The book, Emerging Dynamics in the Provision of Private Higher Education in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), edited by Dr Wondwosen Tamrat and the School of Education’s Professor Damtew Teferra, examines the Private Higher Education (PHE) sector in African countries as an emerging phenomenon. It aims to fill the gap in scholarly knowledge in this area by offering comprehensive coverage of key trends and contemporary themes. It also serves to shape future discourse in this nascent area of research.
The book is the first publication of the African Higher Education Book Series, spearheaded by Teferra and co-ordinated by the International Network for Higher Education Africa at UKZN.
Explaining the motivation behind the book, Teferra said: ‘The emergence and continued proliferation of the PHE sector in Africa since the 1980s has brought multiple patterns in its disposition, growth and regulation. However, despite its phenomenal development, the sector continues to attract little attention as a subject of serious scholarship and investigation. Our book seeks to bridge this gap by mapping, analysing and documenting historical developments, policy and regulatory frameworks, key trends and contemporary themes in Africa’s emerging PHE sector.’
Teferra, who was Tamrat’s former PhD supervisor at the School of Education, added that ‘reports suggest that private institutions in Africa outnumber their public counterparts and we aim to provide the reader with in-depth knowledge, rich perspectives and robust analyses from leading authorities in the field. Contributions from all sub-regions combine thematic issues with discussions undertaken in the context of global perspectives.’
The book highlights advances and gaps associated with market size, industry trends, and programmes and the way forward. Challenges include negative perceptions, high tuition fees, a decline in the number of international students, poor-quality offerings, inflation and competition from the public sector. All these factors pose serious hindrances to the growth of the sector in Africa.
At the same time PHE institutions have been a valuable addition to the African Higher Education landscape, offering alternatives to the public sector. Many countries would have found it difficult to respond to the ever-growing demand for tertiary education without their involvement.
In many African countries PHE institutions cater to “non-traditional students” or those from under-represented groups such as females and adults. Female students often choose private institutions over public ones due to their safety, proximity, better programme choices, and superior discipline.
The book also looks at the public policies and legal frameworks which govern PHE and investigates how they operate within such frameworks.
Teferra and Tamrat envisage that demand for Higher Education in Africa will continue to rise in the coming decades.
‘The way the government exercises its power remains a key factor in determining the success of the PHE sector on the continent. The challenge lies in the degree of control exercised by the various organs of the state machinery to regulate this fast-expanding sub-sector.
‘For their part, PHE institutions should ensure that their possible commercial drive does not overshadow their educational purpose and that the sector is viewed with confidence rather than suspicion and distrust,’ said Teferra.
