Africa barely contributes to world knowledge - for now, Matengu says
Improving Namibia through higher education
The Unam vice-chancellor said instead of building more institutions of higher education, focus should be placed on improving the quality of existing ones.
Namibia Higher Education Day was commemorated last Thursday at the University of Namibia (Unam) main campus, and was promoted by Unam, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the International University of Management (IUM). The event was held to expound on the future of higher education in Namibia. Following the opening speeches were discussions about various problems facing the Namibian higher education system and job market.
A specifically pointed speech was delivered by Professor Kenneth Matengu, the vice-chancellor of Unam, who delivered the welcoming remarks. According to him, the African continent contributes, proportionally to its population, very little to world research. This does not mean that Africans do not contribute to world knowledge, he clarified. “Africans still produce research, but they do it in other countries."
Dr Itah Kandjii-Murangi, the minister of higher education, training and innovation, noted: “Africa generates less than 1% of global research and invests 0.6% of gross domestic product in research compared to the global average of 1.79%".
Matengu further elaborated that this is due to a relative lack of funding in higher education. “I am not saying we are not funding education. We are funding primary education a lot, but higher education needs some more.”
Comparing the relative spending on higher education between continents, Matengu noted that Africa spends a lot less than its counterparts. Europe and North America spend the most, while Africa, along with the rest of the southern hemisphere, lags behind in higher education spending relative to population size.
The consequence of this is that Africa only had 15 million of its 236 million people enrolled in higher education, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Institute for Statistics, as reported in Kandjii-Murangi’s speech.
That is about 6.36% of the African population enrolled in higher education, while the continent represents 18.3% of the world population, according to the United Nations.
Matengu noted that Namibia's development is directly tied to the quality of its higher education. This means that instead of building more institutions, the quality of existing ones should be improved, he said. He is of the opinion that investing more in established institutes will allow Namibia, and Africa, to participate in global research.