Academic tourism and university education in Africa

There has been a rise in the number of Africans looking for Secondary and post-secondary education outside their home country. Children as young as ten years of age are sent in search  of knowledge to nations far away from home. 
 
Hopeful students line up outside Unisa s Sunnyside campus in Pretoria. Photo: Phill Magakoe
 
The Ghanian and South African Universities seem to be on high demand in the continent which has seen an increase in the number of overcrowded universities as well as a increase in the fees charged making education less affordable to the locals.



Currently, the top universities in Joburg are said to be oversubscribed for the new school year with 51 000 applications to Wits where only 6 500 available places are available and 111 200 applications to UJ with only 10 500 places. Its not known how many of these places are reserved for non nationals.

The surge in demand for university based education has made technical colleges and training institutes seem less relevant. The demand for university certificates for jobs with multinationals has added more demand for university education