African universities in the twenty-first Century: Volume 1 - Liberalisation and internationalisation (Paperback)

These two volumes articulate new values and missions for African universities, and define effective strategies to meet the challenges. Written by some of Africa’s leading educators, Volume I examines the implications of the neo-liberal reforms and the new information technologies on African higher education, while Volume II interrogates the changing social dynamics of knowledge production, university organisation, and public service and engagement. As the twenty first century unfolds, African universities are undergoing change and confronting challenges which are unprecedented. The effects of globalisation, and political and economic pressures of liberalisation and privatisation, both internal and external, are reconfiguring all aspects of university life: teaching, research, and their public service functions; such that the need to redefine the roles of the African universities, and to defend their importance have become paramount. At the same time, the universities must themselves balance demands of autonomy and accountability, expansion and excellence, diversification and differentiation, and internationalisation and indigenisation. In a climate in which scholarship and production are increasingly dependent on ICTs, and are becoming globalised, the universities must address the challenges of knowledge production and dissemination. The need to indigenise global scholarship, to their own requirements, meanwhile is ever- pressing.