and the controversy surrounding the homosexuality bill in the East African country.
A decree by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to establish a national scientific research project has fuelled a 20-month dispute between the private Nile University and a research institution managed by Nobel Prize for Chemistry laureate Ahmed Zewail.
News usually thrives on controversy, so most of us would have no difficulty remembering J.A Kufour's last gesture as president, where he ordered the reinstatement of ACP Nathan Kofi Boakye with all his entitlements, and the public's reaction at the time. We would probably not remember that the NPP President had also promised $1billion as seed money to boost the capacity of one of the private universities in the country.
Mahama on Saturday urged owners of private tertiary institutions to maintain high standards, cautioning that government could withdraw their accreditation if found to be operating below standards.
Kenya has enacted higher education reforms aimed at streamlining and improving the management of university affairs. The Universities Act 2012, finally signed into law by President Mwai Kibaki this month, introduces far-reaching changes.
A US$150 million equity investment by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) into US-based for-profit education company Laureate Education will help spearhead a push into Africa, in line with World Bank aims to develop post-secondary education and skills training on the continent.
The Private Universities Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG) has appealed to the Ministry of Education, to integrate them into the administration of tertiary education in Ghana.
Prof. Francis Kofi Ampanyin Allotey is calling on government to support Private Universities in the country so they can help in producing the human resource base of the country.
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has accredited Uganda Technology and Management University (UTAMU) as the 30th private university in the country.
Due to insufficient space in the five public universities to accommodate all high school graduates, the government reached an agreement with private universities to admit the students.
The questionable award of 66 PhDs at the Kampala International University in Uganda resulted from a failure by the institution to adhere to governance principles, an investigation by the independent Daily Monitor has revealed.
Similarly, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has licensed several private universities based on the population of prospective applicants for admission. The driving force of the decisions of the NUC has been the need to broaden access to university education regardless of the consequence on the quality of university education. In the end, several public and private universities have consistently failed to meet the requirements for accreditation by the NUC, putting students in dire situations.
Administrators and students at Egypt's private Misr International University are locked in a dispute following protests that turned violent, forcing the suspension of classes.
Mount Kenya University deputy vice chancellor Evans Kerosi said the move will increase the number of students in private universities to be admitted through a joint admission board.
The Private Universities Students Association of Ghana (PUSAG) has called on the National Service Secretariat (NSS) to reconsider its intention of deploying national service personnel to direct traffic.
President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday stated that the establishment of public universities at areas where private tertiary institutions exist was not a move to compete with them, but to complement their efforts.
The Presbyterian University College is to establish a Medical School at its Agogo campus in the Asante-Akim North District, Professor Kofi Sraku Lartey, its President, has announced.
The Presbyterian University College is to establish a Medical School at its Agogo campus in the Asante-Akim North District, Professor Kofi Sraku Lartey, its President, has announced.