African universities must ¡°break away¡± from the ¡°reliance on the poor taxpayer¡± for funding and instead broaden their income sources to ¡°help preserve their independence and academic freedom¡±.?

That is the view of Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, vice-president of Ghana, who told the on 28 April that institutions ¡°must safeguard the future of institutions by developing sustainable ways of financing their activities¡±.

He added that African institutions were initially funded by ¡°humble farmers¡± and ¡°members of the community¡±, not from ¡°bequests of millionaires¡±, and, as such, institutions across the continent ¡°must have a much higher sense of social orientation¡±.?

The comments formed part of Mr Amissah-Arthur¡¯s opening speech at the summit, which was held at the University of Ghana.

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¡°Broadening finance will help preserve independence and academic freedom. You can only do that if you¡¯re not asking somebody else to finance you,¡± he said.

¡°Universities need to break away from this reliance on the poor taxpayer. They must safeguard their future.¡±

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He added that there was a mismatch between the courses provided by institutions and jobs available, which meant that universities across the continent create ¡°graduates with huge expectations of lifestyle¡± but ¡°without the skills that allow them to get a job¡±.

¡°That is what I see universities replicating every day,¡± he said.

¡°Every private university is conducting courses in marketing. They are creating skills that cannot be utilised fully. Therefore it leads to unemployment."

He said that a key focus for African universities must be to increase access for all types of students, in particular addressing the low proportion of female students.

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¡°Admissions policy must be more radical and more inclusive and attentive to the gender issue,¡± he said.?

¡°The provision of access is not just a moral obligation. It¡¯s not an economic necessity. It¡¯s more than that. It¡¯s based on rational determination. We don¡¯t need access in the abstract but access that produces results.¡±

He said that African governments are a ¡°necessary¡± component for promoting access and the Ghanaian government will ¡°continue to nudge universities and other stakeholders to confront important policy directions¡±.

African universities must ensure that they are not ¡°elite¡± institutions located ¡°far away from the hustle and bustle of town¡± and ¡°away from conflict¡±, he added.

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¡°In Africa, universities must engage,¡± he said.?

As well as diversifying funding streams, Mr Amissah-Arthur said that the key objectives for African universities are the ¡°timeless pursuit of scholarship and excellence¡± and the ¡°preservation of academic freedom¡± by ¡°keeping free from interference¡±.

ellie.bothwell@tesglobal.com