Meeting report: Ad hoc Experts group meeting on 'reforms in higher education and the use of information technology in Africa

Abstract

The Economic Commission (ECA), along with the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa organized an Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting on "Reforms in Higher Education and the Use of Information Technology in Africa". Participants were drawn from Africa, as well as from UN agencies such as UNESCO and UNDP, the African Development Bank and Africa's development partners such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For the better part of the past two decades, African countries have invested significantly in primary education, and to some extent, in secondary education. The emphasis on primary education was driven by two arguments. First, many studies showed significant growth effects of primary and secondary education investment. Second, tertiary education was widely perceived to be a private good.