Brain drain, outdated curricula major barriers to quality higher education in Africa  —JAMB Registrar

Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede has said that brain drain and use of outdated curricula are still major challenges militating against delivery of quality higher education in Nigeria and other African countries.

He has also made a case for a robust higher education sector in Africa.

Professor Oloyede spoke while delivering a paper titled ‘Breaking Barriers and Building Strategies for Excellence in African Higher Education,’ presented at the just-concluded 22nd conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP 2023) in Windhoek, Namibia.

He charged African countries to build bridges as a way of changing the narrative of higher education on the continent through proactive measures, technology and innovation that could enable it to take its rightful place on the world stage.

Oloyede, who was a former chairman of Association of African Universities (AAU), pointed out that higher education was critical to and a catalyst for economic development and social progress which together could play crucial roles in shaping higher education in Africa and the future of any nation.

“We must develop policies and programmes that promote inclusivity and equity in higher education, provide equal opportunities for all regardless of their background, as well as mainstream gender or socio-economic status,” he said.

He also advocated the need to ensure that higher education is not only affordable and accessible to all, but also capable of promoting research and innovation.

He regretted a situation whereby African universities often operate in isolation, which limits their ability to tap from the expertise and resources of their well-establised counterparts in other parts of the world.

“Let us create a brighter future for the generations to come by expanding access, enhancing quality, promoting relevance and building bridges. We can create a higher education system that is truly transformative for the people,” he noted.

The former vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), while enumerating the factors militating against the development of higher education in Africa listed inadequate funding, limited access to quality education, brain drain and outdated curricula.

Other factors, according to him, include: poor governance structures, lack of academic freedom, among others.

He added that to overcome these challenges, robust linkages, appropriate policies and governance structures should be the norm rather than the exception.

Professor Oloyede noted that despite progress made in recent years to expand access to quality tertiary education across the continent, millions of young people still lack access to higher education as a result of poverty, distance, gender, disability and other factors.

To find lasting solutions, he recommended expanding the capacity of existing institutions, establishing new ones, providing robust scholarships and bursaries, as well as leveraging on relevant technology to reach remote areas.

Oloyede also canvassed for the coming together of governments, the private sector and philanthropists to find sustainable solutions to the funding challenges facing higher education in Africa.

He identified brain drain as another barrier militating against advancing excellence in higher education in Africa.

He said there is need to create opportunities that would keep the talented students and educators in Africa by offering competitive salaries and improving working conditions.

He stressed that it is also important to turn brain drain to brain gain and create opportunities for career advancement for staff as well as use technology to transform higher education by making it more accessible, affordable as well as flexible to accommodate changing needs and times.

The five-day brainstorming conference with the theme, ‘Advancing Excellence in African Higher Education,’ was attended by no fewer than 600 participants including rectors, vice chancellors, researchers and other stakeholders.