Africa: CODESRIA Child and Youth Studies Institute: 2008 Session

The CODESRIA Child and Youth Studies Institute: 2008 Session
Date: 03 – 30 September, 2008
Venue: Dakar, Senegal

Theme: The Youth in African Higher Education

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce the seventh session of its Child and Youth Studies Institute and invites interested scholars to send applications for consideration for selection as laureates, resource persons, and director in the session which is scheduled for September 2008. The Institute is an off-shoot of the Council’s Child and Youth Studies Programme and is designed to strengthen analytic capacity on all questions affecting children and the youth in Africa and elsewhere in the world. The impetus for the introduction of the Institute was strengthened by the critique emanating from African researchers of the content and context of the developmental crises facing the continent and the link between these problems and what is now generally referred to as the Child and Youth Question. The Institute is, therefore, designed as an annual multidisciplinary forum where participants can reflect together on a specific aspect of the conditions of children and the youth in Africa and, in so doing, contribute to the advancement of the frontiers of knowledge and policy. Each session is held over a period of four weeks under the leadership of a designated director.

For the 2008 session of the Institute, the theme that has been selected is The Youth in African Higher Education. This is a theme that has become crucial to explore not only because of the renewed recognition of the central role of higher education in democratic development but also on account of the rapid transformations taking place in African higher education which, on the face of it, should translate into expanded opportunities for access for the youth at a time of equally important demographic changes in African countries. Contemporary Africa has come a long way from the period when questions were posed as to the relevance, benefits and viability of higher education on the continent.

Today, not only has the principle been accepted that higher education in general and the university in particular do have a place in Africa, there is a tremendous growth in the number of institutions of higher learning which are in existence across the continent offering full-time programmes alongside the expansion of part-time and distance learning opportunities. Significantly, the complete monopoly or partial domination which the state once had in the provision of higher education is being broken with the licensing by governments of private providers. Indeed, given the rate of their establishment, it is clear that in several African countries, there are likely to be more private universities and other centres of higher education than public ones in the near future. Among the private institutions of higher education are many confessional ones founded on different religious doctrines which they seek, to a greater or lesser extent, to project into the organisation of campus life and the curriculum. Also, Africa has been a key market targeted by international providers seeking to take advantage of opportunities mid-wifed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to trade in educational services.

Yet, while the massive expansion in the higher education sector might appear at one level to signal an expansion of opportunity for the younger members of society to acquire advanced learning and training, at another level, there are several countervailing factors and processes at play that would seem to call for a deeper examination of what the transformation in African higher education might mean for the youth. For one, the state of the physical infrastructure and the infrastructure of learning in many institutions leaves a lot to be desired. For another, the massification in student numbers without a corresponding infrastructure expansion and an increase in the teaching faculty has adversely impacted upon the university/higher education experience for many young people, generating as a plethora of uncivil cultures and attitudinal shifts to which many are being socialised. Furthermore, challenges continue to exist with regard to the content of the curricular in differing higher education institutions and programmes with consequences for their relevance to the concerns, interests and circumstances of the youth. Also, the levying of tuition and non-tuition fees by many institutions of higher learning has introduced a strong dose of selectivity into the ability of the youth to access advanced training, all the more so given the sustained state of poverty and/or income collapse suffered by many households across the continent in the period since the beginning of the 1980s, and in the light of the uneven distribution of the benefits of growth that has taken place. Further still, the capacity of the higher education system to prepare the youth who are recruited for life after graduation has been limited, evidenced, for example, by difficulties encountered with employability upon the completion of studies. Finally, young Africans themselves are increasingly exploring alternative opportunities to higher education. Some of these alternatives are pursued as a function of the dysfunctionalities they feel about the higher education system vis-à-vis their interests and concerns. Through the 2008 session of the CODESRIA Child and Youth Studies Institute, participants are being invited to undertake a critical assessment of what, on the one hand, higher education means for the youth in Africa and how they attempt to make it work for them, and, on the other hand, the extent to which the higher education system meets the needs of the youth, however these needs may be defined. In undertaking the assessment, participants will be encouraged, at one level, to examine the youth both as a social category and the higher education system as a coherent, unified system and, at another level, to distinguish among different categories of youth and higher education institutions in order to tease out nuances that speak to the overarching objectives of the 2008 Institute. A critical question which the Institute will seek to address relates to the factors favouring the decision of some youths to enter and go through the higher education system, and correlation between those factors and their post-graduation experiences. The session will also explore the cultures which the youth as students have developed around the higher education system, the factors underpinning the cultures, and their impact on the environment of learning. Comparisons and contrasts between on and off-campus youth cultures will be undertaken given that a large proportion of students are compelled either by deliberate policy or on-campus accommodation shortages to live off-campus whilst studying. Similar comparisons could be pursued between confessional and non-confessional institutions of higher education in terms of the kinds of student/youth cultures that are in evidence. A critical part of campus culture are the student associations that are in place. In addition to a mapping of the types of associations that are active on the campuses of African higher education institutions, attention will be paid to their changing nature over time, the different youth constituencies they represent, and what their missions tell us about the immediate and larger hopes and ambitions of young people in the higher education system.

The aspirations which the youths carry into the higher education system, the shifts that have occurred over time in these aspirations and the extent to which they are realisable in the light of the nature and mode of functioning of the system will also be explored. Where possible, university youth aspirations and cultures will be compared and contrasted with non-university youth aspirations and cultures. Measures taken by administrators of the higher education system to respond to the youthful demographics of campuses, as well as strategies that have deployed to make higher education attractive to young people will be examined. Attention will be paid too to the gender dimensions of the youth engagement with the higher education system, including patterns of entry, participation, socialisation, domination, resistance and exit. From a broader societal point of view, the question will be addressed as to whether the higher education system is an effective site for the incubation of ambitions and innovation for autonomy and self reliance among the youth or a theatre where stalemates in the post-independence projects of development, democracy and unity are played out. For the purpose of exploring these different issues and undertaking their work, participants in the Institute will have access to the resources of the CODESRIA Documentation and Information Centre (CODICE) and the expertise of a team of experienced resource persons. Laureates Candidates wishing to be considered for selection as laureates in the Institute should normally be researchers based in African institutions and who have completed their university education/professional training. Furthermore, they should have a demonstrable interest in the Child and Youth Question. Self-sponsoring non-African candidates will also be considered for a limited number of spaces in the Institute. A total of 15 laureates will be selected from the applications received.

All candidates are required to submit an application which should include:
i) A letter of request for consideration for admission into the Institute, complete with all available contact details (e-mail, telephone, and fax);
ii) a research proposal of not more than ten pages linked clearly to the theme of the Institute and with a well-defined problematic;
iii) A current curriculum vitae;
iv) An official letter of institutional affiliation; and v) Two reference letters.

Resource Persons
Four resources persons will be selected to work with the Director of the Institute to animate the discussions and debates that would be held. The resource persons are required to deliver lectures which not only help the laureates to stimulate their reflections on the theme of the Institute but also to revise their research proposals. As such, the resource persons must have a strong scholarly track record on the Institute theme. Each resource person will be given a slot to make up to three presentations to the laureates; resource persons will also be encouraged to offer comments on the proposals of the laureates. Once selected, resource persons will be required to write up the presentations they would be making so that these can be circulated in advance to the laureates. After the Institute, they will be expected to revise their presentations for consideration for publication by the Council in a volume devoted to the theme of the session in which they participated.

Candidates wishing to considered for selection as resource persons are requested to:
i) Submit a letter of application;
ii) A copy of their curriculum vitae;
iii) An outline of not more than five pages of the issues they would like to tackle within the theme of the Institute and spread over three lectures of two hours each; and
iv) A reading list to accompany the presentation they would be making.

Director
The Director takes on the overall responsibility for managing the scientific sessions of the Institute not only in terms of designing an overall programme of presentations and discussions but also assisting the laureates to get the best out of the programme. The director is also expected to edit the proceedings of the Institute once the reports of the laureates and the revised papers of the resource persons are received. Candidates for this position should be accomplished scholars who will be able both to guide and inspire the laureates. Those wishing to be considered for this role are requested to send:
i) A letter of application;
ii) A copy of their curriculum vitae;
iii) A detailed course outline on the theme of the Institute and which should also be divided into sub-themes that they would wish to see covered during the Institute; and
iv) A bibliographic list to accompany the proposed course outline.

All applications received for consideration as laureates, resource persons and director will be screened by an independent selection committee made up of eminent scholars with expertise on the theme of the Institute. The deadline for the receipt of applications is: 16 June, 2008. Applications should be sent to:

The Child and Youth Studies Institute,
CODESRIA,
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop (Angle Canal IV),
BP 3304, CP 18524,
Dakar, Senegal.
Tel: +221-33 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221-33 824 12 89
E-Mail: [email][email protected]
Web Site: http://www.codesria.org