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Education, Science & Technology News

Twenty young lecturers benefit from China-EASTRIP TVET Scholarship Programme

Kampala, 17th August 2020 – Twenty young lecturers from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania Regional Flagship TVET Institutes (RFTIs) supported by the World Bank East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP) have been awarded scholarships to upgrade their qualification in Science and Technology to support advancement of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in East Africa.

The scholarships were awarded by the Chinese government, as part of the tripartite partnership between the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the People’s Republic of China through the Ministry of Education, and the World Bank to promote excellence in TVET and facilitate regional integration in East Africa.

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EASTECO holds 1st EAC Science, Technology and Innovation Conference in Kampala, Uganda

East African Science and Technology Commission Headquarters, Kigali, Rwanda, 28th October, 2019: The East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) in collaboration with the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the East African Business Council (EABC), and the East African Development Bank (EADB) held the 1st EAC Science, Technology and Innovation Conference (STI Conference), and the Academia-Public-Private-Partnership Forum (APPPF) Dialogue Session under the theme:  Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a Catalyst Towards Achievement of East Africa Community Vision 2050

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ACE Scholarship Program recipients for 2019 announced

Kampala (September 14, 2019): The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the Regional Facilitation Unit for the World Bank supported Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACE II) Project, has announced the recipients of the ACE Scholarship Program for 2019. A Call for Applications for Masters Fellowships targeting female students in the nine project participating countries of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique and Malawi was announced in March 2019. The aim of the competitive scholarship is to enhance the participation of young African female scientists at postgraduate level, encourage regional student mobility and identify and cultivate future leaders in the region. A total of 28 fellowships were awarded for the 2018/2019 academic year.

An Independent Selection Panel nominated from members of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) of the ACE II Project selected and recommended 32 applicants out of nearly 500 applicants for the 2019/2020 academic year. The selected candidates were found to have met all required conditions for the scholarship as specified in the Call.

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EAC Partner States working to harmonise education systems and curricula in the region

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 15th August 2019: East African Community Partner States are working to harmonise education systems and curricula in the region.

EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, said that the harmonisation would ensure quality and standardised education which would in turn guarantee skilled and tech-savvy manpower for the labour market in the region.

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Student Exchange Programme afoot as EAC marks 20th Anniversary

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th July, 2019: The Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), an institution of the East African Community (EAC), is currently running an advert for the nascent EAC Scholarship Programme.

The advert is basically inviting applications for Master’s degree scholarships tenable at universities in four EAC Partner States, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The advert, which runs from 5th July to 1st August, 2019, was first published in the 6th – 12th July edition of the weekly The East African newspaper. It is also available on the IUCEA website: https://iucea.org/

The number of available scholarships under the programme are 157 under six thematic areas, namely: Mathematics; Engineering; Informatics; Science; Technology, and; Business Science.

The EAC Scholarship Programme is the product of a financing agreement of €5 million signed between the EAC and the Federal Republic of Germany on 9th April, 2018. The scholarship programme is being implemented in cooperation with IUCEA and KfW, the German Development Bank.

The goal of the programme is to promote the integration agenda in East Africa by supporting higher education students. Scholarship beneficiaries will undoubtedly foster awareness about the integration, and spur social change and economic growth.

The programme is designed to support EAC students with academic talent and leadership qualities. In addition to the provision of scholarships, the EAC scholars will be actively facilitated through programme activities such as regional leadership seminars and mentoring schemes.

It is further anticipated that the beneficiaries of the scholarship programme will become highly skilled ‘change agents’ for their home communities as qualified professionals with a strong understanding of regional challenges, approaches and expertise in their subject fields.

The EAC region has a long history of cooperation in education particularly between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which are the founders of the Community. The EAC is cognizant of the fact that most of its aspirations can only be achieved through high quality and relevant education and training.

Under Article 103(a) of the EAC Treaty, Partner States undertook to promote cooperation in the development of science and technology, which are viewed as the prime movers of regional integration and development. The Community’s objective then is to develop a completely harmonized East African education system for the enhancement of a productive human resource base.

Inherent in a harmonized education system are: the establishment of a common reference to facilitate comparability, compatibility, equation and mutual recognition of education/training systems and qualifications among Partner States. There is also the shared view among Partner States on quality, criteria, standards and learning outcomes; promoting mobility of students and labour to foster integration, and; promotion of the region as a Common Higher Education Area.

The harmonization of education systems and curricula dates way back to the first Community. The EAC had a single examination system and same curricula. The University of East Africa (UEA) had its main campus in Makerere, Kampala, Uganda with affiliate colleges in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. In the early1970s, UEA split into three independent universities: the University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University in Uganda, and the University of Nairobi.

The EAC acknowledges that youth traditionally bring energy, drive and passion to any activity they embark on, and the integration process in East Africa is no exception. Added to this is the Community’s view that the youth will be the major beneficiaries of an integrated East Africa which is expected to bring with it various benefits which include, among other things, harmonized fees in institutions of higher learning, increased employment opportunities, better infrastructure, increased trade and investment, and socio-cultural integration. Some of the youth are already reaping these benefits of the integration.

The EA Scholarship Programme is modelled on the Erasmus Programme (EURopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) –an EU student exchange programme that was established in 1987.

Erasmus scholars study at least three months or undertake an internship of at least two months to an academic year in another European country. The programme has an in-built guarantee credit transfer scheme as long as the scholars abide by the terms previously set. A key component of the programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit. Scholars are also eligible to apply for an Erasmus grant to cover additional expenses occasioned by studying abroad.

For many EU students, Erasmus is their first time to live and study and abroad in another country. Erasmus has then become a cultural phenomenon and is highly popular among many students in Europe. The programme fosters learning and understanding of the host country.

The EAC on its part is convinced that the scholarship programme will help nurture a pan-East African identity among the youth. A year abroad will enable students to visit EAC Partner States other than the ones in which they were born and demystify any suspicions and mistrusts that could be inherent among citizens of one’s country vis-à-vis other countries. It will be a perfect opportunity for exposure of the youth to various peoples and cultures in East Africa.

As the EAC commemorates its 20th anniversary, it anticipates that the student exchange initiative engendered by the scholarship programme will foster regional integration by giving students a chance to live and learn in Partner States other than their own.

Going forward, the Community’s dream is that support for the scholarship programme will expand to include funding from philanthropists, Partner States’ governments, corporates and charitable foundations.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org

About the East African Community Secretariat:

The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. 

The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001:2008 Certified

World Bank, three Governments and IUCEA launch US$293 million regional skills development Project for East Africa

Addis Ababa, June 14, 2019: The Eastern Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP) has been launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Three East African countries will participate in the project including Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The project supports the development of highly specialized Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs as well as industry-recognised short term certificate level training, and will target regional priority sectors in transport, energy, manufacturing and ICT. EASTRIP will be financed by the World Bank as an IDA loan of $210 million and a grant of $83 million. $8 million of the grant will go to The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) to facilitate and coordinate the project and implement regional initiatives that would promote the mobility of students and faculty within and beyond the region and to establish a community of practice of TVET in the region.

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15th Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports concluded in Arusha

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 8th June, 2019: The 15th EAC Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports Concluded on Friday 7th June 2019 at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The 5-day meeting was convened to consider matters related to Education and Training; Culture and Sports; the East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC); the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA); and the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO).

Chairing the meeting, Mr. Samuel Mulindwa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Republic of Rwanda pointed out the important role of Education, Science and Technology and Innovation in the development of the East African Region.

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15th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports ongoing in Arusha

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 5th June, 2019: A five-day East African Community Sectoral Council Meeting on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports is currently ongoing at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The 15th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports started with the Session of Senior Officials on 3rd June, 2019 and ends Wednesday, 5th June, 2019. The Coordination Committee or the Session of Permanent/Principal/Under Secretaries will be held on Thursday, 6th June, 2019, and the Ministerial Session on Friday, 7th June, 2019.

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IUCEA awards US$1 million to establish incubation centers at Africa Centers of Excellence

Kampala, May 22nd, 2019:  The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), a Regional Facilitation Unit for the World Bank-supported Africa Centers of Excellence for East and Southern Africa Project (ACE II) has completed the process of selection of Incubation Centers to be hosted at four of the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACEs). Each Center will receive a financial award of US$ 250,000, a World Bank grant, as seed funds for the establishment of these regional Incubation Centers for East and Southern Africa. The ACEs selected to host the Incubation Centers are:

  1. ACEESD – African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development, University of Rwanda
  2. CREATES – Center for Research Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability in Food and Nutrition Security, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania
  3. PHARMBIOTRAC – Center for Pharm-Bio Technology and Traditional Technology, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda
  4. PTRE - Center of Excellence in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy based at Moi University, Kenya

IUCEA received 15 proposals in response to a call that was issued in June 2018. The call invited any African Center of Excellence participating in the ACE II Project to submit proposals to host Incubation Centers through a co-financing arrangement in the four priority areas of the ACE II Project which include health, industry, agriculture, and education/applied statistics. The proposals were evaluated through a rigorous 3-step process by an international team of experts with extensive experience in business incubation, start-ups creation and successful commercialization of innovations and covered a diverse array of important topics -- such as energy for sustainable development, innovative drugs development, food and nutrition security, among others -- that are critical to the development of the region. 

In the evaluation process priority was given to ACEs that already had good enough products that may require improvement, promotion for wider markets and potential for business incubation, i.e. the process of nurturing of early stage ventures to success. Another key criterion considered was the capacity to source additional sources of co-financing for the Center, to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the incubation center.

According to Dr. K. A. Appiah, a member of the Regional Steering Committee of the ACE II project who chaired the Independence Selection Panel, "the quality of the proposals that were submitted was quite high, and it was a difficult decision to have to select only 4 out of the 15 proposals submitted,” he said.  He added, “We hope that more funding can be made available by host governments and other institutions to fund other incubation centers. Our international team of experts were very impressed and eager to work with the selected ACEs to ensure that the selected incubation centers are successful in commercializing research innovations towards job creation and economic growth."

The selection panel recommended that although the fifth selected institution, Center for Innovative Drugs Development and Therapeutic Trials for Africa (CDT-Africa) could not be funded, the proposal “was one of the best and needed to be considered as a non-funded Incubation Center.”  

The IUCEA and the World Bank believe that such incubation centers will help build important linkages between academia and industry to help galvanize business growth in these priority areas that are critical to long-term growth and development of the region.

The World Bank believes strongly in the innovation potential of African research, as a key lever in the continued economic development of the continent, and these incubations centers will serve as important hubs where the impact of research can be transformed to commercial opportunities. We hope these centers will be the first among many to follow,” said Dr. Roberta Malee Bassett, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank and Task Team Leader for ACE II Project.

The Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACE II) Project supports the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia in strengthening selected African Centers of Excellence (ACEs) to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the priority areas of (i) Industry, (ii) Agriculture, (iii) Health, (iv) Education, and (v) Applied Statistics.

For more information contact:

Agnes Asiimwe Okoth
Information and Communication Officer
Mob: +256-783 724-489
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.ace2.iucea.org/

Regional Integration Key to Building Mass of Qualified Scientists – Hon. Mutimura

Kigali, November 12, 2018 - The Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence Project (ACE II) is holding its sixth Technical and Advisory meeting at the Serena Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, from November 12th to 14th, 2018. The ACE II project is strengthening 24 competitively selected Africa Centers of Excellence (ACEs) to deliver quality, market relevant post graduate education, and building collaborative research capacity in five regional priority areas of industry, agriculture, health, education and applied statistics. Sixteen universities in eight countries are participating in the ACE II Project. The five year project is financed by the World Bank to a tune of $140 million in form of credit to the eight countries which include Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Burundi, which does not host any ACE, is eligible to access services offered by the ACEs in other countries and regional capacity-building activities under the project.

The first phase, ACE I, was launched in 2013 in West and Central Africa with 22 ACEs and the second phase in Eastern and Southern Africa with 24 ACEs so as to create a collaborative movement across the continent to steer higher education towards science and technology. Combined, ACE I, ACE II and ACE III projects have a total investment of $600 million.

The Minister of Education, Republic of Rwanda, Hon. Dr. Eugene Mutimura expressed his passion for the ACE II project “because of the potential benefits and outcomes we expect this project to bring to the region.”

“It would be good to think about regional integration in terms of developing human capital resource required for our region as a bloc,” said Hon. Mutimura.

Prof. Alexandre Lyambabaje, the Executive Secretary of Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the Regional Facilitation Unit of ACE II, said that the main aim of countries joining the ACE II Project was to create a conducive environment for training highly skilled and competent scientists at Masters and PhD degree levels in identified key strategic areas.

Prof. Alexandre Lyambabaje, the Executive Secretary of Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), the Regional Facilitation Unit of ACE II, said that the main aim of countries joining the ACE II Project was to create a conducive environment for training highly skilled and competent scientists at Masters and PhD degree levels in identified key strategic areas.

“Trained scientists are expected to help address the huge deficit of qualified human resources in higher learning institutions in the region and provide high level expertise to our industries, private sector and public sector,” he said. He added, “I am confident that ACEs will produce great scientific results out of their research activities.” He disclosed that IUCEA and the World Bank are in the process of establishing “Regional Incubators”. “The Centers that will host the Regional incubators will be selected competitively before end of the first quarter of the year 2019,” he said.

Dr. Sajitha Bashir, the Practice Manager, Education Global Practice at the World Bank said that the World Bank adopted a regional approach for higher education in 2014 to build capacity in Science and Technology. “The regional approach was adopted by the World Bank because we felt that to really create a critical mass of high quality scientists and to be able to do applied research of the kind of quality that is required, it would be difficult to do this country by country and a regional approach would be appropriate.” Dr. Bashir noted that it is important that Africa’s young population is equipped with skills.

“By 2040 our estimation shows that about 85% of the world’s young people will be in Sub Saharan Africa. It is important that a good proportion of these young people have high quality higher education and that there is a critical mass of highly qualified scientists and engineers and technologists who can adapt, assimilate and adopt technologies and also create new technologies to address the challenges of Africa,” she said. “I hope that this project and the other initiatives will make a contribution to equipping these young people and motivating them to contributing to Africa’s transformation.”

Rwanda, the host of the meeting, has four Centers of Excellence: the African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACEESD) and the African Centre of Excellence in Internet of Things (ACEIoT) both hosted at the College of Science & Technology, the African Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science (ACEITLMS), College of Education and the African Centre of Excellence for Data Sciences (ACE-DS), College of Business & Economics. These four Centers will get a total of $20 million over five years to implement their projects.

As with the other ACEs, the funds will be used to develop new programs, expand enrollment, provide world class research facilities, build capacity among faculty and strengthen partnerships with leading regional and global institutions as well as the private sector. For example ACEESD has established a state of the art micro-grid research laboratory and a high performance energy computing unit. The Center will also work with the private sector for curriculum development, student internships and manufacturing of components for its micro grid systems.

Over the project’s duration of five years, the 24 ACEs are expected to enroll more than 3,500 graduate students in the regional development priority areas, out of which at least 700 would be PhD students and more than 1,000 would be female. By the end of the project in 2022 it is envisioned that the centers will have developed sufficient capacity to become sustainable regional hubs for training and research in their specialized fields.

-ENDS-

For more information contact:

Agnes Asiimwe Okoth
Information and Communication Officer
ACEII Project
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ace2.iucea.org


East African Community
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Tel: +255 (0)27 216 2100
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