World Bank plans for Mali’s tattered universities

The World Bank is developing a comprehensive project to rehabilitate Mali’s struggling public universities, which have been drained of highly qualified teaching staff, lack degree diversification and are housed in inappropriate rental spaces in the capital Bamako.

According to Pierre Joseph Kamano, the project’s team leader, universities in Mali are in urgent need of revitalisation as they have deteriorated to the point of being unable to produce graduates with the skills required by the country’s labour market.

“There is limited emphasis on learning inputs such as books and scientific documentation, information and computer technology, laboratory equipment and supplies, research activities, staff recruitment and development, and investment in infrastructure,” says Kamano.

The situation is compounded by uncontrolled student admissions, high repetition rates and overcrowding.

Read the full story here.