Pan African University - German Cooperation Programme Newsletter July 2018 advancing africa A quarterly newsletter by the German Development Cooperation Programme supporting the Pan African University (PAU) and the Pan African Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES) informing about the development of the PAU as well as milestones and results of the support processes. This newsletter is developed and coordinated by GIZ with contributions of KfW and DAAD. Implemented by:
Institutional Development Strategic Planning Is Gathering Speed - F. Ruess of students from all regions of Africa, through the implementation of different activities and communication efforts highlighting the successes of female students and graduates. In 2018 PAU has 964 students - 277 females and 687 males. The different institutes and its areas of study are: PAULESI - Institute for Life and Earth Sciences in Nigeria PAUSTI - Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation in Kenya PAUWES - Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (including Climate Change) PAUGHSS - Institute for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences in Cameroon For more information about the successful stories and the initiatives of students and alumni check out the PAUWES community section. Striving for Excellence Process to Establish a Quality Culture Started - J. Hericks Strategic Planning Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The PAU rectorate, institute directors, higher education experts, representatives of the PAU strategic planning committee and GIZ project representatives met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to review the draft strategic plan document and discuss the way forward. During the workshop, the participants identified development areas of strategic importance such as quality, relevance, financial sustainability and the staff structure. The strategy will outline the uniqueness of PAU as an institution of the African Union, its link to agenda 2063 and will draw a picture of the strategic development of PAU for the next five years. The next step in the process is a validation workshop, which is planned to take place in October 2018. Academic Affairs A Commitment with Excellence in Higher Education - L. Osorio Quality Workshop in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. To promote excellence at PAU, it is of utmost importance to foster quality with regard to teaching, research, and management. To establish a culture of continuous improvement, PAU with the support of GIZ started the development of a quality assurance concept. On 30th May 2018, the process started with a kick-off workshop, where the PAU rectorate, the institute directors, experts from the renewed research Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) and GIZ met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Figure: Number of graduated students from the first three cohorts. - Source: Dr. Gilles, PAU, March 2018 The PAU was created with the aim of closing the gaps in the African higher education landscape with a dedication to excellence in the different regions of the continent. Since the establishment of the university, PAU has admitted more than 1,300 students and has graduated 419 students, including 124 females and 295 males. In order to further align these achievements with the goals stipulated in the African Union s Agenda 2063, such as attaining gender equality in all spheres of life and the African cultural renaissance, PAU is committed to increasing the number of female applicants and the number Based on a participative and consultative approach, the participants identified the key quality priorities for PAU. The process will run for eight months and PAU with the support of GIZ will develop an initial quality framework. 2 2018 Newsletter Newsletter 2018 3
Number of Student Applications at PAUWES Is Increasing - J. Hericks Entrepreneurship & Employability Embedding Entrepreneurship into the Curriculum at PAUWES - N. Allal Figure: Purpose of Transformative Education Figure: Statistics of the applications of the top 5 countries - Submissions Report 2018 by PAU, 30-April-2018 Submissions Report 2018 by PAU, report final full, 30-April-2018Students subscription PAUWES 2017, 15.06.2017 The PAUWES student call 2018/19 was launched in the 55 member states of the African Union in March this year. The institutes circulated the call to attract potential students, through press releases in the four official languages of the AU (Arabic, English, French and Portuguese), social and digital media campaigns targeting female students to increase visibility in Southern African countries. The grand total of applicants for this year was 1961 people (411 female and 1550 male) (see figure: Statistics of the applications of the top 5 countries), which represents a significant increase when compared with last year (155 female, 658 male) particularly for female applicants. With 236 submissions, Algeria is ranked as the number 1 country, holding the largest number of applications, followed by Nigeria with 185, Rwanda with 139, Ghana with 134 and Chad with 121. With regard to gender,algeria is at the top of the list with 90 female submissions followed by Rwanda with 35, Cameroon with 30, Kenya with 27 and Ghana with 25. PAUWES received applications from 49 countries of the AU (in 2017: 42) and obtained 78 applications from Southern African Countries, among those Zimbabwe with 34 and Mozambique with 1. Creating Linkages to the Practice World Curriculum Review Workshop At PAUWES - N. Allal The PAUWES (Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences - including Climate Change), curriculum review process started on March 2018 and part of the process was to organise a workshop with employers from the water and energy sectors in Africa. The idea in this second phase, was to get employers perspectives on the existing curricula and to understand the current labour market trends, particularly trends in the water and energy industries. The 2-day event started on the 14th of May in Tlemcen, Algeria where team members of PAUWES, GIZ and external experts discussed the current structure of the 4 master tracks and the existing linkages to the practice world. This included identifying the key competencies needed for the labour market and the added value that PAUWES brings as a Pan African institution. 4 PAUWES alumni were also part of the event where they reflected about their academic life at PAUWES, their recent experience as graduates and the bridge in between. The feedback of the employers and practice world actors will be taken up to the third and last curriculum review stage, which will focus on implementing the feedback on the curriculum canvas. As part of the Entrepreneurship Hub yearly programme there are activities and workshops that aim to equip the PAU(WES) staff and students with a certain entrepreneurial mind-set. In this regard, The PAU Management Capacitation Workshop took place in Tlemcen, Algeria between the 19th and 21st of April. The event was organised and facilitated by the Sustainability Institute and counted the PAU rector, institutes directors and their respective team members working on students affairs, and employability and entrepreneurship. The workshop triggered conversations and debates about entrepreneurship education - how does it enhance and improve practices within higher education institutions, and how to place students at the centre of the education process. The transformative education model was presented at the workshop 1) to transform student s mind, 2) to connect with their heart (empathy) and 3) to develop their capacity to do things (see figure: Purpose of Transformative Education). The workshop ended on a high note when the participants realised that the transformative (entrepreneurial education) combines both research and practice. PAUWES Community KfW News - Vivian becomes an engineer n Africa, only eight percent of school graduates go on to university, far less than the global average. An initiative promoted by KfW intends to improve Africa s higher education landscape. This includes expanding the Pan African University (PAU). Vivian Ogechi is a Nigerian citizen and was among the first to graduate in Algeria from the university established in 2013. Why she chose PAUWES? Read more about Vivian s story. Vivian Ogechi at PAUWES. 4 2018 Newsletter Newsletter 2018 5
How PAUWES students are helping in the fight against Climate Change in Africa - H. Antwi PAUWES student Events Hammond Antwi, Energy Policy student at PAUWES PAUWES students are making progress in their various fields of study and outside the lecturer s classrooms, with passion driven ideas and innovative solutions that wield the potential to solve many of the confronting challenges in Africa and to a far extent the world at large. One of such students who is keen in helping to build a resilient Africa in the face of climate change is Sarpong Hammond Antwi, an MSc Energy Policy student from Ghana. Together with his colleagues, they have begun a journey of advocacy, networking, researching and gender mainstreaming as other means to address the threatening impact of climate change. Over a few months, since conceiving the idea of bringing colleagues together to form a group with a common voice on climate change, they have organized a series of webinars and programmes that attracted speakers and participants from around the world. Amongst the very high profiling experts, they have engaged with: Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) whose in-depth presentation of Desertification and its horrid effect on livelihood in Africa triggered the interest of some students to undertake innovative and responsible research into how to sustainably mitigate and combat desertification, which is spreading at a speedy pace in Africa. Dr Jenny Lieu from TRANSrisk partner SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit of Sussex University-UK talked about low carbon transition pathways and the associated risks and uncertainties with emphasis on the African context. The PAU- WES community celebrated the World Environmental Day on June 5th, with participants presenting innovative ideas and products that could help tackle plastic pollution. They had Professor Jabulani Gumbo of Vende University in South Africa as the guest speaker. Prof. Jabulani s presentation also brought to light, how municipal waste disposal sites could be a potential source of mining precious minerals such as gold, silver and aluminium. Hammond s team embarked on a continent-wide survey to assess the knowledge of students on climate change in Africa- this survey is current- ly under review for publication. The large-scale study collected responses from many parts of Africa and its findings and recommendations are set to influence climate change policies on the continent. The impact of Hammond and his fellow colleagues is already attracting international attention. Hopefully between October 19-21 2018, he together with three other PAUWES students will be at the Clinton Global Initiative University in Chicago- USA where they will be talking and sharing their experiences with other change makers and social entrepreneurs from around the world on areas such as: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. 6 2018 Newsletter Newsletter 2018 7
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