Tiana Silva
Africa-Press – Cape verde. The main higher education establishments in Cape Verde say they have everything ready for the start of the new academic season. More than a retaking of the path traveled and traced so far, some hope, in this new start, to challenge their academic community for the new times. Without, however, leaving aside another no less important challenge, that of the universities’ financial survival.
Once again, the Lusófona University of Cape Verde begins its degree courses, in the organic units of Mindelo and Praia, on September 13, 2022.
Next are the University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV), the Jean Piaget University (UniPiaget), the Higher Institute of Economic and Business Sciences (ISCEE) and the Technical University of the Atlantic (UTA), which start the academic year on 03 of October. And, in the second week of the month, it will also be time for the University of Santiago, which starts on the 10th of that month.
At Uni-CV, in the three poles (Praia, Mindelo and Assomada) there are 2170 vacancies available and preparations are “going at a good pace”, according to its rector to A NAÇÃO, José Arlindo Barreto.
“Our team started working early; the first phase of applications ended on the 20th of July with 888 applications. The second one, started on the 29th of July until the 9th of September, having so far about 200 candidates”.
With the offer of 40 undergraduate courses, 16 masters, one doctorate, four specialization courses and four professional courses, Uni-CV expects to host between 1100 and 1400 students this year, which makes it the largest university in the country.
Not far from Uni-CV’s main campus, in Palmarejo Grande, in the city of Praia, is UniPiaget, which is still in the completion phase of the previous academic year, however, they already have perspectives for the academic year 2022-2023.
“In September we concluded the current academic year, but we are already organizing the next academic year, working with various scenarios as a result of the global context that is unfavorable for higher education”, says Joanita Rodrigues.
“It is not easy to make predictions in a context full of uncertainties, but we hope to have a reasonable score for students in the three study cycles, licentiate, master and doctorate”, he reinforces.
At the undergraduate level, UniPiaget offers 14 active courses, in four areas, namely, social and human, economic, legal and political, health and the area of exact and technological sciences.
In view of this, there are six master’s degrees in the graduate program, and the dean guarantees that “we are waiting for the completion of the accreditation process for two more integrated master’s degrees, one in biotechnology and the other in pharmaceutical sciences. Still in postgraduate studies, we have an already approved PhD in Development and Global Sustainability, which should start in January 2023”.
With its headquarters on the Bolanha campus, Assomada, UniSantiago, likewise, prepares the new academic year with 14 undergraduate and eight master’s courses. According to its dean Gabriel Fernandes, in this new year, the bet is on the “principle of inseparability between teaching, research and extension”.
And he clarifies: “We are convinced that the university cannot be confined only to classrooms, but must also share everything it produces and knows with the community where it is inserted and, consequently, we will continue distance learning, as we are a country archipelagic”.
The trend, and the expectation, according to the rector of Uni-Santiago, is to receive about 500 students for the year 2022-2023.
Challenges
As always, a new year brings great expectations, but also some challenges that are related to numerous issues. One of them is the economic factor and, at the end of the chain, the financial sustainability of universities in a country of half a million inhabitants, therefore, with a reduced market for so much higher education offer.
In the case of Uni-Santiago, being located in the interior of the island of Santiago, by itself, “it faces several challenges”, from the outset, “the weak economic power of families that live mainly on agriculture income”, where the appeal or the The temptation of training abroad is also great.
Joanita Rodrigues follows the same line, saying that one of UniPiaget’s main challenges is centered on the institution’s financial sustainability.
“The biggest constraints are linked to the current economic situation in Cape Verde and the world, with an impact on the loss of financial capacity of students and families who are unable to honor their tuition fees” and, consequently, “this reflects directly on the university that fails to honor its commitments to its teachers in a timely manner”.
That dean also recalls that, in general, whatever the university, it “does not only have the salaries of the teaching staff”. “There are also other associated costs that have to be honored. And, with the pandemic in 2020, with the lockdown model that was seen everywhere, world economies fell freely and with Cabo Verde being a country dependent on third parties, the effects of the crises were felt and with a lot of impact. in higher education”, he adds.
Teaching for the new academic year
José Arlindo Barreto reveals that Uni-CV has a total of 479 professors, 48.2% women and 51.8% men. Even so, he confirms the existence of a lack of professors, sometimes, in certain areas. “Due to the diversification of important training offers for the country, we still lack trained teachers”, he admits.
Another reason has to do with the retirement of teachers and the increase in the number of classes, meaning that Uni-CV is not always able to meet the existing demand.
The same happens at UniPiaget. However, Joanita Rodrigues says that this is a challenge, in the case of her institution, in the process of being resolved: “In some areas there is, yes, some shortage of professors, but, at the moment, we have many manifestations of interest from highly qualified people. who want to teach at UniPiaget, which is good”.
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