UKZN Professor Chairs EU-AU Workshop on Joint Degree Programmes

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UKZN’s Professor Damtew Teferra was a Chairperson at the recent African Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning Workshop on Joint Degrees in Dar es Salaam which successfully concluded with the plan for the next phase: Tuning Africa II.

Teferra, who is the Head of Higher Education Training and Development (HEDT) at UKZN, was Chairperson in the presentation of the five joint degree programmes and was also responsible for developing the report which is now posted on the Africa-EU partnership website.

Teferra also serves as an advisor to the joint African Union and European Union Initiative in Harmonisation and Tuning African Higher Education.

The meeting was presided over by officials from a number of institutions and organisations including the African Union Commission (AUC), Association of African Universities (AAU), European Commission (EC), Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, University of Dar es Salaam, and Open University of Tanzania (OUT).

The Minister of Education and Vocational Training of Tanzania, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, officially opened the event.

The rationale for the workshop was to expedite regional integration and enhance intra-African collaboration, foster quality and excellence, expand institutional networking, advance common interests and challenges, increase employment opportunities, attract funding and consolidate resources, enhance innovation, and raise the confidence and profile of both involved students and academics.

The five groups developed joint degree programmes in five thematic areas along the existing fields of Agriculture, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine and Teacher Education. Accordingly, they identified, designed, developed and presented Joint Masters Programs in Agribusiness, Transportation Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering,  Crisis and Disaster Health Management and Trans-disciplinary Approach to Teaching and Learning.

All the groups agreed and developed second cycle degree (masters) programmes with considerable variety and approaches in the architecture, mode of possible (distance and/or regular) delivery, pattern of (student and/or staff) mobility, and level and extent of partnership.  The anticipated partnership was also extended beyond the region - one of the groups entertained the idea of partnering with European-based institutions.

The Workshop tabled a proposal for the next Tuning Africa II phase to involve 120 universities, expanding it from the current 60, with all African countries, including an additional three fields in economics, geology and Higher Education management.

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