10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

This study investigates the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching Arabic Literature, aiming to enhance learning outcomes and engagement in this traditionally rich and complex subject. By analyzing the current landscape of AI applications in education and the unique challenges of teaching Arabic Literature, this research explores the potential benefits and limitations in this...

Demographic shifts, geopolitical uncertainty, evolving workforce demands, and rising expectations for high-quality digital experiences are creating unprecedented disruption across the higher education sector. Institutions face increasing pressure to respond to the demands of a rapidly changing world and must adapt to these emerging realities. The global shift toward digitalization in higher...

The shift to Competency-Based Education and Training (CBET) in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions has enhanced students’ competencies. However, critical strategic mechanisms remain essential to maximize learning outcomes. This study investigated the strategic interventions perceived by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) trainers in implementing CBET...

Digital transformation has become a defining feature of 21st-century economic development. For Africa - particularly Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation with over 220 million people and a median age below 19. Digital technologies represent a strategic opportunity to harness the demographic dividend through youth empowerment and entrepreneurship. However, digital access alone does...

The study examined the relationship between sports participation and learner retention among Primary School children in Karamoja region, Uganda. One specific objective was stated to guide this study. One Null Hypothesis was formulated which is, “there is no significant effect of sports participation on learner retention among Primary school children in Karamoja region, Uganda.” The...

The study investigated school administrators’ knowledge and awareness of teachers’ mental health and how it relates to teachers’ psychological well-being in primary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprised 5,445 primary school teachers and 337 school administrators in Ilorin South Local...

Kenya's transition from the 8-4-4 system to Competency-Based Education (CBE) in 2017 represents one of sub-Saharan Africa's most ambitious curriculum reforms. The pivotal shift from Grade 6 (Upper Primary) to Grade 7 (Junior Secondary School, JSS) demands that learners navigate increased academic demands, specialist teaching and competency-based assessment within environments originally...

The debate on the integration of indigenous knowledge (IK) in science education is often framed as a monocultural dialogue where indigenous people are presented as if they were a homogenous group with universal knowledge called IK. This article interrogates this view and demonstrates how teachers can tap into the repertoire of IKs in a multicultural class to teach Natural Sciences. A...

In Africa, the COVID-19 epidemic increased graduate unemployment and sped up structural changes toward platform-based entrepreneurship, digitally mediated jobs, and informal labour markets. Digital skills have become particularly important kinds of employability capital in this scenario. This study looks at the relationship between the development of digital skills and the perception of...

The condition of sanitary facilities in primary schools remains a growing concern, as inadequate access to such facilities can negatively affect the health, dignity, and overall well-being of school pupils. This concern is particularly evident in rural and semi-urban communities where sanitation infrastructure is often overlooked. This study assessed the availability and utilisation of...

This study explored funding models and the effectiveness of support services in public universities in Kenya and Nigeria using a qualitative research approach. The study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of how funding structures influence the delivery, accessibility, and quality of institutional support services in selected public universities across both countries. The research was...

School fires and student unrest have plagued Kenya's education system for over a century, escalating from isolated protests in the early 1900s to catastrophic dormitory infernos that have claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed property worth billions of shillings. Despite six major presidential task forces and commissions between 1991 and 2017 and comprehensive policy frameworks including the...

The achievement of educational goals in public secondary schools depends largely on the quality, competence and continuous professional development of teachers. Training opportunities constitute one of the most important components of teacher compensation and providing teachers with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to respond to emerging educational challenges. Despite...

The rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, is transforming higher education globally. However, the adoption of these technologies within universities remains inconsistent, influenced by faculty members’ perceptions, emotional responses, behavioral intentions, AI literacy, and institutional support systems. This...

Machine Translation (MT) systems typically rely on large parallel corpora to achieve high translation accuracy; however, Hausa remains a low-resource language due to the limited availability of digital linguistic and speech datasets. This study presents an optimized speech-to-speech Neural Machine Translation (NMT) framework for bilingual Hausa–English translation using a Bidirectional Long...

Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) services in academic libraries face mounting pressure from the exponential growth of digital scholarly content and the limitations of conventional rule-based systems. In Kenya, these challenges are compounded by manual workflows, static user profiles, and constrained ICT infrastructure, creating a significant gap between researcher information needs...

The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) presents Africa with an unprecedented opportunity to reposition education as a strategic driver of sustainable human capital development through the integration of human-centered technologies, inclusive innovation, and indigenous knowledge systems. While current discourse on 5IR has largely focused on higher education, digital transformation, and workforce...

The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in science education is increasingly recognized as an effective strategy for improving instruction and learning outcomes. This study examined the effects of computer simulation on the utilization of lesson time in Physics instruction in secondary schools in Kangundo Sub-County, Kenya. Specifically, it sought to determine whether...

Choosing a career path is a complex and pivotal decision for students. In Kenya, the rollout of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) has repositioned Home Science as a critical learning area, integrating it into Primary school under Agriculture and Nutrition, Junior School under Pre-Technical Studies and offering it as an elective pathway in Senior School. Consequently, this systemic shift...

With the increasing influence of climate change on the environment, novel educational approaches become necessary. These should be aimed at providing youth with the competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to facilitate sustainable development. Furthermore, the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) emphasizes people-focused innovations, technologies, and inclusive participation in solving social...

Higher education in Africa faces challenges in aligning teaching and learning with Competency-Based Education (CBE) reforms. Traditional lecture-driven models often fail to cultivate critical thinking, creativity, and practical skills. This gap undermines the philosophy of competency, particularly the axiom “I do, We do, You do”, which emphasizes progressive, constructivist, and humanistic...

The rapid diffusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools into classrooms, raises urgent questions about whether in-service teachers are prepared to adopt them meaningfully, particularly in teaching mathematics where pedagogical precision is critical. This study investigates the readiness of in-service Senior High School (SHS) mathematics teachers in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana to...

Higher education institutions play a critical role in developing the knowledge, competencies, and values required for graduates to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and digitally driven world. This paper examines an Enhanced Service-Learning (E-SL) initiative implemented by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) that promotes human capital development through...

The fast changing realities of the 21st century are reshaping the knowledge, skills, and competencies learners need to have in order to succeed. This therefore require a fundamental shift in how education is designed and delivered. This study focuses on the integrated promotion of three essential priorities: the development of key 21st-century competencies such as creativity, collaboration,...

The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) is reshaping education through human-centred artificial intelligence (AI), creating new opportunities for sustainable human capital development while simultaneously presenting complex ethical and governance challenges for educational institutions. As Kenya advances implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), secondary schools are increasingly...

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education presents both opportunities and ethical dilemmas for African universities. The context of the problem lies in the tension between technological adoption and the preservation of the teaching profession’s integrity, alongside equitable student learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the...

Globally, transitions toward Competency-Based Education (CBE) routinely encounter severe execution hurdles especially in resource-constrained enclaves. In Kenya, the implementation of the Integrated Science Curriculum (ISC), a vital gateway for STEM pathways is severely challenged within marginalized settings due to systemic administrative and operational bottlenecks. This study examined how...

c

Learner-centered instruction (LCI) has attracted growing scholarly interest for its potential to foster 21st-century competencies, particularly collaboration, among language learners. This study examined the extent to which learner-centered instruction influences learners' collaboration skills in Kiswahili language classes in public junior schools in Nandi North Sub-County, Nandi County,...

As Africa navigates the transformative demands of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR), the capacity of higher education systems to produce inclusive, innovation-driven graduates depends critically on the quality and inclusivity of the policy processes that shape them. This paper examines higher education policy development in South Africa, mapping the key actors, processes, and power...

The quality of teachers in the school system cannot be underrated as no education system can rise above the quality of her teachers The instability in the education reform agenda under different governments in Kwara State has brought about diverse training policies and programmes to effect the quality of teachers at Primary school level. This inconsistency and lack of continuity in training...

Public universities in North East, Nigeria encounter significant challenges due to the insecurity stemming from the Boko Haram insurgency. These issues have potential to impede their capacity to ensure a secure learning environment and fulfil their objectives. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between institutional safety and goals achievement in public universities...

The expansion of digital and hybrid work arrangements across African public sector institutions has intensified the need for conceptually grounded measures of remote work efficiency. Existing approaches frequently rely on outcome-based proxies such as performance or job satisfaction, leaving the underlying behavioral capacity insufficiently theorized. This study develops and validates the...

Human capital development is fundamental to sustainable national development because it equips individuals with competencies required for economic competitiveness. In Nigeria, increasing national insecurity and persistent challenges in quality of science education have continued to threaten students' educational experiences needed for national transformation. This study examined the influence...

Graduate unemployment remains a persistent socio-economic challenge in many developing countries, despite increasing access to higher education. This study examines the structural mismatch between educational outcomes and labour market demands in The Gambia. Anchored in Human Capital Theory and skills mismatch frameworks, the study adopts a mixed-methods approach involving survey data from 150...

Despite ongoing digital transformation in Nigerian higher education, visually impaired students continue to face significant barriers in accessing learning materials and participating effectively in academic activities. This study presents Unilorin-EVISVision, a human-centred assistive digital learning solution designed to advance inclusive digital learning for visually impaired students in...

This study examines physics teachers’ perceptions of gender inequality and its implications for inclusive innovation within Africa’s Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR). As 5IR prioritizes human-centered and socially responsive development, equitable participation in STEM, particularly physics, is essential for sustainable transformation. However, persistent gender disparities continue to limit...

Understanding Africa’s indigenous worldview is essential to any comprehensive history of education on the continent. Prior to the arrival of Islam and Christianity, Yorùbá society maintained structured systems of training that prepared children for social, cultural, and economic life. With special reference to the Igbomina, this paper examines the foundational role of education in Yorùbáland...

This study investigated the influence of entrepreneurship education and mentorship on graduate employability and venture creation at Kwara State University, Malete in Nigeria. The research examined how entrepreneurship education and mentorship impact graduate employability and venture creation in a Nigerian university setting. The study used a descriptive survey research design and sampled 83...

Africa’s Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) has intensified the need for innovative, inclusive, and sustainable educational systems capable of addressing contemporary technological and socio-economic challenges. In Nigeria, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions are expected to equip learners with relevant skills for innovation-driven development. However, the...

This study investigated the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in promoting inclusive and accessible education for students with visual impairments at Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the accessibility and utilization of AI-powered screen readers, the effect of AI-assisted digital tools on literacy acquisition, and the challenges affecting the...

Competency-Based Education (CBE) has significantly reformed the education sector. This new approach not only requires well-prepared but also adequate teacher workload. Teachers being frontline implementers of the curriculum, directly shape how learners experience CBE, and their perceptions significantly influence both the delivery process and learning outcomes. In Trans-nzoia West Sub-county,...

Casualization has become the most prevalent and persistent issues in the Nigeria academic industries existing in both federal and state tertiary institutions in Nigeria with specific reference to Public Universities. This system of employment has far reaching consequences on the employee life balance as they have little or no job security, employment uncertainty and limited or no benefits in...

This study examines the institutional impact of the Centre for Internationalisation and Strategic Partnership (CISP) at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, from 2009 upto 2026. Established to propel the university into the global academic arena, CISP has served as a critical vehicle for advancing higher education excellence, fostering regional collaboration, and driving sustainable development....

Persistent underperformance in NECO SSCE Mathematics has raised concerns about the fairness of test items for different student groups in Nigeria. This study investigates Differential Item Functioning (DIF) in the 2024 NECO Mathematics multiple-choice questions to determine whether items favored certain groups. The study had three main objectives: (i) to examine gender-based DIF, (ii) to...

The 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) brings together digital, biological, and physical systems, but Nigeria cannot fully take part in this transformation unless it rethinks how its university undergraduates are educated. These young people are meant to be the country's immediate future workforce, yet most of them still learn from a colonial-era curriculum that overlooks local ingenuity and does...

The spread of social media bots (automated accounts that simulate human behaviour) has drastically changed the digital information ecosystem, presenting problems like content authenticity, misinformation, and user trust. Most studies on bot activity have been in the West. Very few studies have focused on young adults of developing regions, Mostly Nigeria, on how they perceive and engage with...

Teacher’s productivity is the cornerstone of any educational system that aspires to produce citizens who are knowledgeable, skilled and globally competitive. Serious decline in teacher’s productivity in public schools has been reported by previous scholars which is attributed to lack coordinated school supervision. Therefore, this study examines the effect of supervision practices on teacher’s...

The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) is rapidly expanding digital access across African universities, yet this transformation simultaneously exposes students to heightened risks of cyberfraud, both as victims and perpetrators. Building resilient human capital for Africa's digital future requires understanding the psycho-social competencies that protect youth from online deviance. This study...

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has the potential to change the processes of teaching and learning especially in mathematics education where problem-solving, critical thinking and individualized learning are keys. This study analyses opinions, practices and challenges of mathematics teachers in the integration of AI tools into instructional practices in senior...

Africa continues to face persistent development challenges, including poverty, unemployment, inadequate educational systems, weak healthcare delivery, infrastructural deficits, and socioeconomic inequalities. In the digital age, these challenges are further exacerbated by limited access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), creating a digital divide that restricts participation...

The rapid growth in the volume of academic research outputs has created significant challenges in the efficient storage, retrieval, accessibility, and reuse of scholarly information, particularly within higher education institutions. The ability to retrieve relevant academic information at the appropriate time is essential for supporting effective research and preventing unnecessary...

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into language work via neural machine translation (NMT), large language models (LLMs), and computer aided translation (CAT) tools is redefining translator competence. For Arabic to English translation, a language pair characterized by significant morphological, syntactic, and cultural distance, AI automates routine tasks but struggles with...

The 21st century and the future of human development are increasingly being shaped by rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) data-driven innovations which are transforming education systems, labour markets, and skills requirements worldwide. As nations seek to prepare learners for the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, AI has emerged as a critical tool for enhancing...

South African fine art education has long balanced subjective aesthetic judgement against institutional demands for transparent, defensible evaluation. Digital fabrication tools, such as FDM printing and CAD modelling, sharpen this tension by merging measurable technical skill with creative practice that resists fixed criteria, all within a context shaped by unequal resources and ongoing...

This study assessed the coping strategies employed for managing academic stress among undergraduates at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, with specific focus on three maladaptive strategies (substance use, class absenteeism, and excessive sleeping) and two adaptive strategies (planning and time management, and family support).The study adopted a descriptive survey design and a multistage...

This study sought to determine the relationship between students’ attitudes and peer influence on academic achievement in senior secondary school mathematics in Central River Region South. A correlational research design was adopted. The population comprised senior secondary school students, from which a sample of 315 students was selected from nine schools. Data were collected using a...

This paper intends to examine the importance of bridging research, educational practice, and social impact in promoting inclusive and resilient higher education systems in Africa. As African societies continue to experience rapid social, economic, and technological changes, there is an increasing need for higher education institutions to become more responsive to societal demands and...

The impact of the Industrial Revolution (4th and 5th IR) necessitates the urgent need for a digitally competent and innovative administrative workforce. But, in Nigeria, there is a mismatch between the competencies required by the industries and the graduates. This study focus on the skills gap among educational administration graduates in Nigeria, and proffers innovative strategies for modern...

The quality of science education depends largely on teachers’ ability to develop learners’ science process skills. However, inadequate laboratory facilities in many Nigerian teacher-training institutions limit practical learning opportunities. This study investigated the effect of digital laboratory simulations on the acquisition of science process skills—specifically observing, measuring,...

Nigeria produces over 500,000 university graduates annually, yet graduate unemployment among those under 35 exceeds 50%. Employers consistently report mismatches between certified qualifications and actual competencies, creating a paradox of mass credential production alongside widespread labour market exclusion. Despite the scale of this crisis, Nigerian policy discourse frames it narrowly as...

The fast growth of online learning environments in higher education has brought significant changes to teaching methods, student engagement, and most all, evaluation methods. Higher education institutions are facing different issues in evaluating students’ performance in digital contexts and are trying to find the balance between academic quality and equity and adaptability. This paper aims to...

One challenge faced by those who learn and teach statistics in Africa is that most statistics textbooks are written and published in the Global North, and consequently, most of the datasets used in the examples and exercises are from Global North contexts. This creates a challenge in making statistics relevant and interesting to students when the context of the dataset, and other features such...

In this era of great increase in knowledge, competencies, skills, in all facets of life, educational advancement becomes necessary to avoid stagnation and obsolesce in one’s area of specialization. Educational advancement may be pursuing higher degrees like Masters, Ph.D and to another it may be professional development- career progression and promotion with global research impact to stay...

The growing integration of digital technologies into higher education has increased undergraduates’ exposure to cyber threats such as phishing, ransomware, cyber spoofing, and malicious encryption. Although digital platforms have enhanced teaching and learning, many students still lack the practical cybersecurity competencies needed to recognize and respond effectively to online threats. This...

Feminist pedagogy advocates teaching and learning approaches that emphasize participation, dialogue, reflexivity, inclusivity, and the co-construction of knowledge. Although feminist theory is frequently taught in higher education, there remains a need for pedagogical interventions that extend learning beyond traditional lectures and create opportunities for students to engage critically with...

The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) emphasizes human-centric, intelligent collaboration between humans and machines, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a transformative force in education. While developed nations are leveraging AI for personalized learning and smart administration, Nigerian universities continue to face unresolved challenges of Information and Communication Technology...

Africa's Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) demands education systems that foster inclusive innovation, human-centered development, and sustainable transformation while integrating indigenous knowledge and emerging technologies. However, education in many African countries, including The Gambia and Nigeria, continues to be characterized by predominantly teacher-centered approaches, fragmented...

There is persistent concern over the quality of university lecturers’ instructional delivery in Southwest, Nigeria, despite the expectation that lecturers should demonstrate effective teaching through modern pedagogical strategies, active student engagement, and the integration of instructional technologies. This situation raises questions about the extent to which human capital development...

This study looked at the Impact of Security Management Practices on Human Capital Development and Students Safety in Tertiary Institutions in Kogi State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprise of all the 114,000 academic and administrative staff across all the eleven (11) tertiary institutions in Kogi State. The sample is three...

Promoting environmental, social, and economic sustainability through formal education has made Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) a top global priority. The low level of research output from developing nations, especially in Africa, has raised concerns about the uneven global production of research on integrating ESD into school curricula. A bibliometric analysis of international...

This study examines the integration of inquiry-based learning (IBL) with digital tools in Arabic language education as a strategy for preparing African secondary school students for the demands of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR). As 5IR emphasizes human-centered innovation, critical thinking, and inclusive knowledge systems, there is a growing need to transform traditional...

The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychological factors contributing to the persistence of strikes in Public Boarding Secondary schools in Keiyo sub-county, Elgeyo Marakwet county, Kenya. The study was based on the Frustration-Aggression Theory by Dollard et al. (1939), which posits that aggression is always a consequence of frustration, occurring when a highly desired goal is...

This study examined the extent to which principals’ leadership styles and emotional intelligence predict teachers’ job performance in public senior secondary schools in Ogun West Senatorial District, Nigeria. Effective school leadership significantly influences teachers’ motivation, instructional delivery, job satisfaction, and productivity, while emotional intelligence enhances leadership...

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education across Sub-Saharan African schools continues to be undermined by students’ under-performance, manifested in weak retention and noticeable disconnect between classroom content and learners’ cultural background. This is evident in recent regional public examination outcomes in the core science subjects as Chemistry, Physics,...

Contemporary education faces interconnected challenges, including the global learning crisis, declining learner well-being, climate change, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), and the growing demand for twenty-first century competencies. Although educational neuroscience has deepened understanding of how biological, cognitive, emotional, social, and environmental factors influence...

This article explores the impact of bad governance on brain drain, with a particular focus on Nigerian students' pursuit of higher education abroad. The consistent loss of its best brains through either choice or forceful move to other countries better equipped to house professionals and scholars has become a worrisome trend undermining Nigeria’s development. Some of the reasons for Nigerians...