adminVictoria Falls Reporter
THERE is a need for institutions of higher learning to constantly develop their leadership so that they remain relevant to the transforming culture of the society, National University of Science and Technology (Nust) Vice-Chancellor Professor Lindela Ndlovu said.
Officially opening the Association of African Universities (AAU), 5th Leadership Development Workshop (Ledev) in Victoria Falls on Monday, Prof Ndlovu said institutions of higher learning tended to stagnate or fall because of the quality of their leaders.
“Leadership development is what the workshop is all about. Institutions need to develop the leadership to develop their systems.
“Allow me to say innovative leadership is the main target of this series,” he said.
“At institutional levels, innovative leadership should be our major catch-cry if we are to remain psychosocially relevant in the continuing cultural and technological homogenisation of our nations. It is only through innovative leadership that institutions of higher learning can remain part of the transforming culture of Techno sapiens.
“The leadership cross-section at this event constitutes an index of leadership spectrum and therefore the demands for leadership development in our institutions.”
Prof Ndlovu said the workshop was part of the AAU’s capacity development project for the revitalisation of African Higher Education Institutions workshop series, which have been running since 2007.
He also said it was high time universities played a major role in marketing the tourism destinations in their countries.
Addressing the same workshop, AAU secretary-general Professor Etienne Ehouan Ehile said higher education played a unique role in knowledge production, dissemination and as drivers of knowledge-based development.
“In the 1980s and 1990s, the significance of African higher education institutions was downplayed in favour of basic education by key international institutions.
“It took a few renowned bodies including AAU, given its mandate as the voice of the higher education community in Africa to resist this approach and couple with the realisation that quality economic management could not be guaranteed in the absence of effective higher education systems, the mid 1990s saw the beginning of change in favour of higher education,” he said.
Prof Ehile said the reality, however, and as noted from 1997 to 2006, Africa still entered the 21st century with an education deficit at every level, a situation he said was worsened by the continent’s inability to take advantage of the full potential of technology.
“Even though the Internet has opened up unprecedented communication and collaboration possibilities, the scarcity and high cost of access constitute major constraints on knowledge networking for African institutions,” he said.
Prof Ehile said AAU with a membership of 312 covering 45 African countries was established to bring together African universities in the same way as the then Organisation of African Unity had brought together newly independent African counties.
The workshop is being attended by vice chancellors and chief executive officers of higher learning institutions from African countries such as Somalia, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Zimbabwe.
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu