Universities in Africa: working on excellence for whom? Reflections on teaching, research and outreach at African universities

This article discusses the current dynamics at African universities concerning the quality of teaching, the role of research, the level of community outreach, and the position of higher education in the educational sector as a whole. Points of reference are experiences at the University of the North in South Africa as well as experiences at universities in other African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Ghana. One of our central conclusions is that the system of education in Africa in general, and higher education in particular, is highly dysfunctional, especially in terms of wasted human capacity as well as financial resources. African higher education institutions cannot close their eyes to the immense skills shortage and the frightening percentages of (youth-) unemployment. This leads to the recommendation that the responsibilities of a university concerning the generation of relevant new knowledge, preparing students adequately as active citizens for the challenges in the labour market, contributing to the development of communities, and fostering critical thinking need to be given high priority

Exploring agricultural vocational pedagogy in Uganda:students' experiences

Increasingly studies claim that building young people's vocational interest in agriculture, as a sector of meaningful employment, is a central dilemma of Africa's education and labour market systems. With Ugandan students' voices, this article examines some of the methodological dilemmas of agricultural education and training. The article draws from evidence generated through a qualitative case study of a public agricultural college. We undertook the study in line with our conceptual argument for mainstreaming young people's voices in the search for solutions to improve agricultural education practice. The study explored and analysed students' experiences and perceptions of the college's vocational pedagogy. Findings that uncover weak agricultural vocational pedagogy at the case study college are analysed and discussed to inform our recommendation for the embedding of craftsmanship virtues in vocational education practice to optimise students' achievement

Vocational education and training for African development: a literature review

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The SDGs mark the clearest global acceptance yet that the previous approach to development was unsustainable. In VET, UNESCO has responded by developing a clear account of how a transformed VET must be part of a transformative approach to development. It argues that credible, comprehensive skills systems can be built that can support individuals, communities, and organisations to generate and maintain enhanced and just livelihood opportunities. However, the major current theoretical approaches to VET are not up to this challenge. In the context of Africa, we seek to address this problem through a presentation of literatures that contribute to the theorisation of this new vision. They agree that the world is not made up of atomised individuals guided by a “hidden hand”. Rather, reality is heavily structured within political economies that have emerged out of contestations and compromises in specific historical and geographical spaces. Thus, labour markets and education and training systems have arisen, characterised by inequalities and exclusions. These specific forms profoundly influence individuals’ and communities’ views about the value of different forms of learning and working. However, they do not fully define what individuals dream, think and do. Rather, a transformed and transformative VET for Africa is possible

Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book takes an expansive view of vocational education and training. Drawing on case studies across rural and urban settings in Uganda and South Africa, the book offers a new way of seeing this through an exploration of the multiple ways in which people learn to have better livelihoods. Crucially, it explores learning that takes place informally online, within farmers’ groups and in public and private education institutions

Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book takes an expansive view of vocational education and training. Drawing on case studies across rural and urban settings in Uganda and South Africa, the book offers a new way of seeing this through an exploration of the multiple ways in which people learn to have better livelihoods. Crucially, it explores learning that takes place informally online, within farmers’ groups and in public and private education institutions

Transitioning Vocational Education and Training in Africa: A Social Skills Ecosystem Perspective

The transition to more just and sustainable development requires radical change across a wide range of areas and particularly within the nexus between learning and work. This book takes an expansive view of vocational education and training that goes beyond the narrow focus of much of the current literature and policy debate. Drawing on case studies across rural and urban settings in Uganda and South Africa, the book offers a new way of seeing this issue through an exploration of the multiple ways in which people learn to have better livelihoods. Crucially, it explores learning that takes place informally online, within farmers’ groups, and in public and private educational institutions. Offering new insights and ways of thinking about this field, the book draws out clear implications for theory, policy and practice in Africa and beyond

Transforming collaboration between communities and non-governmental organisations:Reflections on learning spaces in Central-Eastern Uganda

Non-governmental organisations have several mechanisms in place to facilitate learning with and from communities they intend to serve, however these do not always realise authentic participation and meaningful programmatic adjustments. In a participatory research in Central-Eastern Uganda we investigated how the community believes collective learning with NGOs could best be shaped. In this paper we present findings as well as reflections on the learning spaces that emerged in the research and how one could assess whether collective learning is a transformative practice. We offer a conceptual framework NGO practitioners can use to enrich their collective learning toolkit as well as to track and trace small shifts and changes happening in learning trajectories in order to lobby for resources to allow collective learning to happen more authentically, through increased presence and informal interaction with communities.</p