GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR
SUSTAINABLE QUALITY UNIVERSITY
EDUCATION IN TANZANIA
By
Daniel Mkude
September 2012
Outline of Presentation
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Introduction
Understanding governance
University governance in historical perspective
Rise of corporate governance
Role of good governance
Challenges to good governance
Concluding remarks
Introduction
• University education in Tanzania is less than
52 years old.
• Number of university status institutions has
risen to 45, programs being offered to 500 and
enrolment is currently at 140,000.
• The huge increase occurred during the last 17
years.
Introduction
• In the light of the theme of the Forum, three
questions may be posed:
• Whether the growth is a product of good
governance magic applied in 1995;
• Whether the growth is reliably qualityassured;
• Whether the growth is sustainable.
Introduction
• Aim of presentation:
• To provoke thinking about what drives this
tremendous growth and what governance
powers can be invoked to ensure sound and
sustainable higher education development.
Understanding governance
• Governance is a metaphorical concept
derived from the transportation industry. The
running of an organization is conceptualized in
terms of the process of steering a vehicle
towards a set destination. The comparison
focuses on the flexibility skills required to
navigate successfully towards one’s destiny.
Understanding governance
• In practice, the word governance does not
provoke thoughts of steering but thoughts of
power or authority to make thinks happen,
even without making any physical move.
• The sum-total of tools used to make things
happen in an organization is what constitutes
governance. They include structures,
legislations, rules, procedures, processes etc
Understanding governance
• The most central and critical feature of
governance is decision making. Decisions
generate structures, policies, rules,
procedures, etc which are the navigational
tools of power in organizations.
• Governance power is therefore a resource
which the person possessing it can exploit
either positively or negatively.
University governance
• The university is one of the oldest institutions
in the world. It has a wealth of experience in
decision making in an academic environment.
• Governance arrangements for universities
tend to be alike: three key entities, three
principles and two values.
University governance
• Three entities[ key locations of decision
making]
• Council: Ultimate authority for governance is
vested by the STATE in the Council.
• The Academic Senate: Within agreed
principles, responsible for academic matters
of the institution.
University Governance
• The Vice-chancellor and Management Team.
The Council delegates its authority to the
Executive Head of the institution. The
executive head exercises that authority
through the deputies, deans, directors and
other officials.
• There are three governance principles which
are held in high esteem in most traditional
universities.
University Governance
• Delegation: Cascading power down the
hierarchy is a wise strategy for promoting
efficiency and enhancing quality in decision
making.
• Consultation: communication and
participation in decision making enhances
collegial relationships and mutual respect.
University Governance
• Representation: recognition of the value of
diverse opinions in decision making.
• There are two complementary values that are
highly cherished:
• Academic freedom: unhindered search for
ultimate truth.
• Institutional independence or autonomy
University governance
• Characteristic tendencies:
• Highly decentralized and fragmented in
structure;
• Wide diffusion of decision making power;
• Inward-looking, relatively small and elitist.
Nevertheless, generously funded and highly
respected!
Rise of corporate governance
• Soaring demands for expansion of enrolments
and decreasing financial ability by
Government to meet demands around the
1980s resulted in exerting pressure to change
the governance structures along the following
lines:
• Institutions should be more responsive to
socio-economic demands;
Governance ctd
• Autonomy should be coupled with
accountability;
• Independent bodies to evaluate institutional
performance periodically;
• Institutions must diversify sources of funding
and become more reliant.
The traditional collegial mode of governance
could not accommodate this.
Governance ctd
• The governments used financial muscle to
change from collegial to corporate governance
using business models of management. Some
of the characteristic features:
• Centralization of power
• Fewer levels of decision making
• Strategic plan as a key management tool
• Value for money as guiding principle for
measuring usefulness of programs.
Role of good governance
• The notion of good governance was coined to
help tackle abuses of governance power. One
of the fertile sources of abuse of power is the
application of market or business-like
principles to public institutions. The World
Bank is at the forefront of this effort because
the abuse is rampant in developing countries.
Role of good governance
• Tanzania has developed a national framework on
good governance. The objective of the
framework is to help facilitate improved
coordination of the various governance reforms
and to identify specific areas for a targeted
approach in supporting Government initiative.
• There is a tendency to think that political,
economic and social liberalization tends to fuel
abuse of governance power.
Governance in HE
• Good governance is important also for higher
education institutions since they too have
enormous governance power. With the
liberalization of higher education
establishment and management , there is a
need to uphold principles and practices that
will continue to maintain the quality of
education that will be beneficial to the
country..
Governance in HE
• The governance magic that is responsible for
the enormous expansion of HE in Tanzania is
liberalization and privatization coupled with
loan facilitation.
• The tremendous growth poses significant
challenges to safeguarding quality. The
deployment of quality assurance tools
requires financial resources.
Challenges
• Tanzania Vision 2025 states that “Education
should be treated as a strategic agent for
mindset transformation”.
• Can we rely on market forces alone to
determine the quality of education we need?
• Although with privatization the role of
government is bound to change, this should
lead to disengagement but strategic stable
funding and policy steering arrangements.
Challenges
• Role of HE in national development not
clearly articulated. A study by HERANA has
argued that universities are not having a
significant impact on development because of
a lack of pact between the Government, the
universities and society. Governance is
facilitated when one knows clearly where
he/she is steering the institution to.
Challenges
• Delegation with accountability: Good
governance also entails having the capacity to
implement one’s decisions. The power to
decide should go hand in hand with the power
to implement. There are cases where
universities make decisions but have no power
to implement them. This is not good
governance.
Concluding remarks
• Two proposals:
• Can we attempt to develop a university
framework for good governance? It could
comprise of such elements as A strategic plan,
A financial plan, a set of core performance
indicators etc
Concluding remarks
• Can we think of establish a HE research and
development center for the country? It would
serve three functions: Database of HE
information, Platform for HE research and a
Coordinator of HE training and development
programs.
• Thank you for you attention.