The 2019 Education Collaborative Annual Convening featured an executive conference with vice-chancellors, presidents, directors, deans, and governance teams from 10 universities across the continent. They engaged each other on developing institutional competencies for data-driven strategy and collaboration in the face of exponential population growth, technology, and globalization.

Central to these conversations was developing a university ranking system for African universities.

 Led by a panel discussion, their conversations highlighted how Africa could benefit from a context-specific ranking system inclined towards the development of ethics and leadership, industry, entrepreneurship, employment opportunities, and community outreach programs. Such a measurement system would revolve around the continent’s development, and institutional success would be measured by how actions and outcomes contribute to the continent’s development.

The Education Collaborative has partnered with a consulting consortium, led by Maverick Research to develop an index that measures university performance. It is underpinned by a customized online survey platform and data visualization dashboard that measures university performance as a tool for both parents and prospective students to make informed decisions. The index helps both parents and prospective students to make informed decisions and comprises  variable indicators including but not limited to:

1. 1. Quality of teaching and educational outcomes
   2. Employment/employability and other labor market outcomes
   3. Campus safety and inclusion
   4. Quality of student life and student retention
   5. Adherence to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pertinent aspects of the AU’s Agenda 2063
   6. Relevance of research to national and regional development objectives

Macro 

• Develop a framework of quality indicators to guide stakeholders on university performance 
• Focus on ranking performance on a national and regional scale over global 
• Create concrete, collaborative linkages and touch points with the broader ecosystem, especially the public sector and industry 

Micro 

• Highlight educational outcomes by connecting them with quality of life 
• Highlight research and teaching as not a zero-sum game  
• Connect research objectives to specific developmental agendas 
• Provide quantitative and qualitative proxies for quality of teaching 

With 1600 universities in Africa, we hope 50-60 universities can participate in the premier rollout with steady growth to approximately 120-160 participants in 10 years. This is a 10% participatory goal benchmarked against the global goal.