strategic issues in engineering education -...

StrategicIssues

in

EngineeringEducation

inAfrica

Report of the Expert Group Meetingon Engineering Education in Africa

NAIROBI KENYA

1-2 NOVEMBER 1995

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) document. WARNING! Spelling errors might subsist. In order to accessto the original document in image form, click on "Original" button on 1st page.

STRATEGIC ISSUES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN AFRICA

The consultants and participants in the meeting areresponsible for the views and recommendationscontained in this report which do not necessarilyrepresent those of UNESCO and do not commit theOrganisation.

ii

.


STRATEGIC ISSUES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION INAFRICA

PrefaceSummary

1. Introduction1.1 Engineering and Development1.2 Objectives1.3 Scope1.4 Participants1.5 Meeting Format

2. Present State of EngineeringEducation in Africa

2.1

2.2

2.32.42.52.6

2.72.8

Brief Historical Backgroundof Engineering EducationFinancial resources andInfrastructureManagement of UniversitiesAvailability of StaffEnrollment

vvi

113455

6

6

7

899

Curriculum Design and Relevanceof Engineering Education 10

Link with Industry 11

The Engineer in Society 11

3. Strategic Issues in EngineeringEducation in Africa 133.1

3.23.33.43.5

3.63.7

Financing of EngineeringInstitutions 13

University-Industry Cooperation 14Staff and Brain Drain 15

Training for Self Employment 16Development of StudentsCreativity 17

Access to Engineering Education 17Trends in Evaluation/Assessment 18

. . .Ill



3.8 Duration of EngineeringTraining programmes 18

3.9 Curriculum Design 19

3.10 Innovations in EngineeringEducation 19

3.11 International Collaboration 19

4. Conclusion and Recommendations 20

4.14.24.34.44.54.64.74.84.9

4.10

Financing of Engineering Schools 20Innovation in Engineering 20

International Collaboration 21

University-Industry Cooperation 22Training for Self-Employment 23Developing Creativity in Students 23

Duration of Programmes 24

Curriculum Design 24

Trends in Evaluation andAssessment 25

Access and Retention toEngineering Education 20

Appendices(i) List of Working Documents 28

(ii) List of Participants 30



In pursuing UNESCO’s objective to improve, updateand strengthen university teaching in the basic andengineering sciences, particularly at theundergraduate level, the Nairobi Office of theorganization, relying on the existing networks suchas the African Network of Scientific and Technologicalinstitutions (ANSTI) embarked on several activitiesin the African region. These included the preparationof learning materials in engineering science as wellas the examination of the key issues in engineeringteaching. The latter was necessary in order to provideadvisory services to member states in updating andre-orienting their university curricula to keep abreastwith the rapidly changing technological scene as wellas the demands of the society

Thus, in November 1995, the UNESCO Nairobi Officeconvened a meeting of nineteen (19) African expertsinvolved in the planning, development andimplementation of Engineering Educationprogrammes. They deliberated on the problemsfacing engineering education in Africa and identifiedseveral strategic issues which are important for theimprovement of quality and equity in the training ofengineers. This report summarizes the proceedingsof the two-day meeting. It discusses the variousproblems facing engineering education and raisesmany issues that have to be resolved. It furtherpresents several recommendations, made by theexperts, on ways of resolving the various issuesidentified.

The expert group meeting and this report are thefirst two steps in a series that is intended tofacilitate the revision and upgrading ofengineering education in Africa. It is hoped thatthe recommendations contained in this report willenable institutions, governments and internationalorganisations involved with Higher education inAfrica to formulate projects and programmes thatwill strengthen engineering education in Africa.

UNESCO, is grateful to the authors of the workingdocuments and all the other participants for theirvaluable inputs during the meeting.

J. GM. MassaquoiProgramme Specialist in Science and Ethnology andANSTI Project CoordinatorUNESCO Nairobi OfficeP.O. Box 30592Nairobi, Kenya


STRATEG/I ISSUES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN AFRICA

This report covers the deliberations of the ExpertGroup Meeting on Engineering Education inAfrica, which was held at the UNESCO NairobiOffice, Kenya from 1-2 November 1995. Itdiscusses the major problems facing engineeringeducation and highlights some of constraintsand presents recommendations for overcomingthem. In particular the report makesrecommendations on important factors such asfinance, university-industry collaboration,student creativity, innovation in the delivery andadministration of engineering education,training for self-employment, staff developmentand the amelioration of the brain-drain.

vii



It is now a well established fact that the wealthof a nation depends on the quality of its humanresources. Indeed there are several third worldcountries which possess large amounts ofmineral and other natural resources but continueto remain poor because of the lack of skilledhuman resource. On the other hand manycountries which are not endowed with naturalresources are today very wealthy because of thequality and quantity of their skilled manpower

The economic development of any country restsheavily on human effort. Skilled and welltrained men and women are needed to discoverand exploit natural resources. They are requiredto mobilize the capital, develop the technologymanufacture and distribute the products andprovide services for the benefit of society Nonation is likely to develop if it lacks adequatescientific and technical manpower. Thus,engineers and the process by which they areeducated and trained are important to theeconomy of a nation. This is why periodicexamination of issues involved in engineeringeducation is very important for nationaldevelopment. Such examination enables thoseinvolved with engineering education to providethe training that will be useful to society

Engineers are required regardless of the directionin which the national economy is moving. Whenit is in depression, engineers are required toinvigorate it through creativity and innovativeapproaches to problem solving. When theeconomy is buoyant, engineers are required tokeep it afloat through proper industrialmanagement, maintenance and productivityenhancement techniques. So, the question is notwhether a society should produce engineers butrather what type of engineers are required at aparticular point in time.

Engineering education in Africa is goingthrough trying times. Standards and quality arefalling as the resources needed continue to

1



decline. There is a decline both in the quality ofstudent intake and the facilities that are requiredto make them good engineers. Over the yearsthere have been several innovative approachesto the solution of the problem. Innovativeteaching aids, capacity building throughinternational collaboration, restructuring ofcurriculum and alterations in course durationare just, some of what have been employed tocombat a problem which seems to be growingevery year.

The biggest problem facing higher education ingeneral and engineering education in particular,is the lack of adequate financial resources. Overthe last decade , as the economies of Africancountries have declined so have the resourcesavailable to higher Education Institutions. Andthe increase in population now means that thereare less resources for more students.Engineering schools have a specialresponsibility in this difficult situation. Theymust develop programs and curricula thatenables the local industries to be productiveenough for the economies to grow. In otherwords, engineering education must be adaptednot just to cope with the economic problemsrather it must aim at solving them. Creativityand entrepreneurship are just two of thequalities which Africa’s engineers desperatelyneed and engineering programs must take noteof this.

Even without the economic pressure and theconsequent changes in societal needs,engineering education need periodic overhaulbecause the profession is very dynamic. Itchanges not only in response to societal needsbut also as a result of advances in science. Recentadvances in biotechnology, computerapplications , material science and otherscientific discipline would clearly have influenceon the future of engineering curriculum and thedelivery of engineering education.

Thus, as we approach the 21st century we needto begin to identify those issues that are strategicto the future of engineering education in Africa.To do so we must raise and answer two basicquestions. What are the constraints facing

2



engineering education in Africa and how can weovercome them? What role can engineers, andfor that matter the engineering schools, play inchanging the economic fortunes of Africa. Theanswers to these questions raise many issueswhich is what the expert group meeting wasexpected to discuss.

One of the objectives of UNESCO'S Programmefor cooperation in the basic and engineeringsciences is to improve, update and strengthenuniversity teaching in the basic and engineeringsciences particularly at the undergraduate level.Through regional and sub-regional meetings thekey issues in engineering teaching are examinedso as to provide advisory services to memberstates in updating and re-orienting theiruniversity engineering curricula to keep abreastwith the rapidly changing technological sceneand to enhance the uses of environmentallysound technologies.

The expert group meeting on strategic issues inengineering education in Africa was held tofulfill the above-mentioned objectives ofUNESCO. The meeting was expected toundertake an assessment of the issues involvedin engineering education in Africa with a viewof making specific recommendations on changesin engineering curricula and other extra curriculafactors that affect the engineering programs.

3



The meetingexamined three types of factors thatinfluence the nature of engineering education.The examination of these factors led to theidentification of constraints and hence raisedseveral strategic issues for discussion andconsideration by those involved in engineeringeducation in Africa.

There were three groups of factors consideredas important in defining the nature ofengineering education. In the first group werethose factors that define the problems that theengineering graduates would have to tackle.The factors in this first category included theneeds of the society, the needs of local industriesand the professional requirements. Thediscussion of such factors led to issues such asemployment of graduates and equity in accessto engineering education.

The other set of factors that were considered,dealt with the technique for knowledge deliveryThe factors discussed included the engineeringprograms, the resources available within theinstitutions, the nature and the effect of donorassistance and technical aid, and innovations inteaching and learning techniques. Thediscussion of these factors raised many issuesamong which were the issue of duration ofcourses, curriculum design, financing ofengineering schools and innovations in teaching.

The third and final group of factors which werediscussed at the meeting relate to evaluation andregional and international accreditation. Themeeting discussed the role of external examiners,the University-Industry committees and theNational Engineering Advisory boards. Themain strategic issues involved here, were, themethods and objectives of the assessments ofengineering education.

In general the discussions covered the basicweaknesses and constraints encountered in theengineering education system in Africa. Andthe recommendations were on the ways ofovercoming the constraints.

4



There were eighteen (18) participants from allregions of Sub-saharan Africa. They were mostlydeans and former deans of faculties ofengineering in African universities, heads ofdepartment in engineering schools,representatives of agencies which usually givesupport to higher education in Africa and femaleengineering lecturers. The participants togetherhad a lot of experience on the problems andopportunities in engineering education in Africa.A list of participants is given in the Appendix.

A few months before the meeting, the UNESCORegional Office in Nairobi, commissioned thepreparation of four (4) papers on importantissues in engineering education. Participants atthe meeting also submitted country papers ontopical issues in engineering education in theirrespective countries. Them were also somejournal articles which were circulated toparticipants for background reading. The three(3) types of papers (i.e. the commissioned papers,the country papers and the background readingmaterials) constituted the working documents.A list of papers discussed at the meeting is givenin the Appendix.

The working documents were used to providediscussion and bring out issues to be deliberatedupon. The first few sessions of the meeting weredevoted to presentation of the papers. Duringthe presentations several issues were noted. Inthe final three sessions of the meeting each ofthe issues identified was discussed separatelyand some recommendations made about it.

5


STRATEGIC ISSUES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION lN AFRICA

The UNESCO Office in Nairobi commissionedthree papers which examined different aspects ofEngineering Education. Two of the papers dealtwith access to Engineering Education withparticular emphasis on gender equity These were(i) Gender and other Equity Issues in Access toEngineering Education in Arica by Dr. M.R. Halfani.(ii) A survey of Present status and Trends in theTraining of women Engineers in Africa -A case Studyof Nigeria by Mrs. A.O. Ogunbayo.

The third commissioned paper examined thecurrent trends in engineering education in Africa.The authors carried out a small survey of thesituation in several engineering schools in Africa.The paper was prepared by Prof. EM. Luti and Dr.A.V. Otieno and is entitled Strategic Issues inEngineering Education in Africa,

The presentation of the papers and thediscussions that ensued highlighted many of theproblems encountered by engineering schools.These included the inadequacy of financialresources, unprogressive management structure ofuniversities, staff problems, quality of enrollments,relevance of the curriculum, lack of cooperationwith local industry and the society's perception ofthe engineer. The history of the development ofEngineering Education which explains some of theproblems, was also presented. In this chapter wehighlight some constraints which confrontengineering education including those with originsin its historical development.

Most of the major African faculties ofEngineering were founded by former colonialgovernments or through foreign, mostlyEuropean, donations of both material andmanpower. The curricula and the engineeringeducation system were modeled after foreigninstitutions. During the few decades since theestablishment of these institutions, there has notbeen restructuring or alteration in any of thesystems originally put in place. As a result therehas been a deterioration in the structures andthe quality of the education provided. Some

6



institutions continue to rely on teachingtechniques, syllabi and other aspects ofengineering education which has already beenabandoned in other parts of the world.

It is interesting to note that although the foreigninstitutions (i.e. the god-parents of the AfricanEngineering Schools) have undergone andcontinue to undergo tremendous changes incurricula in response to the evolving requirementswithin their technological and socio-economicenvironments, the African counterparts havehardly started to address themselves to the needfor changes. Yet they must change and re-orienttheir programmes if they are to adequately servethe needs of their society In many ways thehistorical development of the engineeringinstitutions in Africa had also imposed someconstraints on its ability to respond to its socio-economic environment and the associatedtechnological manpower needs. In the first case,there is the pre-occupation with recognition ofdegrees by foreign institutes. There may not beanything wrong with this. On the contrary it isdesirable. However it is easy to see that aninstitution which constantly aspires to satisfyingthe requirements of foreign institutions (which arebased on the latter’s own societal needs) will findit difficult to respond to needs of its own societywithout over-burdening the programmes.Another constraint is that on collaboration amonginstitutions even within the same country or sub-region. Most institutions prefer to maintain linkswith European Institutions. While this is verydesirable, it should not be at the expense of theregional Inter-institutional collaboration. The lattercan be very useful for the sharing of experienceswith problems peculiar to the sub-region especiallyin the field of civil and environmental engineering.

The challenges of training an engineer in Africaare extremely severe The government providesfunds for most of the training activities. Thus,as the national economies weaken the resourcesat the disposal of the engineering institution alsodecline. Over the last decade the funding levelfor tertiary education inmost African countrieshas at best been stagnant. As a result the

7



equipment in place is either that which wasacquired originally when the faculty wasestablished or donated later through some formof bilateral or multi-lateral technical assistance.Some of the newer faculties even lack basiclaboratory equipment and students have to bebussed to share obsolete equipment in the olderuniversities. The use of modem teaching aidsis however becoming popular. In particular it isgratifying to note that computer aided learning(with interactive software) facilities exist inmostuniversities. About 40°/0 of institutions haveintroduced Computer Aided Design while 10%use computer simulation, in lieu of non-existentlaboratory equipment, for measurements. Theavailability y of textbooks and a well equippedlibrary is also another major constraint facingengineering education in Africa. While there areseveral textbooks in all subjects available on theworld market, their prices have become aproblem for most students due to the continuousdevaluation of the local currencies. For a similarreason universities are also unable to stocklibraries with current editions of textbooks.

In all African countries the government is amajor stake holder in university education. Itfunds the universities and therefore in essenceruns them. This can be a constraint if -government interference stifles innovation inuniversity administration. Appointment ofthe managers of universities directly bygovernments or by proxy, has the potential todiscourage initiative within the rank and fileof the academic staff who may feel left out ofthe system. Inmost cases these senior politicalappointees’ priorities may have to do withpolicies external to the institution andpersonal survival rather than the academicwell being of the university A major strife inthe region concerns the democratization ofuniversities and granting them independencein the appointment of senior managers. Suchan arrangement will encourage incumbentsto look to the university as their constituencyand will pay less attention to national politics.



There are three aspects to this problem. In thefirst case, the number of staff at post is usuallyvery small. Secondly the qualification andexperience of several of the lecturers at post arelow. There is a large number of lecturers withonly a Masters degree and one or two yearsexperience. In fact only about 50% of staff havePh.D. The third staff problem is the lack ofdedication especially from senior members of theacademic community. The inordinately poorremuneration for university staff make itextremely difficult for them to dedicatethemselves to academic duties. Most of theirtime is spent on trying to earn extra moneythrough consultancy and part-time work. Littletime is allocated to academic work.

Some universities have staff developmentprogramme which is aimed at improving thequalification as well as the number of staff.Unfortunately this has turned out to be a disasterinmost cases as staff members go away and failto return.

The staff problem is at two levels: The level ofthe academic members and also at the technicianlevel. The shortage of qualified technician hasaffected the laboratory infrastructure. Severalequipment lie idle because of lack of qualifiedstaff to undertake repair and maintenance.

Since there has not been much expansion in thefacilities in Engineering institution, theenrollment now exceeds the resources available.In almost all cases there are high course loadingswith thirty five (35) contact hours or more perweek. (Luti and Othieno; 1995). Eighty per cent(80%) of the institutions surveyed claimed thatstudent laboratory groups are too large. Theenrollment of women is however very smallaveraging around 4% of the total engineeringstudent population.The problem of enrollment is viewed in two

different ways. One point of view is that the leveIof enrollment is already very high and it is

9



blamed for the high level of unemploymentamong engineering graduates and theovercrowding in the laboratories. Another pointof view is that the enrollment is very low and itis the facilities that should be expanded to copewith the demand for engineering education.Those who share this view, refer to the fact thatAfrican countries produce only about 10-20engineers annually per one million people whilesome industrialized countries produce 200-300engineers annually per one million people(Halfani; 1995). Furthermore, it is obvious thatthe number of engineers and scientists has toincrease substantially for any meaningfulscientific and technological development to takeplace. There is a critical level of scientificmanpower below which it becomes difficult forthe application of Science and Technology indevelopment.

Since the enrollment already exceeds thecarrying capacity of the facilities available, theengineering institutions experience an excess ofdemand over supply for places. For instance inthe university of Dares Salaam only about 70%of the qualified applicants are enrolled. Thereis therefore need for expansion of engineeringschools if the objective is to reach a critical levelof technical manpower on the continent.

The survey by Luti and Otieno revealed that most,if not all, traditional disciplines of engineeringare offered in various African universities. Mostawarded either a B. Sc. or B.Eng. degree aftercourses that lasted 4-5 years. Total pre-university education ranged from 12-14 years.The relevance of some of the curricula to thedevelopment needs is questionable. In someuniversities, the curriculum has not changedvery much since the establishment of theprogrammes. There is need to re-orient theengineering programmes so as to make thegraduates “self-employers” and entrepreneursin order to overcome the problem ofunemployment. The problem of maintenancemanagement is another issue that need to beaddressed in curriculum design.

10



The revision of engineering curriculum inAfrican universities is currently constrained bytwo factors. One is the non-availability of senioracademics who should be central players inengineering curriculum development. This isdirectly linked to the staff problems discussedearlier. The other factor is the universitybureaucracy. In may institutions, the procedurefor introducing new curricula is very timeconsuming. Even a simple syllabus revision cantake years to be approved by the universitysenate or the relevant academic board.

Industries are major partners in the training ofengineers. They are required for the practicaltraining aspects of the engineers. As consumersof the products of universities, they should alsobe involved in the design of curricula.

The role and importance of industrial attachmentof undergraduate students as part of training inengineering is recognized by all institutions.Most of them have formalized industrialattachment programmes which are sponsoredeither by government or jointly b y governmentand industry. Most institutions also treatindustrial attachment as part of the curriculumand some even assess the attachment.

Only a small number of institutions consultindustry in curriculum design. Most consultonly national professional institutions whichmay bean indirect way of seeking the advice ofindustry.

A very important aspect bearing adversely onengineering education, has been the region’sscientific and technological culture which can bedescribed as nascent at best. Society at large hasnot come to appreciate that science andtechnology is the driver of development. Asclient, financier and consumer of universityproducts, they could play a catalytic role instimulating facilities to make curricula relevant.There is even a common vein of belief thatengineers are not good at decision making as

11


STRATEGIC ISSUES lN ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN AFRICA

these should be left to social scientists andpoliticians. Furthermore, there is a commonmisconception that once through the university,the engineer knows everything, resulting in aculture which does not favour continuingeducation and internship.

These misconceptions adversely affect thefortunes of engineering graduates. It leads tounemployment or underemploymentgraduates.

of the

12



During the discussion of the current state ofengineering education in Africa, several issuesemerged from the constraints identified. Theseincluded duration of engineering trainingprogrammes, curricula design, innovations inengineering education, internationalcollaboration, trends in evaluation/assessment,development of creativity, access toengineering education, training for self-employment, university-industry cooperation,financing of engineering institutions, thebrain-drain, and planning strategies/missionstatements. Some of the above issues overlap.In this chapter we present highlights of thediscussion on these issues. In the subsequentchapter specific recommendations on each ofthese issues will be presented.

The biggest constraint facing engineeringeducation is the lack of finance. At issue is howto generate additional funds to run engineeringprogrammes. Current levels of tuition paid bystudents are inadequate and most governments,for political reasons, are usually unwilling toincrease tuition. Thus, engineering education,which is more expensive than social science andliberal arts education should look for alternativemeans of funding. Three major sources of fundswere discussed. The first one was incomegeneration from consultancies /researchcontracts. However, it was felt that consultanciesand fee paying activities involving staff shouldbe reserved for the purpose of motivation,although some of the fees could go towardsmaintenance of equipment. The other possiblesource of income discussed was “cost recovery”charges to students for the use of certainlaboratory facilities. This could in fact turn outto be a subtle way of increasing tuition fees.Engineering faculties can decide to transfer someor all of the cost for the use of laboratory facilities.The third option discussed was the impositionof a training levy on industries. For the purposeof this levy there were two types of industries:Those which employ the graduates from local

13



institutions and those which employ foreignengineers. It was felt that while all industriesshould be subjected to the training levy thosewhich employ foreign engineers, should betaxed more on the grounds that they needed tostrengthen the local training institutions in orderto reduce the dependence on foreign engineers.

The problem about training levies is thecollection and disbursement as well as the fearof overburdening the local industries with taxes.Some governments may collect the levies anduse it for other programmes. In order toovercome this, it was suggested that, perhapsthe training levy should be charged per engineeremployed by a particular industry and thisshould be paid annually by the industry to aprofessional society as part of the professionalengineers registration process. The professionalsociety will then transfer the funds to thefaculties of engineering. A law or statute willbe required for this to take place.

When the financial problem results in scarcityof physical resources, one means ofcircumventing it is to introduce shift system foruse of the scarce equipment.

The overall strategic issue is how do we makeengineering education relevant and useful toindustry which employs the products. The issuearises from the knowledge that industry can playa major part in the training of engineers byproviding opportunities for practical trainingboth during and after the degree programme.One of the basic weaknesses of engineeringqualifications at the present time is inadequatepractical training. Industry can also participatein the design of curricula that are more relevantto their needs.

Various areas of cooperation were discussed.These included: cooperation in curriculumdesign, industry-based practical training ofstudents and the use of part-time lecturers fromindustry. The mechanism and financing of thecollaboration were some of the tactical issuesdiscussed in relation to university-industrycooperation. The problem of financing

14



university-industry cooperation particularlyindustrial training of students could be handledin a manner similar to that proposed for thegeneral support of engineering education. Eithergovernment should pay for it as part of itssubvention to the universities or levy a trainingtax in industries.

In general, university-industry cooperation inmost countries is likely to be very difficult evenwith the greatest will. This is due primarily tothe weak industrial base. The manufacturingsector is dominated by small scale industries andthe informal sector. A useful thing to do wouldtherefore be for universities to find out whatthey can do for the small-scale sector by way ofimprovement in productivity, design and qualitycontrol. Small scale industries normally do notsee the need to employ engineers because theycan not fathom the improvement it would bringto their profit margin. Therefore a demonstrationof the benefits of the engineer could instillenough confidence for them to hire one.

The main issue in this case is defined by theshortage of staff at all levels to deliverengineering education. The staff developmentprogrammes have not been successful in mostcases as staff who are sent for training either donot return to the country or when they do, theygo to private enterprises. There are severalreasons for this external and internal brain drain.One very obvious one is the low remunerationoffered in national institutions and the otherequally important reason is the poorinfrastructure which is not conducive toacademic activity.

The tactical issues involved in staff developmentwould include the search for ways of improvingthe income of staff. The distribution ofconsultancy fees provided for work within theuniversity must be done in such away as to allowthe staff member to retain a significant portionof the profit. However, it is universallyrecognized that the circumstances of theengineering faculty member will depend verymuch on what happens to the nationaleconomies. There is a limit on how far one can

15



let the staff members search for additionalincome without sacrificing the quality of thetuition provided to students and this should beborne in mind.

Another tactical issue involving staff and braindrain is the modularisation of courses. This willenable institutions within the same country toexchange staff and hence mutually strengtheneach others programmes. Visiting staff memberswhen the y are on short visits can take up onemodule rather than the whole course. Suchmodularisation will of course be accompaniedby change of the academic calendar to a semestersystem.

The issue in this case is what the engineerrequires or what sort of training he shouldreceive in order to make him an “employmentcreator” and not an “employment seeker”. Thebackground to this is the big unemploymentamong engineering graduates on the continent.As a result of this strategic issue, two tacticalissues were discussed. The first was theintroduction of courses in entrepreneurship andmanagement into the engineering educationprogramme. The courses should train studentson how to market ideas, how to obtain financialsupport for projects as well as economic analysisof projects. The second tactical issue was theadoption of national policy on the prevision ofgrants for the commercialization of ideas. Thiswill enable graduates to start up projects aftertheir education . While government policymakers would normally prefer to reduceunemployment by training according to therequirements established by manpower demandsurveys, the experts felt that Africa is alreadytoo far below the critical manpowerrequirements in engineering and therefore it wasargued that training must go on at full speedbut that the graduates must be made to createjobs. A liaison or advisory service should be set‘up within faculties to provide informationgraduates on how to survive on their own.

to

16



Africa’s numerous problems require an engineerwith an open mind. Society expects that theEngineer should be able not only to reproduceknown knowledge but to create new onesspecifically for the solution of unique localproblems. However to be creative, the studentneeds to be in an environment that enables himto understand the basis of the knowledgeprovided to him. He must live in a criticalenvironment if he is to be creative.

At issue, were the mechanisms by whichcreativity can be developed in students. Theseinclude

.

.

.

project work involving the study of newproblems that may demand an innova-tive use of existing knowledge.interaction with the society/ environ-ment. Students must be encouraged todevelop engineering solutions to majorsocietal problems.several other tactics could be employedto broaden the horizon of students. -

There are two aspects to this issue. The first is ademand and supply issue. At present, in mostnational institutions, the demand for space ismore than that available. How do we cope withthe demand or is there any need to admit morestudents? The answer to the latter will dependon whether a country decides to produceengineers in conformity with the demand forthem in industry or in pursuance of a goal tobuild human resource capacity in all fields ofscience and technology The second aspect ofthis issue is that of equity (particularly genderequity) in access to engineering education. Ananalysis of the problem of gender distributionin enrollment in engineering schools showed thatit originates from the secondary school level.Hence the solution of the gender equity problemwould have to be at that level. This is more sobecause retention of female students inengineering school is not deemed to be a

17



problem. This was confirmed by two of theworking documents presented at the meeting.

There are several aspects of this issue. Theseinclude answers to the questions: Whyevaluation? What to evaluate? and how toevaluate? Evaluation is done to assure qualityand to identify areas needing improvement.Evaluation is usually carried out on staff,curriculum, teaching and students. These couldbe carried out both internally (self) or externallyIn the case of the evaluation of staff there is alsothe additional issue of system of reward forquality among staff. There are those who aregood teachers and there are those who are goodresearchers. Promotion is usually the methodof rewarding quality among staff. However, thepromotion criteria are usually heavily weightedin favour of good researchers. It was thoughtthat another system of reward (presumablyfinancial remuneration) should be used for goodteachers/administrators.

The evaluation method (in particular theweighing of different elements of theprogramme) for students will be very importantin the future as various curricula put emphasison practical work and creativity.

Parallel to the issue of evaluation is the issue ofaccreditation by foreign institutions. ManyAfrican universities would have to decidewhether to accept the recommendations fromthe evaluation by accreditation committees,which is sometimes at variance with the needsof their society or comply with bothrequirements.

Many countries have introduced changes in theirbasic education programme which may affectthe background of the freshmen enteringengineering schools. For instance under the 8-4-4- and 6-3-3-4 system students are expected toenter universities after 12 years of schooling andshould spend another four (4) years in theuniversity. At the moment students who spendfour years on a degree usually enter after 14

18


STRATEGIC ISSUES lN ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN AFRICA

years of schooling. Those who have twelve (12)years of schooling spend five (5) years in college.Thus total education of an engineer currentlyranges from 17-18 years as opposed to the 16years now being proposed. There is thereforean obvious issue of the type of curriculum andthe entry requirements.

In future, African engineering institutions willhave to completely their their curricula to reflectchanges in the education system as well as thedemand from industry and society in general.The tactical issue in the curricula revision willbe the involvement of industry and theidentification of new roles for engineers in thesociety. New courses would be developed fromthese issues. Most of the strategic issues thatwere raised will ultimately require a review ofthe curricula.

The crisis, (financial, human and materialresource availability) obviously means thatDeans /Directors of engineering schools inAfrica, would have to adopt innovativetechniques for delivery of engineering education.There are several tactical issues involved ininnovation in engineering education. Theseinclude: production of teaching/learningmaterials; new teaching methods that willrequire less staff; innovative staff developmentprogrammes that will facilitate staff retention,innovative approaches to maintenance oflaboratory facilities and simulation of laboratoryexperiments. Over the next few yearsinstitutions will have to adopt different tacticsto deal with the above-mentioned issues.

Although there is good internationalcollaboration based on historical links, there isnot much link among institutions within theregion. In order to pool resources together so asto strengthen the various programmes,particularly to overcome the staff shortage,regional collaboration is going to be a veryimportant issue in the future. Staff exchange andpostgraduate student exchange will be some ofthe elements of such collaboration.

19



After careful discussion of the problems,constraints in engineering education in Africa,several strategic issues were highlighted.Further examination of these issues led to therecommendations given below. There werethree types of recommendations made on mostof the issues. One type was directed at theattention of engineering institutions, anotherset was for action by national governments andfinally some of the recommendations woulddemand action from internationalorganizations. Each of the recommendationsgiven below will indicate the expected targetfor action.

In order to generate adequate funds forengineering schools to be able to provide theservices for which they were set up, it wasrecommended that engineering institutionsshould do the following:

In order to overcome the constraints from thelack of human, physical and financial resourcesthe following recommendations for theadministration of engineering institutions weremade.

2 0



In order to overcome the weaknesses andconstraints of institutions in the region, it isrecommended that engineering institutions pooltogether their resources to enhance theircapacity. The strengthening of existing regionaland sub-regional networks was stronglyrecommended.

Faculties should take advantage of centers ofexcellence in specific areas already in existencein the region, for example when planning newprogrammes and in the training of staff. Towardsthis end, institutions should be encouraged tomaintain up-to-date data bases on expertise and

21



facilities, and a directory of these should beavailable from a central body such as the AfricanNetwork of Scientific and TechnologicalInstitutions (ANSTI). The format for thisdatabase should be uniform and as developedby ANSTI. Universities should be requested toprovide faculties with modern communicationfacilities such as electronic mail.

22


STRATEGIC ISSUES lN ENGINEERING EDUCATION lN AFRICA

Creativity in engineering is very important inAfrica where it is often necessary to improvisesolutions using locally available materials andcomponents. Creativity is a characteristic of anindividual and cannot be imposed. However itsdevelopment can be encouraged by creating anenabling environment and by undergoingsuitable experience. It was thereforerecommended that to create this enablingenvironment

(i) contact should be encouraged betweenstudents and professional engineers andother professionals through talks, lecturesand demonstrations to create awarenessin them of the dynamism of technologyand society.

(ii) industrial attachment of students shouldbe organized.

2 3



In most African countries, pre-universityeducation lasts for a minimum of 12 years whileengineering degree programmes last for 4-5years. The workshop therefore recommendedas follows:

In view of the fact that very few engineeringinstitutions have revised heir curricula over thelast two decades, it was recommended thaturgent steps be taken to re-design the curricula

24



Evaluation and assessment of engineeringeducation is necessary because the institutionsare ultimately accountable to their clients (thestudents and employers), society(government) and the engineering professionitself.

Evaluation must be carried on the following● the programme itself● the staff and● the students

2 5



2 6



27



1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Otieno, A.V., and Luti, F. M.: Strategic Issues inEngineering Education in Africa - A survey ofcurrent trends in engineering education in AfricaUniversity of Nairobi.

Ogunbayo, A.O.: A survey of the present statusand Trends in the Paining of Women Engineers inAfrica - A case study of Nigeria. Department ofChemical Engineering, University of Lagos.

Halfani, M.R.: Gender and other equity issues inaccess to engineering education in Africa -Department of Chemical Engineering,University of Dares Salaam.

Negussie Tebedge,: Future Trends in EngineeringEducation - Addis Ababa University Ethiopia.

Mgangira Bizaliele M.: Engineering educationand training in the university-Malawi.

Gundyanga, F. and Chinyamakobvu, O. S.:Engineering graduate unemployment - TheZimbabwe Perspective- Faculty of EngineeringUniversity of Zimbabwe.

Akuffo, F. O. : University of Science andTechnology, School of Engineering: Vision 2015-

2 8



8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

University of Science and Technology, Kumasi,Ghana.

Materu, P.N.: Higher Education OrganizationDevelopment - A case study and FuturePerspective-. University of Dares Salaam.

(Extracted from World Bank Technical paperNo, 197- Africa Technical Department Series on“Assessing Engineering Education in Sub-saharanAfrica)

Koso-Thomas, K.: Engineering Education for theLabour Market in Africa -K. University of SierraLeone, Freeetown, Sierra Leone.

Fraser, Malcom: Different Methods of Assessment- Director and Chief Executive of the Council forNational Academic Awards in the U.K.

Parkes, John: Quality in Engineering Education- Open University-U.K.

Ntim, B. A.: Methodology for DesigningEngineering Curricula in a Developing countryUNESCO, Paris.

2 9



BENINMr. Adékpédjou S.AkindesLe DirecteurUniversité Nationale duBéninCollège PolytechniqueUniversitaire, Abomey-CalaviRépublique du Bénin

ETHIOPIAProf. Negussie TebedgeFaculty of TechnologyAddis Ababa UniversityP.O. Box 385ADDIS ABABAEthiopia

GHANAProf. F. O. AkuffoHead, MechanicalEngineering Dept.University of Scienceand TechnologyKUMASIGhana

KENYADr. Philip GithinjiConsultantSakses Enterprises Ltd.P.O. Box 25218NAIROBIKenya

Mr. Richard JacobDirectorGermany AcademicExchangeService (DAAD)P.O. Box 14050NAIROBIKenya

Prof. A. V. OtienoDean, Faculty ofEngineeringUniversity of NairobiP. O. Box 30197NAIROBIKenya

Prof. F. M. LutiUniversity of NairobiP.O. Box 30197NAIROBIKenya

Prof. Percival C. EgauDean, Faculty ofTechnologyMoi UniveristyP.O. Box 3900NAIROBIKenya

Prof. S. M. MarangaDean, Faculty ofEngineeringJomo KenyattaUniversityP.O. Box 62000NAIROBIKenya

3 0



MALAWIDr. Martin MgangiraBizalieleUniversity of MalawiPolytechnicPrivate Bag 303Chichiri, BlantryreMalawi

NIGERIAMrs. A. O. OgunbayoDepartment of ChemicalEngineeringUniversity of LagosLAGOSNigeria

Dr. Mohammed M.DlakwaDean, Faculty ofEngineeringAhmadu BelloUniversityZARIANigeria

OAUMrs. T. S. KarumunaChief of EducationSectorOrganisation of AfricanunityP.O. Box 3243ADDIS ABABAEthiopia

TANZANIAPro. P. N. MateruDean, Faculty ofEngineeringUniversity of DaresSalaamP.O. Box 35131DAR ES SALAAMTanzania

Dr. Eustace GondweDirector of BICOUniversity of DaresSalaamFaculty of EnigeeringP.O. Box 35131,DAR ES SALAAMTanzania

ZAMBIADr. S. B. KanyangaDean, Faculty ofEngineeringUniversity of ZambiaP.O. Box 32379LUSAKAZambia

ZIMBABWEDr. Oswald S,ChinyamakbovuFaculty of EngineeringUniversity of ZimbabweP.O. MP 167Mount PleasantHARAREZimbabwe

UNESCO

Prof. J. G. M. MassaquoiProgramme Specialist inScience and TechnologyUNESCO Nairobi OfficeP. O. Box 30592NAIROBIKenya

31
