Governance of (Public) Universities at Systemic Level in Selected Countries in East Africa

This chapter focuses on the higher education (HE) system-level governance of five countries in East Africa: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The chapter demonstrates that the governance patterns in these countries are diverse and a regional system-level HE steering model is yet to emerge. However, although there is an absence of a common model, common elements are apparent in the governance architecture of the four political jurisdictions. The old countries in the region have retreated from the state-(government) control model and embraced the state-supervising model which entails remote rather than direct steering of universities. South Sudan, the youngest country in the world and therefore with an emerging HE system, is somewhat erratic to classify given that it has strong elements of both governance models. Nevertheless, the state-supervising model prevails over the state-control model in the South Sudan HE system. The role of the state in the governance of HE in the region constellates around regulating the HE system, quality assurance of the system through national quality assurance agencies and funding (public) universities.