Despite Sub-Saharan
Africa facing
protracted water problems,
only
one
per
cent
of
universities
in
the
sub-region
offer
water
education
programs,
a study has
found.
According
to
the
study,
higher
education
related
to
water
is
key
to building
capacity to
achieve
the Sustainable
Development
Goal that
focuses
on
water
and
sanitation
for
all
by
2030.
Thus,
the
study
assessed
28,077
institutions
of
higher education for
water-related
programs.
Water education is a diverse set of skills in fields such as biology, chemistry, physics, geology, civil engineering, economics, political science, sociology and law, explains Water Institute member Colin Mayfield, author of the study and professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
“No
comprehensive
survey
of
the
role
of
universities
in
integrating
these
skill
sets
to
provide
available
programmes
for
students
entering
water-related
fields
has
been
performed,”
says
Mayfield.
“To
provide
the
skilled
personnel
required,
more
of
the
education
needs
to
happen
in
the
countries
most
affected
and
efforts
should
be
made
to
increase
the
educational
activities
of
local
institutions.”
The
study
published
in
the Report
Series
7 of
the
United
Nations
University
Institute
for
Water,
Environment
and
Health
last
month
(29
May)
assessed
only
universities
ranked
in
the
Shanghai
Academic
Ranking
System
for
2019.
According
to
the
study,
40
per
cent
of
universities
in
North
America
and
Europe
offer
a
programme
in
water,
with
the
figure
for
those
in
the
regions
West
Asia
and
North
Africa,
East
Asia
and
South-East
Asia,
Latin
America
and
the
Caribbean
being
16
per
cent
each.
Central
Asia
and
South
Asia
have
seven
per
cent
of
universities
offering
a
programme
in
water,
making
Sub-Saharan
the
region
with
the
least
percentage
of
only
one.
“In
Africa,
115
people
die
every
hour
from diseases linked
to
poor
sanitation,
poor
hygiene
and
contaminated
water,”
says
Mayfied,
adding
that
more
than
300
of
the
800
million
people
in
Sub-Saharan
Africa
live
in
a
water-scarce environment.
George
Krhoda,
a
member
of
the
African
Groundwater
Commission,
African
Union,
tells SciDev.Net that
in
Sub-Saharan
Africa
schools
of
water
science
are
few,
poorly funded and
have
limited
human
resources.
“These
three
factors
are
interrelated
and
determined
to
a
large
extent
by
the
global
market
forces,”
explains
Krhoda,
who
is
also
an
associate
professor
of
geography
and
environmental
studies
at
Kenya’s
University
of
Nairobi.
Krhoda
tells SciDev.Net that
the
UNESCO
has
established
centres
of
excellence
in
water
science
throughout
the
developing
countries,
including
those
in
Sub-Saharan
Africa
but
there
is
a
need
for
increasing
these
opportunities
and
directing
their research focus
on
water
challenges.
Read
the
original
article
in
SciDev.Net.
Water level measurement - Water Monitoring Station, Sondu Basin