The need for a transformative approach to higher education. The cardinal role of higher education in generating knowledge, building human capital and translating knowledge into technological innovations is key to sustainable development and fostering the socio-economic well-being of a sustainable society. The societal benefit from higher education investment is largely realised when human capital translates knowledge and innovations into products and services that provide solutions to societal needs. Ultimately, this development trajectory should lead to vibrant business development concomitant with employment creation. The global youth population is expected to reach 1.3 billion by 2030, with the majority projected to be concentrated in Africa. Theoretically, such a vast youth population should be a driver for social well-being, wealth creation and economic growth and prosperity in Africa. Unfortunately, the reality is that youths in Africa are mainly redundant and lack decent employment, with educated graduates worst affected. This redundant youth population is a potential recipe for instigation and propagation of instability and conflict. It has become a key factor contributing to the African migrant crisis on the European high seas! This situation raises a question about how higher education institutions in Africa should be transformed to contribute to sustainable society and wellbeing. This thought piece presents Gulu University’s experience of strategic institutional transformation that African higher education institutions may undertake to position themselves as drivers of community socio-economic transformation.
The historical context underpinning Gulu University’s choice of transformative education. Northern Uganda, the location of Gulu University, experienced a protracted 30-years of armed conflict between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army from the mid-80s to mid-2000. The conflict caused colossal loss of property and life, destruction of people’s livelihoods, and immense social disorder. This situation called for a pragmatic approach to restoring socio-economic order to enable community development. At its inception in 2002, Gulu University took cognisance of the dire socio-economic conditions of post-conflict communities in Northern Uganda and deliberately modelled itself as an engaged higher education institution. This orientation was “cemented” by strategically directing the university’s motto, “For Community Transformation”, to explicitly reflect an outward look toward community needs. Read more here
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