South African student protest, 1968: remembering the Mafeje sit-in Martin Plaut The student rebellions of 1968 across Europe and the United States received wide coverage in their fortieth an…
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In 2010, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) studies in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, examining, among other themes, the participation of students in the governance processes of universities, and what the level of participation means for the quality and academic mission of the universities. This chapter summarizes the findings of the studies, augmented by findings of other studies in this area.[1]
A discussion on the nature of student representation in African universities has to be approached from two facets, based on historical and contemporary trajectories. The first is to look at how the whole body of students as elite, has constituted itself to be the conscience of society, and the greater social good in their engagement both with the universities and the political system. The second is to examine the organizational spaces provided to students to organize and protect their interests, both welfare and academic, within the institutions. Both these two notions of student representation are replete in the literature and will be explored in this chapter.
[1] The author has undertaken research in this area, including Implications of privatization and private higher education on Access and Knowledge Production in Kenya (CODESRIA, 2008); Management and governance reforms in public universities in East Africa and the challenges to nurturing and sustaining academic leadership (On-Going research); and Comparing the Nature and Implications of corporatization trends in public universities in East Africa (CODESRIA, in press).
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In 2010, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) studies in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, examining, among other themes, the participation of students in the governance processes of universities, and what the level of participation means for the quality and academic mission of the universities. This chapter summarizes the findings of the studies, augmented by findings of other studies in this area.[1]
A discussion on the nature of student representation in African universities has to be approached from two facets, based on historical and contemporary trajectories. The first is to look at how the whole body of students as elite, has constituted itself to be the conscience of society, and the greater social good in their engagement both with the universities and the political system. The second is to examine the organizational spaces provided to students to organize and protect their interests, both welfare and academic, within the institutions. Both these two notions of student representation are replete in the literature and will be explored in this chapter.
[1] The author has undertaken research in this area, including Implications of privatization and private higher education on Access and Knowledge Production in Kenya (CODESRIA, 2008); Management and governance reforms in public universities in East Africa and the challenges to nurturing and sustaining academic leadership (On-Going research); and Comparing the Nature and Implications of corporatization trends in public universities in East Africa (CODESRIA, in press).
Observatory of Student Politics in Africa 