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Take issues relating to quality assurance seriously, advises OUT don
2007-09-18 09:44:29
By Nasser Kigwangallah
The Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania Prof. Tolly Mbwete has urged African countries to take issues relating to quality assurance seriously so as to enhance higher education in their respective varsities.
Prof. Mbwete made the remarks in Dar es Salaam yesterday during an interview with journalists at the inaugural session of the Second International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa.
The three day conference has been organised by the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) and sponsored by the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO).
He said unless concerted efforts were made in this regard, most universities in the continent would continue lagging behind by producing unqualified graduands.
``The aim of this conference is to devise ways that would enhance African Universities provide quality education to their students who would be capable of competing with the rest of the world,`` he noted.
He added that the quality of many higher education institutions in Africa had been adversely affected by harsh social, economic and political as well as tribal conflicts that had raged many states for a long time.
He said for these and many other reasons therefore, there was a dire need for reversing the trend so that quality education could be offered to the students.
``We have assembled stakeholders from all African countries, educational experts and donor agencies so that the existing mechanism for quality assurance of higher education in Africa becomes relevant and desirable such that, the process and practice can stand the test of time and meet international competition,`` he further noted.
Giving his key note address, Prof. Peter Okebukola from Nigeria pleaded to education players in Africa to see to it that education became a tool to uplift the economic and political standing of the people who had been kept in darkness for a long time.
``Quality education should be an important tool for Africa to wake up from sleep,`` he said.
Prof. Okebukola added that we should be serious enough and ensure that there was quality education at all of our universities.
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