Towards African Higher Education Regionalization and Harmonization: Functional, Organizational and Political Approaches

Abstract

In the last decade, the speed and intensity with which regional level connections are expanding in all areas of the world has been remarkable. Higher education in Africa is no exception. This chapter focuses on African policies and programme initiatives to further higher education regionalization. Regionalization is defined as the process of ‘building closer collaboration and alignment among higher education actors and systems in a designated area or framework, commonly called a region’. An analytical framework, consisting of functional, organizational and political approaches, is applied to the evolution of higher education regionalization at the continental level in Africa through a close examination of the progress related to the implementation of the “African Union Strategy for the Harmonization of Higher Education Programmes.” Special emphasis is given to the harmonization of degree structures and the recognition of qualifications through sub-regional qualification frameworks. Key issues and challenges such as rationales, governance, benefits and risks, unintended consequences, language, engagement for all and innovation are raised at the end of the chapter to stimulate further reflection and exploration of the complex process of higher education regionalization.

Citation

Knight, J. (2014), "Towards African Higher Education Regionalization and Harmonization: Functional, Organizational and Political Approaches", The Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 347-373. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000021015