REPORTS Leo Odera Omolo.

Reports emerging from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, say African governments have launched the Pan-African University {PAU, which is meant to train high level professionals for development and research.

The PAU is specialized in postgraduate training and research institution comprising network of universities in five regions of the continent.

The new university is modeled to create center for excellence under specific thematic component and serving as a coordinating hub for similar programs of the continent.

Existing facilities in the five host universities will be used as satellites compasses, according to Kenya’s Education Minister who chaired the meeting of the Council of ministers of Education Prof Sam K Ongeri.

Funding for the satellite compasses will be mobilized through a partnership, one third by AU mainly in the form of fellowship and another third by a lead partner to be identified in each of the five regions.

The five thematic and the regional hub of PAU include space sciences to be hosted by an institution in Southern Africa, water and energy sciences, including climate change, to be hosted by an institution in North Africa, from Algeria; basic sciences, technology and innovation for Eastern Africa, to be hosted at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya.

The selected institutes will act as regional hubs and network with a number of satellites institutions and build capacity in their selected discipline throughout the continent. This will be done by transferring best practice in teaching method, course design, research methods from the “hub” to the satellite institutions and vice versa.

The programs of PAU should be geared towards promoting mobility of students, lecturers, researchers and administrative staff between Africa Universities. This arrangement, will work towards improving teaching, leadership and collaborative research,” said Po Ongeri who is the chairman of the Conference of African Education Ministers COMEDAR during the official launching of PAU.

PROF Ongeri added by saying that despite tremendous efforts to improve the quality of higher education in the continent continue to suffer the loss of its intellectuals through the brain drain.PAU is expected to produce an adequate supply of highly qualified Africans able to innovate in order to address the challenges facing the development of the African content and improve the retention of skilled African professionals human resources.

Pau first intake is scheduled from October next year [2013} with 100 scholarships for students from the different regions that will cover all the expenses.

There will be very rigorous selection of candidates for scholarships based on their academic performance.”We want people who will excel beyond the average as we are looking for super performer who will become the source persons for this continent,” said Prof Ongeri.

PAU faculties will also include earth sciences including health and agriculture that will be based in Western African, to be hosted by the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and governance humanities an second sciences for Central Africa that will be hosted in the University of Yoaunde in Cameroun.

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