Decolonization of Higher Education
This governance-centered course explores how colonial and neocolonial institutional models persist in African universities — legal statutes, administrative structures, leadership practices, funding, language policy, ranking systems, and QA frameworks — and how to reconstruct Africa-centered institutions grounded in African values, communal decision-making, and epistemic sovereignty. Differentiated from DECOL101 (curriculum decolonization) by its focus on institutional governance and systemic reform.
AFK 402 examines the colonial origins and architecture of the African university, the neocolonial institutional logics that persist today, and the reconstruction of Africa-centered governance grounded in African values, communal decision-making, and epistemic sovereignty. The course closes with continental frameworks (Agenda 2063, CESA, ASG-QA, PAQAF, AQRM) and a capstone in institutional transformation. It is differentiated from DECOL101 by its whole-of-institution governance focus rather than curriculum.
Instruction & Evaluation
Online / Asynchronous (Self-Paced with Faculty Mentorship)
Self-paced modular instruction with continuous continental access via the CAA Member Portal, supplemented by faculty moderation.
Continuous Assessment & Practical Portfolio
Assessment comprises weekly reflective engagement (20%), two analytical essays on institutional architecture and neocolonial logics (30%), a governance audit/analysis (20%), and a whole-of-institution transformation capstone presented and defended (30%).
What You Will Master
- Explain the colonial origins and statutory architecture of the African university and the continuity thesis
- Analyze neocolonial institutional logics — funding, managerialism, language policy, rankings, and partnerships — that persist today
- Apply African values such as Ubuntu, consensus, stewardship, and communitarian personhood to governance design
- Redesign institutional governance structures (councils, senates, leadership) on Africa-centered principles
- Evaluate continental frameworks including Agenda 2063, CESA, ASG-QA, and the African Quality Rating Mechanism
- Design and defend a whole-of-institution transformation capstone project
4 Modules
The Colonial Origins and Architecture of the African University
This module traces Africa's precolonial higher-learning traditions and the colonial imposition of university models, then examines how post-independence institutional structures continued colonial governance under neocolonial conditions — from legal statutes to the state-university relationship.
2 Lessons
How Neocolonial Institutional Logics Persist Today
This module examines the contemporary institutional logics through which colonial structures persist — funding crises, marketization and managerial governance, language policy, global rankings, and asymmetric partnerships — and the prestige economy that reinforces dependency.
2 Lessons
Reconstructing Africa-Centered Governance and Leadership
This module turns from critique to construction: it grounds governance in African values, Ubuntu ethics, and communal decision-making traditions, then redesigns institutional structures — councils, senates, leadership selection — on Africa-centered principles with communitarian accountability.
2 Lessons
Continental Frameworks and the Systemic Reform Agenda
This capstone module situates institutional reform within continental frameworks — Agenda 2063, CESA, STISA, ASG-QA, PAQAF, the African Quality Rating Mechanism, and the Addis Ababa Convention — and guides participants in designing a whole-of-institution transformation project.
2 Lessons
Weekly Topics
Ready to enrol in AFK402?
Access this course, study modular pedagogical frameworks, and earn verified CPD credits through the CAA member portal.
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