INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the first module in the Post-Graduate CERTIFICATE in Higher Education.
In the first unit, we look at the meaning of education. We will assess the meaning of education over the centuries, especially in relation to Africa. We will look at its roots and its development. This perspective may later help us to perceive more clearly the dimensions of the services provided by a university as well as future challenges and developments. History exerts a powerful influence on education, in the sense that educational development is a function of societies’ historical development, that education bears many traces of the past and, finally, that it is time for education to help make history by preparing for it.
The second unit considers the origins of the university. In Europe during the Middle Ages large institutions for higher education, ambitiously labeled universities came into being. The wealthy, industrious commercial cities, jealous of their franchise and fame, frequently set the example for such establishments, which quickly came under the direction of powerful representatives of the rising bourgeoisie. The universities spread first of all through Europe, and then to the Americas and Africa.
The third unit examines the emerging issues within (and without) higher education in Africa. The material is taken from a paper, of the same name, by Professor Chacha Nyaigotti-Chacha which was presented in Oct 2001. (It is found on the website of the Inter-Universities Council of East Africa).
The Appendix contains World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-first Century: Vision and Action and Framework for Priority Action for Change and Development in Higher Education – perhaps the most comprehensive ground plan for the development of higher education to date.
