Articles · Vol. 2 No. 1 (2004): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

Alternative Models to Traditional Higher Education: Market Demand, Networks, and Private Sector Challenges

Ebrima Sall

  • Ebrima Sall
    Ebrima Sall
    Ebrima Sall is a Senior Programme Officer and Head of the Research and Documentation Depart- ment at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Box 3304, Dakar, Senegal; e-mail: ebrima.sall@codesria.sn. Prior to his return to CODESRIA...
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Vol. 2 · 2004 No. 1 Journal of Higher Education in Africa JHEA

Abstract

This paper looks at the pluralization of knowledges and knowledge-producing institutions and at the complexification of the higher education systems in sub- Saharan Africa. It highlights the evolution of “traditional” institutions and the factors that led to such an evolution, the development of alternative models, the spread of knowledge networks, and the challenges of private sector in- volvement in higher education. With globalization, liberalization, and democ- ratization came new “modes” of higher learning, and new kinds of knowledges. “Traditional” models have been forced to evolve, adapt, and reinvent them- selves in the context of these changes, and of shifts in development paradigms and rapid global and local economic and technological transformations. There seems to be a gradual evolution towards more hybrid forms and models of higher education. However, the paper argues that, despite the rapid increase in the numbers and variety of institutions and the pluralization of knowledges, both the traditional institutional forms and modes and the traditional kinds of scientific knowledge are, in the case of Africa, likely to remain the dominant forms for the foreseeable future.

 

Keywords

: Market Demand Networks complexification

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Author Biography

  • Ebrima Sall

    Ebrima Sall is a Senior Programme Officer and Head of the Research and Documentation Depart- ment at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Box 3304, Dakar, Senegal; e-mail: ebrima.sall@codesria.sn. Prior to his return to CODESRIA where he had earlier worked as a Programme Officer, he was a Senior Fellow of The Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, where, from February 2001 to January 2004, he coordinated a re- search programme on Post-Conflict Transition, the State and Civil Society in Africa. He expresses appreciation to Nancy Ruther for her editorial comments, and to Yaw Nyarko, David Collis, Rob- ert Evenson, Awa Ba, and Sarah Manyika for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper

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