The article discusses Covenant University in a town outside Lagos, Nigeria. As a privately run, Christian university, it breaks with a Nigerian tradition of free public higher education. The demand among Nigerian youth for higher education is beyond what the state can provide, leaving an opening for private institutions.
Armed with a Sh500 million war chest in funds, partly raised through a private placement, the Kenya School of Professional Studies is set to expand its facilities after getting the green light to operate as a private university.
The Federal Government last week announced the granting of licences to enable seven new private universities to operate. With that approval, the number of recognised universities in the country rose to ninety-six, thirty-four of them private.
Most private institutions are in major cities and are rather small. They offer two-year courses in industrial, business and secretarial fields and some are affiliated with foreign higher education institutions, mainly in France, and provide joint higher level courses.
Qualified lecturers rarely do the teaching in the Congo's private universities. Instead, unqualified assistants take courses that are often obsolete, theoretical and useless for finding a job, says Le Potentiel of Kinshasa.
Private universities have sprung up like mushrooms in Ghana. In 1999, there were just two but since then 11 new private universities and 19 private polytechnics or colleges have opened their doors.
News usually thrives on controversy, so most of us would have no difficulty remembering J.A Kufour's last gesture as president, where he ordered the reinstatement of ACP Nathan Kofi Boakye with all his entitlements, and the public's reaction at the time. We would probably not remember that the NPP President had also promised $1billion as seed money to boost the capacity of one of the private universities in the country.
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday in Abuja approved the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of seven new private universities in the country. Nigeria currently has 96 universities, comprising 27 federal, 35 state and 34 private universities.
Chairman, Governing Council of the Lagos City Polytechnic, Ikeja, Mr. Babatunde Odufuwa has called on government at all levels to put necessary administrative structures in place to grant aids to students in private tertiary institutions in the country.
Private providers of higher education have welcomed a North Gauteng High Court ruling that the Department of Higher Education could not stop a local company from assisting foreign universities in providing education in SA.
Uganda's National Council for Higher Education has adopted stricter regulations for the registration of private institutions in an effort to ensure higher standards. It has warned that some private universities might be forced to close.
Mahama on Saturday urged owners of private tertiary institutions to maintain high standards, cautioning that government could withdraw their accreditation if found to be operating below standards.
PRESS statements by higher education minister Blade Nzimande confirm his eagerness to address issues in the public higher education arena. But what about the private education sector?