Times Higher Education Launches New Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings to Empower Regional Universities

Ashesi University; where the inaugural ranking ceremony will be hosted

Times Higher Education (THE) has teamed up with the Mastercard Foundation to launch a new ranking system for universities in sub-Saharan Africa. The new Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings will evaluate universities based on five pillars: resources and finances, access and fairness, teaching skills, student engagement, and Africa impact.

The ranking initiative aims to capture the diversity and impact of education across the region, empower regional universities to compete more equally on the world stage, and identify key areas for improvement.

According to THE’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Phil Baty, African universities have increased their participation in THE’s World University Ranking by more than triple in the past five years. Recent analysis shows that the average overall scores for African institutions have improved rapidly, with the continent’s universities increasing their scores at a higher rate than the global average.

Baty hoped that the Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings would provide a more context-based analysis of how these institutions are performing and would help regional universities compete more equally on the world stage.

The new ranking system, developed by a consortium of African and international higher education organizations and Ghana-based Ashesi University, will focus on the specific university missions directly addressing Africa’s own priorities.

The measures are closely tied to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The data collection for the rankings will include student surveys, meaning that the evaluations will also draw on learners’ experience of their universities.

 The rankings will be officially launched at the inaugural THE Sub-Saharan Africa Universities Forum, hosted at Ashesi University on Monday 26 June. The new rankings are expected to help African universities compete more equally on the world stage and help identify key areas for improvement.

Photo courtesy / wikimedia

Article by Jed Mwangi

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/launches-new-africa-focused-ranking-partnership

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