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 The
2008 Regional Conference on Higher Education in Africa (CRESA) is
taking place ten years after the World Conference on Higher Education
(WCHE) held in Paris in 1998. The last ten years have been marked
by important changes in the Higher Education sub-sector, against
the backdrop of rapid regionalization and globalization. Consequently,
the establishment of large groupings of networks for the harnessing
of resources and harmonization of policies, has become the order
of the day.
Strong recommendations were made at the 1998
WCHE in the following important areas:
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Relevance of Higher Education;
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Quality;
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Management and Financing;
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Strengthening Intra-African and International
Cooperation.
 At
a time when Africa is very far from achieving the critical mass
of skilled personnel to ensure its development, access to higher
education remains generally low, despite the fact that there has
been some progress in this direction. This ratio situation is aggravated
by a fairly low success rate, particularly at undergraduate level.
It is against this backdrop that CRESA will
meet in Dakar from 10 to 13 November 2008, to prepare for the WCHE
slated for July 2009. We are inviting all institutions that will
participate in the regional conference to share their experiences
regarding implementation of the 1998 recommendations, in terms of
the strategies implemented, the gains made and constraints faced.
Such assessment will bring to the fore the impact of the efforts
deployed by UNESCO and other partners (in Education in general,
and Higher Education in particular) and help develop a guiding principle
in between the WCHEs. The identification of strengths and weaknesses
through the exchange of experiences will help guide the recommendations
of upcoming meetings.
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