From colonial education to higher education in Africa: the case of Guinea-Bissau

This study is focused on the birth of higher education in Africa, having as its case-study Guinea-Bissau. Starting from a historical and theoretical base, the article analyses the project of colonial education as well as the process of higher education building in Guinea-Bissau, since the first moments of its independence. Nevertheless, the nationalist project which accompanied the conception of education, including higher education, was developed during the struggle for liberation and it was not possible to materialize it in the Socialist period of Guinea-Bissau; thus, its implementation, between uncertainties and delays, was carried out in the neoliberal period. This fact favoured the modest commitment of the State towards the development of public universities, leaving that the private sector prevailed in this important part of the national education. In methodological terms, the research was carried out through a qualitative approach; thus, data were collected through a documental and bibliographic analysis, complemented by semi-structured interviews. This study showed that the higher education building process in Guinea-Bissau was a decisive element to determine the current situation. As a matter of fact, the access to the university is still based, in a large extent, in the financial availability rather than in the effective merit of each student, with evident territorial imbalances between Bissau and the rest of the country.