Jean Marie Sène, coordinator of CUDAPES (Council of Universities and Private Schools of Higher Education) mentioned, this Friday, the existence of a government debt towards private institutions due to the first orientations of students.
“(…) during the last discussions, the debt that the State of Senegal owes us was less than 10 billion FCFA, but they are in the process of taking stock to verify, or is there no not part of this debt also which is a fictitious debt”, indicated Jean Marie Sène.
Mohamed Ndiaye, member of the cabinet of the Minister of Private Higher Education, discussed the challenges and opportunities that present themselves in this area during a workshop organized by the Unitary Framework of Organizations of Private Higher Education Establishments of Senegal ( CUDOPES).
During the meeting held to reflect on ways to improve the private higher education system, Mouhamed Ndiaye explained that the Baccalaureate, being the first university diploma, offers students a range of choices between public and private institutions. However, he noted that “the orientation towards private institutions often comes after that towards public institutions, which creates a perceived inequality between the two sectors.”
He insisted on the need for reform of the guidance system to ensure equity between public and private institutions. “If we want to meet the challenge of higher education, research and innovation, we should not distinguish between public and private. We should focus on quality,” he declared. .
The member of the cabinet of the Minister of Private Higher Education also addressed “the importance of stabilizing the academic year to avoid overlapping school years, a problem which affects both state finances and student curriculum. ” According to him, the adoption of the License-Master-Doctorate (LMD) system by Senegalese universities, public and private, sometimes causes problems. Thus, Mr. Ndiaye highlighted the difficulties linked to its implementation, in particular the overlapping of years which pushes some students to repeat a year when they continue their studies abroad.
The meeting aims to produce a program document proposing concrete solutions for the development of private higher education. These solutions include the creation of institutional accreditation procedures to ensure quality teaching and equitable guidance.
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