Abstract
The context of this paper is Africa, where communities have historically looked up to universities within their locality to maximize their intellectual capital and knowledge creation to foster regional development. How well these universities are actively responding to the demands of economic and social development require attention. This paper reports an instrumental case study involving in-depth interviews and focus groups within a bounded locality in Cameroon to address what universities can do to enhance their contribution to local development. Findings suggest that whilst a university’s community-based service learning (CBSL) scheme can be ascertained as an instrument that can engender local development, this requires the fostering of relevant education for informed participation of different stakeholders in the framing but also firming up of CBSL objectives and processes. Furthermore, in order to optimize the prospect for local development instigated by CBSL activities, relevant stakeholders should go beyond short-term planning and adopt futuristic sustainable strategies. There is need to promote deeper dissemination, as well as follow-up on field findings for sustained implementation and outcomes.
Highlights
African universities have been associated with a mission to enhance the development of their countries (Eisemon and Salmi 1993; Fongwa and Wangenge-Ouma 2015; Mosha 1986; Sawyerr 2004; Teferra and Albatch 2004)
Rosing et al (2010) presented some of the criticisms levied against community-based service learning (CBSL) from the students’ perspective; their study did not capture the views of community stakeholders from multifaceted viewpoints. This paper addresses this gap, highlighting the concerns articulated by research participants, and proffers a template for modelling CBSL for student learning and community development
5.1 Promoting an Inclusive Service-Learning Education A significant number of research participants felt that the failure of CBSL to provide sustained benefits to the community is largely due to a lack of knowledge of the scheme and its potential outcomes
Summary
African universities have been associated with a mission to enhance the development of their countries (Eisemon and Salmi 1993; Fongwa and Wangenge-Ouma 2015; Mosha 1986; Sawyerr 2004; Teferra and Albatch 2004). Julius Nyerere (erstwhile president of Tanzania) insisted for linkages between African universities and local communities (cited in Preece et al 2012, 6). Many African universities have demonstrated the potential to steer regional development, the framework of community engagement is not well developed and entrenched within their operational strata (Preece et al 2012). This deficiency calls for a consideration of an engagement model that would act as a catalyst to boost African universities’ contribution towards local development drives
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