Many university rankings in the world today focus on factors unrelated to academic merit. Thus, some rankings of colleges and universities often give too much credit to the attractiveness of campus, satisfaction of students and alumni, extracurricular benefits.
This list is not one of such ranking. In contrast, this ranking focuses on academic prestige, scholarly excellence, and intellectual horsepower.
In this ranking, the following criteria were considered;
Being chartered, licensed and accredited by the appropriate higher education-related organization in each country
Offering at least four-year undergraduate degrees (bachelor degrees) or postgraduate degrees (master or doctoral degrees)
Delivering courses predominantly in a traditional, face-to-face, non-distance education format
The publication also matched the rakings with the recently released list of 200 Top Universities in Africa compiled by uniRank.
The aim is to provide a non-academic League Table of the top Universities in Africa based on valid, unbiased and non-influenceable web metrics provided by independent web intelligence sources rather than data submitted by the Universities themselves.
uniRank is a leading international higher education directory and search engine featuring reviews and rankings of over 13,600 officially recognized Universities and Colleges in 200 countries.
These are the Top 10 Universities in Africa 2020
1. University of Pretoria, South Africa: The University of Pretoria is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa.
2. University of Cape Town, South Africa: The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College making it the oldest higher education institute in South Africa.
3. University of Witwatersrand, South Africa: The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits.
4. University of Johannesburg, South Africa: The University of Johannesburg is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University, the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University.
5. University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville.
6. Stellenbosch University, South Africa: Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
7. University of Nairobi, Kenya: The University of Nairobi is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is one of the largest universities in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970.
8. University of Lagos, Nigeria: The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university in Lagos, Nigeria. It is one of five first-generation universities in Nigeria, founded in 1962.
9. North-West University, South Africa: The North-West University (NWU) is a South African university with three campuses at Potchefstroom, Mahikeng (Previously Mafikeng) and Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. In Potchefstroom is the head office of the University. With its merged status, North-West University became one of the largest universities in South Africa with over 64,081 students (full-time and distance education).
10. Cairo University, Egypt: Cairo University, known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University from 1940 to 1952 is Egypt's premier public University. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo.
South Africa dominated the top 10 list of universities in Africa. Still, interestingly, critics have argued that this is not a reflection of the educational system in the country as a whole.
According to Nic Spaull of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa has the highest unequal school system in the world.
Most independent church-run schools that provided a good education in black areas were closed. After Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, his government expanded access to schooling.
Education in Africa needs urgent attention from both the government and the private sector.
Stakeholders must do more in providing a favorable educational environment for students across the country and try its best possible to make quality education equal for all regardless of class and location.
What are your thoughts?