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This study aims to investigate the ongoing challenges faced by African universities in the wake of the neoliberalism policies, which have caused significant changes in the purpose, structure, and functioning of higher education systems.

Paper long abstract:

Neo-liberalism has a devastating impact on African higher education systems, transforming them from thriving hubs of scholarship and academic enquiry into subservient to market imperatives. This transformation has been facilitated by the rise of "new public management," which has brought about a fundamental shift in the way universities conceptualise and justify their existence. Due to the ascendancy of new public management and neoliberal policies, African universities have undergone a fundamental shift in their identity and purpose, transforming from centres of scholarly inquiry into academic corporations. The emphasis has shifted from the pursuit of knowledge to the production of quantifiable outputs, as universities are now expected to justify their existence by meeting market demands. Many African scholars have reduced themselves to data hunter-gatherers, whereas the fledgling intellectual scene that emerged on the continent after independence has been decimated. The study seeks to address key questions, including: How have neoliberal policies redefined the purpose and structure of African universities? What are the implications of this transformation on the quality of education, research, and scholarship? What measures can be taken to address the challenges? The study utilises a qualitative method exploring published materials, policy documents, memos and unpublished reports. The study also includes a critical discourse analysis to examine the dominant narratives and discourses surrounding neoliberalism and higher education in Africa. This paper explores the challenges that universities in Africa continue to encounter following the implementation of neoliberalism policies, which brought significant changes to the purpose, structure and functioning of higher education.

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#RhodesMustFall in South Africa and Danish everyday student activism (and their resonances) provide the material to investigate how 'translocal articulations' of social justice resonate across borders of time, space and positionality, in multidirectional and amorphous ways.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the ways in which contemporary student activism for social justice in Africa and Europe is shaped through processes of translocalisation, revolving around (contested) ‘local’ particularities, including specific demographics, social norms and institutional traditions, as well as convergence and movements across institutional and national borders. Based on Stuart Hall's work, we develop the notion of ‘translocal articulation’ to pay attention to the ways in which students' situated activism simultaneously works to express an opinion and conjure connections (and disconnections) across time, space, and positionality, to demand attention to social justice concerns.

Empirically, we explore the translocality of students' articulations of social justice concerns across two different settings and forms of student activism: First, we explore the digitally networked and highly public activism connected to the South African #RhodesMustFall movement (and its reverberations across South African university campuses and internationally as far as the United States, United Kingdom, India and Uganda). Second, we discuss the less public and less collective forms of everyday activism at universities in Denmark. The comparison between student activism for social justice in the African and European contexts, and their respective connections and disconnections, provides the material to show how translocal articulations resonate across institutional and national borders in multidirectional and amorphous ways.

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The paper discusses two dimensions of the crises facing the university in India and explores the incarnation of this very crisis in other nations in the Global South.

Paper long abstract:

The decolonisation of higher education is high on the agenda across the former colonised societies of the Global South. This paper addresses three less stressed aspects to decolonisation. The first, of course, relates to the democratisation of higher education, the second relates to issues of connectivity and the third has to do with plurality and diversity. In reimagining the future of the university we need to address issues of democracy, connectivity, plurality and diversity, one could argue across the Global South.

In late 19th century India decolonisation would have connoted the dis-identification with colonial practices and constructions. The modern university system that was first established in India in 1857, started off as an examining body. The demand for a university that emphasised its teaching and research was the first moment of decolonisation. Over a century, what developed in India is a very complex ecology, highly differentiated with the multiplicity of functions, at different levels. The crisis today is whether we are going to separate the teaching functions from research functions? Contemporary thinking on the subject has also been, in a way, driven by certain neoliberal assumptions. Thus one of the crisis posed for the university today is that of the break down of the model of the university of teaching and research. It would be important to compare how this works out in different nations of the Global South.

And finally, the decolonisation of higher education, it cannot mean the indigenisation of higher education, because the system of higher education today, is a globally connected one. Decolonisation is also seen as an opening out into the world, establishing connectivities. Since we have to consider planetary futures and simultaneously manage the task of nation building by producing a cadre of highly trained professionals who can ensure a sustainable future. We have recognised in the light of the pandemic as well as the major climatic changes which have been taking place, that we also have to think about planetary futures, and that when we plan for our education, we are not just planning for the task of nation building, but we are planning for the task of living in a deeply, highly connected world. we have to think then in terms of a cosmopolitics of higher education.

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The gist of this study is centered on evaluating the extent to which African scholars have advanced a culture that can curb rigid thinking in African institutions of learning. Currently, the big man syndrome in academia is so pervasive that knowledge production only reflects a top-down symmetry.

Paper long abstract:

Currently, the big man syndrome in academia is so pervasive that knowledge production only reflects a top-down symmetry. Effectively, this has reduced the fields of the sciences to mere accounts of history where only those on top are assumed to possess knowledge, in the same manner that colonialists believed they knew it all.

This study employs a qualitative data collection approach through interviews of 15 African scholars specialized in the fields of sociology, ethnic and gender studies, political science, and development studies. Other data supporting this study were gathered by way of descriptive research analysis through academic journals, books, and online publications.

Findings suggest that African academics tend to shun ideas that are grounded in African realities in preference for foreign epistemologies even where such ideas do not fit African constellations. Taught in colonial style, to always conceive ideas from a Western perspective, many African academics have themselves become proxies of the very colonial state they purport to detest. The study concludes that to redress rigidness in academia, the black consciousness philosophy (which asserts that everyone counts) needs to be revamped alongside the reform of school curriculums. The global education crisis of today did not start in a vacuum but began with dysfunctional/irrelevant domestic curriculums that are not aligned with the needs and demands of local expectations. So, the effectiveness of global education can only be to the extent that it is built from a collection of strong local educational strands.

Key words: Black consciousness, curriculum development, African knowledge systems.

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This paper examines the discursive construction of the ‘learning crisis’ and ‘educational crisis’ in global education policy discourse; conceptions of education, learning, quality, economy, and future workforce; the key actors shaping it; and the assumptions and ‘evidence’ guiding policy texts.

Paper long abstract:

Education policies and discourses are deeply political, normative and discursive. The publicization of the policy ‘problem’ involves coalescing of dominant interests and ideologies; silences, erasures and invisibilisation of/about other problems and structures of inequalities; legitimization and rationalization; and insertion of authority and expertise (Ball 1993, Edelman 1988, Rizvi and Lingard 2010). In the context of the countries from the Global South, with their distinct colonial histories, legacies, postcolonial trajectories, and locations in the contemporary global political economy, policy visions are influenced by global and multilateral actors. At this historical juncture, various market-based ‘solutions’ to educational ‘problems’ driven by the logic of new public management (NPM), focusing on accountability, efficiency, and performance, are reshaping the landscape of education (Adamson et al., 2016; Ball, 2007).

In the contemporary global education policy discourse, the ‘learning crisis’ and ‘educational crisis’ figure prominently (e.g. UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank 2021; World Bank 2018). The proposed paper aims to critically examine how these ' crises’ are discursively constructed in the context of Africa and India. It asks, what conceptions and imaginations of education, learning, quality, economy, and future workforce inform these discourses? Who are the key actors participating in this discursive construction? In this process, the paper attempts to decipher the assumptions and ‘evidence’ guiding different policy, research, and advocacy texts.

This comparison between Africa and India is rooted in the assumption that policy ideas travel across various geographical spaces and sites. Drawing on the decolonial critique (Mingolo 2007, Mbembe, 2019), the paper aims to simultaneously study the global circulation of policy problems and discourses and examine how convergences, divergences, appropriations, translations, and re-formulation at multiple policy nodes materialize across global, national and local sites under conditions of new dependency regimes, increasing privatization and mobilization of consensus for neoliberal rationality.

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Research on education crisis effects intersects global realms whereby, the common myths of finding solutions face real class bias that impedes potential cooperation and calls for a multiperspective relationality across AfroDecolonial and EuroMarxist borders towards mutual sustainable development.

Paper long abstract:

Investigating ‘global education crisis repercussions’ in African or African-related and European or European-related contexts intersecting various realms in history and contemporary budget cut, COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical disorders is common. Common myth is that, crisis prompts efforts to build inclusive capacity and growth whereas in reality ‘inferior’ AfroDecolonialists seem unequal to ‘superior’ western foundations. Decolonial African and Marxist European studies concern class issues but ignores the unequal cooperation between them on facing global education crisis. Using trans-national-disciplinary multiperspective relationality, this paper critically compares ‘AfroDecolonial’ and ‘EuroMarxist’ study myths and realities of ‘global education crisis repercussions’ in order to co-promote problemsolving. The study mixes relational qualitative textual and interview research-methods involving both study contexts’ informants. From findings, communalities on global education crisis within both research contexts involve class issues and [non]-violent approaches to liberating the ‘inferior’ from the ‘superior’. AfroDecolonial and EuroMarxist studies on global education crisis have different foundations and ‘superior’ colonizers’ and bourgeoisies’ versus ‘inferior’ colonisee’s and workers’ interclass conflicts under colonialism and capitalism respectively. ‘Global education crisis’ term is common amongst EuroMarxist more than AfroDecolonial researchers and experts but ‘weak’ AfroDecolonials suffer more than ‘powerful’ EuroMarxist communes. ‘Dominated’ AfroDecolonialists feel ignored during conception and shallowly implement global education crisis-strategies. Often during crisis, AfroDecolonialists import to implement while EuroMarxists generate and export. We should situate and transfer diverse foundations in education and other areas through trans-national-disciplinary research dialogues that highlight relationality in unique co-contributions to defining global crisis and generating and applying solutions to interclass-conflicts towards inclusive sustainable development.

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The paper investigates receptions of and responses to the ‘global education crisis’ in Germany and Kenya. It highlights the relationality between both contexts. It aims at reconfiguring comparative education research and seeks to be as postcolonial sensitive as possible in its reflections.

Paper long abstract:

The perception of being in a ‘global education crisis’ is part of the recent academic discussion worldwide. Yet, there is few knowledge on how this phenomenon is dealt with in specific contexts, and how these contexts are related to each other. The focus of the contribution is investigating receptions of and responses to the ‘global education crisis’ in Germany and Kenya. Both contexts are worthwhile for an examination, as we find the notion of ‘being in crisis’ in both contexts, albeit contextualised differently. Likewise, transformations in the education sector as a response to global processes are observable in both contexts. The paper takes up two of the research questions of the panel: Firstly, it asks, where are communalities and differences in the discussions of the ‘global education crisis’ in these contexts? Secondly, how do stakeholders in education experience changes in their (national) education sectors and what are they thinking about that? The responses and receptions of Germany and Kenya to the ‘global education crisis’ are considered in their situatedness (Haraway, 1988) and as socially distinct phenomena (Elias, 2014). In doing so the paper aims to show the multi-perspectivity in looking at the ‘global education crisis’ and to highlight the relationality between the two contexts in focus (White, 2008). On a theoretical-methodological level, the paper contributes to the aim of reconfiguring doing comparative education research, and seeks to be as postcolonial sensitive as possible in its reflections (Raina, 2016). The paper is based on literature review, website analysis and document analysis.

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This paper investigates the global phenomenon of African students migrating for higher education through sponsorship from home countries, with a focus on African governments' expectations and the subsequent brain drain caused by shifting motivations and socioeconomic challenges in African nations.

Paper long abstract:

Globally, migrating across international borders for higher education is a recurring theme in migration literature. Over the years, numerous young Africans have been sponsored by countries of origin to study in foreign countries. Despite the prevalence of this practice, limited research and scholarly discussions have delved into the dwindling of these anticipated returns on national investment. This paper aims to elucidate the expectations of African governments when sponsoring their nationals to study abroad while shedding light on the experiences of African educational migrants, culminating in the subsequent phenomenon of brain drain that occurs after channelling substantial resources towards human and national development. The study endeavours to identify the complexities leading to scholarship awards, the motivations of the sponsoring entities, explore the preferences of the beneficiaries in choosing to study abroad, and assess the overall impact on the sending countries. Employing a qualitative research design, the paper collects, analyses, and presents data obtained from 35 returned educational migrants and 30 non-returned educational migrants of Ghanaian origin. The findings unearth a breach in agreements attributed to shifts in initial motivations and aspirations, compounded by socio-economic challenges prevalent in African countries. While these alterations pose adverse consequences for sending African nations, they concurrently contribute to the enhancement of the quality and quantity of the receiving countries. The paper underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding international educational migration, advocating for policies that address both the aspirations of the individuals and the broader developmental goals of the nations involved.

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Global education discourse, led by Western experts, often overlooks local nuances. Using Ghana as an example, this paper explores how families and children perceive education access amidst detached expert solutions, emphasizing the need for inclusive approaches to address the global education crisis

Paper long abstract:

The discussion surrounding the global education crisis is predominantly orchestrated by experts, consultants, and international agencies, primarily from Western perspectives. These narratives, framed in terms like learning crisis and variability in learning, gain prominence due to global processes that dictate acceptable knowledge and the politics of global knowledge production. Unfortunately, the nuanced understanding of education crisis in specific regions, such as Africa, seldom takes center stage in knowledge creation. This paper delves into Ghana as a case study, seeking to address a crucial question: what does education access mean for families and children—the intended beneficiaries—amidst the proposed solutions championed by international experts? The objective is to unravel how families and children in the collectivistic society of Africa interpret global education crisis and the recommended solutions, often driven by experts whose experiences are detached from their respective contexts. The inquiry also aims to scrutinize the alignment of these conceptualizations and proposed solutions with the ground realities of global education crisis. Instead of prioritizing expert viewpoints, this paper concentrates on the perspectives of the population directly affected—families and children—who are frequently excluded from the sense-making processes occurring at national and global levels where education crisis is problematized, and solutions are formulated. By emphasizing their voices, the paper seeks to contribute a more holistic understanding to the discourse on global education crisis whilst inviting readers to consider the different stakeholders and perspectives involved in shaping the narrative around global education crisis.

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This paper investigates the challenges facing formal education in Benin, using a rural area in the north of the country as a case study. It aims to understand the issues surrounding the education crisis in Benin.

Paper long abstract:

Since the 1990s, many efforts have been made to improve the level of education in developing countries. The various international conferences on education held in Africa ( Dakar, 2000) and Asia (Jomtien, 1990; Incheon, 2016) have promoted mass enrolment. This mass enrolment of children has created a number of challenges for the education systems of African countries. These include teacher overload, falling standards, mass dropout rates, training that is ill-suited to the labour market, etc., all unexpected effects that are undermining the performance of the education system in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Benin. In the face of this crisis, which continues to cast a shadow over the lives of the various actors in the education community, the education system is trying, albeit with difficulty, to perform well in order to maintain its importance as a vector of development and as a bearer of a better future for the population. Using a mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative), this article looks at formal education in rural areas of northern Benin and analyses its capacity to cope with disenchantment. It examines the challenges faced by schools and explores the reasons why young people turn to other alternatives rather than school.

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This study raises the following: How is the global education crisis playing out in Nigeria? Are the curriculums structured to help Nigeria navigate the devastating impact of COVID-19? And how can Nigeria’s education be transformed to become more sustainable in the post-COVID era? among others

Paper long abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic created a condition that yanked off whatever was left of Nigeria's already struggling education sector. Before COVID struck, the Nigerian education sector grappled with decolonization and rehabilitation issues. However, the upsurge in long-term socio-economic, religious, and political challenges facing Nigeria, coupled with the overwhelming impact of the COVID pandemic, has gravely affected the contribution of the country’s education system to its economic rehabilitation and development. Transformation in education entails the utilization of education for both the development of individuals and society. Consequently, education is a veritable means of increasing not just the intergenerational social mobility of individuals but also reducing a country’s unemployment, poverty, and inequality rates. This study raises the following questions: How is the global education crisis playing out in Nigeria? Is Nigeria producing graduates who cannot fit into the labour force? Is Nigeria producing graduates who can transform the socio-economic conditions of the country? Are the curriculums structured to help Nigeria navigate the devastating impact of COVID-19? How can Nigeria’s education be transformed to curtail the socio-economic blows that emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic? To address these, this study will utilise the historical method and the interrogative design. Primary and secondary sources will be utilised. Primary sources like relevant colonial reports, memoranda, policy papers, and sessional papers on education will be from the National Archives in Ibadan and Enugu. Oral interviews will be conducted using snowballing and purposive sampling methods. The secondary data will include newspapers, textbooks, journal articles, conference papers/presentations/proceedings.

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Using Uganda as an example, this paper examines the colonial legacy of education in postcolonial contexts as an aspect of the “global education crisis”, focusing on current dynamics and effects of the instrumentalization of formal education as a tool to consolidate specific structures of power.

Paper long abstract:

In mainstream discourses on the "global education crisis", education is typically discussed in terms of infrastructure, access or inclusion. However, when looking at education in postcolonial contexts, it is not only crucial to understand and consider existing problems of inequality and underfunding, but also the implications of the fact that formal education systems were colonially designed (and often continue to serve) as a tool to consolidate specific structures of power and domination. This paper explores this aspect through the case study of Uganda. The starting point of my analysis is the currently dwindling power of the central legitimization narrative of the authoritarian Museveni regime, which portrays Museveni’s seizure of power in 1986 as an act of national liberation. Among young people, however, this historical-political story finds little resonance, as it lacks an affective connection to their lived realities. One of the spaces in which the regime is trying to reach young Ugandans and re-stabilize the discursive hegemony of its "liberation narrative" are history classes in schools and universities. At the same time, Uganda's ruling elite seems increasingly concerned about the critical autonomous power of humanities subjects such as history – and rightly so, I argue. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic research in Ugandan educational institutions, I show how instead of simply accepting the limitations of Uganda's ideologically charged and restrictive history curriculum, students and teachers actively engage with them and thereby transform the classroom from a site of ideological instruction to a site of political contestation and debate.