Creation of the University of Buea [UP]
In 1992/93 a series of presidential decrees transformed the Higher Education landscape profoundly by dissolving the University of Yaounde and creating six new universities. Decree No. 92/074 of 13 April 1992 transformed the university centres of Buea and Ngaoundere into fully-fledged universities. Another Decree, No. 93/026 of 19 January 1993, created the universities of Yaounde I and II, of Douala and of Dschang. Whilst Decree No. 93/027 of the same date, defined common conditions for operation of the universities of Cameroon, Decree No. 93/034, also of 19 January 1993, organised the University of Buea. The reforms introduced by the above decrees were aimed at improving the performance of higher education. Specifically the reforms were aimed at achieving among others, the following objectives:
- To increase the participation of different stakeholders in financing higher education institutions;
- To provide universities with more academic and management autonomy;
- To provide all Cameroonians equal opportunity to obtain university education;
- To expand and increase higher education opportunities and make university programmes more professional and more responsive to market forces;
- To make rational and optimal use of existing infrastructure, facilities and services.
Evolution of the University [UP]
Despite the economic crisis facing the country in the early 90s, the University of Buea started off boldly in May 1993 with 768 students enrolled in the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) and the following three faculties:
- The Faculty of Arts with degree programmes in English, English and French, and History;
- The Faculty of Science with programmes in Chemistry, Life Sciences, Geology, Physics and Mathematics;
- The Faculty of Social and Management Sciences with programmes in Economics, Law and Geography.
Academic staff were transferred from the defunct University of Yaounde and the Ministry of Scientific Research to run these programmes. Part-time lecturers from the University of Yaounde I were also used extensively.
Even though the Faculty of Health Sciences existed in 1993, it only admitted its first batch of students in 1997/1998. The Department of Education operated in the Faculty of Arts until the 1998/1999 year when it became an independent Faculty.
Student Enrolment [UP]
Student enrolment increased from 768 in 1992/93 to 4,704 in 1999/98. Enrolment was controlled by use of admission quotas for each discipline. Access was therefore very selective and based on objective criteria related to performance at the General Certificate of Education and Baccalaureat examinations. However, because of the growing number of school leavers and a modest increase in the capacity of our lecture halls and laboratories, student enrolment rose steadily to 5,380 in the 1998/99 academic year, 7,283 in 2002/03 and finally to 10,295 in 2006/07. It is noted that, because of limited classroom space, only about two thirds of students who apply for admission are presently admitted. The competition for places is keener in some professional programmes, where as few as 1 out of 10 applicants are admitted.
Funding [UP]
Funds to run the University come, for the most part from the State. State subvention has recurrent and investment components. The University generates revenue principally from registration fees. In 2007 such self-generated income accounted for about 35% of the University's budget whilst expenditure on investment accounted for about 22% of the budget. Academic staff of the University also obtain research grants from foreign partners. For the 2006/07 year such grants which were worth 200,000,000F represent a mere 4% of the University's budget of 5,151,188,000F for 2007.
Infrastructure [UP]
The number of lecture halls of various capacities (50-650) is currently 35. There are also six science teaching laboratories and a central library. These halls are used by the 10,295 students who take a total of about 350 courses each week. Due to the large class sizes which are often split into several groups, the halls and laboratories have become grossly insufficient for all modes of teaching if lectures are not to spill over into the night.
Teaching [UP]
The University currently has five Faculties and one School. Each of them has a number of departments which are in charge of one or more academic programmes. At the moment the total number of departments is 25 and that of programmes 32. The problem faced by most departments is that of large enrolment in relation to the small number of lecturers.
Teaching Staff [UP]
The distribution and quality of teaching staff and students across faculties in the 2006/07 year is given in Table 2. The table shows that junior staff predominate in some faculties i.e. some faculties have very high number of lecturers who do not hold the PhD or equivalent degree and staff quality as well as high student to staff ratios. The mean student to staff ratios are, however, misleading because class sizes vary between 300 and 1000 for courses that are common to many programmes especially in the first and second years of the undergraduate degrees.
Research Mandate [UP]
The Research mandate of the University of Buea is spelt out in Decree No. 93/034 of 19 January 1993 as follows:
- Encourage, promote and conduct research in all fields of learning and human endeavour;
- Contribute to national development and promote social and cultural values.
Research Mission [UP]
The University of Buea will conduct research for sustainable development and to enhance the quality of life of Cameroonians. Both fundamental and applied research will be done to address issues of local, national and global concern as well as those of relevance to industry.
Outreach and Cooperation Activities [UP]
Outreach and cooperation activities of the University seek to create strategic alliances with institutions and organisations at home and abroad, in order to exploit the opportunities of an increasingly globalised world. The University of Buea therefore has linkages with many foreign universities and cooperation with some international organisations. The linkages usually aim at the exchange of staff and students whilst international organisations usually assist our University with capacity building of staff and funding for research. There is also increasing collaboration with national institutions and enterprises. Whilst institutions provide support in teaching and research, enterprises, for now, only provide facilities for practical training of students. There is therefore great potential for growth in the collaboration of enterprises in the areas of research and development.
Another area of an outreach activity is the establishment of partnerships with private institutions of higher education. The aim of these partnerships is to help young private institutions grow in stature to produce graduates with skills corresponding to the needs of the job market.
Information and Communication Technologies [UP]
The main campus currently has a campus-wide optical network linking most but not all buildings. Internet connectivity is provided via a VSAT link, but only a modest number of computers have internet interconnectivity. There is limited automation of student records processing and no automation of personnel records, nor the administrative machinery. Local Area Networks (LANs) within the buildings to facilitate IT services are almost non-existent. Deployment of ICT for teaching and research is timid. The University lacks an informal portal, or even a functional web site.
By Decree No. 2005/383 of 17 October 2005 the Head of State enunciated a new policy on university governance which lays emphasis on effectiveness, efficiency and management principles based on rigor, transparency and results, for higher education. The new governance policy aims at academic, managerial and social transformation of higher education in Cameroon to make it more creative and productive in an environment which is increasingly competitive. This transformation has the following four principal components:
- The professionalisation of academic degree programmes through increasing their vocational contents;
- The creation of technological and professional institutes;
- The improvement of quality and relevance of programmes by the implementation of quality procedures and the application of the BMP system;
- The dynamisation of cooperation activities, establishment of collaborative ventures at the regional level and contribution to development;
- The acquisition of management techniques and improvement of assessment techniques;
The above transformation will take place in an environment for which the education sector plan stipulates the following objectives:
- An increased access to professional training at all levels to enable graduates find jobs;
- A doubling of the number of places in higher education;
- An improved quality of teaching;
- A reduction in failure rates;
- Programmes are created or revised in conformity with the BMP system;
- Exploitation of research results for sustainable development;
- Textbooks are accessible and available;
- An increased use of IT in teaching and training;
- Development of partnerships with the public and private sectors for programme development and implementation;
- Improvement of management and governance by provision of training in management techniques and improvement of financial management.
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