Strategic leadership and performance improvements in higher education and research institutes in Sudan
Strategic leadership and performance improvements in higher education and research institutes in Sudan
القيادة الاستراتيجية وتحسين الأداء في مؤسسات التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي في السودان
Strategic leadership and performance improvements in higher education and research institutes in Sudan
Part of Sudan Knowledge Smart Development Conference 2019
Monday 6th – Tuesday 7th January 2020
10:00-14:00, Khartoum, Sudan
University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
Today, more than ever before in human history, the wealth or poverty of nations depends on the quality of Higher Education (HE) institutions (universities, colleges and research institutes). Revolutionary breakthroughs in the knowledge economy are leading to remarkable changes in the way forward-looking nations capacitate their graduates. In this era of global skills and knowledge race, all HE institutions cannot fail to realise, accept and accomplish its natural and ascribed roles as a strategic agent for national development. HE must confront new realities rapidly manifesting themselves in a diversely complex and fast-changing world.
Business as usual will not suffice. HE need to be expansively re-focused in order to become more sensitive and responsive to its mission of developing graduates and researchers who, in addition to conventional graduate training, are also able to fight the intellectual battle for self-confidence and self-assertion as equal players in the global and intensely competitive knowledge economy. It is therefore very important for all HE institutions to undertake robust national and international accreditation process. And although international accreditation opens more opportunities for any institution but both accreditations are of equal importance in their own aspects.
Whilst there has been a tremendous growth in size, the expansion of HE in almost all Arab countries including Sudan has caused average quality of education to decline as resources are stretched increasingly thin. Essentially, the expansion has been less differentiated and, therefore, ill-planned to confront emergent development needs. Rather, what is evident is a stupendous replication of traditional disciplinary-based techniques of knowledge production. These have, nevertheless, increased the richness of knowledge about the universe we live in but without apparently translating or transforming the catchment societal environments in terms of measurable productive capacities. There are also grave concerns that HE in most Arab countries is becoming increasingly obsolete which, in part, is why development programmes are stultified even from the outset. There are also serious issues regarding the under-performance in research – state of academic research is less-than-satisfactory in almost all universities in the Arab countries. Therefore, all HE institutions in Sudan must confront the ‘new realities’ evident in the environments in which they operate. Many scholars and policy makers have called for a transformative innovation agenda which embraces radical change for new synthesis and approaches for transforming HE in Sudan.
Youth in Sudan are growing fast and any government in Sudan expects universities and research institutes to make a leading contribution by producing graduates ready to grasp the various opportunities generated in the digital economy. It is therefore important that all HE institutions and societies to consider the youth in all their curriculum design, programs development as well as fulfilling their role as major agents in the realisation of the various future strategic visions in most countries in the region. According to recent reports by the World Bank, with a large youth representation and youth unemployment ratio, the Arab region faces a potential crisis and the education sector should be reformed to include specific qualifications and specialisations in the digital economy. The private sector can play a larger role in helping governments and academia focus investments on high-priority and high demand skills, thus young students are ready for employment the moment they graduate.
- Develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects to leadership within HE, and to develop the essential skills and competencies necessary to plan, monitor and control different tasks and events.
- Develop an understanding of the different approaches to leadership and management to ensure HE is at peace with itself.
- How HE institutions can reposition and rebrand themselves as an excellent provider of transformative education and research, achieve national and international recognition.
- How HE institutions can handle effectively the changing expectations of students; researchers; increased competition in the sector; reduction in income; changing technology and other issues.
- This workshop will also complement the different management skills already developed through earlier other (if any) management training and courses.
- How to ensure HE is confident about its future.
- In addition, participants will have insight into: critical analysis; interactive and team working; creativity; and problem solving.
World Association for Sustainable Development (WASD)
Sudn Knowledge (SK)
Middle Eastern Knowledge Economy Institute (MEKEI)
Environment and Natural Resources and Desertification Research Institute (ENDRI), National Centre for Research (NCR), Sudan
Centre for Islamic Finance Law and Communities (CIFLAC), University of East London, UK
Venue: University of Khartoum, Sudan
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