A Study On Higher Education Partnership Project Management In Africa Of Usaid

As the first official development assistance agency in the United States,USAID has been providing higher education assistance to Africa for sixty years since its establishment in 1961.Among them,the establishment of higher education partnership is one of the main ways of “self-reliance” assistance by USAID to promote the social and economic sustainable development of underdeveloped regions in Africa.It covers curriculum reform,teaching material development,labor training,teacher-student communication,teacher training and institutional capacity-building,and covers children,youth and women,which greatly promotes the development of education in Africa and has reference significance for China to improve the cooperation system of higher education with Africa.This study takes the USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa as the research object,and tries to systematically analyze and explore the following issues using literature research,textual analysis and historical analysis: first,how the USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa has developed;second,how the USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa operates and conducts monitoring and evaluation;third,what are the characteristics and existing problems of the USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa;fourth,the experience of USAID in the management of higher education partnership in Africa provides enlightenment for China to improve the partnership with Africa.Through research,it is found that USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa has evolved relatively well.Since its establishment,USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa has evolved through five broad phases: laying the groundwork,refocusing,contracting and stagnating,transforming assistance,and zigzagging forward.USAID’s focus on the management of higher education partnership programs in Africa has not been the same at different stages of development.This study divides USAID’s management of higher education partnership with Africa into three segments: operation,monitoring,and evaluation,which are carried out in a strict logical sequence to ensure consistency and integrity of project management.Among them,the operational component is divided into three phases: initiation,planning,and implementation;the monitoring component consists of forming a project monitoring team,reviewing the project results framework,specifying project performance indicators and targets,collecting project performance data,conducting data quality assessments,and applying quality assessment results.The evaluation segment consists of six parts: forming a project evaluation team,identifying project evaluation questions,collecting project evaluation data,analyzing project evaluation data,writing project evaluation reports,and sharing and applying project evaluation reports.After more than 60 years of development,USAID has developed a relatively reasonable management system for the African Higher Education Partnership Program,which has distinctive characteristics.The management model adopts a life-cycle approach to project monitoring and review,the management process is as open and transparent as possible,the management mechanisms are interactive and mutually reinforcing,and the management principles emphasize "self-reliance" and sustainability.However,USAID’s management of higher education partnership with Africa also suffers from a lack of specificity in project guidance documents,poor quality of project evaluation reports,and political conditions attached to project settings.The management of USAID’s higher education partnership with Africa has very important enlightenment significance for China to carry out the African higher education partnership project.In the project setting,it is necessary to establish on the basis that both universities can benefit;establish a coordination mechanism between China and Africa to promote multi-party participation;build a project logical framework to guide the specific implementation of the project;based on the new cooperation model in the digital age,innovative management methods;Advocate to strengthen the “self-reliance” ability of African colleges and universities,and promote the sustainable development of the project.